Travel mouse - G305 vs. MX Anywhere 2s

Valantar · Jan 17, 2019

I need a travel mouse. It'll mostly be used for light gaming, but also some productivity. This is for an ultrabook, so no twitch gaming or FPS, and I don't play MOBAs or RTSes. Definitely nothing requiring much in terms of speed or performance, but I do want something that's somewhat ergonomic, and good quality. I'm generally a (big) fan of Logitech, so I'd like to stick with them, and wireless is an absolute requirement. The mouse will only be used when travelling. So far I've landed on two options: The MX Anywhere 2S and the G305 Lightspeed.

G305:
Pros:
Good sensor (better than I need for this)
Good battery life
Programmable buttons
Decent ergonomics
OK price

Cons:
Size
Not rechargeable
Needs a dongle

MX Anywhere 2S:
Pros:
Size
Bluetooth, no dongle
Rechargeable battery
Fancy scroll wheel
Built for travel/portability
Good enough sensor

Cons:
Price
Needs yet another software utility
Worse ergonomics than G305

If it weren't for the price difference, I'd go for the Anywhere 2S, but I don't actually know how portable the (cheaper and likely better) G305 is. The dongle would annoy me, though. Bluetooth is perfect for this use case.

Thoughts?

FreedomEclipse · Jan 17, 2019

any $10 mouse off amazon will do. I use a TechNet mouse for my laptop and it works just fine. you can buy a logitech mouse in that price bracket if you want. since its only for a ultrabook and you dont play twitch shooters then you dont really need the DPi settings of any of these mouses

Pick up a logitech M510, 910 or M705/MX Anywhere if you really want to spend money. For a mouse that will only be used when travelling -- it wont matter a whole lot unless youre travelling constantly, on the road 24/7, never at home or touring different countries days, weeks, months at a time so need to be pretty mobile.

::EDIT::

M185 also gets my vote - Its small compact and functional. I used to use a similar one a good few years back. I gave it to my dad but i think he lost it somewhere.

Bill_Bright · Jan 17, 2019

I don't think you should let the dongle bother you. I have the [discontinuted

] V450 Nano Mouse . And the USB dongle is so small, I leave it in the USB port full time. It has never interfered with my travel bag or been knocked loose or caused any problems. The blue laser tracks on just about anything - including my pant leg and the upholstered arm of my chair.

I am right handed but use my mouse with my left hand. I do not like contoured mice. But to that, only you can really decide what feels best in your hand. What feels great in mine may feel awkward or even painful in yours.

Mine uses standard AA batteries that last about 5 months. But of course, YMMV depending how you use it. I put rechargeable batteries in there and that works just fine.

P4-630 · Jan 17, 2019

Valantar said:
I need a travel mouse. It'll mostly be used for light gaming, but also some productivity. This is for an ultrabook, so no twitch gaming or FPS, and I don't play MOBAs or RTSes. Definitely nothing requiring much in terms of speed or performance, but I do want something that's somewhat ergonomic, and good quality. I'm generally a (big) fan of Logitech, so I'd like to stick with them, and wireless is an absolute requirement. The mouse will only be used when travelling. So far I've landed on two options: The MX Anywhere 2S and the G305 Lightspeed.

G305:
Pros:
Good sensor (better than I need for this)
Good battery life
Programmable buttons
Decent ergonomics
OK price

Cons:
Size
Not rechargeable
Needs a dongle

MX Anywhere 2S:
Pros:
Size
Bluetooth, no dongle
Rechargeable battery
Fancy scroll wheel
Built for travel/portability
Good enough sensor

Cons:
Price
Needs yet another software utility
Worse ergonomics than G305

If it weren't for the price difference, I'd go for the Anywhere 2S, but I don't actually know how portable the (cheaper and likely better) G305 is. The dongle would annoy me, though. Bluetooth is perfect for this use case.

Thoughts?

I have the MX anywhere, it's a great mouse, also has a switch on the bottom so you can switch between 3 devices, it works with the 2.4Ghz receiver or bluetooth.
The only thing is the left and right mouse buttons are rather loud (compared to my logitech nano)

The software isn't "needed" , I don't use the logitech software with my MX anywhere.

Valantar · Jan 17, 2019

FreedomEclipse said:
any $10 mouse off amazon will do. I use a TechNet mouse for my laptop and it works just fine. you can buy a logitech mouse in that price bracket if you want. since its only for a ultrabook and you dont play twitch shooters then you dont really need the DPi settings of any of these mouses

Pick up a logitech M510, 910 or M705/MX Anywhere if you really want to spend money. For a mouse that will only be used when travelling -- it wont matter a whole lot unless youre travelling constantly, on the road 24/7, never at home or touring different countries days, weeks, months at a time so need to be pretty mobile.

