The G602 is a Logitech classic that was launched back close to the launch of the original G502. What really set it apart was its use of a traditional battery, not a rechargeable wireless setup for what our friend Ed over at Sapphire would call a “True Wireless” setup. The G602 had an extremely long battery life and it was the only mouse in the post G502 age at Logitech with more than the standard two side buttons. Funny enough the G602 was replaced with the G603 but it dropped the extra side buttons and went with a different shape so it was a little bit of a surprise to see Logitech switch back to the features of the G602 when I had a call with them about the new G604. It gains the Hero 16K sensor of course and drops some weight. Today I’m going to check out the new mouse and see what it’s all about.

Product Name: Logitech G604

Review Sample Provided by: Logitech

Written by: Wes Compton

Pictures by: Wes Compton

Amazon Affiliate Link: HERE

specs

 


Packaging

Huge blue letters for the product name on a grey background, the G604 has the standard Logitech gaming look for its packaging. This should help it match with everything else on a shelf and the big name on the front makes it easy to read as well. The rest of the front of the box has a picture of the mouse. They also touch on the Lightspeed wireless that powers the mouse with that up top. The back of the box has another photo of the mouse, this time top down between the two pictures you see all of the buttons and the overall shape. On the back they talk about the Hero 16K sensor, the dual wireless connection options, and all of the programmable buttons, getting right to the meat of what sets the G604 apart. Logitech also includes a full specification listing on the side of the box as well which is nice.

image 6

image 7

image 8

Inside the box, the mouse sits in a tray with a plastic cover holding it snug. The tray has the two accessories and then the documentation was tucked in along with the tray. You get a round Logitech Gaming sticker, a warranty and safety paper, a small setup guide, and a basic Logitech Gaming advert.

image 9

image 10

For accessories, the G604 is short a few things that you normally see with Logitech Wireless mice. In their place, you get one AA battery which is a Duracell and a USB extension cord. The extension cord is set up to sit on your desk and plug the dongle into it for a closer and improved wireless experience. But when you open everything up the Dongle isn’t visible. You will have to dig into the mouse itself to find that which I will show later. There is also no powerplay adapter or a charging cable because the G604 isn’t a standard rechargeable wireless mouse. It is what you might consider true wireless and runs off replaceable batteries.

image 11

image 12

 


Photos and Features

The G602/G603/G604 progression is a very weird one. The G604 actually pulls a little from both designs and frankly other than being a battery-powered wireless mouse the G603 and G602 don’t share too much in design. The shape of the G604 has some of the aggressive design of the G602 including down between the triggers where it comes to a point but they dropped a lot of the weird angular design of the G602 for a smooth design more like the G603. The design is without a doubt more like the G602 though. That said I see a lot of the MX Masters mice in the design as well.

image 14

image 15

The right side of the G604 has a nice sized overhang for lifting with your pinky and if that wasn’t enough the front half also has a texture to it and the side is also coated in a textured rubber. That coating wraps up over the center of the mouse while not on the triggers or the door at the back of the mouse and is on the left side as well. There is an overhang on this side as well but it is less pronounced and it is completely unneeded because the side buttons themselves are the real overhang because the shape puts your thumb right up under them where the extra texture is molded into the rubber finish. The left side also has a large wing that curves out up under your thumb which is going to be a favorite for some people and hated by others. Especially if you are coming from the G603 which didn’t have that at all and had a much more traditional shape.

image 16

image 17

Getting a look at the shape from the rear you can really see the contorted shape that peaks on the far left and slowly ramps down. This view also shows the large overhand on the right side and just how much the left buttons do it as well. That contour is a lot more pronounced on the front where the left trigger (right in the photo) sits much higher than the left. You can also see the left side wing here as well.

image 18

image 19

So the G600 was Logitech’s MMO mouse and they carried the multi-button feature over to the G602 as well but they completely changed the layout. The G604 sticks very close to the G602 layout with six protruding buttons on the side for thumb access. They are all closer to the same size and shape this time for easier use. They also each have a label for easier programming as well. Also on the G604, the left trigger has two more buttons on the left edge with a plus and minus logo on them. By default these are set to DPI. This is a design feature I first saw years ago on the original Razer Mamba and it is a great way to slip in two more buttons and have them be easy to reach and out of the way at the same time. Because of the long length of the triggers the two DPI buttons are set back slightly just to the left of where you would put your index finger. Both can be reprogramed in the software as well along with the six G buttons on the thumb side giving the G604 that high button count for MMO use.

