Review: Logitech G900 Chaos Spectrum

Are you READY for the full spectrum of CHAOS?

These last few weeks have been very kind to my gaming phalanges. After upgrading from a bargain basement mouse and keyboard combination, I upgraded to Logitech’s G610 Orion Brown and G900 Chaos Spectrum. Obviously, such a jump would make a huge difference for anyone, but the Chaos Spectrum (hardware names sure are silly) was like leaping over the tallest building in sight and landing in another dimension. 

Now, to back up my extreme hyperbole and see how it stacks up against the high-as-heck price.

Product: G900 Chaos Spectrum
Manufacturer: Logitech
Input: One USB 2.0+ Port
MSRP: $149.99

Some gamerfolk have a fear that switching to a wireless mouse will lead to a loss of both precision and response. Logitech is aware of this, and has spent its time knuckling down to create a light mouse (107g) with a one-millisecond report rate and a 2.4GHz wireless connection. What does that all that dang jargon mean, you ask? Well, it’s light as whoa and I always felt like I was actively in control of the mouse instead of wrestling with it while gaming.

The Spectrum is sleek without looking like a Transformer that drew the short end of the stick when choosing which item it wanted to mimic. A comfortable matte finish and satisfyingly clicky buttons complement one another, making the mouse feel more like an extension of my arm than a bulky plastic monstrosity. As light as it is, the construction of this mouse feels durable and well-built, which I tested by trying to crush it when I was mad at a game (or life, or politics, or weight gain).

Of particular note is the notched scroll wheel, which has changed the way I browse the internet and play games. Y’see, internally it has a spoke-like design so that it’s light and you can feel each notch as you scroll down, but there’s also a small button just below that to release a brake so that it can free-wheel. I’ve found myself using this so often that when I sat down at a buddy’s computer the other day, I instinctively found myself looking for that same button to no avail, and got actively frustrated that it wasn’t there. 

If you’re left-handed, Logitech was thinking of you (don’t you feel special, you witch?) when it made it so there are interchangeable buttons on both sides of the mouse. By default, there are two buttons on the left side and one smooth plate on the right, but there are a few configurations if that isn’t to your liking. I stayed with that setup, but could have just as easily added two buttons to the right side (giving me a total of eleven programmable switches), or removed them to avoid using my thumbs at all. I appreciate how modular this is, but prefer thumb buttons with just a little more heft. These are fine, nice and responsive, but feel a little shrimpy.

Two small arrow-shaped keys underneath the scroll lock are used for changing your DPI on-the-fly, which I ended up using more often that I would have assumed. While playing Killing Floor 2, I would use a high DPI to run about and then quickly switch to a lower one for precision aiming without losing a beat. Like nearly everything else about this mouse, this can be customized, but I found the standard settings to be more than enough.

Logitech’s customization software is easy to use, allowing users to switch between five different profiles, change the color and patterns of the RGB lighting (and even sync up said lighting with a Logitech keyboard), tune it to the surface under the mouse, and check remaining battery life. While I was initially concerned that a fancy wireless mouse would greedily devour energy, it lasts about 30 hours with lights off, and 24 with lights on. In the unlikely event that I was in the middle of a critical game and the mouse was about to die, it’s easy to plug in and convert into a wired mouse. A braided USB cord is included, and I found it just as comfortable to use when I needed to charge it.

After using the Chaos Spectrum, I find the price more than justified, especially for enthusiasts. Unless it decides to crap out on me unexpectedly (and I have absolutely no evidence that it will), I’m going to be using this thing for years.