Logitech MX Ergo Plus Wireless Mouse
Advanced trackball for trackball enthusiasts and consumers searching for alternatives to mice and touchpads. Features a unique adjustable hinge for personalized comfort and modern tracking, scrolling and power management technology.
Run Time
Features
Advanced trackball for trackball enthusiasts and consumers searching for alternatives to mice and touchpads. Features a unique adjustable hinge for personalized comfort and modern tracking, scrolling and power management technology.
Tech Specs
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Logitech is back with a new trackball mouse, and it’s the company’s best one yet.
I have a minor obsession with computer accessories.
Just this morning, I got a new keyboard in the mail from Amazon, then moved my custom keycaps from my previous keyboard. The same obsession extends to mice and pointing devices: I’ve tried 10 different mice during the past year and a half. This accessory obsession means I’m a frequent customer of Logitech products, since that company specializes in many computers, tablet, and smartphone accessories. Just when I was content with my setup, Logitech announced the 100 MX ERGO.
Logitech wants to make trackball mice great again with the MX ERGO
To the outside observer, this is a really strange device. Even to someone like me, it’s a bit wild. I’ve used trackballs and thumb-balls before, but I couldn’t wrap my head around tilting the mouse up at an angle. However, I was intrigued.
I’ve been using the MX ERGO Plus for a little over a week. Before this, I had a Logitech M570 at my work desk, and a Logitech M720 Triathlon. The Plus version reviewed here is exclusive to Best Buy, with the only difference between it and the standard version being the addition of one accessory (more on that to come).
A lot to like about the unique MX ERGO
The MX ERGO comes pre-paired with the included unifying receiver, which can be paired to other Logitech mice and keyboards. At my day job desk, I have the MX ERGO and a Logitech wireless keyboard paired to the same receiver, and they work beautifully. The MX ERGO can also be paired over Bluetooth, and it can remember a second Bluetooth device or unifying receiver. There is a switch just below the scroll wheel to toggle between devices.
Whether connecting over Bluetooth or to a unifying receiver, I had no issues with pairing the trackball or maintaining a connection. If I wanted to pick nits, I would wish the mouse could be paired to three devices instead of two, like the MX Master and Triathlon mice. This would give me extra flexibility since I use three computers, but to the average trackball enthusiast I’m sure two devices is plenty.
Near the front of the mouse, you’ll see the forward and back buttons, left and right click buttons and the scroll wheel. The scroll wheel can also tilt to the left or right to act as buttons. The forward, back and scroll wheel tilt buttons can all be re-mapped with Logitech‘s Options software. Next to the trackball, there is a button to change the DPI on the mouse. This will let you slow the mouse pointer way down for use in a video editor or other very granular program.
The bottom of the MX ERGO is where things start getting strange. Every MX ERGO ships with a metal plate that can be used to keep the device flat, or tilt it at a 20-degree angle. This sound a bit silly, but in use it’s really comfortable. The MX ERGO Plus ships with a plastic wedge that provides for an additional 10-degrees of tilt, which is even better. With the trackball tilted to the full 30-degrees, it becomes the most comfortable pointing device I’ve ever used. I spend about 12 hours per day in front of a computer, and with other mice my wrist is usually ready to give out by the end of the day. With the MX ERGO, I don’t have any wrist strain, which is great.
The metal plate and plastic wedge are held on with magnets, which will be fine for most folks who keep the mouse in a single place on their desk. I added some double sided tape to mine just to keep everything together when the mouse is in my backpack. The bottom also has the on-off switch, and a hole to pop the trackball out for cleaning.
Logitech states the battery in the MX ERGO is good for four months of regular use, and with one minute of charge it will be able to last a day. Since I’ve only had this for a week, I can’t test those claims. Unlike other wireless trackballs, the MX ERGO uses an internal rechargeable battery rather than rely on AA or AAA batteries. I’ve had a few trackballs in the past that went bad and stopped recognizing brand new batteries, so I’m happy about this.
Bottom line on Logitech MX ERGO
What I’m not happy about is my one big downside with this mouse: It charges with Micro-USB instead of USB-C. Logitech has already started using USB-C in its keyboards and webcams. Even discounting that, it’s just bad for a mouse that will (hopefully) be used five to 10 years from now. This is the only device I regularly carry with me that doesn’t charge with USB-C, a situation more and more users will face in the coming years. I’m getting around this issue with a wireless charging receiver, since I’m trying to purge my apartment of Micro-USB devices, but I would have preferred USB-C.
