The Logitech G502 X Plus Mouse Pushes All My Buttons

The Logitech G502 X Plus spreads nine bindable buttons across hotspots on the device, presented in a capital G gamer-heavy aesthetic that definitely appeals to MOBA and hotkey-heavy PC players out there.

There’s a point where the amount of buttons you have on a mouse reaches a practical limit. Razer, a company that built its identity around gamers being cyberpunks with a love for edgy, sharp peripherals covered in lights, has experimented a lot with button-heavy mice, especially with its MOBA-oriented mice like the Naga.

Logitech’s button-heavy mouse, the G502, tried to care more about form than having a uniform approach to buttons, which is why the buttons are so spread out. Now, the G502, one of the most popular mice from Logitech and one of the most celebrated gaming mice on the market has a sequel: The G502 X. In this review, we’ll mostly be talking about the G502 X Plus, the wireless version of the G502 X with RGB. They’re the same beast, it’s just those two differences.

Substance over style

The G502 X Plus is an ugly mouse. Not ‘ugly’ like a pile of cables or a kitchen filled with unwashed dishes, but ugly like a bad-looking car. It looks worse when you put it beside a fairly standard one:

But this is the point of the G502 X Plus aesthetic, which is a redesign of the G502 with a few changes. It’s not meant to look good, despite having the charm of Mass Effect’s Normandy spaceship. It’s meant to look different, otherworldly and capable of pulling off the sickest gaming plays of all time.

Which, to its credit, it’s pretty darn good at this. Recently I’ve been going through a Fortnite fixation, perfectly timed with the arrival of this mouse.

With an on-the-fly DPI switch and a specific mouse button that slows your DPI as you hold it, this mouse is built for precision, out of the realm of MOBAs and into the world of shooters. The DPI slowing button is perfectly placed at your thumb when holding the mouse, so with a firmer grip on the device, you have a slower, more focused flick.

Pushing your buttons

Now, I’ve long used Logitech peripherals, but I prefer more neutral mice. I’ve used it at friends’ houses and been impressed by the button range, but I prefer a mouse that looks even on all sides, like the Logitech G Pro wireless or the recent Logitech Aurora G705.

The Logitech G502 X Plus is built around its buttons, not the other way around. This mouse has fairly obviously been developed with fingertip hot zones in mind, with each button easily within reach without changing your grip too much in a tight situation, like a shotgun shoot-off or a sniper battle.

The best part about all of this is that every button on this mouse (except the wheel lock) is bindable through the Logitech G app, which remains one of the more impressive accessory customisation PC apps out there.

What I’ve done is rebound my abilities in games like Overwatch to be entirely used on the mouse. The seven buttons (plus M1 and M2) are more than enough for every hero. This is obviously the same for Fortnite — with that game, every item in my inventory is accessible using only the mouse, with the buttons bound to the keyboard numbers.

And, yes, the free-scrolling mouse wheel makes a return with the G502 X and the Plus. Earlier this year, the G502 made headlines when an Overwatch Mercy main revealed their secret to pulling off healing and the damage boost at the same time: a motorised glove scrolling the G502 mouse wheel until stopped.

So, if you’re someone who liked the unstopped scrolling wheel, or the wheel lock that turns it back to clicking, you’ll be impressed with the Logitech G502 X and the Plus.

Squeak, squeak

I’ve definitely enjoyed using the Logitech G502 X Plus, but I would urge buyers to be cautious and think about the games they may play this with. If you mostly play casual, single-player games without many abilities to activate, then I would steer clear of this device. If you’re someone who needs an extra seven buttons, then I think you will love the G502 or the G502 X Plus.

Both models, available in black or white, will be available from September 20.

Where to buy the Logitech G502 X

Logitech ($279.95) | JB Hi-Fi ($279.95) | PCByte ($279) 

Where to buy the Logitech G502 X Plus

Logitech ($149.95) | JB Hi-Fi ($149.95) | PCCaseGear ($149)

Note that the G502 X Lightspeed model isn’t available in Australia at the time of writing.

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