::EDIT::

M185 also gets my vote - Its small compact and functional. I used to use a similar one a good few years back. I gave it to my dad but i think he lost it somewhere.

I've used enough cheap mice to know I don't want one. Either the build quality is bad, it has some stupid fixed button binding that gets in my way, or it wears out. Years working in computer retail has given me hands-on experience with quite a few mice.

Also, mice like the M185 give me hand cramps. Too small and lumpy for my hands. Previous experience with the original MX Anywhere tells me it works okay, but the taller travel mice don't work for me. I use a palm grip, which kind of works on flat-ish mice, and definitely doesn't on small, tall ones.

Bill_Bright said:
I don't think you should let the dongle bother you. I have the [discontinuted ] V450 Nano Mouse . And the USB dongle is so small, I leave it in the USB port full time. It has never interfered with my travel bag or been knocked loose or caused any problems. The blue laser tracks on just about anything - including my pant leg and the upholstered arm of my chair.

I am right handed but use my mouse with my left hand. I do not like contoured mice. But to that, only you can really decide what feels best in your hand. What feels great in mine may feel awkward or even painful in yours.

Mine uses standard AA batteries that last about 5 months. But of course, YMMV depending how you use it. I put rechargeable batteries in there and that works just fine.

"Permanent" dongles generally bother me, at least on laptops. I haven't checked with my current laptop (got a new one for work last week), but previous ones have had slightly less deep ports than standard, likely to save internal space, which means dongles stick out more, and are more likely to break. Considering how much time I spend carrying this laptop around, and how this means I'll need to grip and handle it more carefully, I'd like to avoid a dongle if I can.

I only travel a few times a year, but that's likely to increase in the near future. The mouse will also be my fall-back for when I need more control than a presentation remote gives me when I'm teaching a class. And leaving my USB ports free is a boon in and of itself.

The one thing that really could convince me to use a dongle is better ergonomics without sacrificing on portability (or quality), especially if it's noticeably cheaper. Hence my two alternatives.

Bill_Bright · Jan 17, 2019

I would still check them out. The Logitech dongle for my mouse barely sticks out 1/4 of an inch.

FreedomEclipse · Jan 17, 2019

well different strokes for different folks but this tecknet mouse has been my laptop companion since 2013 and it just works. No need for drivers or anything, I dont really travel as much anymore so it sees more use as a mouse for installing windows on new client builds.

Mainly played guildwars and League on my laptop with that mouse. occasionally some BF2 back when i got it.

Should be bigger than the M185

Brusfantomet · Jan 17, 2019

Valantar said:
I've used enough cheap mice to know I don't want one. Either the build quality is bad, it has some stupid fixed button binding that gets in my way, or it wears out. Years working in computer retail has given me hands-on experience with quite a few mice.

Also, mice like the M185 give me hand cramps. Too small and lumpy for my hands. Previous experience with the original MX Anywhere tells me it works okay, but the taller travel mice don't work for me. I use a palm grip, which kind of works on flat-ish mice, and definitely doesn't on small, tall ones.

"Permanent" dongles generally bother me, at least on laptops. I haven't checked with my current laptop (got a new one for work last week), but previous ones have had slightly less deep ports than standard, likely to save internal space, which means dongles stick out more, and are more likely to break. Considering how much time I spend carrying this laptop around, and how this means I'll need to grip and handle it more carefully, I'd like to avoid a dongle if I can.

I only travel a few times a year, but that's likely to increase in the near future. The mouse will also be my fall-back for when I need more control than a presentation remote gives me when I'm teaching a class. And leaving my USB ports free is a boon in and of itself.

The one thing that really could convince me to use a dongle is better ergonomics without sacrificing on portability (or quality), especially if it's noticeably cheaper. Hence my two alternatives.

When I started in my current job I got a new laptop and a mouse, it was the MX anywhere 2. Personally I hated the ergonomics of the mouse, as it’s built for smaller hands than mine (I have normal sized hands). Got my employer to get me a G403 instead, its MUTCH better ergonomically, I also hated the scroll wheel on the MX anywhere.

As P4-630 says the software is unnecessary for the MX anywhere if you do not intend to use the extra thumb button.