image 20

image 21

Remember me mentioning the MX Master hints earlier. When I saw the bottom of the G604 it was all I could think of. For gliders, the G604 has four V-shaped pads that all float away from the bottom shape of the mouse. In fact around the edges the whole mouse curves up for what I guess Logitech was going for is a floating look. Given the size of this mouse I was honestly hoping for larger gliders for better durability. There is a ring glider around the mostly center-mounted sensor. I have to mention mostly because you can see it is offset to the side slightly to make room for the power switch which seems like a silly mistake given how open the rest of the bottom is. Anyhow as the packaging hinted the biggest upgrade for the G604 is it has the same HERO 16K sensor that Logitech has been giving their entire lineup. For this specific mouse it is especially important. It does help with the weight a little, double A batteries are heavy and a lot less weight-efficient than a rechargeable pack so the soldered on sensor helps there. But its give improvement is in battery life on a mouse that can’t be recharged. So for reference, the G602 could last 250 hours in performance (HI) mode and 9 months in LO mode. The G603 increased things to 500 hours in HI mode and 18 in LO mode but they both use two AA batteries for those ratings. The G604 does 240 in Lightspeed mode and then 5.5 with Bluetooth. Dropping the HI and LO modes that changed wireless input lag and going with the full Lightspeed performance alongside Bluetooth with its dual wireless modes which BTW is yet another MX Master feature.

image 22

image 23

Installing the included battery requires pulling the butt of the mouse off. it is where the Lightspeed wireless dongle was hidden as well. Given the dual wireless modes, it is great that you can hide the dongle in here when not using it. Then the battery sits at an angle to avoid getting in the way of the sensor and everything inside. It is easy to swap out and to drop the magnetic butt back on the mouse for little downtime. The dongle itself is as standard as it gets from Logitech with just a small exposed area and the USB plug. It does have the model name on it should you lose it and mix it up with any other devices.

image 24

image 25

Up on the top of the G604, there are a few things going on. For starters, I was REALLY shocked to see that Logitech brought back the metal scroll wheel that the G502 had. I love the design, it looks amazing, and in my experience it is the only scroll wheel design that doesn’t get nasty from dirt and skin. But given that none of the previous mise had it and none of their new mice have it including the new G502 Wireless itself. The scroll wheel has side buttons in addition to the normal one at the bottom of the wheel and I’m guessing they didn’t want to redesign a new gaming scroll wheel with the side buttons they wanted to stack even more programmability to the G604. Behind that the tall button is a manual unlock that turns the click off on the wheel for ultra-fast and long scrolls. Logitech mentioned this is the best fidget spinner on my call with them about the 604 and I can completely agree. Behind that the button has a wireless logo on it, this is for switching between the Lightspeed dongle and Bluetooth. It is also for setting up Bluetooth. The LED behind that also helps with that and funny enough that is the only LED on the entire mouse.

image 26

The G604 came in at 136 grams which is actually really heavy for a modern mouse. This was without the wireless dongle but it did have the AA battery in it. The battery and all of the casing that holds the battery in is a lot heavier than a rechargeable. The G604 also doesn’t take advantage of some of Logitech’s new tech for lowering mouse weight like the endoskeleton. Going with a traditional internal structure and it shows. Both the G602 and G603 were actually lighter weight when running just one battery but to get similar performance to the G604 they need both batteries and the G6604 ends up being about 20 grams less than the G602 and the same as the G603.

image 27

 


Software

If you have read any other Logitech review or used any of their gaming lineup recently you will most likely already know about the G-Hub software. It works with their entire product lineup and when you first boot it up you can pick from any device hooked up, which in my case was two Logitech webcams and two mice. Though looking at my desk the five other Logitech mice and PowerPlay were also unhooked at the time, it would be interesting to see if there is a limit. The home page also runs ads along the bottom, but exclusively for Logitech blog posts.

image 1

The G604 not having RGB lighting means its options list in the software is a little shorter than other mice. You have two tabs with the fist being the Assignments tab. This is where all of the button programing is at. You can flip between the top down and side view of the mouse to get at all of the buttons. Changing the function is as simple as dragging the function from the five lists on the left over to the button. You can also turn any specific button off. There is also the G-Shift function where you can use one button as a function/shift layer to double up and have twice as many buttons. The G604 has scroll down and left and right in addition to the two triggers, two side buttons on the left trigger, and the six on the thumb area. Scroll up and down can also be reprogramed but it is limited, there are a few things that can break space time so they are careful with them. The number of things you can program the buttons to do is staggering as well with windows functions, program specific actions, specific keys, and things like opening programs.

image 2

image 3

Macros are also an option if you can’t find what you want in the lists. The software has a full macro creation section as well. This includes the option to loop, repeat until clicked again, etc. Then from there you can record or set up your macro including adjusting times between actions. Notice the list includes emojis, windows actions, launching programs, anything and everything you can think of so you can get really crazy with things if you want.

image 4

The second tab is a lot simpler, this is all about sensitivity settings. You can adjust the report rate and then you can change all of the DPI levels that you want to flip through including adding or removing them. Personally, I always set my preferred DPI and remove all of the rest, I hate getting switched into another DPI when you don’t expect it. But if you need to slow things down for aiming, run different DPIs for windows and games, for different games, etc it can all be done here. Also when you do switch between DPIs G-Hub does pop up in the corner to let you know what DPI you are now on which is nice as well.

image 5

 


