Summary and Specs at the bottom
The Logitech G502 LIGHTSPEED is the second wireless mouse I'm going to be covering. Although similar to the G900 in terms of it being wireless, other than that it couldn't be more different. Its features are almost all in contrast to the G900's, with an extremely right-handed design. Let's get into it.
First of all, the G502 is very geared towards ergonomics. It's a completely right-handed mouse, with hotkeys on only the right side. There is also a rubber thumb rest, which can be quite convenient for long gaming sessions, and prevents friction from your finger brushing the mouse mat. The middle-front button on the G502 is used to switch scroll wheel modes. The normal scroll wheel mode is more useful, but a flywheel is extremely beneficial for quickly scrubbing through pages or video content. Lastly, there are five weights totaling 16 grams that you can put into the G502.
When you put your hand on the G502, it naturally slides into a relaxed palm grip. This is good for most players as the palm grip is the most common grip. The back of the mouse is very smooth and nestles in your palm. While this is nice for the first few minutes, it quickly makes your palm hot and eventually sweaty unless you use more of a claw grip. Although I am not super picky about mouse grip, this became irritating after 15 minutes. If you had bigger hands, however, this might be less of an issue to you as your palm would not naturally wrap around as much of the mouse. The mouse is also uncomfortably long, causing my fingers to be quite stretched out to meet the mouse' optimal actuation point. Additionally, the switches seemed a little loose and rattly, opening the door to the notorious double-clicking problem.
The G502 LIGHTSPEED certainly does not skimp on hotkeys. There are five hotkeys that you can activate from the right side alone. Although the two upper ones are pressed by your pointer finger and therefore rather cumbersome to access, they can still be useful for situational binds. You could also just keep the as DPI buttons, as they are by default. Along with the upper hotkeys, there are the two traditional side buttons and a sniper button. A sniper button is an additional hotkey positioned just under the two regular hotkeys, and in the area where you rest the tip of your thumb. This can be a remarkably useful hotkey in fast-paced games, such as shooters.
The look of this mouse is classic Logitech; not much RGB, but quite sleek and aggressive in design. The two zones of light this mouse has are the G (obviously) and the battery indicator, located above the hotkeys. There are three bars in the indicator, giving you a precise measurement of battery level. The build quality in the G502 is high-quality, using an internal plastic endoskeleton to support the mouse while keeping the weight skinny.
As Linus Tech Tips once wisely said, "The three reasons not to go wireless are latency, weight, and price" (paraphrased). Equipped with Logitech's cutting-edge Hero 16K sensor, latency is definitely not something to worry about. Weight and price, however, might be a little annoying. Firstly, the lowest weight this mouse can be is 114 grams. Although this is good for a wireless mouse, it's still a good 60 grams above ultralight mice and 40 grams above its cousin, the G Pro Wireless. That brings us into the last criticism: The G502 is $150, the same price as the G Pro Wireless, and more than double the G900.
Lastly, the powerplay compatibility. PowerPlay is a mousepad that can charge your mouse while your mouse is resting on it. It comes with an electronic capacitor that can replace the weight door of compatible mice. Powerplay essentially makes it so that you never run out of battery, and you don't need wires. It's pretty amazing technology, but in my opinion, only useful for those who game 8+ hours a day (streamers or eSports players), because otherwise you can easily plug in your mouse every week.
In summary, the G502 is an extremely popular mouse because of its multitude of thumb buttons, 6 different weights, and top-notch sensor. I could see this mouse being very effective in FPS games because of theses traits. The thumb rest and scroll wheel switching are also thoughtful and situationally practical features. Additionally, the G502 boasts a 48 hour battery life. However, the grip is a little awkward and the price rather egregious, especially compared to what the G900 and G Pro Wireless bring to the table and their respective prices.
Specs:
Connection: Wireless
Battery Life: 48 hours
Buttons: 9
Shape: Right-handed ergonomic
OS Compatibility: Mac 10.6+ and Windows 7+
Weight: 107g
Weight Tuning: 4x 2g, 2x 4g
Price: $150
DPI: 200-16,000
RGB: 2 zones
Sensor: HERO 16K Optical
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