Logitech G700s Mouse

My old Logitech MX Performance, which I've been quite happy with, was starting to get a bit worn down (the outside/surface that is, just fine mechanically) so I bought myself a G700s as a replacement.

I did consider just getting another Performance MX but it was never a perfect mouse, the thumb-rest is far too deep for my grip (old MX Revolution was much better), the sideways tilt of the scroll-wheel barely works and it wore out far too quickly so I look at alternatives first.

I did look at some other mice before picking this one up but at this point I'm so used to Logitech's dual-mode scroll wheel (click a button and the scroll wheel can spin freely and scroll extremely quickly) that it's hard to imagine using a mouse without it.

Ultimately, the Logitech G700s is what I went with, this post details my thoughts on it.

What's in the box

I doubt anyone opening the box of the G700s would really be surprised by the contents. There's the mouse, the wireless receiver, extension cable for the receiver, the cable that's used for charging and as a data cable. You also get the standard legal papers and manual as well as a CD with drivers (which you as always should just throw away and just go to the manufactures website for up to date drivers).

So yes, pretty standard, still, I must say I was disappointed. Why? Because of standards previously set by Logitech. With the MX Performance, which is their flagship non-gaming mouse you also get a wall-plug charger so you don't need to waste a port on your PC if you don't want to (thankfully this charger works fine for the G700s as well so I'm good anyway) as well as a small travel bag for all the cables. Might not seem like much but if you get that with their flagship non-gaming mouse which has always been cheaper then why not with their to of the line gaming mouse?

The mouse itself

The G700s in itself is a great mouse, very solid build and the coating on the surface is nice. The top coating is fairly matte (probably due to the hydro-phobic coating which is a very good idea) and the sides have nice texturing to them, feels very nice, many mice are far too glossy. The main buttons have the same click as just about any mouse, nothing special or problematic there. The the scroll-wheel click and left and right tilt all work without any problems, the tilting was pretty much unusable on both the MX Performance and the MX Revolution before it.

I do wish it was a bit bigger, at least in the right side. I have medium sized hands at most and and my finger is almost at the end of the right mouse button and unlike the MX there is a small border/bezel in front of the mouse buttons so with a larger hand that might just get in the way.

Battery life

Coming from the MX Performance this is another let down. Even with conservatives settings with a polling rate of 200 out of 1000 (the MX is at 125) and dpi set at 1100 (same I used on the MX) out of the maximum 8200 as well as "Power mode" set to "Power saver" I still have to plug in the charging cable every night. I do get through a day without problems but the mouse is always down to one third charge. Well, I think so anyway, it uses three LEDs to to show battery level and at the end of a day only one will light up but I do know it's supposed to use one red LED to indicate when it needs charging. In the end it doesn't matter exactly how much is left after one day since it is little enough that it wont get through another day.

The MX Performance (which is also a laser mouse) running with similar settings would usually get through at least three days before it was in need of charging.

I even tried using the battery from the MX to make sure the one in the G700s wasn't bad and that the 100mAh difference on them had that significant an effect, didn't change anything.

It's a disappointment to have battery life cut down to a third but I have gotten used to it. It'll still last me a day of heavy usage and plugging in the cable at the end of the day exactly a lot of work. It also charges in just an hour or two. Of course, you can also use it while charging should you need to.

Software

The G700s uses the Logitech Gaming Software instead of the SetPoint software used by their normal mice and keyboards. It lets you set up application specific profiles and have buttons do different things depending on what application you're using so that's fine. What's odd is that in the general settings department the Gaming Software is bit lacking when compared to SetPoint. You have more control over you DPI and it let's you select the report rate but where SetPoint has four settings for pointer acceleration (None, Low, Medium and High) the gaming software only has a tickbox for enabling it (seems to be about the same as SetPoint's low so that's fine with me). SetPoint let's you control pointer speed (separate from DPI) and scroll size while the gaming software has no options for this as all, smooth scrolling is also missing so for things like that you'll have to depend on OS side settings.

Would probably be a good idea for Logitech to switch to one piece of software, why spend time and money developing two pieces of software for doing the same thing? They could still keep some software functionality exclusive to their gaming peripherals, it's not like SetPoint offers they same options for all keyboards and mice.

Final thoughts

Even though there are some issues I am really happy with the mouse simply because the mouse itself is so well made and works so well, it kind of makes up for the missing accessories, software oddities and lacking battery life.

I'd definitely recommend the mouse as long as you're fine with plugging in a cable at the end of the day or occasionally using it with the cable attached (or even plan to always have it plugged in).

If you want something that lasts several days on battery this, sadly, isn't the mouse for you. If you want a wireless Logitech gaming mouse with longer battery life I'd say consider the G602, haven't tried that one myself but consider it before ultimately I went with the G700s instead due to the dual-mode scroll-wheel which the G602 sadly doesn't have.

It is a gaming mouse which means there are extra buttons and fancy texture on the top to look 'cooler' but I'd still recommend this unless you're looking for a cheap mouse that is because cheap it certainly isn't, for someone who spend a lot of time at their computer though it's well worth it to have a good mouse.