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Review of Logitech G900 Chaos Spectrum Wireless Gaming Mouse
Here I will review the new wireless G900 Chaos Spectrum mouse by Logitech.
This mouse is the new top of the line mouse Logitech offers, featuring the PMW3366, the best sensor currently available and a wireless connection that is claimed to be faster than competitors wired connections. It also is customizable in the layout of the sidebuttons, allowing you to have them on the left side, right side or none at all. So let's jump right in and see what the mouse also offers.
Boxing
First things first, the boxing. Logitech steps away from their small, simple boxes that were used for the G302/3, G402 and G502 and now has a box that reminds me of the Mionix Castor box in a way, at least after removing the sleeve.
What's included:
Promo Picture with the button options
Weight & Shape
The G900 is an ambidextrous mouse with a shape that is more bulky than a Sensei in the back and just a bit flatter than the ZA11. It has an overall higher profile than both of these. To me it looks kind of like an ambi G402, but the G900 feels bigger in my hand than the G402 overall.
Weight: 107 grams (mouse only)
Length: 130mm
Width: 67mm
Estimated width at grip position: 58mm
Height: 40mm
Number of buttons: 6-11
Some comparison pictures with different mice
Click below for side by side pictures
To my hand the G900 is the best Logitech shape so far, mainly because I highly favor ambidextrous designs and also because its sides are more rounded than previous mice. My grip on it is more of a palm grip I guess, because my palm lies on the mouse while I curl my finger just ever so slightly to be in the best position to actuate the buttons. This is how I hold the G900
My hand is around 20 cm from the tip of my middle finger to the base.
My thoughts on the shape are mainly positive as stated above, however there is one point of critique for me, which is the gap between the mouse buttons and the mouse body. If you look at previous Logitech mice like the G402 and G502 you'll see that they had a ledge to the sides of the buttons, so does my beloved ZA11 and FK1. Those ledges prevent my ring finger from getting in between the button and the shell. With the G900 this isn't a huge problem, because under no circumstances did my finger block me from actuating m2, but it's still irritating my finger.
I also think the mouse would look better without the gap.
Other than the gap there is nothing I would change about the shape of this mouse. It does not need to be wider because the height of the mouse offers enough support for my grip, similar to how the ZA11 offers a better grip over the FK1 for me.
Of course shape is completely individual preference, so everyone has to try for himself in the end.
Regarding the weight: this mouse feels light, especially wireless but also with the cable. However it is not as light as a FinalMouse or even a Zowie ZA11, which has to be expected if you have a 15g battery inside of it. But for anyone who played with a Deathadder or Rival or any similar mouse in that range for a longer time: the G900 feels lighter than that definitely.
Sensor / Performance
I'll keep this short, as there is nothing bad to say at all about the G900 sensor performance. It works perfectly fine in any configuration. Of course the jitter test at 12000 cpi looks horrible, but that is mainly because the physical movements for that are soooo tiny.
All the following tests are done wireless!
ALL TESTS ARE PERFORMED ON THE ZOWIE G-SR Black
The real cpi for each setting can be seen in the mouse tester print.
Acceleration Test
400 CPI, 1000Hz, wireless
cl_showpos 1 shows the angular displacement, after every swipe back and forth I reset to "setang 0 0". Horizontal displacements are as follows:
0.28
0.20
0.44
0.44
Sensitivity in game is 1.833, roughly 60cm/360, the swipes covered a distance of about 45cm.
I think those values speak for themselves, considering how big of a movement I make the angular error is almost non existant.
Lift Off Distance
LOD is under 1CD, so less than 1.2mm without any surface tuning.
Wireless behavior
The battery lifetime is stated to be 32h without leds on run-to-die, which seems to be accurate. In my tests I recorded how long the battery lasts in normal gameplay (at the time I just bought FarCry 4 and was playing that) and one full charge with leds breathing lasted 34h.
The mouse goes into sleep mode after 30 minutes of inactivity, after that it's a very short time to wake it up (less than half a second) and have immediate full functionality again.
As I have no means to accurately test the wireless functionality other than "it never failed me at all" I'll post some comparative tests that Logitech did. So be sure to take this with a grain of salt, but I have no reason to assume anything about this was doctored. I've seen the anechoic chamber they have in Lausanne first hand, so they are definitely capable of doing said tests.