I would recommend you try the mouse in hand first, as it’s not as good as other Logitech mouse in hand, in my opinion.

Valantar · Jan 17, 2019

FreedomEclipse said:
well different strokes for different folks but this tecknet mouse has been my laptop companion since 2013 and it just works. No need for drivers or anything, I dont really travel as much anymore so it sees more use as a mouse for installing windows on new client builds.

Mainly played guildwars and League on my laptop with that mouse. occasionally some BF2 back when i got it.

Should be bigger than the M185

Wow, that is about as blatant a copy of Logitech's old Marathon Mouse as I've ever seen. Had one like that for my HTPC back in the day, but sadly it died due to too many falls off the couch. I suppose that might be an option, as I like the size and ergonomics of that mouse, even if it's on the large side for travel (not in footprint, but footprint+height). Doubt I can get Tecknet here in Norway, but I suppose I might put the M705 on my shortlist - I know I like it, and while it does have a dongle, it's also quite cheap.

Brusfantomet said:
When I started in my current job I got a new laptop and a mouse, it was the MX anywhere 2. Personally I hated the ergonomics of the mouse, as it’s built for smaller hands than mine (I have normal sized hands). Got my employer to get me a G403 instead, its MUTCH better ergonomically, I also hated the scroll wheel on the MX anywhere.

As P4-630 says the software is unnecessary for the MX anywhere if you do not intend to use the extra thumb button.

I would recommend you try the mouse in hand first, as it’s not as good as other Logitech mouse in hand, in my opinion.

I actually really like Logitech's free-spinning scroll wheels, at least the ones that you can switch between clicky and not

I have average or slightly larger than average hands, and day-to-day I use Logitech G602s both at home and at the office (I had a spare, thanks to Logitech support sending me a retail-boxed replacement when the scroll wheel button failed - a month after the warranty had expired! :eek:

), and they fit my hands perfectly. I definitely don't have use for its multitude of buttons, but the battery life, ergonomics, general feature set and price brought it home for me. For mobile mice, I've generally given up on good ergonomics, and settled for what's least bad for my hands, which experience tells me is medium-height designs like the MX Anywhere or slightly-too-large-to-be-truly-mobile designs like the M705. Tall, small mice require a claw grip, which absolutely kills my hands. The G403 looks really nice, and I bet I'd like it, but it's even more expensive than the MX Anywhere, and too large, requires a dongle, and has nowhere to stow the dongle when it's disconnected (as far as I can see). That makes it a no-go in this case.

Bill_Bright said:
I would still check them out. The Logitech dongle for my mouse barely sticks out 1/4 of an inch.

I checked both USB ports on my laptop with the dongle for my desktop mouse, and as a pleasant surprise, it actually fit all the way in. Suppose Dell has noticed that dongles like this are a common use-case and making them stick out more is rather dumb. That would minimize the pain of dongle life, at least. And, as I've said from the start, I'm open to a mouse with a dongle, I'd just really like to avoid it if possible. Then again, thanks to @FreedomEclipse above here, I now have a strong contender for "cheap enough to make me not care about dongles" in the M705. It also has amazing battery life.

Edit: wait a second. Logitech has launched a successor to the M705, the M720 Triathlon mouse. Which has BT and the "pair up to three devices" functionality of the MX Anywhere 2S, but is almost half the price, should ergonomically match the M705, and it even has the fancy scroll wheel! The only thing it loses (from what I can tell) is sensitivity (max 1000 dpi vs. 4000 - I'm fine with 1000 for desktop use, even if my regular setting is 1400) and the rechargeable battery. With 24 months of battery life on a single AA, that should be all right. I think we have a winner!

FreedomEclipse · Jan 17, 2019

Check amazon. If they dont ship to Norway, then I can buy one and have it shipped to you if you still want it (not for free of course)

Valantar · Jan 17, 2019

FreedomEclipse said:
Check amazon. If they dont ship to Norway, then I can buy one and have it shipped to you if you still want it (not for free of course)

It seems to be an Amazon policy to not ship electronics to Norway - don't know why. Thanks for the offer, though, but knowing international shipping costs that'd likely bring me very close to the price of the M720 that I just discovered, which has pretty much everything I want.

Brusfantomet · Jan 17, 2019

Valantar said:
Wow, that is about as blatant a copy of Logitech's old Marathon Mouse as I've ever seen. Had one like that for my HTPC back in the day, but sadly it died due to too many falls off the couch. I suppose that might be an option, as I like the size and ergonomics of that mouse, even if it's on the large side for travel (not in footprint, but footprint+height). Doubt I can get Tecknet here in Norway, but I suppose I might put the M705 on my shortlist - I know I like it, and while it does have a dongle, it's also quite cheap.

