Mouse! Mice! Mousepad!
It has been some time since I last looked at peripherals for my gaming system. The last change I made was to replace a falling apart keyboard with a Keychron Q3 with wooden keycaps. (Sadly not the best idea as I learned 18 month later.) However, I got curious, and that’s how I spent this week testing two new mice: The Logitech Pro X2 Superstrike and the Pro X Superlight 2 Dex. Bad news: Both are being returned. Good news: I’m gonna write about why.
The first optical mouse I ever owned was a Logitech Click Optical Mouse, followed by a Logitech M500 eight years later - the predecessor of the one linked here. The number of LAN parties, the hours competing in Quake 3 and the number of raids for realm firsts in WoW these two mice saw is hard to quantify. And they are still going strong today, they are two of the mice I have in the server room when I need to be hands on with a system. The M500 will always have a special place in my memories.
I stuck with this mouse for a long time, up until 11 or so years ago - so nearly 13 when I decided it was time for an upgrade. I tried various Logitech mice because the M500 was so good. I also tried Razer. The company that asked me to cut the cord of a mouse to get a replacement under warranty for a glide falling off. (Never buy Razer.) I ended up with a Logitech Superlight for a long time. Micro USB was annoying, but workable. Over time the plastic did not hold up well. Wireless was annoying. Things got bad enough that I went shopping again.
When I found Endgame Gear I was sold. A German company, people who know how to build mice, proper support, drivers that are megabyte (single digit!) not hundreds of megabyte, great sensor, configurable lift off distance, transparent case(!!), all I could ask for. My daily driver is a XM2 8k v2. So the bar for a new mouse is pretty high.
I was mainly looking for two things with the mice I tested. I wanted to see if the Hall effect switches of the Superstrike are really that much of a game changer and if I would enjoy the asymmetrical design of the Dex over an ambidextrous one.
Time for a rant
I really do not care for a wireless mouse. All it does is being worse. The battery will die one day, making it e-waste. Until then you regularly need to charge it. The cable drag really is a solved problem with proper cables, just make sure the mouse does not use one of the most stiff hard plastic cables that ever left a factory.
I am aware that some mouse vendors claim that their wireless mouse is "faster", as in lower latency, than wired mice. That might be true for some, if the wired mouse has a garbage implementation of the USB data path it will obviously be worse. If you compare high end wireless and wired gaming mice you will not notice a real difference.
But in the end it boils down to this, the most important part: Buy a mouse that feels nice and that you are comfortable with. The sensors are all good enough. Wired or wireless really is personal preference, even if I have strong opinions on it. And if you have not already signed a pro player esport contract there is an extremely high chance your mouse will not hold you back from climbing from silver to gold ranks.
30000 dpi vs 32000 dpi sounds great, but most folks have their mouse at 800 to 1600dpi because otherwise adjusting in game sense will be a nightmare. The same goes for 49 vs 51g weight. 1k pooling rate is fine, you likely will not play at 8k anyway and burn 10% of your CPU and have some games plainly crash out on you.
Dex
I can keep the section about the Dex fairly short. If you like a light gaming mouse with an asymmetrical design and have slightly larger hands the mouse will likely feel really good. There is a slight squeak when holding it a bit firmer which lines up with some rumors about Logitechs QA just not being what it once was.
Superstrike
The switches are... something. No feedback at all when the mouse is off and being able to configure the actuation point and feedback force feels strange, surreal and uncanny. Then you get used to it and it feels really nice. It is certainly not a game changer. If you get a new one and like the feel and design of the Superlight, I would likely get a Superstrike. It is a nice feature, but nothing worth spending a lot of extra money on.
I have seen the "oh, it is a competitive advantage and feels like cheating!" shorts of people sponsored by Logitech. Yeah… no. Especially when your weapon has a reload time. If you just smash the mouse button and cause the mouse to move the lighter click might help you. Maybe.
Software
This is one of the biggest reasons the mice will be returned. I had no illusions that I might be able to run Logitech GHub on Linux. While there may be a chance, it really is not worth the trouble. The mice both support on device profiles, so I installed the software on my Mac to configure them. What a dumpster fire.
The fun part is the software started once, right after installing it. The next day I wanted to play with the actuation force and rapid trigger of secondary fire and the app crashed reproducible during startup.
That is just unacceptable and embarrassing in a day and age where even Razer, the folks that brought us Synapse, manage to ship a web based configuration tool.
Wallhack
There is one piece of new hardware left that I will certainly keep around. The new Wallhack CR-005. I had been using an SP-004 before and was very much interested in a more control focused pad. I enjoy the consistency of glass. And replacing mouse glides is significantly cheaper than replacing mousepads, at least when you want a good one.
The packaging is super robust, one big box of padded plastic. The pad is a bit larger than the SP-004, but the cleaning cloth is only half the size. And despite Wallhacks claims it feels like it is easier to slide across my table. The rounded edges are certainly a welcome change.
The CR has a noticeably easier time with micro adjustments and keeping the mouse steady. It feels a lot nicer when playing any character that requires precise aim. The SP was surely usable for that, but it took a bit more effort to maintain a 60-65% headshot rate. Tracking is also a bit more consistent, but flicks and 180s are a tad slower. (Who would have thought, a control pad is slower and gives you more control.)
The one thing I changed on the XM2 are the glides. The Obsidian Pro were horrible and sounded scratchy with every move. I replaced them with SensoryBoost FPS dots and they feel great and are unexpectedly silent. I am curious to see how long they will last. Only downside is that their packaging is super wasteful, who needs stickers of a mouse glide vendor?
The SP already ate glides for breakfast, I do not assume the structure of the CR will improve the situation.
Moving on
I will stick with the XM2 for foreseeable future. Both Logitech mice are a bit underwhelming regarding build quality and there is not enough reason for me to keep one around, especially at the price point they are sold at.
I hope my next mouse will have Hall effect switches, they were fun to use. But I want Endgame Gear to ship a mouse with these switches to have the build quality and no need for drivers. But this purchase will be more of a "I really want it", not "I need it". At the end of the day I am a casual nowadays, I am not playing competitively (no, I do not consider the competitive mode in FPS actually competing) and until we see a technological leap it really does not make a difference.
While Endgame Gear is priced decently, if all you need is a good mouse browse Reddit a bit. There are lots of knockoffs that basically ship the same sensor and shape as the most famous mice and they will likely perform the same or within the margin of error.