Logitech MX Ergo review
I've used Logitech MX Ergo for ~4 months now. This isn't my first trackball mouse, before this on I had Logitech M570 for almost a year. Unfortunately I lost the receiver for that one and decided to just buy a new mouse :D This post is mostly review about the MX Ergo, but I also wanted to write out some general benefits of trackball mouses.
How to use it 🧑🏫
The point is to move the ball with your thumb, instead of moving the whole mouse with your hand. There are 3 tiny sensors beneath the ball which detect which way the ball is moving. Other than that it works just like a regular mouse; you got scroll wheel, M1, M2 and backward/forward buttons. The learning curve to trackball mouses is surprisingly fast. If you just stick with it, you get used to it within a week.
Why to use it ✍️
Before writing this I had completely forgotten why I even bought my first trackball mouse. I used to have wrist pain when on computer for more than a couple of hours. After doing some research I ended up buying Logitech M570 (trackball mouse) and pretty quickly my wrist pain was all gone! Seriously, if you got any wrist pain try out some trackball mouse. Even if you don't have any pain, you should invest in ergonomics. After getting used to this, regular mouses feel just... dump to use 🤷 I should probably make another post on why I think investing in ergonomics is always worth it (if you work in IT or some other similar office job)
Not only this mouse requires less movement from you, it has better angle. You can tilt this mouse 20° which puts your forearm into much more comfortable position! With a regular mouse you need to twist your arm, which I can't really explain, but check out this picture:
Pros 💯
- No more wrist pain
- Affordable, 89.90€ when I bought it
- You don't need mouse mat
- Can use mouse without hard surface, e.g. on your lap
- 20° angle and ergonomic shape
- Great battery life
- I don't even remember when I last had to charge this, probably like once a month?
- Can use with cable in case battery runs out or receiver is lost
- Can remap buttons with Logitech Options
- Can even have application specific mappings
- Can't remap connect-to-another-device button :/
- Extra buttons
- You can click mouse wheel to left or right
- Extra thumb button, next to the ball
- Forward/backwards buttons easy to reach
- Can connect to 2 devices
- Button to change connected device quickly
- Haven't tried how well this works
- The ball works as a fidget spinner, it's satisfying to just fiddle with it :D
- Great build quality
- Good plastic quality, feels premium
- Note that the angle settings isn't stepless, only 2 settings
- It's just as accurate as a regular mouse
- I've never had any problems hitting a small button
Cons 🥴
- Uses micro USB
- You have to clean the sensor underneath the ball about once a week
- Takes 20 seconds, just pop the ball out and swipe the shit out from top of the sensors with your finger
- You can pop the ball out with a pencil, poking from underneath
- Minus for needing pencil for this, you could do this without any tools on M570
- Theoretically you can fatigue your thumb since it's the only finger moving the ball
- Never had this problem
- Another option is finger trackball (ball in the middle instead of side)
- Not good with gaming
- I've played Minecraft with this, it works but better with regular mouse
Summary ✳️
Overall this is a solid mouse. The biggest downside is that you have to clean the sensors, but it's no biggie compared to all the benefits. If you have any wrist problems, or just generally want to improve your ergonomics (which you should) definitely try out trackball mouse! I have absolutely no intention of going back to regular mouse (but I do want to buy another trackball 🤪)