That complaint aside, the Logitech MX ERGO is the best mouse I’ve ever used. It’s expensive at 100, and it took me some time before deciding to give it a try. If you’ve never used a trackball mouse before, you might want to start with Logitech’s cheaper M570 before thinking about the more expensive MX ERGO. If you already like trackballs and are curious about this, go for the Plus version at Best Buy. It isn’t any more expensive than the standard version sold elsewhere, and you have the option of additional tilt.
Logitech MX Ergo Wireless trackball mouse review
Trackball mice won’t be for everyone, but if you’re set on the form factor then the MX Ergo does everything you’d need it to. It’s got a large, comfortable design, the trackball itself is smooth and accurate, and the ergonomic options are great. Left-handed mouse users may be disappointed by its right-handed only configuration, but otherwise there’s little to dislike.
Pros
- Comfortable design
- Accurate trackball
- Plenty of additional buttons
- Unifying receiver and Bluetooth support
Cons
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Few things in computing have stayed quite as consistent as the keyboard and mouse. With each passing year monitors reach ever higher resolutions and framerates, graphics cards pack in more and more teraflops of graphical horsepower, and CPUs add more cores and greater clockspeeds.
In contrast, although peripheral manufacturers will always make bold claims about the speed and reliability of their products, the keyboards and mice they produce are fundamentally the same from year to year.
Trackball mice represent a completely different way of interacting with your computer. We’ve been putting Logitech’s new MX Ergo (99.99 / £99.99 / AU129.95) through its paces the past couple of weeks to determine whether it’s worth switching away from the traditional mouse.
And, depending on what you’re using your computer for, it might just be worth it.
Design
Of course, trackball mice are nothing new, having actually existed for longer than the more standard mouse, but they’ve remained a more niche device in recent years.
Logitech has remained the most prominent seller of trackballs. It put out the Logitech M570 trackball back in 2010, and prior to that the ambidextrous Trackman Marble in 2008.
Despite being around for so long, it’s not hard to see why trackball mice have remained niche. There’s just something that looks intimidating about using your thumb to push a ball around rather than moving the entire body of the mouse.
That’s without mentioning the sheer amount of buttons on the mouse. Obviously more traditional mice have suffered from button excesses of their own over the year, but by changing up their placement, the MX Ergo forces you to relearn how to use them.
The thumb buttons are the best example of this. Whereas a traditional mouse places the thumb buttons, you know, under your thumb, the MX Ergo places them to the left of your left-click button.
Obviously now that your thumb is dedicated to moving the trackball, it makes sense that the thumb-buttons would have to move, but their new position turns them into extra buttons for your index finger, and we think this removes a certain amount of their utility.
It’s nice that they’re there, but we can’t see people making the same use of them as on a traditional mouse.
Continuing the tour of the device we’ve got a scroll wheel that can also be pushed left and right for additional functionality, a button for switching between connecting via USB dongle and Bluetooth, and a small button to the left of the trackball that puts it into ‘precision mode’. This essentially slows its responsiveness so you can make smaller, more precise movements.
The main event is of course the trackball itself, but there’s strangely little to say about it. Although it’s not textured we never had any trouble with it slipping under our thumb, and it’s just the right size to get maximum control without having to constantly readjust the positioning of your thumb.
Since your grubby thumb is going to be touching this thing for hours at a time, there’s a mechanism for removing it entirely to give it a clean. This is done by removing the magnetic plate on the bottom of the mouse and pushing the ball out with a pen, at which point you can clean both the trackball and its housing.
This magnetic plate also serves a dual purpose as a means of tilting the mouse up at a 20 degree angle for, Logitech claims, ergonomic reasons. This initially seemed like an odd decision. Is holding your hand parallel to the floor really that bad for your posture? Why 20 degrees? Why can’t you adjust it to any other rotation between the two?
But after having used the mouse the decision makes more sense. When tilted up, our arm was in a complete resting position, and when we tilted the mouse back down we noticed the small bend our wrist had to make to accommodate it.
Ultimately, the biggest defense against any kind of repetitive strain is always going to be taking regular breaks from sitting at your desk, but we were reassured by the ergonomic considerations made by Logitech.
You have a choice of connectivity options between Logitech’s own Unifying Receiver (a small USB dongle is included to plug into your machine) or through Bluetooth. We couldn’t discern any differences in lag between the two, so it’s up to you to determine which is more convenient for you. A small button below the scroll-wheel switches between the two, and switching is easy enough that we could see this being a handy means of switching controls between two machines.
Of course, if you want to control multiple computers at a time with the mouse then Logitech’s ‘Flow’ software is also compatible with the MX Ergo. The software allows you to control up to three machines simultaneously, including giving you the ability to drag and drop files between the machines.