I actually really like Logitech's free-spinning scroll wheels, at least the ones that you can switch between clicky and not

I have average or slightly larger than average hands, and day-to-day I use Logitech G602s both at home and at the office (I had a spare, thanks to Logitech support sending me a retail-boxed replacement when the scroll wheel button failed - a month after the warranty had expired! ), and they fit my hands perfectly. I definitely don't have use for its multitude of buttons, but the battery life, ergonomics, general feature set and price brought it home for me. For mobile mice, I've generally given up on good ergonomics, and settled for what's least bad for my hands, which experience tells me is medium-height designs like the MX Anywhere or slightly-too-large-to-be-truly-mobile designs like the M705. Tall, small mice require a claw grip, which absolutely kills my hands. The G403 looks really nice, and I bet I'd like it, but it's even more expensive than the MX Anywhere, and too large, requires a dongle, and has nowhere to stow the dongle when it's disconnected (as far as I can see). That makes it a no-go in this case.

I checked both USB ports on my laptop with the dongle for my desktop mouse, and as a pleasant surprise, it actually fit all the way in. Suppose Dell has noticed that dongles like this are a common use-case and making them stick out more is rather dumb. That would minimize the pain of dongle life, at least. And, as I've said from the start, I'm open to a mouse with a dongle, I'd just really like to avoid it if possible. Then again, thanks to @FreedomEclipse above here, I now have a strong contender for "cheap enough to make me not care about dongles" in the M705. It also has amazing battery life.

Edit: wait a second. Logitech has launched a successor to the M705, the M720 Triathlon mouse. Which has BT and the "pair up to three devices" functionality of the MX Anywhere 2S, but is almost half the price, should ergonomically match the M705, and it even has the fancy scroll wheel! The only thing it loses (from what I can tell) is sensitivity (max 1000 dpi vs. 4000 - I'm fine with 1000 for desktop use, even if my regular setting is 1400) and the rechargeable battery. With 24 months of battery life on a single AA, that should be all right. I think we have a winner!

Since you live in Norway I would highly suggest getting to your nearest Power or Elkøp (two electronics stores in Norway) to check out the mouse in the hand. The MX absolutely requires a claw grip.

The size of the G403 is a non-issue for me, but then in general I laugh at those that think a 2 kg laptop is heavy. Battery life is only so so, last for ca 35 hours of use, so almost a week at work.

Valantar · Jan 18, 2019

Brusfantomet said:
Since you live in Norway I would highly suggest getting to your nearest Power or Elkøp (two electronics stores in Norway) to check out the mouse in the hand. The MX absolutely requires a claw grip.

The size of the G403 is a non-issue for me, but then in general I laugh at those that think a 2 kg laptop is heavy. Battery life is only so so, last for ca 35 hours of use, so almost a week at work.

I like to travel with a small (20-25l) backpack, yet I also tend to stuff it quite full, so making the stuff I bring as compact as possible is important. Given that I'm either carrying a bunch of books or camera gear most of the time, making my laptop as light as possible is also a priority. 1.4-ish kg is fine, the last time I had a heavier laptop was in high school when I had a ~2kg HP convertible (this was ... 2007-8?), which was a nightmare when combined with everything else I carried with it. Half a kg equals a rather large book, so it makes a difference for sure.

I do like to get some hands-on experience with peripherals, as feel and ergonomics is among the most crucial factors there, so I'll see if I can get around to getting to a larger store (fun living in a town where all the large stores are far outside the city centre, requiring a lengthy bus ride). I disagree with the MX requiring a claw grip, though - back when I had the original MX, i used a "palm-ish" grip where I essentially held the mouse with my fingers and the top of my palm, with the rest of the hand hanging off the back. Worked quite well, and certainly no clawing. It's the consistent and extreme angling of the wrist and fingers that a claw grip requires that makes it painful for me.

Still, as I said, the M720 seems like 99% of what I want for not much money at all, so I'll have to see if I can find that somewhere locally.

Bill_Bright · Jan 18, 2019

Valantar said:
Suppose Dell has noticed that dongles like this are a common use-case and making them stick out more is rather dumb.

Not just dumb but a non-compliance with standards. The physical size and shape of USB ports is set by the USB standards, not Dell. So in this case, with mouse dongles, it is really up to the mouse makers to design the dongles to be as unobtrusive as possible.

