Logitech G300 Gaming Mouse

Feature

Logitech G300 is a great choice for a gaming mouse for those with small hands. And its affordable pricing brings it into the reach of more than the high-end gear-heads.

March 13th, 2012 by Marko Susimets�

It does not have to cost an arm and a leg

Logitech is well known for their successful gaming mice, such as G5 and G9. They both compete in the rather expensive category of gaming mice that may be out of reach for the gamer on a budget, or someone who just wants to get a better mouse than the one that came with his or her computer. Not many companies are that interested in bringing out more affordable gaming mice, but Logitech took that daring step with their G300.

Like most gaming mice out there, G300 is silver and black in design, but with one obvious exception: the bottom of the mouse is plain red and rather unattractive shade of red at that. As the bottom is visible on the sides of the mouse when used, it creates a strange contrast with the otherwise sleek design.

Specs

Unlike many modern gaming mice, G300 is an optical mouse. Despite this, G300 offers an entirely acceptable 2500dpi sensitivity and 1000 reports per second � a rate of communication that will not leave you hanging in an intense FPS battle. The greatest thing about this mouse is that it is ambidextrous � thus catering also to those left-handers who have not learned to use their mice right-handed.

Max. DPI: 2500
Buttons: 9
Form factor: ambidextrous
Size in mm (lxwxh): 110 x 72 x n/a mm
Weight min/max: n/a
Price: c. 30-40�
Acceleration: 30G

Ergonomics

In our review system, ergonomics denote the comfort of the mouse when used, including its weight. The first thing that you will notice is that Logitech G300 is a very small mouse, more reminiscent of portable laptop mice than gaming mice. If you thought that the G9 was small, this one is much more so. And, in addition to being small, the mouse is also very light. For a gamer like me who has always avoided Razer mice for this very issue, the lightness was a clear negative point, but if you like Razer mice, or light mice in general, your opinion may differ from mine. Overall, the size and lightness made the G300 feel rather uncomfortable to my large hands and the palm of my hand cramped as I tried to use the mouse for an extended period of time.

The non-slip rubber coating on the sides of the mouse feels very comfortable and works as intended: my grip never failed during the test run. Overall, I think that the mouse was designed with small-handed gamers in mind and that I am the wrong person to review it insofar as its ergonomic design is concerned.

Buttons and wheel

But what the G300 loses in size and weight, it gains in button placement. I've rarely seen a mouse with better positioned buttons than the G300 has. I can well imagine that if my hand was smaller that the two extra buttons lying on the sides of the main buttons would be very easy to use even during a relatively hectic gaming sessions. As it is, my fingers rested on the edge between the main buttons and the side buttons, creating some unwanted clicks on occasion.

Overall, the G300 offers 8 buttons and a scroll wheel that doubles as a button � making it 9 buttons in total. The two buttons in front of the scroll wheel were rather difficult for me to reach (again due to my hand size), but all the other buttons were perfectly positioned and gave audible but not too loud clicks when pressed.

Like on other Logitech mice, the scroll wheel is great also on G300. Aside from being small, it works very well and does not skip steps like I have witnessed some more expensive mice do. The wheel has a soft non-slip rubber coating and feel that makes it a pleasure to fondle. The wheel does not, however, include the very handy side scrolling feature familiar from some high-end gaming mice.

Customisability and drivers

Not surprisingly, G300 does not come with weight adjustment kit or any other such customisation options that more expensive mice are often riddled with. All the customisation is up to the drivers. As with other Logitech gaming gear, the way to perform the customisation is through the Logitech Gaming Software. You will simply pick the Logitech product that you want to customise and then select the functions for all the keys for each of the available three profiles. You can also assign colours to these profiles, so that the side LEDs of the mouse will indicate the presently used profile by the selected colour. There is not much variety in the colour selection, however, as there are only seven basic colours to choose from. Still, that is enough when all you want to do is to give a unique colour to each of the three profiles.

If you assign the two buttons in front of the mouse wheel to switch the DPI setting, you can set four different values to rotate between from 250 to 2500. Also, if you happen to want to, you can lower the report rate from 1000 to 500 or less.

The mouse also has an internal memory capable of holding the three profiles that you have programmed. This means that you can easily take your mouse with you and attach it to another computer to play on and still have access to your own preferences. This is a very welcome option in a gaming mouse in this price category.

Rating

The following ratings are naturally affected by personal preference. My hands are large and I use fingertip-control (aka claw grip), so smaller mice are not my thing. Someone with smaller hands might easily give the mouse a better score on ergonomics.

Ergonomics 6.0
Buttons 9.0
Wheel 9.0
Customisability N/A
Drivers 8.0
Total 7.8

Overall, the Logitech G300 is a great little mouse for those who can use them without cramping their hand. For bigger gamers, this may be a no-go and they'd be better off looking at Logitech G5 or G9. The ugly red bottom is a definite negative point insofar as looks are concerned, but if looks are not that important to you, G300 will definitely serve its purpose. So, every small-handed gamer should definitely give this one a try!