With all the extra time we have at the moment, gaming as a form of entertainment is more viable than ever. And with all the time people have to game, the more they realize they want better hardware to make their gaming that much more enjoyable. Enter the Logitech G604 Lightspeed Wireless—another in a long, varied line of Logitech’s gaming mice that aims to bring solid performance to the gaming enthusiast.
DESIGN: 4.5/5
The G604 is a wireless mouse that is tailored for gaming, and that shows in its design. While it’s not garish or flashy, it closely follows the design of the older, and very excellent G602 (which I own and love), but gives it a bit of an update. It’s a long mouse that’s more suited for a palm grip than a claw, unless you have freakishly large hands. It falls away slightly more to the right, making it a righty only mouse. Just like the 602, there’s a platform for your thumb, and six thumb buttons. Additionally, there are two sub-buttons on the far corner of the LMB, a wireless mode selector, and the clutch for the heavy, metal mouse wheel. The heel of the mouse pops off to reveal the AA battery bay, and the storage slot for the wireless dongle. Flipping the mouse over reveals four, raised PTFE feet, the sensor, and main power switch. Entire mouse is black, with a matte, rubberized area in the middle for a better grip.
HARDWARE: 4.5/5
While it looks like the spitting image of the G602, there are a few upgrades to the 604. The now-metal scroll wheel can either ratchet or spin freely depending on whether the clutch is engaged. The mouse wheel also tilts left and right, which is quite a useful feature.
The mouse has Logitech’s Hero 16K sensor with up to 16,000 DPI resolution, and both super-low latency lightspeed wireless, and Bluetooth connectivity. You can switch connections with a click of a button should you have multiple devices. It’s powered by a single AA battery, and weighs all of 135 g, so it’s a little on the heavier side.
USER EXPERIENCE: 4.5/5
I confess I’m a big fan of logitech mice, having gotten them from when I could get my own peripherals. Their wireless mice in particular are a favorite of mine, and when my G603 started to suffer from the dreaded double-click issue after three years of faithful service, it was time to find a replacement. Having had a G602 for two or so years before the 603, I liked the idea of an update to what might have been my favorite mouse, and made the purchase.
In use, the mouse feels almost exactly the same as the G602, but they managed to take a few problems and smoothed them out. The lower middle thumb button is less raised than the other ones, giving your thumb a nice home to rest on, and allowing you to index better, making the other buttons easier to use as well–a huge change in usability over the 602.
The metal scroll wheel is also a great addition to the features on the mouse. With the ability to spin freely, it makes navigating long documents and pages so much easier. It’s also a lot of fun to fiddle with. The weight of it is also quite pleasant, and the ability to rock left and right is a great feature that I use a lot for navigating through multiple tabs.
As expected from Logitech’s lightspeed mice, the latency is very low, and imperceptible from a wired connection when connecting through the wireless dongle. This is helped along by the nicely raised feet that glice very nicely on your surface of choice. I actually don’t use a mouse pad in my current setup, which is a smooth granite slab, and it just floats over wonderfully. This is important to note, as this is a fairly heavy mouse at 130g with a single AA cell. I’m an oddball who likes heavier mice (within reason), and this is a mouse that falls into that sweet spot.
Now, a word about the power source. Say what you want about AA-powered mice, but I’m a fan. I have mild prepper tendencies, and always have a bank of charged cells ready for use. This saves me the trouble of having to charge yet another device, and allows me to just pop in a fresh AA when the live one runs low. Since the rated battery life on the G604 is 240 hours of constant use on Lightspeed mode, it’s really not even worth thinking about for me.
The mouse itself works superbly, particularly since I’ve spent many many hours gaming on the G602. For it fits medium and large hands well, clicks positively, and with the redone button design, your thumb can actually input commands. This change will likely be appreciated more by MoBA players.
Now, a quick word about the Logitech G Hub software. There have been great improvements to the G Hub software that’s used to configure Logitech mice, and while the visual tweaks are great, and UI improvements are appreciated, it’s still not the most intuitive. Still, it gets the job done, if in a sort of roundabout way sometimes.
VALUE: 3.5/5
Overall, the G604 is a great upgrade to the mice that came before it, and worthy of that badge. At a shade under PHP 5,000 though, I can’t say it’s the best value for money, particularly given Logitech’s other exceedingly excellent lightspeed mice. Still, for the comfort, usability, and that sweet mouse wheel, it’s not a bad package overall.
Specifications:
- Sensor: Logitech 16k Hero sensor
- Resolution: 100-16,000 DPI
- Connectivity: Bluetooth, Lightspeed 2.4 GHz
- Power: 1xAA battery
- Onboard memory
- Endurance: 240H lightspeed, 5.5 mos Bluetooth
- Weight: 135g
What’s Hot:
- Fixes out concerns with the G602
- Comfortable
- AA-powered
What’s Not:
- Price
- AA-powered
Bottomline:
BRB, playing Overwatch with the G604 RN.
Reviewed by Ren Alcantara
Also published in Gadgets Magazine September 2020