Capsule Review: Logitech's G100s, G500s, and G700s Gaming Mice
by Dustin Sklavos on March 30, 2013 12:01 AM EST- Posted in
- Mouse
- Peripherals
- Gaming
- Logitech
The Logitech G500s: For Action Games
I've been a very longtime advocate of Logitech's G500 as one of the most perfect gaming mice ever made. I never got much mileage out of changing the DPI of the sensor on the fly, and the default weight (no weights added) was perfectly fine; it was more about the coarse but breathable material used in its side grips, the toggleable freewheel, and the overall grip and response of the mouse.
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I'm not really shedding tears about the G500s being basically a carbon copy of the G500 but with a higher quality laser and a less exciting paint job. The G500 had one annoying habit that should basically be fixed in the G500s: the switches in the mouse buttons would actually eventually wear out and begin holding inconsistently. It's my understanding this wasn't an uncommon problem, so the new switches in the G500s shouldd go a long way towards ameliorating it.
The G500s sports a total of eight buttons: left click, right click, mouse wheel, DPI up and down next to the left click, and then the back and forward buttons with a third button nestled under them. Beneath the wheel is a mechanical switch that toggles Logitech's secret sauce, the freewheel. You can choose to have the wheel click one step at a time the way mouse wheels typically do, or you can take the brakes off and use it as an analog mouse wheel, controlling scrolling speed with the speed of the wheel. I have a friend with a G500 who never used this, but I get a tremendous amount of mileage out of it.
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For a brass tacks FPS mouse, the G500 and now the G500s are pretty solid, but unlike the G100s with its more timeless design, the G500s does have a little more room for improvement. A realtime DPI shift button is becoming increasingly common in gaming mice (Corsair called it their "Sniper button"), but that's not an available option in the G500s software unless you're using the software mode instead of the mouse's onboard memory. You can do DPI up or DPI down, but you can't hold one of the side buttons to temporarily lower or raise the sensitivity. That's a shame, because the functionality is available in the G600, and the G500s could really use it.
With the G500s available there's no reason to recommend the G500; the G500s sports higher quality switches in the buttons and received a slight increase in the top end of its laser's sensitivity (up to 8200 DPI.) At an MSRP of $69 it's a little pricey, but it has a fantastic grip if textures like those used on Razer's mice cause your skin to sweat, the adjustable weight is fantastic for some users, and the buttons are all in logical and easy to use places. The G500s is a workhorse if ever there were one.
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mgl888 - Saturday, March 30, 2013 - link
One thing I hate about the Logitech software is the game/application detection. The software has trouble detecting whether I'm playing the game or tabbed out and the profile do not change accordingly.chanman - Saturday, March 30, 2013 - link
My main mouse is a well-used 5-year old Microsoft Sidewinder (the left-click sensor seems like its starting to go - it occasionally registers single clicks as doubles). The feature I enjoy the most on it that doesn't seem to be offered on newer mice (and Microsoft's office mouse line now that they've again discontinued the Sidewinder branding) are the vertically stacked thumb buttons. I love it and wish it was a feature that others making non-ambidextrous mice would use more often.rms - Sunday, March 31, 2013 - link
I also used a Sidewinder for years, but as I'm a claw/fingertip person the thumb buttons were too far forward. Wish they were adjustable! And in general I find thumb buttons to be unusable on any mouse I've ever seenzehoo - Saturday, March 30, 2013 - link
The g100 looks like an mx300, finally they are releasing a mouse with this shape again. I still use my mx300 it was such a great mouse. Only difference seems to be the feet.dbcoopernz - Saturday, March 30, 2013 - link
Do any of them have automatic switching between click to click and freewheeling mousewheel scrolling modes, like the original MX Revolution has?Dustin Sklavos - Saturday, March 30, 2013 - link
No, and that makes me sad all day. :(The MX Revolution's automatic switching was fantastic, I wish they'd use it more.
B3an - Saturday, March 30, 2013 - link
Dustin, it's disappointing you didn't compare the G500s or 700s to the Roccat Pure and Kone XTD that you reviewed recently. You seemed to like the Pure/Kone XTD a lot. What are your thoughts?Tracking benchmarks would also be nice, and maybe tests on different surfaces. Don't think you go in to enough detail in these reviews.
I went from a G500 to the Kone XTD and think it's superior is pretty much every way, including software. The improvements Logitech have made here don't seem to be enough to make any of these new mice as good as the Kone XTD.
The new markings on the Logitech mice look tacky and i can see them starting to wear off after a few months, which ALWAYS happens with every Logitech mouse i've had that has a coating/markings on it (usually silver, always comes off). You end up with a worn down ugly mouse. Any mouse that has this, especially around the buttons, should instantly get marked down for such a ridiculously obvious design flaw.
Dustin Sklavos - Saturday, March 30, 2013 - link
Truthfully I'm on the fence about whether I want to jump to the G500s or G700s or stick with the Kone XTD which is occupying my desktop presently. The coatings on the G500s and G700s don't generate as much raunchy handsweat as the XTD and they have the toggle freewheel, but the XTD's software is so ridiculously good it's tough to choose.That and the XTD *totally* matches my K90.
piiman - Wednesday, March 19, 2014 - link
I almost bought one of these but I couldn't tell if the wheel had a free spin mode and a good percentage reported wheel problems soon after buying.DarKHawK - Saturday, March 30, 2013 - link
I'm interested in knowing what exactly did they do with the internals. I got my G700 as soon as it was released. The micro-switches gave way about a year later. They are omoron brand made in china. Replaced those with omoron made in Japan and they are working ever since. If any one have more technical info about what Logitech really did under the hood please share.