Logitech G309 Lightspeed gaming mouse review
The Logitech G309 Lightspeed is the latest wireless gaming mouse from the ever-reliable Logitech, and might just be the best option available for the price range. Not only is it small, sleek and understated in its design, it’s also incredibly lightweight, weighing in at just 86g with the AA battery. It’s lovely to look at, too, eschewing RGB lighting effects for a tiny dot of light above the palm grip, which helps preserve the battery.
Of course, you could always remove the battery altogether, dropping the weight to a feathery 68g and using Logitech’s patented POWERPLAY technology to essentially give you infinite power. Using a Logitech POWERPLAY mousemat allows the G309’s supercapacitor to charge while you play, negating the need for batteries at all. If you plan to use the mouse exclusively at your desk and you can afford the £100 for a POWERPLAY mat, it’s a no-brainer.
But this isn’t the only area in which the Logitech G309 Lightspeed excels. It boasts 6 buttons programmable through the G HUB software app, allowing you to customise it for your favourite games with five available presets-, and the performance is flawless. Now, that sounds like hyperbole, and this is retailing for around £80 at time of writing, so it’s actually far cheaper than Logitech’s own G502 X Plus, but the truth is Logitech have simply outdone themselves with the G309.
It has two different connection types: Logitech’s proprietary Lightspeed wireless or standard bluetooth. The former offers lower latency (read: almost zero) and shorter battery life, while the latter sacrifices a tiny fraction of that lightning speed for greater power capacity. Lightspeed is the stronger option here, but you can’t argue with 600 hours of use from a single Duracell when using the bluetooth connection.
You’re also getting an incredibly comfortable experience. The G309’s ergonomic design means it sits perfectly against the palm of your hand, and though it doesn’t have built-in grip pads, you can cover the slick surface with the provided grip stickers, which provide superb comfort and sweat resistance. It’s also just really satisfying to use, thanks to its Lightforce hybrid optical-mechanical switches, which in layman’s terms simply provide precise, crisp, and reactive clicks, perfect for shooters and ARPGs where you’re clicking multiple times per second.
As for overall performance, the G309 outstrips almost any other mouse in its price range thanks to Logitech’s HERO 25K sensor, which offers frankly unparalleled tracking. You can adjust the DPI (dots per inch) within a huge range (100 all the way up to 25,600), and you can program presets using the app. For shooters this is just excellent, allowing for pinpoint accuracy with no lag or slowdown. It also maintains this accuracy across multiple surface types, which could come in handy if you’re gaming on a laptop on the go.