Logitech G700 mouse and G930 headset review

Logitech's been making quality peripherals for as long as many of us have been computing, introducing some of us to our first wheel, wireless and infrared mice in the process. But when it comes to the latest in gaming peripherals, the company's not always ahead of the curve. Razer and Microsoft have had high-end hybrid wireless mice for over a year now, and the 2.4GHz wireless headset isn't exactly a new concept. That said, the company's reputation is strong for a reason, and we were pleasantly surprised to find that Logitech's created a mouse and headset that leapfrog -- rather than just catch up to -- what competitors have offered. See what we mean in our review after the break.

Logitech Wireless Gaming Headset G930

On the surface nigh-identical to Logitech's G35 headset from last year, the $160 Wireless Gaming Headset G930 has plenty more going on under the hood. In addition to Dolby Pro Logic II 7.1 surround sound that kicks in at the flick of a switch and a noise-canceling microphone, the cans can dynamically hop between frequencies thanks to a pair of embedded 2.4GHz radio antennas, and receive uncompressed 48kHz audio from a USB dongle. The dongle itself slots right into a practical circular disc that doubles as a wrap for the headset's microUSB charge cord. There have also been some minor but important tweaks to the headset's general design, with longer steel adjustment bands (that go to 15, if you know what we mean), rotating earcups, and a larger volume dial on the now-concave outer plates. and a handy red mute LED light embedded right into the end of the flexible boom mic. In practice, the wireless connection worked surprisingly well, letting us take our music all around a WiFi-laden house with a minimum of static or noise, and when the connection did cease it was all at once, and always due to wandering outside the unit's range.

Logitech G930 unboxing and hands-on

Of course, if you've never worn a G35, the differences between that headset and this one won't truly help you decide, so let us explain further that the G930 is one of the most superb PC headsets -- gaming or no -- that we've ever tried. We were perfectly audible spychecking in Team Fortress 2 while running a fan at full blast thanks to the noise-canceling mic, and the audio quality from the 40mm drivers was as rich and nuanced as those our favorite Grado SR-60s could provide. The 7.1 Dolby is admittedly more novelty than reality, as there are only two drivers and game support for this particular brand of virtual surround is still limited, but flicking the surround switch does add a certain illusion of depth to even two-channel audio. Besides, it's something of a nitpick when the headset's stereo separation and isolation in two-channel mode let us hear every raindrop in Hero's guqin courtyard fight scene. They're comfortable too, and exerted only a minimum of vice grip on our head, although the weight was noticeable after extended periods. The only true issues we found were with general build quality -- as the arms holding either earcup are made of cheap plastic and tend to creak -- and the ten-hour battery that abruptly cut our music short, rather than providing some audible warning that it required a charge.

Logitech Wireless Gaming Mouse G700

Logitech's first wired / wireless mouse is something of an anomaly, and that's not just because of its all-plastic shell -- rather than appealing to Call of Duty first-person shooter fans, the $100 G700 is targeted at the MMO crowd. Using the form factor (and nano receiver) of the Performance Mouse MX, the G500's fully-programmable buttons, 5700dpi laser sensor and dual-mode scroll wheel plus extra buttons on top, the result is an incredibly versatile controller that -- at least for us -- was not terribly comfortable to hold. The G700 trades the soft-touch plastic coatings of its predecessors for a rough, textured plastic shell that constantly made our hands feel like sweating as they tried to grasp around the peripheral's large rump, which dug into the base of our thumb when we used a palm grip. With claw or fingertip grip styles our work was easier, especially given the quality of the buttons on this mouse -- more on that in a second -- but tiring, given the weight of the rechargeable Eneloop AA battery and especially with the extra tension of the added data / charging cord. Excepting that tension, the mouse performed equally well in wired and wireless modes (and seamlessly swapped between the two) though we'd suggest using either the cord or the battery for life-and-death tournament use. Speaking of the battery, it did last a couple solid days when idle, but gave up the ghost after a severe Engadget work day of very heavy use.

Logitech G700 hands-on

Now, we told you these buttons were fantastic, and we weren't kidding around -- the positioning, responsiveness and flexibility impressed us at every turn. The four triggers on the left side have ridges aligned so that you can press any individual one just by slightly shifting your thumb, and the main left and right mouse buttons require so little effort to depress that you can activate them at the apex of the mouse. With a single finger at the right point, you can press any of three left mouse buttons with a single touch -- with the proper grip, only G8, G11 and the dual-mode scroll wheel shifter require any effort to reach. Furthermore, every single button on the device is fully programmable to be a macro, keyboard key or Windows function and you can store and switch between five full profiles of these programmable buttons on the mouse itself, giving a fairly impressive (and admittedly difficult to remember) total of 65 different functions across three modes. We quickly whipped up a productivity mode with copy, paste, task switching, media remote buttons and web shortcuts mapped right to various keys on the mouse, and a gaming mode where we could switch sensitivity, instantly select weapons and reload. Of course, these could just as easily help a rogue rapidly put on a robe and wizard hat, we suppose.

