The Logitech G502 X Plus ($159) is the corporate’s new top-of-the-line gaming mouse, persevering with the legacy of the G502 household with a well-known design. It is costly, however you get lots to your cash, together with the addition of wi-fi connectivity over the usual G502 X, and RGB lighting over the darkish G502 X Lightspeed. It does really feel prefer it’s lacking just a few perks that one would possibly count on at this excessive worth, and its fancy monitoring and smorgasbord of buttons are held again barely by a propensity for misclicks. As a lot because it nails the basics, it simply falls brief in a crowded area of opponents asking high greenback, together with the superb Roccat Kone XP Air.
The Rising G502 Family Will get a New Head
The Logitech G502 X Plus is carrying a torch that was lit the higher a part of a decade in the past. Tweaks to the styling, buttons, and {hardware} of the G502 household have seen seen varied members shift barely in look from era to era, however the G502 X Plus plainly has its roots within the household. It’s a weightier mouse, and goes heavy on buttons simply as its predecessors did, making it an attractive choose for many who wish to have plenty of controls at their fingertips.
This can be a purely right-handed mouse, and its low curves make it extra suited to claw or hybrid grips, or the palm grip of a smaller hand. It slopes all the way down to the suitable greater than a typical esports mouse, decreasing pronation and giving it barely higher ergonomics for prolonged use. The mouse’s sides curl underneath simply sufficient to offer a stable grasp, however Logitech doubles down with rubberized grips. This helps a bit for bigger fingers, although mine nonetheless felt barely cramped, with my pinky and ring finger jammed collectively on the suitable facet. The bottom of the mouse sweeps out to the facet, giving house for the thumb to relaxation with out fear of it dragging on. These features of the mouse are largely the identical as prior iterations of the G502, although with minor variations intimately.
The mouse has a complete of 11 completely different buttons at hand for players, however that extends to 13 remappable controls when counting the up and down instructions of the scroll wheel. The G502 X Plus has the widespread thumb buttons in addition to a 3rd “sniper” button that lowers sensitivity by default. This button sits in entrance of the thumb and has a cap that may be flipped round to make it simpler to achieve for smaller fingers. Along with the break up foremost buttons, the highest of the mouse consists of two buttons simply to the left of the left-click button, a scroll wheel with lateral inputs, a DPI adjustment button, and a particular toggle that lets the scroll wheel both spin freely or spin in increments.
Testing the G502 X Plus: A Few Missed Clicks
Throughout the board, the buttons have satisfying clicks, avoiding the mushy feeling some mice run into. That is particularly the case with the 2 main inputs, that are sitting on Logitech’s optical-mechanical Lightforce switches. Whereas they’ve the texture of a mechanical change, they need to present prolonged operation and sooner actuation, key in video games the place reliability and response velocity matter.
As good as it’s to have additional buttons readily available in video games that come loaded with completely different character talents, the Logitech G502 X Plus suffers from a difficulty I encountered years again on the G502 Hero: A few of its controls are just too straightforward to misclick. I discovered myself regularly urgent the entrance button subsequent to the first click on, which in my case adjusted the DPI unintentionally. Utilizing the center mouse button, I regularly additionally bought a later click on registered, which slowly decreased my PC’s quantity. Relying by yourself keybindings, these kind of misfires may very well be a minor nuisance or a essential failure in video games.
The aiming capabilities assist get better among the floor misplaced with the hair triggers. The G502 X Plus sits on a Hero 25K optical sensor that tracks impeccably at as much as 40 Gs of acceleration and 400 inches per second. That monitoring transmits wirelessly to a compact, USB-A dongle. Throughout many hours of workplace use and gaming, the monitoring remained true with no noticeable points.
The mouse runs on an inside battery that provides dozens of hours of runtime even with RGB lighting on. With out the lights, Logitech charges it for 130 hours, and I used to be simply in a position to undergo every week with a mixture of work and play without having to recharge the mouse. An included USB A-to-C cable handles charging when essential, although it’s a primary rubber cable. Some manufacturers go for additional versatile braided cables that permit their wi-fi mice proceed to work largely unimpeded even when plugged in for charging, so it’s a disgrace to see Logitech come up brief right here. That stated, you shouldn’t must cost typically.
A compartment within the backside of the mouse has room for the wi-fi transmitter, although it’s considerably clunky, held in place by easy friction. The compartment cowl locks in place with magnets. Right here, Logitech gives an possibility to change out the underside cowl for its Powerplay wi-fi charging puck, however even on the premium worth Logitech prices for this mouse, the corporate doesn’t embrace the puck as normal.
The construct of the mouse feels stable. The first buttons jiggle somewhat in motion, however the mouse doesn’t creak or groan underneath strain. That’s all of the extra spectacular when contemplating the quite a few panels which can be cobbled collectively to assemble the mouse and squeeze in a large, Y-shaped lighting strip with eight zones. It could come at the price of weight, although, because the G502 X Plus measures in at 3.7 ounces when many new mice are following the featherweight pattern and aiming to weigh in underneath 3 ounces.
Customization Exploration With the Logitech G Hub
The Logitech G502 X Plus is customizable by way of the Logitech G Hub software program. It’s a reasonably light-weight app so far as they go, which is typically an excellent factor. You do not have to wade by way of a handful of various sub-apps or settings pages to do issues like create macros or customise RGB lighting.
From the app, it’s just a few easy clicks to start out adjusting the mouse’s DPI and report charge. The app helps an awesome many key assignments, together with particular system instructions, media controls, and customized macros. G-Shift can also be out there, which helps you to maintain down one button to change the enter you get from urgent one other button. Lighting can also be managed right here, with varied presets, zone-by-zone customization, and animations out there. The mouse can maintain 5 profiles in its onboard storage. Customized profiles might be arrange for varied completely different apps, with the mouse mechanically switching when these apps are operating.
As easy because the software program customization is, some players may be upset by the dearth of adjustable liftoff distance or angle tuning, two instruments that may be helpful in fine-tuning the mouse’s conduct.
Verdict: Succesful, However Too Expensive
The Logitech G502 X Plus tracks with the perfect gaming mice and has rock-solid wi-fi capabilities. It places the basics beneath a cushty mouse with a great deal of buttons, however at $159—about as dear as gaming mice get—it comes up missing in premium options that we count on. Its omission of a particular Powerplay charging dongle is a missed alternative, as is the absence of Bluetooth connectivity. Couple these lacking options with a design that’s too straightforward to misclick at instances, and also you’re left with a high-end mouse that is not precisely a stellar worth.
Players whose fingers already really feel at house on the G502 design will match proper in with this mouse, however for everybody else, it’s value taking a peek at options, just like the Roccat Kone XP Air. The RGB-less G502 X Lightspeed can also be worthy, and $20 cheaper than the G502 X Plus, whereas the same Logitech G604 Lightspeed is a utilitarian various that prices far much less.
