Logitech G502 X Plus review: Keep scrollin’, scrollin’, scrollin’, scrollin’ (what?)

The setup is also identical, as it seems that all the big gaming mouse companies have settled on an almost universal process of plugging the 2.4GHz dongle in and turning the mouse on.

Like always, the capabilities of the mouse will be significantly hindered without the relevant software, and luckily, Logitech’s G Hub is one of the least annoying, so we have no qualms recommending that you guys download it.

READ NOW: Logitech G Pro wireless mouse review

Design

Logitech has clearly taken a lot of care here, as the visual and ergonomic changes are impressively subtle for the most part. The most drastic change they’ve made is the lighting.

In previous revisions, such as the Logitech G502 Hero, the lighting was limited to an RGB-illuminated ‘G’ logo, in the years since as RGB lighting has in popularity and ubiquity, Logitech’s gaming mice have been looking a little drab compared to the competition from Razer, Corsair, and others

This has now changed, as the Logitech G502 X Plus has been given a healthy amount of RGB on the palm section. The logo no longer lights up, but you get something better instead.

The G502 X Plus now has a ‘crack’ bisecting the palm section and splitting out into two tendrils on the right side. This crack has a sort of organic alien quality to it and we think it looks awesome.

The crack is filled with white diffuse plastic, through which the RGB shines very vividly, additionally, the RGB lighting is split into 8 zones that allow for myriad fun effects.

Moving to the front side of the mouse, Logitech has rather perplexingly filled in the gap between the mouse buttons. This was a hallmark of the G502 design that gave the mouse an animalistic claw-like silhouette.

The extra plastic does give the mouse a more grown-up look and provides an area for the battery indicator LED to live, but the shape was iconic, so we are conflicted.

When comparing the Logitech G502 X Plus to its ancestors, we certainly think it looks better, but this is mostly due to the up-to-date RGB lighting. We can take or leave the overall change in shape.

Honestly, then the name of the game is ergonomics, you can only get so creative with mouse design before you start to impede on the usability, so with that in mind, we’re pleased with the design.

Hopefully someday a company will come along and shift the paradigm of ergonomic gaming mouse design so we can see and feel some more novel shapes, but today isn’t that day.

Build quality

The Logitech G502 X Plus has impressed us here, as it somehow feels way more solid than the G502 HERO wireless, while also being 10g lighter.

We can probably thank the Logitech G Pro X Superlight for the low-weight, high-quality build, as we assume some of the engineering innovations were passed down here.

It’s difficult to tell due to the blatant difference in weight, but you can tell that Logitech has used the same plastics as their superlight mice here, and they feel just as nice on the G502 X Plus.

Both the thumb side and pinky side have a very subtle rubberized texture consisting of tiny diagonal ridges. They are almost imperceptible but do a good job of keeping the mouse in hand. This is crucial for a mouse designed for palm grip users as the grip isn’t usually as tight as other mouse grip styles.

Moving around to the actual buttons, they all feel nicely tactile and well-built. Additionally, the clutch button is removable without tools and Logitech includes a replacement cover if you dislike inadvertently slowing the mouse down. A bit depressing that including a spare piece of plastic counts as being conscientious, but that’s how it is these days.

Unfortunately, we’ve reached the part of the review where we have to talk about the scroll wheel and it’s not good news, folks, which is a proper shame as the G502 line has been known for its dual-mode infinity scroll wheel.

Well, this time around, Logitech has dropped the ball. On the surface, the scroll wheel works identically as it always has, with a button immediately behind it that switches it from regular steps to free-spinning, which is fine.

The problem here comes from the combination of the mouse wheel texture and the looseness, for lack of a better word. Obviously, there is supposed to be a very low amount of friction here to allow it to spin freely, but simply moving the mouse rapidly can cause it to start moving.

It’s simply annoying as you have to be ready to catch the thing at all times, which is tricky as they’ve removed the distinct crenellations of previous versions, instead opting for an almost slick rubber coating that just doesn’t feel as nice.

The Logitech G502 X Plus mouse wheel is thrown into especially sharp relief as the mouse arrived so shortly after we’d finished with the Razer Basilisk V3 Pro, which had an option to intelligently release and lock the wheel depending on the speed of scrolling.

This was such an effective, enjoyable, and well-implemented system that it honestly kinda ruined other scroll wheels for us, with the G502 X Plus falling victim especially hard, partly due to circumstance and partially due to its own shortcomings.

Performance

Things get better in this section as the Logitech G502 X Plus tracks like a dream and feels planted securely in the hand, even during rapid repositioning.

This obviously won’t be the FPS mouse of choice for most people due to its excessive weight, but it’s very well suited as a gaming/general-purpose mouse.

We’re also thrilled to say that Logitech has finally gotten over its addiction to Micro-USB as the G502 X Plus has been furnished with a USB Type-C port. This will result in faster charging that the previous standard and it’s an upgrade that’s been a long time coming.

You don’t get quite enough buttons for MMO use, either, leaving the mouse in an odd no man’s land. However, as we noted in our Roccat Kone XP Air review, the mouse can still be good, even if the overall design lacks a specific focus. After all, we loved the Basilisk V3 Pro, and that had a similar jack-of-all-trades quality.

We have to mention the scroll wheel again here, as the slight extra force required to side scroll can sometimes tip the mouse. We suspect this is a result of the wheel not protruding out of the shell enough, thus requiring more force to tilt.

Admittedly, we could just be weird or overthinking, but it’s a noticeable annoyance nonetheless. Given the specificity of this problem, though, we think your mileage will vary a lot.

Other than this, there isn’t much to complain about as the 100% PTFE feet glide beautifully, and the refined ergonomic design keeps the mouse very comfortable, though finger tip and claw users might prefer a less substantial mouse.

NOW READ: Razer DeathAdder V3 Pro review

Logitech G502 X Plus – Final Verdict

We don’t envy Logitech here, having to design a refresh for the most popular gaming mouse in the world can’t have been an easy task, especially given the amount of G502 evangelicals out there.

Despite this, we think Logitech has done a great job mostly. The mouse has a fresh new RGB-intensive look, the best ergonomic comfort yet, and its technical performance falls nothing short of incredible.

But for a follow-up to the mouse that was arguably responsible for popularising the free-spinning scroll wheel, they really have blundered with this iteration.

It’s a blatant blight on an otherwise magnificent mouse, and given the $159.99 price, it’s impossible to overlook. It’s the only properly notable issue here.

This is a bit sad as the Logitech G502 X Plus came close to retaining the ergo crown for Logitech, but they’ve been usurped by a superior snake in the grass.