Over the past few years I could count on one hand all of the wireless gaming mice that have been introduced, it’s just something that you rarely see. That is because a lot of gamers will push back citing wireless lag and battery life issues. Those issues can be an issue, but there are still a lot of people who end up gaming with their everyday wireless mice because of the lack of gaming options. That is where the Logitech G700s comes in; this is Logitech’s only wireless gaming mouse. With that in mind I was excited to see how the G700s compared to both the G500s and the other wireless mice that we have tested in the past.

Product Name: Logitech G700s

Review Sample Provided by: Logitech

Written by: Wes

Pictures by: Wes

Packaging

The G700s is packaged in a box similar to the G500s all the way to the half x-rayed image on the cover. The front does open up and allow you to get your hands on the G700s to see how it fits your hand. On the inside door you do have another x-ray image along with a note about the “advanced surface materials” used on the G700s. Around on the back there is a normal photo of the G700s with three lines pointing out a few of its features. There is also a short specification listing down at the bottom that shows the dpi, report rate, and what the buttons are rated at.

Inside the box, beyond the obvious you will get two cords along with the wireless dongle. The first cable is an extension cable for the wireless dongle when you have issues with the wireless or if you want a longer range. The second cable is the charging cable itself that plugs into the mouse and turns the G700s into a wired mouse if you would like.

Software

I have spoken about Logitech’s Gaming Software many times now and every single time I work with it I always come away happy with it. This is especially true when coming from some of the other options from other manufactures. What makes Logitech’s software great is the full integration with their entire product line. I actually didn’t need to install the software this time around because I already had it installed from my coverage of the G500s. The same goes with their gaming keyboard lineup as well, it all ties together in the software. For the G700s things are fairly simple. Along the bottom all of your installed Logitech devices are show, in this case just the G700s. From here you can jump to the page to setup the G700s or to the software settings page. On this page though you do get a full photo of the G700s as well as an option to let you select if we will be programing the onboard memory or a profile on the pc. As always I go with the onboard because if you switch to another PC it will still work the same, even without the software installed.

The next page we have the same photo but here we can click on each of the mouse buttons to set their function as well as change the G770s’s DPI settings, report rate, and power mode. The last option there is a new one specifically for the wireless G700s, you can conserve your power but as a gamer I stuck with Max Gaming to make sure I wouldn’t have performance issues.

When you click on a key this is the menu packed full of options that you will get. You can select from a long list of functions as well as just setting it to any keystroke on your keyboard or program a full macro is you need to as well.

Features/Pictures

The G700s is somewhat of an oddity in the Logitech gaming mouse lineup. That is because most of the other gaming mice can all be tracked back to the original G5 but the G700s gets its roots from a non-gaming mouse design called the Revolution (with the G5 mixed in). That means that the G700s has a shape that is familiar but more ergonomic than the other gaming models. As for the difference between the G700s and the G700, much like the G500s the most obvious difference is the striped design on the mouse itself. They did however upgrade the sensor but I will talk about that more in the performance section.

Logitech mentions the advanced coating that they used on the G700s in multiple locations on the packaging, much like the G500s. While it is possible there is a coating on the mouse, you can’t see one with it in hand. The black stripes on the top of the G700s give it styling, but I would love to see these be a rubber grip. The only special surface that you will end up finding is on the left and right sides of the G700s that help give you more grip. The finish is much like a textured paint or wall.

The G700s has two options for getting your movement information to your PC. First you have a small wireless dongle that allows the G700s to be completely wireless. When you can’t run wireless or when you need to charge your mouse you can use the included cord. That cord plugs into the front of the G700s and as I mentioned before it will charge the mouse while also turning it into a wired mouse.

The bottom of the G700s has four gliders placed in each corner for smooth sliding. You also have the Laser sensor eye and two wireless specific features. First there is a battery panel that covers a good portion of the bottom of the mouse. To keep the battery from dyeing while you are away there is also an on and off switch.

The side profile of the G700s shows a combination of the shape that we are used to seeing from Logitech but the side itself has a large grove cut out of it unlike the G500s. This actually reminds me of old Logitech mice. Tucked into that grove there are four side buttons in the area that the G500s had two. There are also three LEDs on the side that show your DPI settings.

