Practical: Logitech’s tiny wireless G705 mouse is more versatile than it looks

I admit; I have many PC mice. And it’s not just because I’m reviewing them. Between traveling, multiple computers, gaming, and my living room, I’m interested in multiple mice that meet different needs.

One of those needs is portability. Sure, it’s easy enough to find a mouse that’s wireless and lightweight, but often with limited comfort and/or stripped-down features.

At first glance, Logitech’s G705 wireless mouse, which was announced in late July, seemed too small to pack any real power or offer anything other than smaller hands. But a few hours of using the peripherals showed me that there is more than meets the eye in this little mouse.

Confusing installation

Logitech’s G705 comes with a 2.4GHz USB-A dongle (plus a wireless extender and cable), or you can connect via Bluetooth LE. Logitech includes both because it markets it as gaming-capable, claiming that the dongle offers a latency of just 1ms with a 1000Hz polling rate, compared to Bluetooth, which limits the mouse’s polling rate to 133Hz. As I was getting ready for a day’s work, I decided to use Bluetooth, which should also provide better battery life, but it wasn’t that easy at first.

Some wireless mice that offer both dongle and Bluetooth connections have a physical switch to toggle between the two wireless modes or a light indicator to let you know which mode you’re in. The bottom of the G705 has only an on/off switch and a purple button with a mysterious hieroglyph of two squares and two arrows, plus a light that is either light blue (dongle connection) or dark blue (Bluetooth). For some, the color difference may not be strong enough for easy reading.

Even more confusing is that Logitech’s included instructions don’t mention pressing the button to switch between dongle or Bluetooth mode or even that the light indicator can be two (slightly) different colors.

For a time I’d rather not admit, I tried pairing the mouse via Bluetooth when it was in dongle mode. I had to use the mouse support page to sort things out.

Swap RGB for extra software

If you thought going to a website to figure out how to switch between wireless modes was tedious, you’ll be even more troubled by this next part.

Like many peripherals with a focus on gaming, the G705 has a plethora of features, such as programmable buttons and DPI (see our PC mouse conditions guide for more information on DPI and other mouse jargon), available via software. If you’re happy with the way the mouse is programmed and the three preset DPI settings (which can be changed out-of-the-box using the button south of the scroll wheel), you can do without Logitech’s G Hub app. , but then there is no way to strip the thing of RGB.

The three RGB zones wrap around the edge of the mouse, and most of it was covered when I was using the mouse. RGB is a divisive topic in PCs. The LEDs can be flashy or worse, intrusive and can be difficult to turn off or adjust.

But in a wireless, portable device like this, the bigger issue is battery life. The G705 has the potential to be a multi-device accessory as it weighs just 0.19 pounds and is so small. But have to download G Hub on each device to use it without RGB (assuming the app is supported) makes that transition much more painful.

Logitech claims the mouse can last up to 40 hours with RGB on, but did not specify the brightness level or effect used. When I left RGB on maximum brightness for two hours, the mouse’s in-app battery meter read 90 percent.