Logitech New Wireless, RGB-Lit G900 Chaos Spectrum Gaming Mouse Announced

Logitech has debut the new G900 Chaos Spectrum gaming mouse.

With the G900 Chaos Spectrum, Logitech’s primary goal was to build a mouse that outperforms all other gaming mice, including its wired competitors, and solves the issues typically associated with wireless mice.

Of course, wireless mice have a particular stigma: They are typically heavier than their wired counterparts because of the necessary internal battery, and they sometimes come with a lesser sensor because the better ones can be a little power-hungry. Further, they can have connection issues due to wireless interference. On top of that, sometimes you have to change the batteries.

Buttons, Switches And Design

Few buttons on the G900 Chaos Spectrum are ordinary — not even the left, right and navigation buttons. Back in the day of the G9x, user feedback indicated that people loved the feel of the left-mouse button click, so the company engineered the mechanical pivot design for the G302 Daedalus Prime just over a year ago, and now it’s back in the G900.

Whereas the left and right buttons on many mice are merely an extension of the mouse’s body, with the plastic itself acting as a hinge, the buttons on the G900 have their own mechanical hinge.

However, that design introduces a potential problem. A free-floating button can rattle, so Logitech incorporated a preload spring behind the hinge to “push” the clicking area down onto the Omron switch. That switch is angled so that throughout the click motion, the plastic maintains its contact point rather than sliding along the switch.

Hence, the click you feel is the click of the Omron switch – you’re not trying to bend the plastic body of the mouse to activate a click. The end result should be very satisfying.

 

Out of the box, the G900 comes configured as a right-handed mouse with the forward/back navigation buttons on the left, but you can change this. Each side has two switches with magnets next to them, and you can attach two plastic pieces to turn them into actual buttons, or cover them up with a different piece of plastic. As such, you can have no navigation buttons at all, both navigation buttons on both sides, or a right/left handed configuration. The buttons attach to the body of the mouse with magnets, so swapping them is easy.

Part of Logitech’s goal was to shave as much weight off the G900 as possible to make up for the heft of the battery, so the team removed every little bit possible. As a result, the scroll wheel is spoked instead of solid. Logitech also used the dual-mode hyper-fast scroll wheel feature that allows the user to set the wheel into a free-spinning mode by clicking a button right below it.

 

The DPI switchers are standard: One lowers the DPI and the other increases it, and they are both programmable.

The looks of the G900 clearly follow in the footsteps of the other recent Logitech G gaming products, although this mouse appears to be a little more subdued. It still has the “spacecraft” vibe to it, but it’s not quite as pronounced as on the G502.

Battery Life And Charging Mechanism

For the G900, Logitech found itself in a bit of a pickle. It used the Pixart PMW3366 sensor, but it also wanted the mouse to be wireless. High-performance sensors like this one also tend to have higher power demands, which causes a battery life issue on wireless mice. However, Logitech said its engineers were able to partially resolve this problem by tuning the sensor’s clock.

 

Logitech claimed that the G900’s battery will last about 24 hours on a full charge with the lighting enabled, or 32 hours with the lighting disabled. Note that time frame assumes active use; according to Logitech, if you’re just using the mouse for casual web browsing, it will use less power and therefore the battery will last longer.

To charge the mouse, you simply remove the wireless receiver and its Micro-USB to USB-A adapter, and plug it into the mouse. The mouse works in wired mode when charging.

 

 

A few hours prior to the battery running dry, the Logitech Gaming Software will actually give you a notification in the top-right corner of your screen. The battery itself is proprietary and non user-serviceable. Logitech said a typical battery lasts for 1,000 charge cycles. Even if you have to charge the mouse twice a week, it will take you a decade to reach that 1,000 cycles.

 

Pricing and Availability

The Logitech G900 Chaos Spectrum is expected to be available in the U.S. and Europe beginning April 2016 for a suggested retail price of $149.99 and €179.