Up on the top there are a few additional buttons that I’m not used to seeing on the left side of the triggers. As you can see in the photo below they are labeled G10, G9, and G8 and can be programmed to handle anything you need. The placement is out of the way without being too far out of the way. The metal scroll wheel has a nice rubber finish along the middle and like other Logitech mice it does rock left and right adding two more buttons as well as the button you get when you push the wheel down. There is also another button behind the scroll wheel that when pushed unlocks the scroll wheel and puts it in a free spin mode.

Performance

With the G500s I had a good idea of what to expect both because I had previous experience with the G500 as well as past Logitech mice of that shape. But when going into the G700s I really wasn’t sure what I would think. For one, the shape difference between the G700 and the and the G500s is a little more aggressive but I was able to pick it up and run with it without an issue. I was especially impressed that Logitech was able to pack in 13 programmable buttons (including the triggers) without having any buttons in the way or easily bumped. The four side buttons manage to be easy to reach and also hard to bump unintentionally all at the same time.

So what about the G700’s sensor? The G700s uses the Avago S9818 Laser sensor; this is slightly different than the G500s that had the S9800. The overall DPI is the same but with a higher track rate as well as max acceleration. That means that the acceleration issues that can be seen on other S9800 mice will still show up on the G700s. In my testing I did see some, but only a slight amount when using a hard mouse pad. Tracking was still up to par in the rest of my testing. Those who are only interested in perfect sensors will not be happy, but the average gamer is going to love the G700s.

The last thing we needed to look at was the G700s’s wired and wireless performance. As we went over earlier, the G700s comes with a wired cable and a small wireless dongle. The wired cord can be used for charging the G700s as well as turning it into a wired mouse for when you can’t run wireless. Obviously running in wired mode I had no issues but how was the wireless performance? Originally I had the dongle hooked up to a loaded USB hub and I experienced wireless lag. When I switched over to another port the lag went away. Wireless lag wasn’t noticeable at all when hooked up to the proper port, in fact switching from wired to wireless made little difference in my experience other than not having a wire holding me down. As for battery life while on wireless I have a nasty habit of never turning the mouse off but the G700s lasted longer than expected. In the few occasions that the battery did die, I was able to plug right in with the wired cable and keep going, hardly interrupting a game.  Really my only complaint with the setup is that the USB cable is much stiffer than a normal mouse cord, this just gave me even more reason to jump to wireless any chance I could.

Overall and Final Verdict

After taking in all of the aspects of the Logitech G700s, the question at hand is would I recommend it? Well I think the G700s is a great option for anyone who is looking for a wireless mouse that they can game with but I would even go as far to suggest that it could be good for people who want a wired mouse as well. The reason for that is because of the well placed side buttons that give you twice the buttons without being hard to work around like most MMO mice. Logitech also doesn’t offer a non-wireless version of the G700s as well, so the only way to get a more contoured design like this is to go with the G700s. Then there is the most obvious reason, the wireless G700s actually turns into a wired mouse anyhow when you plug it in to charge it. On top of all of those reasons, you also get Logitech’s Gaming Software, something that I think very few manufactures compete with. I know I will keep the G700s around as a great wireless option for at the house or for my gaming laptop when traveling. 

As for price, the G700s comes in at just under $100 while other wireless options like the Razer Naga Epic and the Razer Mamba both come in at just under $130. I would say that makes the G700s a reasonable deal even though paying $100 for a mouse is going to make most people think twice. 

Author Bio

Author: garfi3ldWebsite: http://lanoc.org

Editor-in-chief

You might call him obsessed or just a hardcore geek. Wes's obsession with gaming hardware and gadgets isn't anything new, he could be found taking things apart even as a child. When not poking around in PC's he can be found playing League of Legends, Awesomenauts, or Civilization 5 or watching a wide variety of TV shows and Movies. A car guy at heart, the same things that draw him into tweaking cars apply when building good looking fast computers. If you are interested in writing for Wes here at LanOC you can reach out to him directly using our contact form.