Hands-on: Logitech’s tiny G705 wireless mouse is more versatile than it looks
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On the M705 that I got with my work computer, my problem is that the great scrolling wheel I use all the time is too far back.
If I pinch the mouse so my finger is perfect on the wheel, I can't use the side buttons.
If I grip the mouse so the side button are fine, I need to bend my middle finger a lot, because the wheel is almost at the junction of my second and third knuckles.
While I do have longish fingers, I'm not sure I understand why they keep putting the side buttons only half- to an inch recessed from the wheel, when on my hand there's two inches there.
Seems to be true on this one too.
If I pinch the mouse so my finger is perfect on the wheel, I can't use the side buttons.
If I grip the mouse so the side button are fine, I need to bend my middle finger a lot, because the wheel is almost at the junction of my second and third knuckles.
While I do have longish fingers, I'm not sure I understand why they keep putting the side buttons only half- to an inch recessed from the wheel, when on my hand there's two inches there.
Seems to be true on this one too.
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So this mouse has onboard memory profile but it can't retain RGB configuration in there? That seems like a major oversight from Logitech. I suspect people will set their RGB preference up once and then move on, without worrying about whether it should be different when used with a different device.
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I do wish Logitech would make USB-C versions of their various receivers available as an option. Even on an up-to-date laptop, I always find the dedicated receiver works better than Bluetooth does.
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Scharon Harding":uh9so7p9 said:
I don't have a G705 to test, but typically, there are two main ways to use and configure Logitech mice without needing G Hub (which is a terribly buggy and intrusive program) on every computer it's used on.
1. Configure the mouse using G Hub on a host computer and set it to use the onboard memory profile. The mouse will now keep the same settings across any computers it's used on.
2. You can ditch G Hub altogether by using Logitech's own OnBoard Memory Manager which doesn't require an always-on connection and doesn't prompt you to sign up for a logitech account. Use OMM to configure the onboard mouse memory similar to Option 1 above.
I'm not sure if the OMM supports the G705 yet, since logi helpfully doesn't list compatible devices on the download page, but it's worth a shot.
The only time I use G Hub is for firmware flashes, since you need to be online to download the firmware anyway, and even then, there are literal hundreds of Reddit threads complaining about buggy and inconsistent firmware flashing behavior (My own G303 Shroud update had the mouse and G Hub stuck on 'updating' for two hours until I manually killed the process, uninstalled and reinstalled G Hub, and then got the prompt to update the software before I was able to update the firmware).
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If you don't need the high DPI, Logitech makes a similarly sized mouse called the MX Anywhere 3. It has bluetooth and 2.4 usb connection, can apparently work on glass, and it has the infinite scroll wheel (no horizontal scroll though). It pairs up to 3 devices at once and there's no RGB so you don't need to install something to turn it off. It's also $20 cheaper and comes in black, white, or pink. It doesn't have quiet clicks though for people who need that.
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“ For some, the color difference may not be strong enough for easy reading”
https://media.giphy.com/media/cO2qtahBaqltS/giphy.gif
https://media.giphy.com/media/cO2qtahBaqltS/giphy.gif
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I'm not a gamer, so don't need any of those extras. I think I'll stick with my M325, which is smaller, more symmetrical (I'm a leftie), and WAY cheaper. And, to lurknomore's point, the scroll wheel is far enough forward to be used easily.
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XSportSeeker
Ars Scholae Palatinae
Semi-related rant....
Is it just me or it seems like all these brands making keyboard and mouse seems to be stuck with some design decisions that prevents them from offering something different?
Like, for instance. Ergonomics wise, the difference between a portable or small hands mouse is basically... a plastic shell, right? Why can't you get a basic portable mouse that comes with a plastic shell that would make it more ergonomic (read bigger) when you are using it at home?
Also lacking in most well known brands that I've seen in Chinese brands - keyboards and mice that can connect and store multiple Bluetooth profiles, so you can switch back and forth with a button, switch, or key combination. This should be all interchangeable nowadays... the regular dongle, Bluetooth LE in multiple profiles plus wired if the user wanted to. Is it that much more expensive and hard to implement a "whatever you choose" basic system? Preferably physical, I hate needing to use proprietary software for that, but that's just me.
Heck, I bet something could even be done to make mouse and keyboards that can switch between regular to ergonomics oriented design... like a mouse that can go from regular horizontal to those ergo vertical. Perhaps even go air style with gyro and other sensors to be used in a set top box TV setting.