Buttons / Cable / Scroll Wheel
If you know the G303 buttons then you know the G900 buttons, but the G900 feels even better to me because I don't need to curl my fingers as much. All the buttons click excellently, even the sidebuttons feel nice and crisp.
Here's a picture of the pre-tensioning spring for the main buttons
The scroll wheel as the same free scroll functionality as the G502 wheel, but this time the wheel is much lighter. Yet you can still make it spin for 10 seconds easily with a flick of the finger, so it keeps the benefits without the negatives. If you use the scroll in normal mode it has very defined clicks, I never once had a misscroll with this wheel in all the months I tested it.
Regarding the cable: of course you don't really need it, but if you have to use it you can be sure that the cable is a very good one, to me it's an improvement over the G502 cable. It's almost like a Zowie cable but braided. So even there Logitech did not cheap out.
Build Quality
The overall build quality is as good as it gets. The material used feels awesome to the hand, it offers a good grip for sweaty and dry conditions, it doesn't scratch easily and fingerprints do not show on it. Everything about this mouse feels like quality.
If you want to be nitpicky then it should be noted that the main buttons can be move a bit left and right if try to do that, but this does not happen when holding the mouse in a regular way and it is only because of the mechanical pivot key design.
If there were ledges to the side of the main buttons this wouldn't happen either, but I guess there needs to be a negative to any mouse.
Conclusion
I think it's obvious that my feelings towards the G900 are generally very positive. This mouse delivers on all its promises in a stunning fashion. The shape is great, the weight is relatively low, the performance is through the roof…
Anything that could be criticized with this mouse is down to personal preference, but objectively this is the best you can get right now.
In this review so far I've only focused on the performance aspects really, I didn't even go into customization options or software. I might add this later on.
Here I will review the new wireless G900 Chaos Spectrum mouse by Logitech.
This mouse is the new top of the line mouse Logitech offers, featuring the PMW3366, the best sensor currently available and a wireless connection that is claimed to be faster than competitors wired connections. It also is customizable in the layout of the sidebuttons, allowing you to have them on the left side, right side or none at all. So let's jump right in and see what the mouse also offers.
Boxing
First things first, the boxing. Logitech steps away from their small, simple boxes that were used for the G302/3, G402 and G502 and now has a box that reminds me of the Mionix Castor box in a way, at least after removing the sleeve.
What's included:
- G900 Chaos Spectrum
- Cable
- Wireless dongle
- Sidebuttons/blockout pieces for left and right side
- Adapter for micro USB to USB to allow using the dongle on the mouse cable
- Warranty
Promo Picture with the button options
Weight & Shape
The G900 is an ambidextrous mouse with a shape that is more bulky than a Sensei in the back and just a bit flatter than the ZA11. It has an overall higher profile than both of these. To me it looks kind of like an ambi G402, but the G900 feels bigger in my hand than the G402 overall.
Weight: 107 grams (mouse only)
Length: 130mm
Width: 67mm
Estimated width at grip position: 58mm
Height: 40mm
Number of buttons: 6-11
Some comparison pictures with different mice
Click below for side by side pictures
G900 vs Razer Deathadder 3G
G900 vs Mionix Castor
G900 vs G502
G900 vs Zowie ZA11
G900 vs G302
G900 vs G402
G900 vs Steelseries Sensei
G900 vs Mionix Castor
G900 vs G502
G900 vs Zowie ZA11
G900 vs G302
G900 vs G402
G900 vs Steelseries Sensei
To my hand the G900 is the best Logitech shape so far, mainly because I highly favor ambidextrous designs and also because its sides are more rounded than previous mice. My grip on it is more of a palm grip I guess, because my palm lies on the mouse while I curl my finger just ever so slightly to be in the best position to actuate the buttons. This is how I hold the G900
My hand is around 20 cm from the tip of my middle finger to the base.
My thoughts on the shape are mainly positive as stated above, however there is one point of critique for me, which is the gap between the mouse buttons and the mouse body. If you look at previous Logitech mice like the G402 and G502 you'll see that they had a ledge to the sides of the buttons, so does my beloved ZA11 and FK1. Those ledges prevent my ring finger from getting in between the button and the shell. With the G900 this isn't a huge problem, because under no circumstances did my finger block me from actuating m2, but it's still irritating my finger.