While ambidextrous trackball mice do exist, the MX Ergo is an exclusively right-handed affair. If you like to use your mouse with your left hand then there’s unfortunately no MX Ergo for you.
Finally, the mouse charges using a Micro USB port. We haven’t had to charge the mouse yet after having used it consistently at work every day for two weeks, so Logitech’s claim of a battery life of four months feels accurate so far. The mouse is also good at putting itself in standby mode overnight when you’re not using it, the only downside being that it’ll take a second or two to wake up in the morning when you start using it.
Performance
If you’ve been using a traditional mouse your entire life then a trackball will feel incredibly weird the first time you place your thumb on the ball and start spinning away.
It’s not just the movement of the thumb that feels different. You also have to get used to letting the trackball spin before stopping it in order to have your mouse travel large distances.
Despite the difference, by the end of a single day of use we were back up to our full speed.
There’s a small button to the side of the trackball which you can press to reduce the speed that the cursor travel at. This ‘precision mode’ supposedly helps with fine mouse control, and we imagine it might be more useful if you do more precise design work with a mouse. However, for general office usage we had no need for it.
The same is true of a host of other buttons included on the mouse. It’s nice knowing that they’re there, but ultimately we didn’t personally have any use for them. The scroll wheel can be tilted left and right for horizontal scrolling, and there are also a couple of replacement thumb buttons that confusingly you’ll access with your index finger now that your thumb is on full-time trackball duty.
If you’re reliant on buttons like these to act as shortcuts then you’ll be thankful for their inclusion, but for us they were a purely optional addition.
For general office work we were sold on the MX Ergo being as efficient as a regular mouse, but we think it’s more of an acquired taste when it comes to gaming.
There are those out there who swear by gaming on a trackball, but we just couldn’t make it work for us. Needing to spin the ball to cover large distances never felt as accurate, and the added hassle of having to switch to precision mode to fine-tune our aim slowed us down an uncomfortable amount.
Additionally, while we tend not to rely on thumb-buttons for everyday use, we’ve taken to using them in games to handle ‘reload’ and ‘use’ functions. Needing to use our index finger for the thumb buttons wasn’t convenient when it took away attention from the left mouse button.
So, when it came to gaming, we weren’t personally sold on the MX Ergo. But as an office mouse where you’re willing to sacrifice a certain amount of speed for comfort and ergonomics it really shone.
One final point about the ergonomics was that while the lack of movement certainly helped with some pain we’d been experiencing in our wrist, using the mouse at a 20-degree angle for long periods would occasionally cause some discomfort because of the way it caused one of our carpal bones to rest on the desk.
Verdict
Trying to compare mice and trackballs is like comparing apples and oranges. They’re two very different input devices that will suit the way different people like to use their computers.
But, from looking at the MX Ergo, it’s difficult to know what else a trackball could offer beyond what this model does. The ball itself is responsive and easy to use, the device sits comfortably in the hand, and the connectivity options should satisfy all but the most demanding of users.
Its only problem (beyond it lacking a left-handed model) is that some of the features felt a little redundant. We couldn’t find a use for thumb buttons that aren’t pressed using the thumb, and we felt like a scroll wheel that tilts left and right is a little bit of a novelty.
Ultimately, these features never detract from the rest of the product. They’re there if you want to use them, but equally they’re easy to ignore if you don’t.
What you’re left with is an exceptionally designed product that’s a joy to use. It might not have re-invented the wheel, but when it works this well it’s hard to ask for much more.
Jon Porter is the ex-Home Technology Writer for TechRadar. He has also previously written for Practical Photoshop, Trusted Reviews, Inside Higher Ed, Al Bawaba, Gizmodo UK, Genetic Literacy Project, Via Satellite, Real Homes and Plant Services Magazine, and you can now find him writing for The Verge.
Review: Wrist-friendly work with the Logitech MX Ergo trackball mouse
I’ve used the fantastic Logitech MX Master mice at home and on the road for a few years now. The latest incarnation is the Logitech MX Master 3, which has USB-C support for charging, and a long-lasting battery. However, for a few months now, I’ve experienced slight discomfort in my right wrist. I’m left-handed, but I settled on using it with my right hand since purchasing my first mouse decades ago. I’ve never had this issue before, so I started evaluating where the discomfort and slight pain originated.
It isn’t rare to experience slight pain when muscle tissue is torn and repaired after gym exercises. Then Logitech announced their newest mouse – the Logitech MX Ergo. It’s a trackball – thus, the mouse doesn’t move, but you move the cursor with your thumb.