Wrap-up

Finishing up a lengthy test, we went right back to our aging Logitech MX518 mouse and Grado cans, and found them just as comfortable and pleasing to use as before -- they're not broken, and until they are we wouldn't spend nearly what Logitech's asking for the G930 and G700. But we do already miss the extra buttons and superb wireless sound. If you're due for an upgrade, only the slightly steep price, middling battery life and your-mileage-may-vary comfort concerns keep these both from being must-owns.

Update: Our bad, the red LED on the end of the mic is a carryover from the G35. Also, in case you're wondering, both devices work perfectly well with Mac as plug-and-play USB peripherals, though you won't be able to program buttons or enjoy Dolby surround without hacking your own drivers.

Update 2: While the G930 headset doesn't have dedicated hardware for either function, Logitech informs us that a low battery notification is indeed available using the companion desktop software, and you can always program one of the three G keys to be an audio mute if that's what you desire. The G700 mouse, meanwhile, has space for five onboard profiles, not just three, and you can keep track of which one's active by looking at those three LEDs on the left side.

[element4life3 Posted Aug 5th 2010 8:19AM]

I've always been more of a Razer person myself, but these two seem tempting...

[TT Posted Aug 5th 2010 8:39AM]

@element4life3
Yeah, I think I'm gonna stick to my Megalodon and Deathadder Respawn.
Never been a huge fan of Logitech's mouse ergonomics.
And I'd much rather have some nice, cool open earcups than these, even if they've got better noise cancelling that way.

[zob Posted Aug 5th 2010 10:40AM]

All logitech mouses have an issue with the click, after a few years of heavy use they start to fail
unfortunately engadget don'"t test stuff like that
i dont have a single logitech mouse which havent failed after 3 years (basically it "cliks by itself" - of course i use them 5 to 10h a day during these 3 years.. still, other mouses don't suffer from this - and you can google it, it's a well known issue)

[Worm in the Apple Posted Aug 5th 2010 11:54AM]

"Logitech's first wired / wireless mouse is something of an anomaly"

What?! Have you never heard of the Performance MX? It was Logitech's ACTUAL first wired/wireless mouse and I've used it happily for around 6 months now. Its called research.

[Sean Hollister Posted Aug 5th 2010 5:44PM]

@Worm in the Apple To the best of my knowledge, the Performance Mouse MX doesn't send any data over its micro-USB cable; it only charges the mouse. With the G700, you can rip out the battery and the 2.4GHz receiver both, and use it as if it were a standard wired mouse.

[maxxorz Posted Aug 6th 2010 1:45PM]

@zob

I had an MX 1000 for four years, and my only problem with it was it's bluetooth connection got shoddy.

In regards to the article, wireless mice just simply aren't as good for gaming as wired mice.

G9x is still the king.

[YpoCaramel Posted Aug 5th 2010 8:20AM]

Reading about some of the more sophisticated DSP systems like the SVS Realiser or Beyer Headzone, it's possible to be able to get some pretty good headphone surround sound from two drivers. I don't think more drivers is necessarily the way to go, it's expensive and the acoustics are difficult to design... would love to hear more detailed impressions about the G930 when gaming.

[Locust Posted Aug 5th 2010 8:40AM]

@YpoCaramel
I tend to find fake surround sound annoying, like CMSS 3D and SRS, but if these headphones sound anything like the G35s, then they're excellent for gaming and movies. The nice thing is that you can demo how these things would sound, basically, by looking up Dolby Headphone demos on YouTube.

With only two drivers, the surround effect is very smooth and convincing; the "quality" of the sound is the same if it is front and center or back and to the left (back... And to the left)

I'm not convinced about the wireless aspect though. More weight for batteries (the G35s aren't too terribly heavy, but they aren't too light either) plus one more thing to recharge every day.

[YpoCaramel Posted Aug 5th 2010 9:23AM]

@Locust I use a SU-DH1 for Dolby Headphone processing when gaming, then I use my usual headphones (D5000 or ESW10JPN), it helps a bit because 2-channel headphone tracks on games aren't all that great.

So far wireless headphones based on Kleer have been useful for the TV, but I think for PC Gaming a wire would be better. Less complexity, less charging, more money can go to the drivers and housing (just as important, really) materials.

[dingus Posted Aug 5th 2010 10:47AM]

@YpoCaramel I had recently bought and returned Tritton and Turtle Beach's top of the line gaming Dolby Headphone sets, trying to find the right one for both sound and to fit my weird head. I was about to buy the G35 but was turned off by reviews of flimsy construction and the fact that the Dolby processing is done in the driver.

