Computer mice designed and marketed directly for people who play games are nothing new, but in the era of professional gaming the market is getting a bit more complicated. Logitech turned a lot of heads a few years ago with its superb G900 wireless gaming mouse. That particular line was updated to the G903 Lightspeed mouse last year. Now the company is focused on a mouse specifically built for competition in hopes of drawing in the professional “gamer” crowd and their enthusiasts: the Logitech G Pro Wireless mouse.
Both the G903 and Pro Wireless have a very high-end price of $150. Even so, there are some significant differences between the two. The Pro is geared to what Logitech thinks dedicated pro players find most important: speed and accuracy in a small package. To that end, the mouse boasts some impressive specs that are likely meaningless to anyone but hardcore players.
The G900 series sported superbly accurate sensors that could expertly track your every move. The Pro Wireless outdoes it in just about every way. Mouse sensitivity is measured in Dots Per Inch (DPI) and the Pro’s Hero 16K sensor gives you an adjustable range of 100 to 16,000 DPI. That means that, at max sensitivity, the device could literally respond too quickly for casual users to even track. The G903, in comparison, sports a range of 200-12,000 DPI. That’s still mighty impressive! It’s just not “professional grade,” apparently.
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Just Shy of Floating Away at Lightspeed
The most surprising and notable difference between Logitech’s two high-end mice is just how much smaller and (more importantly) lighter the Pro Wireless is. The latter mouse feels absurdly light at just 80 grams. The G903 weighs in at a portly-by-comparison 110 grams. This is really where personal preference comes into play. Personally, I much prefer the larger size and greater heft of the G903. The Pro felt so small and light to me that I couldn’t help but worry about breaking it. That’s probably not a rational fear, but it was a distraction while I played.
In reality, the Pro Wireless is pretty tough. It’s designed to be ultra-thin and light with a specially structured chassis that reinforces the mouse body. It’s an impressive piece of engineering and, for anyone that needs a mix of high-tech in a small package, this is it. Better yet, the Pro Wireless battery is the best we’ve ever seen in a cordless gaming mouse.
The battery life of the G903, for instance, caps out at 32 hours (with the lighting switched off; it’s about 24 hours with them turned on). The Pro Wireless can go 48 hours with lights blazing and a whopping 60 hours going dark. You can store the mouse’s tiny, wireless USB dongle inside the device itself, too. That makes the Pro a superb traveling companion.
Logitech introduced their LIGHTSPEED wireless tech (yes, they really do spell it with all caps) with the original G900. It was the company’s answer to complaints of lag with wireless mice. And, wouldn’t you know it, the tech works just as advertised. There’s essentially no noticeable lag whatsoever here. And, although most users probably won’t care about it, wireless also means there’s no cord drag to hamper a professional gamer’s reaction time.
That said, going wireless will always create some amount of lag — however imperceptible to the layman. But if you’re worried about that, you can just plug in the USB charging cable and use the Pro like any standard mouse. It might undercut the whole purpose of a Pro Wireless mouse, but even with a wire, Logitech makes great mice. There’s actually a much cheaper wired-only version of the Pro, as well.
Customize and Light It Up
Getting the full effect of the Pro Wireless also requires the Logitech Gaming Software (LGS). It’s another straightforward name for PC software that lets you seriously customize the mouse. LGS lets you configure every button on the mouse individually. The Pro has 4-8 different customizable buttons, while the G903 has a rather over-the-top 11 programmable buttons. The software lets you adjust the DPI to your comfort level and play with the on-board RGB lighting.
The lighting is an odd bird here. The Pro’s lighted areas (including the logo on the main body) can display in the neighborhood of 16.8 million colors. Although, once again, that’s probably including more variance than you’ll ever notice.
The mouse can create game-specific lighting schemes that change according to what’s happening on-screen, among other factors. Since your hand will presumably cover up the lighted logo, however, this leaves the edge lighting around the buttons.
Honestly, I’m not sure I can see the appeal of this feature. But, you know… Colored lights are pretty.
The best part of LGS is that those custom configurations get stored on the mouse itself. So you don’t need to worry about running the software in the background while playing. Any performance boost helps pro players, right?
Pick Your Poison
If you go with either the Logitech Pro Wireless or G903, and have the desk space, you can also opt for the $100 Powerplay Wireless Charging System. It’s basically a surprisingly large mouse pad that actually surface charges the mouse, so you never have to worry about wires again.
Gaming mice tend to be expensive. The Logitech G Pro Wireless is no exception. And deciding if you need something quite this hardcore is a real toss-up — except in extreme circumstances where you know you’ll play a lot while traveling. The seriously hardcore should definitely check out this mouse. Everyone else? Consider the wired version if budget is a factor.