Performance

Now the G604 actually launched right while I was on vacation which is why I’m a little late on this launch. But it also means I didn’t get to even touch the mouse until a few days ago so I haven’t gotten my normal few weeks of testing in. But even with just a few days of use I have already experienced some highs and lows and had the chance to use the mouse for work, web browsing, and a little gaming as well. Going in I knew that the G604 wouldn’t really fit my preferred mouse shape or size. I have been preferring ambidextrous mice that are more a normal size where this is a large mouse at 130mm in length. I do have larger hands though and it did fit my hand well. The thumb buttons had my thumb dead center and the two buttons to the left of the left trigger had my index finger right in the middle as well. I did notice right away that the floating design on the bottom messed with my pinky placement. I basically tuck my pinky right where that wraps under so not only do I drag my pinky but it feels weird not having a solid spot to put it and moving my pinky up didn’t help.

image 13

I could spend a lot of time talking about the sensor performance but the HERO 16K sensor at this point is well established as being a flawless sensor with solid tracking. So I focused my time on other areas like wireless performance. I tested using the Lightspeed dongle which btw was a quick plug and play and was indistinguishable from a wired mouse.  Bluetooth was better than my original MX Master experience, but there is a noticeable difference between it and Lightspeed. Ideally, you use the dongle with your gaming PC and Bluetooth to control any other device.

The crazy number of programmable buttons also falls on deaf ears with me, I don’t play MMOs and none of the games I play require me to use more than one or two side buttons. But I can see the benefit if you need more macros quickly accessible. This is MUCH better than using 6 G keys on the far side of a keyboard for example and they are easy to reach and while stacked on top of each other are easy to distinguish as well.

As for scroll wheel testing, remember I mentioned how much I love this wheel on the G502. Nothing has changed, you get a solid metal scroll wheel which doubles as a fidget spinner when you want and it never gets really dirty. Side to side buttons work. I’m not normally one to rattle, but I did notice a little rattle in the mouse when I pick it up and shake. Holding the wheel or triggers down didn’t help with the rattle as well.

I did run into one noticeable issue in my testing that I have to point out. Even just in the few days of testing, I have already run into double click issues with the G604 which is extremely scary. The G Pro Wireless and G703 have given me this problem as well and it can lead you to insanity as it slowly gets worse but isn’t bad enough for you to want to go through the trouble of contacting Logitech. Thankfully in my past experiences, they have been amazing and quick to replace when using the normal RMA process. But Logitech didn’t mention what switch they are using and I have to wonder if it is the same 50 million click switch used on the GPW.  Hopefully our sample is just a fluke, but keep an eye out on consumer reviews to be sure.

 


Overall and Final Verdict

The G600 series mice have always stood out from the rest of Logitech’s gaming mice and the G604 is no different. Like the last two versions, you get a true wireless mouse that doesn’t require charging, instead going old school with replaceable batteries. Well, actually battery, with the new Hero 16K sensor the G604 was able to only need one double A battery to get the same extreme long life as before. You can still get top-notch gaming performance but now you can also switch to Bluetooth and conserve battery life. Logitech also went back to the roots of the G600 and G602 with the number of programmable buttons on the mouse. Including the side buttons on the scroll wheel and everything else you have 13 usable buttons with support for reprogramming scrolling up and down as well coming soon. All of that is just in time for the release of WoW Classic!

The old school G502 all-metal scroll wheel is a bonus to me as well with its easy to keep clean design and the all-metal wheel spins better than most fidget spinners IMO. Of course, the metal wheel also adds to the weight and overall this is a heavy mouse due to its size, the use of a AA battery, and because Logitech didn’t go with their endoskeleton construction. Now even in the relatively short amount of testing I have done I ran into a few issues more than I normally find on Logitech mice. For starters our sample had a bit of a rattle and it wasn’t from the scroll wheel or triggers. Given I don’t shake my mouse in real-life use this doesn’t matter at all to me. But the double-clicking issue our sample has already started to show signs of on the other hand is a big concern. Hopefully it is just our sample, but I’ve had the worst luck with any mouse that has double click issues, I always end up finding them.

My other complaint is more of a comment, what I found with the G604 is that some of the design features like the dual wireless modes, the floating feet, the shape, etc are all from the MX Master mouse series. That is actually an extremely popular mouse design and making a “gaming” version isn’t exactly a bad thing. But it does feel like the G604 is just an MX Master with a proper gaming sensor, Lightspeed wireless, and extra side buttons. This leads to issues like the gliders not being large enough.

Overall, the G604 is a great but confused mouse. It is just as weird now as it was with the G602 for Logitech to combine their “true” wireless mouse and their MMO mouse together. Two relatively niche markets (compared to something like the ultra-popular G502) don’t make a bigger market. Frankly the G604 doesn’t fit my needs at all. It is larger than I prefer, I use a powerplay mat so Logitech’s rechargeable options work well for me, and I don’t play MMOs. But I can see the market. Hopefully the durability concerns that I have, end up being nothing, but before picking a G604 up I would also check customer reviews just to make sure the double click issue isn’t prevalent. Overall this ends up being a cheaper mouse than mice like the GPW or G502 Wireless with the G604’s MSRP being just under $100. Which is the same price as the new MX Master 3, only the G604 has a proper sensor and uses Logitech’s Lightspeed Wireless tech for a wired like connection.

fv5

Live Pricing: HERE

Author Bio
garfi3ld
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.

Log in to comment

We have 1949 guests and no members online

supportus