Valantar · Jan 18, 2019

Bill_Bright said:
Not just dumb but a non-compliance with standards. The physical size and shape of USB ports is set by the USB standards, not Dell. So in this case, with mouse dongles, it is really up to the mouse makers to design the dongles to be as unobtrusive as possible.

Oh, absolutely, but making shorter-than-standard ports to save internal space is surprisingly common practice in my experience. SD card readers where the cards barely enter the laptop are the worst offenders (probably no standard to violate there), but I've seen plenty of too-short USB ports, and some HDMI too. Not shortened enough that it has any effect on function, but enough that it's clear that the OEM shaved a mm or two off the inside of the port. I doubt most(/any) laptops get checked for port size compliance as long as the ports work.

Bill_Bright · Jan 18, 2019

For the devices, not such a big deal (except they can be no longer than 1/2 inch by the standard). But for the ports themselves it is important - especially where shielding is essential to prevent EMI/RFI - which would certainly be an issue with RF devices like wireless dongles.

I know there is a user demand for thinner and lighter and that often leads to non-standard, proprietary parts. But I think makers tend to cut the corners too much to often for so little marketing fodder - even though they go to great lengths to hype how thin and how light their products are. I don't know but to me, when it comes to mobile devices, I think thin and light often equal flimsy.

System Name	Hotbox
Processor	AMD Ryzen 7 5800X, 110/95/110, PBO +150Mhz, CO -7,-7,-20(x6),
Motherboard	ASRock Phantom Gaming B550 ITX/ax
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Memory	32GB G.Skill FlareX 3200c14 @3800c15
Video Card(s)	PowerColor Radeon 6900XT Liquid Devil Ultimate, UC@2250MHz max @~200W
Storage	2TB Adata SX8200 Pro
Display(s)	Dell U2711 main, AOC 24P2C secondary
Case	SSUPD Meshlicious
Audio Device(s)	Optoma Nuforce μDAC 3
Power Supply	Corsair SF750 Platinum
Mouse	Logitech G603
Keyboard	Keychron K3/Cooler Master MasterKeys Pro M w/DSA profile caps
Software	Windows 10 Pro

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Audio Device(s)	Yamaha RX-V573\|Speakers: JBL Control One\|Auna 300-CN\|Wharfedale Diamond SW150
Power Supply	Seasonic Focus GX-850 80+ GOLD
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Power Supply	EVGA Supernova 550W G2 Gold
Mouse	Logitech M190
Keyboard	Microsoft Wireless Comfort 5050
Software	W10 Pro 64-bit

System Name	AlderLake
Processor	Intel i7 12700K P-Cores @ 5Ghz
Motherboard	Gigabyte Z690 Aorus Master
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Audio Device(s)	Panasonic SA-PMX94 / Realtek onboard + B&O speaker system / Harman Kardon Go + Play / Logitech G533
Power Supply	Seasonic Focus Plus Gold 750W
Mouse	Logitech MX Anywhere 2 Laser wireless
Keyboard	RAPOO E9270P Black 5GHz wireless
Software	Windows 11
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System Name	Hotbox
Processor	AMD Ryzen 7 5800X, 110/95/110, PBO +150Mhz, CO -7,-7,-20(x6),
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Cooling	LOBO + Laing DDC 1T Plus PWM + Corsair XR5 280mm + 2x Arctic P14
Memory	32GB G.Skill FlareX 3200c14 @3800c15
Video Card(s)	PowerColor Radeon 6900XT Liquid Devil Ultimate, UC@2250MHz max @~200W
Storage	2TB Adata SX8200 Pro
Display(s)	Dell U2711 main, AOC 24P2C secondary
Case	SSUPD Meshlicious
Audio Device(s)	Optoma Nuforce μDAC 3
Power Supply	Corsair SF750 Platinum
Mouse	Logitech G603
Keyboard	Keychron K3/Cooler Master MasterKeys Pro M w/DSA profile caps
Software	Windows 10 Pro

Travel mouse - G305 vs. MX Anywhere 2s

Valantar

FreedomEclipse

~Technological Technocrat~

Bill_Bright

P4-630

Valantar

Bill_Bright

FreedomEclipse

~Technological Technocrat~

Brusfantomet

Valantar

FreedomEclipse

~Technological Technocrat~

Valantar

Brusfantomet

Valantar

Bill_Bright

Valantar

Bill_Bright

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