There's a lot of gaming mice on the market, and a lot aim for the pro gamer market, but still shoot for a consumer market. The problem many run into is finding that balance. How many functions does the average consumer need? Eight programmable buttons, eleven programmable buttons, a 10-key pad on board, up and down DPI selectors. Boggles the mind, keeping track of so many features. What's worse is by packing so many things into a single mouse, there doesn't seem to be enough room for the most important component for a mouse. The gamer's hand.
Where do you put your fingers? What buttons do you focus on? Can you remember all the various functions? What happens if you forget? Sure, every button is programmable, but that doesn't mean with a plethora of functions to contend with, you need them all or can remember them all. It's not out of the realm of understanding for someone to have a cheat sheet so they don't accidentally hit something they didn't mean to. At least, I might expect such a thing from the average consumer, professional esports players would undoubtedly know what every button did, what to press, and had spent hours training in order to do so.
Which means, not only do their skills need to be top-notch, their memories must be equally as good. To make matters worse, some events require an un-opened product to prevent any cheating. Several tournaments out there want every player on equal ground out of the gate. If you're a pro in one of these tournaments, relying on the product itself becomes paramount. You also have to rely on all the mechanical features of the mouse to withstand the rigors.
It was with these things in mind that Logitech G created the newest addition to their already massive fleet of professional grade products. The Logitech G Pro Gaming Mouse.
image courtesy Logitech G
They've done away with the with the exotic names, which means no more Artemis, no more Orion, no more Proteus, no more Chaos, none of it. Just a straight-forward moniker. They've dropped the button count to six, keeping the most vital functions necessary. The mouse still keeps a massive spectrum of DPI settings, from the intensely precise 200 to the mind-boggling 12,000. They've switched over to a mechanical scroll wheel from an optical one. The mouse also has the traditional shape, something pros and average consumers alike can recognize.
There's a massive difference with this mouse versus a number of others. And it's not in the functionality. Logitech G, who works directly with and sponsors a number of pro gaming teams, had two gamers come on board for the design and functionality of the mouse. So instead of the massive Swiss Army knife that most people think a gamer wants, they created a simplistic design, putting all the effort into performance. Specifically, they tasked Tyler 'Skadoodle' Latham and Kory 'Semphis' Friesen with helping to find exactly what gamers want and need. Both are high level pro esports players in the top echelon, so they know exactly the rigorous trials a product must endure.
A lightweight design, advanced button spring tensioning for a more consistent button force, driver-free operation which allows for gamers to upload their settings directly to the mouse and take it anywhere, and a tested button operation of 20 million clicks. And of course the advanced RGB lighting system that Logitech G is so famous for.
I've had a chance to test it out, and I definitely think it meets the high standards that the company has come to embody. It's a little larger than the standard mouse, which means it fits comfortably in my hand. The shape is traditional, which means its sits well in my palm. All of the buttons are placed where, other than the two primary buttons, your fingers don't rest on them. The scroll wheel has a ribbed rubber coating which gives a better tactile feel. Though, I do have to say I miss having dual DPI selector buttons. The problem with having a single selector button is if you want to switch between settings, you can't go up and down quickly. You have to go around the horn to get to whatever setting you need in that moment. In a tournament setting, this second or two could be crucial.
Overall, though, it's a great addition to the Logitech G pantheon. It embodies everything they stand for, and everything they wanted to accomplish with the creation of a new mouse. There's so many options they offer, having something simple but effective is fantastic. What makes it even better is that it has the functionality to accommodate both pro esports players and everyday players.