Finally I squeezed my wallet a tiny bit more and went for the now de-facto standard high end PC setup of an Asus Xonar + AT AD-700 headphones + Zalman clip mic. The mic isn't fantastic, but it works well enough to be understood. But the headphones sound amazing with and without Dolby Headphone and are far more comfortable than the dedicated gaming phones. When I total what I spent on everything after rebates and all, the whole setup was about as much as the gaming phones anyway.

[bob1000 Posted Aug 5th 2010 8:20AM]

Does having such an expensive high-specked mouse make a difference? I've been gaming recently with my blue-track mouse from Microsoft that cost like $30 and it seems perfectly fine.

[Distant Posted Aug 5th 2010 8:26AM]

@bob1000

That's why your KDR in CS:S is marginal, at best.

[admlshake Posted Aug 5th 2010 8:33AM]

@bob1000

Or you have a life and got out of your parents basement. Either/or I suppose.

[geoken Posted Aug 5th 2010 8:40AM]

@bob1000

I think it's worth it for desktop use alone so I'd assume people who game with them would really see the value.

As I slowly moved up the totem pole to more expensive mice I noticed I was able to work a lot faster because my accuracy just kept increasing. I'm pretty much at the point where I can click an item faster than I can activate it with keyboard shortcuts if the shortcuts are 2 or more levels deep (ie. Alt-F to access the file menu, then a subsequent shortcut to trigger a child item in that menu)

[dingus Posted Aug 5th 2010 10:50AM]

@geoken I have DPI control mapped to the side buttons on my Razer mouse, and I found that when I'm using something like Gimp, switching to the high DPI for menu and tool selection and moving to lower DPI for fine work makes things go much faster and without having to resort to zooming on every detail.

[chastiser Posted Aug 5th 2010 2:06PM]

@bob1000 Good mouse REALLY makes a difference when you play to win! To me GOOD MOUSE is second to good video card

[admlshake Posted Aug 5th 2010 8:27AM]

I'd like to have a good set of wireless headphones/mic when i'm using skype at work but the price seems a bit too steep. Maybe I'll be able to pick up a cheap pair on ebay in a few months.

[geoken Posted Aug 5th 2010 8:28AM]

How is the middle click (ie. mouse wheel click)? I'm assuming it's as horrible as the Performance Mouse MX.

[Kylew Posted Aug 5th 2010 8:29AM]

I wish they'd include a way of using 3/4 jacks with their wireless headphones. I think that's the biggest issue with them, you can only use them with a PC and only via USB.

[Chuuchdizzle Posted Aug 5th 2010 8:35AM]

the MX518 was the best mouse I've ever owned, sadly I moved to laptops so I had to part ways. the Anywhere mouse however does a commendable job, and it also tracks just about anywhere.

[Mekkakat Posted Aug 5th 2010 8:53AM]

I've always love my G9, and when it broke, I got the sheer perfect (for me at least) G500. I'll never look back (I have 3 of them now, 2 still in-box)

[Hivetyrant Posted Aug 5th 2010 8:59AM]

My G35 has a red LED at the end of the mic too?

Regardless, I am so happy with my G35 that I will likely get the 930 as a second headset instead of a second 35 as it seems like a perfect partner for when I'm too lazy to take them off to go get a drink. (I'm pretty lazy :D

[ali abdulla Posted Aug 5th 2010 9:19AM]

@Hivetyrant
actually that would be the main reason for why i would by such headphones :D

[MikeSL Posted Aug 5th 2010 9:15AM]

I'm all about logitechs. Had MX1000 and now MX revolution both fit to my hand perfectly and are just great mouses.

[MooTron89 Posted Aug 5th 2010 9:28AM]

Got a Sidewinder X8 here, considering to get this... any suggestion ?? I got some problems with my X8 especially with some of the buttons build quality and I notice that in MSPAINT, it can't make smooth spiral, there will be some jaggies left out there.

[airbag888 Posted Aug 5th 2010 9:55AM]

I'm happy with my Zalman Theatre 5.1 with it's arguably more capable surround cause it actually has 6 speakers built in. I'd love to get a wireless one though with a station that would accept optical/hdmi >_<

On the mouse side of things I like my G9, only gripe is the removable cover doesn't hug the body tightly enough so it sort of slightly wiggles sometimes.

[coolmantv1 Posted Aug 5th 2010 9:55AM]

good like wow!
http://ikejhamb.com

[xkaosu9x Posted Aug 5th 2010 10:20AM]

Can the headset be used while it's charging? Because that's the one thing that irritates the hell out of me about the Xbox 360 wireless headset.

[madveks Posted Aug 5th 2010 10:21AM]

I'll pick the cans up only if they work with Live and PSN also. these days anything less is not worth it. I'm looking at you turtle beach.