I’m not a stranger to trackballs, but it’s been – at least – 15 years since I last used one. It is time to give it a try, and I hope my wrist will be pain-free in time.
Tech specs and pricing
The device costs exactly 75 € (~86) before taxes. Not super cheap, but not too expensive either. You could expect it to last for years with this price point. In a way, it feels like an eternal device if you take care of it regularly.
It has a sensitivity of 320 to 440 dpi, which should be detailed enough for any work. The battery should last four months, but this is, of course, dependent on your usage pattern. I think the previous Logitech MX Master mice promised three months, and I usually ended up charging the device after six weeks. It’s not a huge issue, as you can still use the device when it’s charging.
It weighs 164 grams, but when you had the steel plate to the bottom (pictured above), it was a hefty 256 grams. I don’t mind, as I rarely carry this elsewhere.
About the steel plate. It connects with strong magnets, allowing you to shield the brittle bottom of the mouse from scratches, but also allows for another feature: You can tilt the mouse by 20 degrees to make it more comfortable for someone like me. I ended up using the mouse in this angled mode at all times – it’s super comfortable.
Beyond the actual trackball, the device has a scroll wheel that also allows for horizontal scrolling. This is slightly cumbersome, and it’s reversed for me – I couldn’t find a setting to configure this. The middle button allows for quickly changing the connection between the USB dongle and Bluetooth. Useless, as once it’s configured with the dongle, you never need to switch to Bluetooth any longer. I wish this button would be used for something else.
Then there are the back and forward buttons and a third button for more detailed work. It slows down the trackball when you need to work in pixel-perfect apps. I usually click this button when I need to take a screenshot, and when zooming in, I need to select “just two more pixels.”
The dongle is the usual USB-A dongle. It’s small enough to be left on the laptop at all times, but I use it on my Anker USB hub, about a meter away from the mouse.
Using the trackball
At first, it’s cumbersome. You feel it isn’t detailed or focused enough when aiming with the cursor to click a small button. But it’s plenty fast for freewheeling desktop to desktop. It took me a few days to adjust, and now I feel the trackball is more precise than my previous mouse. I have a 32″ main display, and I often have the mouse somewhere far enough that I can flick the trackball and stop it from rolling with my thumb, and it almost always contains precisely where I need the cursor to be.
The back and forward buttons are somehow too far from my index finger, so I don’t use them all that much. With the MX Master 3, I felt the button placement was much, much better. Ideally, these two buttons should be below the trackball, but perhaps the thinking here is that you’d only use your thumb with the trackball.
You don’t need to move the device at all, and it requires much less desk space to operate with.
Drawing a semi-horizontal line with Sysinternal’s ZoomIt is now practically impossible. With a regular mouse, you can mostly do a line when pointing out something in your presentations. With the trackball, it looks like I was drunk or perhaps experiencing horrible vertigo simultaneously. Let me show you – this is drawn in PowerPoint using the pencil during presentation mode with the trackball:
Not proud to say I’m a 44-year old tech professional when I draw a rectangle like this. Obviously, with ZoomIt, you can use the built-in capabilities, but sometimes you need a quick pen in PowerPoint, and ZoomIt isn’t running. I tried this several times, and it doesn’t get any better. The thumb just isn’t made for creating straight lines. I guess it has to do with the trackball freewheeling unless you stop it and have it just a degree off, and the lines are drawn like above. I’m often hoping to use Shift or Ctrl on the keyboard to telegraph to the MX Ergo that I’m trying to draw a straight line, so please help me.
Does it make a difference?
I’ve had the device now for a few weeks. I’ve worked extensively from my home office during this time, delivering tens of hours of remote workshops and training while using the new mouse.
My wrist is much better now, also. Perhaps it’s a slight coincidence, but I also feel I don’t have to twist my arm as much as I do with a regular mouse. As the wrist and the whole arm are now more or less static, it makes me feel less tired after a long day working non-stop.
It’s disappointing the USB dongle is a necessity. I tried using the mouse over Bluetooth on my Lenovo Thinkpad X1, but it’s not as smooth as you would expect. Then, the dongle cannot be stored during travel anywhere. There’s a faint magnet on the bottom of the mouse, but it’s not strong enough to hold the dongle.
It’s certainly a different experience. I find myself enjoying using it, despite some of the shortcomings. It’s less taxing on the wrist and my arm overall. For most work I do, I find it’s faster to work with a trackball – but specific work, such as drawing a straight line, is near impossible.
If I had to choose again, I’d still buy this – but perhaps with slightly lower expectations.
I work with Azure and frequently write about my experiences. I’m a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional, ex-MSFT. Based in Helsinki, Finland.
