G500s
The G500s is the middle of the range and a good upgrade from our older G5. It has the benefit of a braided cable, adjustable weight cartridge and a dual mode scroll wheel. The grip is also better and more .. well… ‘grippy’ than the G400s.
The G500s is probably the sweet spot of the range. The sensitivity buttons are located in a different position than the G400s – front left of the mouse in a convenient location for the right index finger. The G500s is well featured and it’s hard to justify going with the G400s when for a measly $6, you get a laser sensor, better side grip, onboard memory, braided cable and tuning weights. It’s a no-brainer really.
| Weight and balance tuning | You can tune the G500s but adjusting the weight cartridge that slots in the bottom. The weights come in a neat metal case with rubber insert. Although nice, I liked the mouse ’empty’ anyway but you can add another 27 grams to it if you like to work-out while you game. |
| Dual Mode Scroll Wheel | In free spinning mode this feature is a stand out in office/productivity applications and strategy games when zooming and scrolling. I tried using the same mode for FPS shooters where the mouse wheel controls weapon selection. In an instant, I went from loving the smooth free spinning scroll wheel to absolutely hating it with a passion and couldn’t use it for shooters. In all seriousness, I was unable to adapt to it in that mode no matter how hard I tried – I guess this is why Logitech refer to it as ‘web browsing’ mode in some of their material because it’s great in that respect. Thankfully, the button to switch modes is easy to hit and switching modes could not be easier. This design feature gave me the best of both worlds and is the a compelling argument to extend your budget from the G400s to the G500s. |
| Advanced Surface Materials | Logitech has engaged infra red technology to identify the areas of the mouse that have the most tactile attention. Based on this, they have added a hydrophobic coating on the palm area and a coating on the main buttons to resist finger prints. There is a different coating on the G500s and G700s to the G400s – it’s a ‘dry-grip’ and it feels rougher to touch. The dry grip took slightly longer to adapt to because it feels a little gritty but I really liked it once I got used to it. |
| Ultra-durable Build | Like the G400s, Logitech has tested the mouse to endure 20 million clicks with new mechanical micro switches and also included new polytetraflouoroethylene (yes it’s a real compound) feet that are rated at 250km. It feels heavier and even more durable with the dry grip, braided cable and dual mode scroll wheel – build quality is definitely there. |
| In-game sensitivity switching | There are up and down sensitivity buttons to switch DPI modes for sniping, general game play or maybe controlling vehicles. With a range of 200-8200DPI, this is a good thing.. |
| 10 Programmable Buttons | You can configure 10 different buttons via the Logitech Gaming Software. All are easy to reach. |
| Onboard Memory Profile | You can actually store your button mappings for games on the mouse itself so that you can switch it between PCs. Whilst I’m not sure how many gamers will really use this feature, I guess it could be handy if you game on a main rig and then on a secondary workstation like a LAN PC or laptop. It’s probably more useful to people like us who rotate between a few gaming PCs / test benches. |
| Braided USB Cable | The USB cable is 2m long, has a velcro cable tie/wrap included and is well braided. Braided cables are a sign of quality for me but you do need to make sure that your gaming workstation doesn’t have any sharp(ish) edges on it or else the braid may start to fray. |
| Gaming Grade Laser | Unlike the optical G400s, the G500s and G700s use a laser instead. The idea is that its even more precise than the optical mouse and works on a number of surfaces. I tested this on my desktop which is covered in a layer of 3mm clear acrylic / perspex. The optical mouse was no good but the laser worked. |
| 1 millisecond report rate | Logitech say that this is up to 8 times faster than a standard USB mouse, we have no real way of measuring it and between the polling rate, DPI settings and everything else – we’ll take their word for it. |
| Slick feet | The mouse glide on the whole range of refreshed g-series mice was pretty smooth – even compared to our older G5 with its 6 years of wear. |
| Easy to use setup software | The software is easy to set up and the game detection makes it easier if you use multiple games for button mapping but due to muscle memory we like to keep the sensitivity settings the same for our games. |
Logitech video from youtube