It just kinda seems like you could make a bog standard mouse and keyboard that everyone is used to, but also including all the potential niche options available, still in a pretty cheap package. Even stuff like solving the right and left handed problem, enabling people to add or take out extra buttons, stuff like that.
I mean, to be fair, Logitech has tried a whole ton of different things back when it had it's innovative products division thing going on, but this has mostly disappeared... at least from view, right? I remember keyboards that were like a felt pad you could put keys in any configuration you wanted to, those 3D rotation nubs that spun off to a separate company... 3D Conexxion or something like that, plus a bunch of other different types of interfaces.
In fact, I think we kinda had a period of attempts to innovate, but this has kinda died down...
It's because of lack of demand, right? Or just that the industry accommodated.
I mean, I understand how the majority of the market isn't really enthusiastic in changing things much in this space... but it seems so weird that for things we use daily so much there wouldn't be more attempts to adopt advanced features while maintaining usability and ease of use.
Don't get me wrong, I think zero lag in wireless is a good new-ish thing... but it seems everytime I go to chose a new mouse or keyboard for me, it's always a game of compromisses... this one has the right shape and size, but it's wired only. This one is wireless, but no option for wired, and the shape is weird. This one has multi profiles, dongle, no option for wired, right shape, but it's from a brand I know nothing about. Etc.
Probably too much wishful thinking on my part...
Is it just me or it seems like all these brands making keyboard and mouse seems to be stuck with some design decisions that prevents them from offering something different?
Like, for instance. Ergonomics wise, the difference between a portable or small hands mouse is basically... a plastic shell, right? Why can't you get a basic portable mouse that comes with a plastic shell that would make it more ergonomic (read bigger) when you are using it at home?
Also lacking in most well known brands that I've seen in Chinese brands - keyboards and mice that can connect and store multiple Bluetooth profiles, so you can switch back and forth with a button, switch, or key combination. This should be all interchangeable nowadays... the regular dongle, Bluetooth LE in multiple profiles plus wired if the user wanted to. Is it that much more expensive and hard to implement a "whatever you choose" basic system? Preferably physical, I hate needing to use proprietary software for that, but that's just me.
Heck, I bet something could even be done to make mouse and keyboards that can switch between regular to ergonomics oriented design... like a mouse that can go from regular horizontal to those ergo vertical. Perhaps even go air style with gyro and other sensors to be used in a set top box TV setting.
It just kinda seems like you could make a bog standard mouse and keyboard that everyone is used to, but also including all the potential niche options available, still in a pretty cheap package. Even stuff like solving the right and left handed problem, enabling people to add or take out extra buttons, stuff like that.
I mean, to be fair, Logitech has tried a whole ton of different things back when it had it's innovative products division thing going on, but this has mostly disappeared... at least from view, right? I remember keyboards that were like a felt pad you could put keys in any configuration you wanted to, those 3D rotation nubs that spun off to a separate company... 3D Conexxion or something like that, plus a bunch of other different types of interfaces.
In fact, I think we kinda had a period of attempts to innovate, but this has kinda died down...
It's because of lack of demand, right? Or just that the industry accommodated.
I mean, I understand how the majority of the market isn't really enthusiastic in changing things much in this space... but it seems so weird that for things we use daily so much there wouldn't be more attempts to adopt advanced features while maintaining usability and ease of use.
Don't get me wrong, I think zero lag in wireless is a good new-ish thing... but it seems everytime I go to chose a new mouse or keyboard for me, it's always a game of compromisses... this one has the right shape and size, but it's wired only. This one is wireless, but no option for wired, and the shape is weird. This one has multi profiles, dongle, no option for wired, right shape, but it's from a brand I know nothing about. Etc.
Probably too much wishful thinking on my part...
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Even most modern devices have more USB A ports than otherwise. And what’s to stop you from using a dedicated receiver? Every one of their devices come with one.
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Most of these companies seem to have become very risk adverse.
Now, you could say that this has left lots of space for smaller companies, even one-man outfits, which would be true. For computer peripherals, take Azeron for example. And you could say that catering to niches just isn't worth the big company's time.
