September 12, 2024 03:45 PM
Himanshu Sharma
Ten Thousand Rupees for a mouse is expensive, but since its release in September 2019, Logitech’s MX Master 3 has been an undefeated champion in our ranking in terms of comfort and cordless productivity. The new MX Master 3S doesn’t rewrite the concept—either of two wheels—yet it offers a higher DPI and nearly silent button clicks. It still reigns supremely as the best all-around mouse you can get and our top pick as the best mainstream mouse.
Three Colors, Softer Clicks:
While its appealing design is sculpted for right-handed people only, the MX Master 3S is not formally considered an ergonomic mouse like Logitech’s MX Vertical. It is not an ambient-colored MMO or MOBA gaming mouse with a macro-programmable thumb button, nor is it a fast-twitch gaming mouse with a 16,000 dots per inch (dpi) resolution though its all-terrain Darkfield sensor has been upgraded from 4,000 dpi to 8,000 dpi—fast enough for making a large 4K monitor or multiple monitors move swiftly.
But the 140 grams wireless mouse with pale grey, darker graphite, or black color that is composed of 22% or 27% recycled plastic comes with productivity and versatility in a mouse. The latter is from the more or less infinite variety of options in its Logi Options+ software (more on this below) and its electromagnetic scroll wheel that adapts the resistance to your scrolling speed or the pressure you apply to the wheel. Switching between precise and free-wheeling is done using the button located below the wheel, but you can do this with speed or by using your fingertips.
That is not the only scroll wheel. Along with the clickable chrome wheel, the two large buttons on the left and right, and the top button, on the left side there is a large horizontal scroll wheel with the right thumb. Below it are two small inconspicuous buttons that control the forward and backward navigation on your browser by default and below these buttons is a curved wing/running board/thumb rest that assists in creating an inclined palm support. A small line (like a raised hyphen) on the wing shows that there is an additional four functions if the thumb presses the button and moves the mouse either up, down, left, or right.
Apart from the upgraded sensor, there is only one other difference from MX Master 3S – the primary clicks do not click, or do so almost silently, being 90% quieter Logitech says unless you cup your ear to the mouse. The buttons also feel a little softer compared to their previous versions — if you like a firm tactile feel then you might prefer the still available MX Master 3 — but they’re just fine.
This is a game that you wouldn’t want to put down even after the last level has been reached.
The mouse has remained the same at 4.9 x 3.3 x 2 inches and it is soft and very comfortable to touch as soon as one places their hand on the material. We noticed that we had to slide or press the Thumb more consciously or purposefully than we thought needed to trigger the gesture button but we did not have a similar problem with the side buttons and the scroll wheels. That too the MX Master 3S also establishes a benchmark for wireless comfort. It can either connect via Bluetooth Low Energy or the Logi Bolt USB receiver which comes with the pack. The latter has to be connected to a Type-A USB port to offer a 2.4GHz link which, just like the older Logitech Unifying receiver, is compatible with one of the manufacturer's MX keyboards.
A button on the bottom of the mouse will allow you to toggle between up to three devices with different Bluetooth or USB connections and Logitech’s Flow technology will let you move the mouse from one screen to another whether that is from a Windows desktop to a Macbook and copy between systems. One minor gripe: What stands out, again, is the lack of storage or carry, if one is traveling, for the receiver at the 3S.
As for the charging, on the front of the mouse, there’s a USB Type-C port, and in the box, there’s a USB-C-to-A cable. The company claims one minute of charging is enough to power the device for three hours, and up to 70 days on a full charge; in practice, simply from observing the Options+ battery indicator icon, I would estimate that constant users will need to recharge the device every 15-20 days. (Why can’t every gadget maker follow Logitech’s lead and include the equivalent of this small but thoughtful internal battery in place of disposable AAs?)
What is there in Options+ that I like is that it is pretty much flexible where the button mapping allows you to change or use the side-scrolling to switch among browser tabs.
It also has different buttons assigned for different applications like Adobe Photoshop/Premiere, Microsoft Office, and the Edge browser having as many preset or personalized buttons as possible.
Pros and Cons:
Pros:
- Remarkable comfort and battery life
- Perfectly precise electromagnetic scroll wheel
- Ultra-customizable for different apps
- Works with multiple devices and operating systems
Cons:
- Lefties need not apply
- No place to store the USB dongle
- Fans of tactile clicks may prefer the older version
The Verdict: Other Than Mind Control What’s Better?
Unfortunately, Logitech does not have the MX Master 3S specially designed for left-hand users and it cannot be denied that not all PC users need the ₹10,000 mouse. Still, it is hard to imagine a better pointer until the day when we can just control our cursors by our minds. Even if you are scrolling one thousand lines per second or using commands ‘Undo’ and ‘Paste’ while simultaneously snapping windows this could not be done better.
Buy Logitech MX Master 3s (Graphite) at just ₹8,299
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