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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Flunk - Saturday, March 30, 2013 - link
"With the G500s available there's no reason to recommend the G500" This statement isn't quite true. Logitech is fire saling the G500 so price is a big factor at the moment (I paid $30 for one). After that, I doubt there will be any more to compare.Dustin Sklavos - Saturday, March 30, 2013 - link
The problem is that the G500's primary buttons aren't particularly durable. I wore out my first G500 and I have a friend who wore his out as well.You can get a G500 at a fire sale price, but there's really no point when you'll just wind up replacing it with the G500s anyhow.
shahrooz - Saturday, March 30, 2013 - link
mine tooDeo Domuique - Wednesday, April 3, 2013 - link
I really wonder why you keep buying Logitech mice... Their damn buttons were always as crappy as hell... And they insist... The point is, why do you, the customers instist, likewise? Their god damn build quality is as cheap as possible; you need new mouse in a few months due to misbehaving/broken/malfunctioned buttons.nickb64 - Thursday, April 4, 2013 - link
My G400 has been fine, and I've used the hell out of it for the slightly more than 1 year I've had it. It's also spent a significant amount of time getting stuffed in my bag to take with me to college to use instead of the crappy Dell mice the school has in the computer labs.The only problem I've had was the scroll wheel was stuck for a couple days, and didn't turn as freely as it normally does. Upon further inspection, all I needed to do to fix it was scrape some junk that had become lodged in the opening out of the space. It's still just as functional as ever.
Best mouse I've ever owned, and I bought an extra just in case they don't have something like it when this one finally wears out, or in case I need another mouse when I get a proper desktop PC again.
Lyianx - Thursday, April 11, 2013 - link
MY G700 has been great for well over a year. It sounds like you are mistreating your mice so they break under conditions they were not meant to be put though, or you've got a lemon.piiman - Tuesday, March 18, 2014 - link
LOL you must work for Razar. lolThe cheap button are rated at 20,000,000 clicks yeah they're cheap lol
I had my g700 since it came out and button 3 is sticking in the down position. Probably just dirt but I felt like a new mouse after 4+years and grabbed the 700s at Best Buy which amazingly was the best price I found at 69.99. I'm sure it will last me just as long if not longer. What mouse do you think has better buttons?
offshoresho - Sunday, April 21, 2013 - link
I don't know how you've been treating your mouse but my G500 has been with me since Bad Company 2 and had no button problems EVER. To me the LOGITECH mouse were build to last. Playing FPS is my first love with games and constantly changing DPI when i need too. Now compare it to another 2 brands my friends have and playing the same games, i would only say "R" & "C" have problems.As long as im happy with my mouse. Don't abuse your mouse. (It's animal abuse)
bgatot - Sunday, April 21, 2013 - link
Do you work for Logitech? Do you hold stock in the company? Why assume that when they break it's always, 100% OUR fault? Still, it was a nice mouse before the middle button (and the scroll wheel with it) gave up the ghost.And as far as people keep buying Logitech, probably because there ain't much better alternative. At least I don't know any. My Razer's buttons are failing too. I wonder if the new Logitech would last longer, now that the button clicks have apparently been improved. If not, what other brand of mouse is durable enough out there?
anon29929292992 - Friday, May 29, 2015 - link
I'm jumping ship to Corsair's new mouse because I've seen the build quality of their cases. If they can build a durable case, then they will probably build a durable mouse. Logitech has always been a good brand, and I've bought and recommended Logitech for over a decade, but they constantly fail in build quality. When their products work they are great, but I've seen too many product failures. They need to take their flagship products and perfect them instead of pumping out design defects, and they need to seriously consider redesigning their software and customer service model. Customer service doesn't even exist at Logitech...so until they can step the game up I'm finding and recommending alternatives....