[ryonavin Posted Aug 5th 2010 10:32AM]

I won the G35 for my desktop computer, and need good headphones for my gaming laptop.. I may very well have to get these for the wireless capability alone

[nascasho Posted Aug 5th 2010 10:56AM]

Great review Engadget, but nothing there makes me want to swap my G15 v2 and the G500. I DO like that headset though, but then I'd be wasting my soundcard since it's USB and the headset would be doing everything.

[dingus Posted Aug 5th 2010 10:57AM]

@Sean: Dolby Headphone isn't just a gimmick. You have two ears, the headphone has two speakers, and the computer simulates the directional effects that a human head has on sound.

[andysexton Posted Aug 5th 2010 11:16AM]

The G35 headsets have a big memory leak problem that's been reported in the Logitech forums to no effect. The thread is months and months old. If that hadn't have scared me off, I would have bought them months ago.

Any testing to verify that these drivers do not have that problem? I'd like to have a nice PC headset so that I wouldn't be moving my X41's from my 360 to my desk when I want to game on PC with chat.

Reference:

http://forums.logitech.com/t5/Headphones-Headsets-Microphones/G35-memory-leak-problem-Battlefield-bad-company-2-and-world-at/td-p/386968

[Apocalyptic 0n3 Posted Aug 5th 2010 11:51AM]

Slightly off topic, but what is considered the successor to the MX Revolution? I'm on my third one and I can continue to buy them from Amazon and eBay, but I'm interested in seeing what else they have. I don't see any in their current lineup that feature the dual scroll wheel, something that I really enjoy to use to control my volume.

[shifuimam Posted Aug 5th 2010 1:14PM]

@Apocalyptic 0n3 : That'd be the Performance Mouse MX, although I prefer the MX1100 myself. Either one will suffice as far as features and specs go.

[boe Posted Aug 5th 2010 11:53AM]

What ever happened to Logitech wireless keyboard development? There aren't any particularly good wireless keyboards and 10key input. I'd really like to see something revolutionary on that front - maybe even a usb charging connector.

[pwnstr Posted Aug 5th 2010 1:25PM]

"But when it comes to the latest in gaming peripherals, the company's not always ahead of the curve."

Wtf are you smoking...

[aopolis Posted Aug 5th 2010 1:46PM]

I use the Turtle Beach Earforce X41s for Xbox & PC gaming, great deal if you don't want to bother your neigbors! Just get some Energizer 15 minute AAAs & you're good to go. & they are also compatible with the Wii (stereo only I believe), & the PS3 (with an adapter).

Still need to get the PC chat adapter (and a 7.1 sound card - only have stereo right now), but I'm using my webcam mic for that for now. Really wish they had a battery pack or made these things rechargeable though!

[aopolis Posted Aug 5th 2010 1:49PM]

@aopolis Kind of annoyed that I just replaced my Logitech G5 (braiding went bad after a few years and kinked the cord ugh!) with the G500 & then see this article... however, I don't think I'd ever use the G700 wirelessly because of the battery weight.

I don't have any weights in the G5 or G500. I like them to feel the same weight as my wireless VX Nano (great mouse, batteries last forever & I'm actually going to keep buying it off Amazon over the new Anywhere version).

[husher Posted Aug 5th 2010 3:48PM]

these are nice, but I would have make a choice between these and the WOW headsets and I am a wow fan so.

[Luffy Posted Aug 5th 2010 5:08PM]

The headseat looks really tempting. I just wonder how easily replaceable the battery is.

[OblongChz Posted Aug 5th 2010 6:02PM]

It is a fact that a $160 pair of headphones with 6 drivers will have worse quality sound than a $160 pair of headphones with two drivers.

Surround gaming headsets are mostly a gimmick. Any soundcard worth its name can do "Dolby Digital Headphone" effects in software, and it will sound a lot better when using good-quality stereo headphones than when you are using cheap drivers in a "7.1" headset.

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 6th 2010 1:14AM]

@OblongChz

Yup, and if you simply must have wireless, the best wireless stereo *period* (& I've done a shit-load of research!) is the RS180*. Pair it with the SU-DH1 for surround simulation in games & movies & you're in heaven.


*except for maybe this but it has its limitations
http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/486893/review-jhc-a2-dac-amp-very-interesting-unique-product#post_6621951

[FADE Posted Aug 6th 2010 2:22AM]

The logitech frictionless wheel has me sold on everything they sell with it. Other companies have to copy it before I will consider them. It is that good.

[vVv Posted Aug 9th 2010 8:27PM]

For me the scroll wheel must have notches. Scrolling, zooming, flipping through pages or just plain old weapons changing has to have a defined notch & stop action. Slight smoothness is welcome but well defined notching is a must. That ball bearing smooth shit on the Logitech's of late is just too vague - lacking a sense of control.

But that's not a problem since wireless mice weighing over a metric ton, eradiating your hand and providing oportunity for hacking or dead batteries are also not in my taste...