I also think the mouse would look better without the gap.
Other than the gap there is nothing I would change about the shape of this mouse. It does not need to be wider because the height of the mouse offers enough support for my grip, similar to how the ZA11 offers a better grip over the FK1 for me.
Of course shape is completely individual preference, so everyone has to try for himself in the end.
Regarding the weight: this mouse feels light, especially wireless but also with the cable. However it is not as light as a FinalMouse or even a Zowie ZA11, which has to be expected if you have a 15g battery inside of it. But for anyone who played with a Deathadder or Rival or any similar mouse in that range for a longer time: the G900 feels lighter than that definitely.
Sensor / Performance
I'll keep this short, as there is nothing bad to say at all about the G900 sensor performance. It works perfectly fine in any configuration. Of course the jitter test at 12000 cpi looks horrible, but that is mainly because the physical movements for that are soooo tiny.
All the following tests are done wireless!
ALL TESTS ARE PERFORMED ON THE ZOWIE G-SR Black
The real cpi for each setting can be seen in the mouse tester print.
Acceleration Test
cl_showpos 1 shows the angular displacement, after every swipe back and forth I reset to "setang 0 0". Horizontal displacements are as follows:
0.28
0.20
0.44
0.44
Sensitivity in game is 1.833, roughly 60cm/360, the swipes covered a distance of about 45cm.
I think those values speak for themselves, considering how big of a movement I make the angular error is almost non existant.
Lift Off Distance
LOD is under 1CD, so less than 1.2mm without any surface tuning.
Wireless behavior
The battery lifetime is stated to be 32h without leds on run-to-die, which seems to be accurate. In my tests I recorded how long the battery lasts in normal gameplay (at the time I just bought FarCry 4 and was playing that) and one full charge with leds breathing lasted 34h.
The mouse goes into sleep mode after 30 minutes of inactivity, after that it's a very short time to wake it up (less than half a second) and have immediate full functionality again.
As I have no means to accurately test the wireless functionality other than "it never failed me at all" I'll post some comparative tests that Logitech did. So be sure to take this with a grain of salt, but I have no reason to assume anything about this was doctored. I've seen the anechoic chamber they have in Lausanne first hand, so they are definitely capable of doing said tests.
Wireless signal robustness tests
Wireless latency tests
How it is done
Result
Click latency test
Wireless latency tests
How it is done
Result
Click latency test
Buttons / Cable / Scroll Wheel
If you know the G303 buttons then you know the G900 buttons, but the G900 feels even better to me because I don't need to curl my fingers as much. All the buttons click excellently, even the sidebuttons feel nice and crisp.
Here's a picture of the pre-tensioning spring for the main buttons
The scroll wheel as the same free scroll functionality as the G502 wheel, but this time the wheel is much lighter. Yet you can still make it spin for 10 seconds easily with a flick of the finger, so it keeps the benefits without the negatives. If you use the scroll in normal mode it has very defined clicks, I never once had a misscroll with this wheel in all the months I tested it.
Regarding the cable: of course you don't really need it, but if you have to use it you can be sure that the cable is a very good one, to me it's an improvement over the G502 cable. It's almost like a Zowie cable but braided. So even there Logitech did not cheap out.
Build Quality
The overall build quality is as good as it gets. The material used feels awesome to the hand, it offers a good grip for sweaty and dry conditions, it doesn't scratch easily and fingerprints do not show on it. Everything about this mouse feels like quality.
If you want to be nitpicky then it should be noted that the main buttons can be move a bit left and right if try to do that, but this does not happen when holding the mouse in a regular way and it is only because of the mechanical pivot key design.
If there were ledges to the side of the main buttons this wouldn't happen either, but I guess there needs to be a negative to any mouse.
Conclusion
I think it's obvious that my feelings towards the G900 are generally very positive. This mouse delivers on all its promises in a stunning fashion. The shape is great, the weight is relatively low, the performance is through the roof…
Anything that could be criticized with this mouse is down to personal preference, but objectively this is the best you can get right now.
In this review so far I've only focused on the performance aspects really, I didn't even go into customization options or software. I might add this later on.