But many of those niches have no been filled. It turns out that starting a company is not easy. Of those small companies that do, many don't have the resources to make products of as good quality or on the same scale. Take the aforementioned Azeron. Fantastic products, but they are 3D printed which simply isn't good as controller made using moulds.
And those big companies could easily afford to have more niche products. Quite a few used to and still made nice profits. Many used to. Sticking with my example here, Azeron, Logitech used to make the G13.
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To this day Logitech refuses to make a USB C dongle. I love their USB C charged peripherals. My MX stuff lasts months before I gotta top up via the handy dandy USB C port yet they still refuse to make a USB C dongle. Yes I get that the actual dongle part is likely to be bigger with a USB C port as they cant hide some of the circuitry in the USB A plug, but I don't care, I just want it as an optional thing I can buy separately.
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The vast majority of computers have more USB-A ports than USB-C. And when it comes to peripherals with USB hubs like monitors, USB-C continues to be a rarity.
There's also the issue of USB-A plugs being recessed, so provides a more secure connection to the receiver, whereas most USB-C ports would leave the dongle sticking out and liable to break the port if mishandled.
None of these are show stoppers to selling aftermarket receivers, and G Hub (ew) even lets you pair an existing lightspeed receiver to a different mouse if you ever lose one or the other and have a spare.
Could be worse, I guess. If peripheral companies had strictly followed the USB Consortium guidelines on upstream/downstream devices, we could have been stuck with USB-B ports on mice.
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Yeah I have a travel mouse with an A and C dongle. The C is a little more chunky but not by much.
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I was going to post about the MX3. It is my go to travel mouse. I don’t game so I don’t need the super fast response, but for a little mouse this has excellent features.
Very happy with it.
https://www.logitech.com/en-us/products ... 05833.html
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Terribly buggy is a bit of a stretch in my experience. It does require creating a login and consumes resources for nothing (basically, after setup), both of which are annoying, but I've yet to encounter an issue or a bug. Maybe it was older versions?
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Yeah, it looks somewhat like a lower profile M705, which fits my hand just fine
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YetAnotherAnonymousAppellation
Ars Tribunus Militum
I can buy a perfectly serviceable wireless optical mouse at a dollar store for CAD$4. It's not perfect, but it works.
I like Logitech rodents and have spent big bucks on them in the past when the alternatives weren't that much cheaper, but we're talking about a 25:1 ratio here. I'm currently using a budget Logitech corded mouse that I paid less than $15 for.
If you're going to expect me to cough up that much extra cash, your product had better be able to absolutely dazzle me, and I don't mean with meaningless gewgaws like RGB trim.
I like Logitech rodents and have spent big bucks on them in the past when the alternatives weren't that much cheaper, but we're talking about a 25:1 ratio here. I'm currently using a budget Logitech corded mouse that I paid less than $15 for.
If you're going to expect me to cough up that much extra cash, your product had better be able to absolutely dazzle me, and I don't mean with meaningless gewgaws like RGB trim.
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I've flashed 3 mice in the past 3 months (a GPX Superlight and 2 G303s), and each time G Hub would get stuck on the 'updating firmware' stage and require a force-quit and manually reinstalling or updating the software to get it to finish. I even tried manually updating G Hub before flashing a couple times, but it would tell me it was up to date before flashing, get stuck, and then prompt me to update after restarting it.
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Also, while I understand Ars Technica is American and uses freedom units, it would've been great if we could get metric in ( ) behind it.
And because it was a bit hard to eyeball the size of the mouse due to the photo's used (Except the gripping one, that one is very much appreciated because it gave some much needed context) it's somewhat hard for me to really grasp how tiny this is.
If I understand inches correctly, this is about a half-sized mouse? So: small, but not novelty tiny?
Here are the metric conversions:
Height: 3.94 cm
Width: 6.81 cm
Depth: 10.58 cm
Weight: 85 g
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I prefer my charging ports on the bottom...
:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/70596699/Apple_Magic_Mouse_Bad_Design_2.0.0.jpg)
But by then it's not a computer mouse is it?
It's a computer turtle!
Think Different!
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Re: RGB lighting, remember that OpenRGB is a thing. It's open source and allows setting the RGB lighting on an amazing number of devices. If you only want to control the lighting and don't want to use the shitty Logitech or Razer software, this is for you. Yes, it supports regions etc. for most devices that support them.
https://openrgb.org/
You don't have to go through the graphical interface, it's trivial to use the CLI version to set colors at system startup (working like a charm for me on Windows 10 and Linux).
