G502 Lightspeed: Love at first click
28.6.2019
Translation: machine translated
The G502 is one of the most popular gaming mice in the world. Previously it was only available with a cable - now it's finally wireless. The Lightspeed, as the wireless version is called, is impressive across the board.
The Logitech G502 is one of the most popular gaming mice in the world. Previously it was only available with a cable - now it's finally wireless. The Lightspeed, as the wireless version is called, impresses across the board.
The G502 is quite simply an ingenious mouse: it sits comfortably in the hand, is precise and can be personalised for every hand with its eleven buttons and additional weights. Everything the G502 does right, the G502 Lightspeed also does right - simply without a cable.
- Sensor: Hero 16K
- DPI: 100 to 16,000
- Battery: 48 to 60 hours
- Eleven programmable buttons
- Maximum signal rate: 1000 Hz
- Weight: 114 g (plus four 2 gram weights and two 4 gram weights)
What about the latency?
Fact: Wireless mice have a higher latency than their wired counterparts. Another fact: this difference is so small today that it hardly plays a role anymore. Even pro gamers now play wirelessly. And if they do that, it must be true. I want to find out whether test subjects notice the difference in latency between the wired G502 Hero and the wireless G502 Lightspeed in a blind test. Apart from the wireless function, both mice are identical in construction.
While we don't have any pro gamers at digitec, we do have a few passionate gamers. I have four for my blind test: streamer and former digital editor - now converted food pabst at Galaxus - Simon Balissat; former Marketing Manager for PC components and hobby headshooter Raphael Knecht - now team leader of the digitec editorial team; Appenzeller-Extra-eating, Dota 2-loving Category Marketing Manager for gaming products Jan Heidenreich; and last but not least, hobby gamer and editor Martin Jud as a shooter layman.
The mice look very similar, except for the barely recognisable charge status indicator on the Lightspeed. You can't tell them apart with a quick glance. Nevertheless, I advise the test subjects not to look at the mice if possible. The Lightspeed comes with a USB cable for charging, which is no different from the Hero cable. I connect this to the mouse, but not to the PC. So the mouse is not recognisable by the missing cable. It's as if Logitech wants to provoke a comparison test, that's how similar the Hero and Lightspeed are.
For the test, I let Simon, Raphael, Jan and Martin play "CS: GO". A shooter is the best choice for the latency test. In the video above, you can see how my test subjects fared in the game and whether they could guess which mouse was wired and which was wireless.
Barely noticeable difference
Three out of four test subjects typed correctly. Only Simon seems to be very sure of himself and types correctly straight away. I'm just going to assume that Simon wasn't entirely sure and that his conviction was an act. When I look at his skills in virtual cooking with the mouse, I can't imagine that he actually typed correctly based on his experience.
Raphael "senses" the difference methodically: the supposedly greater weight of the Lightspeed makes him make the right judgement. Crap, and I thought that I had made the two mice about the same weight with the additional weights. Does Raphael have super-estimating powers? I want to know for sure and measure up: Headshot-Knecht guessed correctly, but the Lightspeed is actually slightly lighter than the Hero. Super-estimating powers my arse, Raphael was just lucky.
Martin first types incorrectly and then correctly. He can't really justify his judgement. My guess is that he just guessed right. Apart from chickens, he didn't hit anything either.
Jan makes his judgement after just a few seconds - and is wrong. He thinks he can detect a small difference in the latency. According to his own statement, he could just as easily have typed correctly.
Apart from Simon, everyone thinks that the difference is barely noticeable. If Martin and Raphael had guessed incorrectly, the result would have been the other way round. Nevertheless, my test subjects do seem to notice a difference. Perhaps they were influenced by the expectation that a mouse is with and without a cable.
I personally don't notice any difference. Even though I know which mouse is wired and which is wireless. I think the Logitech G502 Lightspeed is the perfect gaming mouse. Although we had a difficult start.
Gamer design meets almost perfect feel
At first glance, I find the G502 really ugly. It looks like a Cylon Raider on steroids. I'm into sci-fi, but does the mouse have to look like it was penned by Eric Chu?
At least that's what I thought at first. In the meantime, I've got used to the design. I still don't think the mouse is beautiful, but I've fallen in love with it anyway. It is always said that the first impression is decisive when choosing a partner - sorry: choosing a mouse. The first impression has a lot to do with appearance. If it's negative, it takes a lot to turn a relationship into a positive one.
With me and the G502 Lightspeed, it didn't take more than one touch to change my mind: The moment I put my hand on the mouse for the first time is the moment I know: this is the one for me. Love at first touch, so to speak. The G502 Lightspeed glides as if by magic and takes me exactly where I want to go. What reads like a scene from a bad penny dreadful novel - sorry: Penny dreadful novel, the "bad" would imply that there are good ones - actually happened. The G502 feels so good in my hand that I never want to touch another mouse again. From now on, I'm mouse-monogamous.
The eleven keys on the G502 are all freely programmable. You do this in the Logitech G Hub software. In addition to the freely configurable buttons, you can also set the lighting, DPI sensitivity and signal rate. The software also provides you with information about the charging status. According to Logitech, the Lightspeed can last up to 60 hours of intensive gaming on a full battery. However, you have to switch off the RGB lighting to do this. With flashing, Logitech still promises 48 hours. I didn't fully discharge the battery during my test period. However, the figures may be more or less correct.
The operation in detail
All buttons are arranged so that I can reach them easily without having to change the position of my hand on the mouse. The buttons don't require a lot of pressure, but still enough that I don't trigger them by accident. The sniper button is slightly harder than the other buttons. But that's not too bad, after all, most people's thumbs are stronger than the rest of their fingers. So the whole thing balances out.
The buttons make a pleasant noise when clicking and are not annoying. I only find the mouse wheel a little loud when it is engaged. I didn't notice any difference in accuracy compared to other gaming mice. I never utilised the Hero's 16,000 dpi: I'm up to a maximum of 6400 for office work.
My new favourite mouse
The G502 Lightspeed has clicked its way into my heart. So much so that I'm writing about it in a cheesy way. But it's like any new love: I don't see anything bad about it or in it at the moment. And she's also shown me that I'm not as superficial as I always think: after all, I love her despite - or perhaps even because of - her ugliness.
Since the butterflies in my stomach are clouding my vision, I don't mind the relatively high price. If that's too much for you or you don't need a wireless mouse, the G502 Hero is a good and affordable alternative. It does the same thing, looks the same - just with a cable.
Kevin Hofer
Senior Editor
kevin.hofer@digitecgalaxus.chFrom big data to big brother, Cyborgs to Sci-Fi. All aspects of technology and society fascinate me.
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