chaos spectrum |

Manufacturer: Logitech

Release Date: 3/24/2016

MSRP: $149.99

Colors: Black

I’m a huge fan of high-end gaming mice, and I’ve had them all. I usually buy a new one every 8–10 months because the technology is changing and getting better so quickly. Recently, I switched from Razer to Logitech because Razer’s software is just plain awful. I don’t know if it’s the software causing it, but all of their wireless mice lag like crazy, and they haven’t changed up their software in years. I switched to the G700S, which was an amazing mouse, but it didn’t have great battery life and was lacking flair.

Here comes the G900 Spectrum Chaos. This is the best mouse I’ve ever had, and not just recently, but I would choose this over all my current mice that I own. It’s ultra-light, looks fantastic, and has some of the best software and hardware I’ve seen or used.

When you open the box, you know you’re in for something great, as it comes in a hard cardboard clamshell with great texture. It sits in a plastic case, which has a cool design and is so minimal and sleek. Lift up the inner plastic insert, and you have a quick guide, a USB cable, and a little plastic box with your wireless receiver and extra buttons inside. This is an ambidextrous mouse similar to the Razer Ouroborus, but it forgoes any side anti-drag fins, and that’s okay.

I did have one issue, and that was how to set up the mouse for wired and wireless use. There’s a wireless receiver, but the tiny part comes out of a larger piece that has a USB mini-D on the other end. I tried plugging the mini receiver piece directly into the computer and plugging the mouse in, but that didn’t work. It turns out you have to plug the whole receiver piece into the cable and then unplug that to charge the mouse. It’s actually better as the receiver is closer to the mouse, and there’s one other feature for this: So you can take your mouse with you and your laptop on the fly. Just remove the tiny piece from the larger piece, and you’re done. The battery is no longer an AA rechargeable Sanyo Eneloop like the G700s, which lasted 8 hours at best. This is a no-removable proprietary battery that can last over 30 hours depending on your settings and weighs in at 700 mAh, which is quite large for such a small piece of hardware. Gone is the heavy mouse scroll wheel, yet you still have the free scroll option. This is the lightest mouse I have ever used, but it just works and feels great. The new buttons are also pivot buttons, as you aren’t bending the plastic to press an actuator. Instead, the buttons sit freely and pivot back and forth, meaning ultra-light presses will click the buttons.

The mouse uses the PMW3366 sensor, which is the fastest and most advanced sensor ever created. This mouse can also track at 300 inches per second and has zero smoothing and zero pixel rounding. You can’t get a faster mouse. I also have to note that in 2016, even on lower-end mice, there’s no lag. Any PC gamer using lag as an excuse to not use wireless mice is stuck in 2000. It just doesn’t exist these days, so ignore anyone who tells you this.

This is the longest I’ve ever seen a wireless mouse last. The most I previously had was a battery that lasted 12 hours, but this is just amazing. Especially since this is the first mouse with 12,000 DPI tracking and dual sensors. The amount of precision this mouse wields is just insane, and most gamers won’t even use all that. This is the most advanced laser technology for mice ever created, so why do you need it? It’s aimed at professional gamers, but everyday gamers will find it useful as well. Think of the mice as a controller. You need to not think about it or know it’s in your hand.

The mouse has two buttons on each side, but it’s only designed to use two at once, but you can use all four despite how awkward it will be. They feel great and are long, so you can hit them from any angle. There are two DPI buttons below the scroll wheel, but you can program these for anything. The lack of buttons leads to a sleek and minimalistic design, and I like that. I’m not really a macro guy, so this works for me. The mouse, given its name, has three LED lights for the battery indicator and profile selection, as well as a Logitech G logo on the palm rest that lights up. It can glow the entire color spectrum, just one color, or you can turn it off. Having it on eats batteries, but if you are at home, this is no issue.

The battery life is just fantastic. I can actually use this from morning until night and still have a charge. With my other mice, I would have to charge them 3–4 times a day. With lighting all the way up, a polling rate of 1000 Hz, and using the sensor tracker, I get 22 hours. That’s damn impressive, if you think about it. I am highly impressed with their mouse pad tracker, as it’s so much better than Razer’s. You actually have to calibrate the mouse by moving it around your pad, and it detects what material and color it is as well as other variables. Razer’s tracking tech never worked and was awful and useless.

The software is your typical Logitech flair, but this mouse can track heat maps and just feels overall more fluid and tighter than the G700s software version. The mouse is fully customizable on the software side, and you can tailor this mouse to do exactly what you want.

Before I end this review, I want to show you what this mouse was like playing some games and how it compared to my other mice. Was I better in the game or worse? Let’s see!

Call of Duty: Black Ops III

I was actually better in this game. The aiming is just so much more precise, and I mean that you feel like you’re almost pointing with your finger. It’s not just about how fast your mouse moves around like other mice; it’s about actual, real precision. I was able to stop enemies on a dime, and it felt good. I was able to use my default preferred DPI setting of 2750, and it felt perfect. There was no need to adjust in-game settings or DPI. This mouse is a perfect fit for this game.

Overwatch

My shooting skills improved slightly in Overwatch. There’s not as big of a difference as in Black Ops III, but it was there. I found I was able to track fast-moving players better, and my kill ratio went up slightly due to this. This mouse will definitely benefit competitive shooter players.

Overall, the G900 is probably the best mouse ever invented, and while it doesn’t cater to every type of gamer, it gets all the important stuff right. A highly advanced sensor, great wireless tech that doesn’t cut out or time out, a beautiful design, and, best of all, a long battery life.