The G705 isn't on the compatibility list yet (probably because it's new) but if its API is similar enough to the other Logitech mice, you can expect it to be supported as soon as devs get their hands on one.
https://openrgb.org/
You don't have to go through the graphical interface, it's trivial to use the CLI version to set colors at system startup (working like a charm for me on Windows 10 and Linux).
The G705 isn't on the compatibility list yet (probably because it's new) but if its API is similar enough to the other Logitech mice, you can expect it to be supported as soon as devs get their hands on one.
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RGB lights on keyboards and mice is about the dumbest thing ever. I don't need my keyboard or mouse to look like a billboard for a strip joint.
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would really wish Logitech just release G502 X Plus already. the leaks has been around since last year and a few months ago, someone already posted owning it on Reddit. it's weird that Logitech has a mouse working but doesn't want to release it to the market.
https://www.reddit.com/r/MouseReview/co ... ame=iossmf
https://www.reddit.com/r/MouseReview/co ... ame=iossmf
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GHub prevents my laptop from going to sleep. It’ll wake right back up within 5 seconds. I barely use it even with my Logitech gaming headset and mouse for RGB just because that issue is so annoying, so this portable mouse is sadly not for me.
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Gah, I wish Logi would at least offer a USB C dongle option. Even as a separate product.
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Interesting. That does sound crappy. I have a G502 Hero and only ever manually did 2 firmware updates in the 18 months I've owned it. I wonder if other updates happened without me realizing it, or if the wired versions don't get nearly as many firmware updates as wireless ones. Or if mine was just already out for long-enough that few updates were needed.
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Yeah, I do think my experience is a bit of an outlier. FWIW, I had no troubles flashing the OG G303 Daedalus and a G903 2-3 years ago.
I do use G Hub very atypically to how Logitech intends, since I only ever run it when I need to flash a new mouse (use onboard memory for all my settings). So my install is probably behind on updates whenever I do load it, but it doesn't always prompt me to update G Hub before I try to flash, which seems to be a common cause for the process failing. IIRC, the GPX Superlight flash wasn't quite as painful as the G303 Shrouds, and I forgot to mention that the first G303 flash also resulted in my losing pairing to the receiver, which was fortunately a relatively easy fix by going into Settings and re-pairing the receiver to the mouse.
I do use G Hub on and off whenever I get a new wireless mouse just to get a feel for the battery life and how often I need to charge my mice. The GPX (70h as-quoted) lasts me 2+ wks on a charge (30% battery after 2 wks) and the G303s (145h) last me 4+ wks (63% battery after 2 wks). I do have so many mice because I have one for my desktop (G303), gaming laptop (G303) and work laptop (GPX Superlight). Fortunately, the second G303 was a warranty replacement for my dying G903, so it didn't really cost me any more than the amortized cost of the G903, which lasted about 2 years before it started misclicking. Fingers crossed the Omron 20Ms are more resilient, I had the same problem w my G303 Daedalus and was able to fix it by disassembling the Omron microswitch and re-straightening the copper spring (5 years and going strong now), but the 903 was just too much of a hassle to disassemble (~27 screws on ifixit, and differing screw lengths on top of that), so I just put it in for RMA/replacement.
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They're not quite the same category though. The closer Logi competitor to the Atheris would be the G305 (ca. $30-45), as both mice are wireless only with AA battery. The Atheris is also very heavy for its size (122g) vs the G305 (99g) and the G705 (85g), and "only" 7200 dpi vs the 12k DPI on the G305 and 8200 dpi on the G705 (granted DPI above a certain point is not a useful spec, but can correlate somewhat to surface reading robustness - which is very important in a travel mouse).
Now whether the G705 justifies its price bump is debatable. Personally, I think that the 40hr battery life on the G705 is a deal-killer for me (although 80hrs with RGB off is more tenable), and I don't use RGB on any of my mice other than a lone LED to identify the currently active profile. But generally razer and logitech tend to have similar competing products at similar competing prices. The upsells on both companies to higher end models can be pretty brutal, though.
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BevansDesign
Ars Scholae Palatinae
It's great that they're creating mice for people with small hands, but how about creating mice for people with
large
hands? The only mouse options available right now (with almost zero exceptions) are Small and Medium - though they call the latter "one size fits all" as if it's true.
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