Today we’re looking at the MX Revolution, the wireless rechargable laser mouse from Logitech. I’ve purchased the mouse a while back and would now like to share my experiences with it as I believe it is a very advanced mouse and has several advantages over the competition—advantages that can have a big impact on your productivity. So let’s get started.

One of the first things you may notice about it when you check out the site is the price tag. This thing costs $100 bucks. Surely this is a rip off, considering it is only a mouse? I don’t think so, and let me tell you why. The price is indeed very steep, but you will end up paying for something more premium than the standard mice out there on the market. Logitech products are known for their quality, and the MX Revolution doesn’t disappoint. What’s more, it brings with it some innovation.

For starters, the mouse features a unique free-rolling wheel. This means that when activated (by clicking on the mouse wheel itself) the wheel is detached from the ratchet mechanism and is free to spin on its own—that is if you roll it and let go, it will continue rolling until the forces of friction bring it to a halt. This is a fascinating feature, and once you try it you will love it. I think the best thing to compare it to would be the iPhone’s touch screen finger scrolling mechanism, where you slide the finger across the display and let go, and the content will slide gracefully until it grinds to a halt. The same thing happens here—you flick the wheel and let go, and it will keep spinning until the gradual and graceful stop. This is very useful for navigating long pages (e.g. blogs with lots of comments, or large spreadsheets).

MX Revolution USB receiver

The mechanism can even run in automatic mode if you want, turning on the ratchet by default and then detaching it if you spin the wheel quickly. The scrolling input is detected by a laser so you don’t have to worry about the roller getting dirty. The wheel can even be pushed left and right for horizontal scrolling! This really is a very solid, reliable and enjoying wheel—easily the best mouse wheel I’ve used.

The mouse has several buttons across its body, all of which can be customized using the Logitech control panel, which is available for both Windows and Mac OS X. There are two buttons on the left, which are used as “forward + back” by default. I’ve set them to activate my OS X dashboard and Expose, giving me instant desktop control from the mouse. There is a ‘thumb-wheel’ on the side which by default switches applications ‘alt+tab’ style. I’ve set it to Zoom in and out, making Photoshop work and testing browser font resizing easier. Finally there is a button on top, right underneath the wheel. The standard function searches for the highlighted word or phrase in Google, but I’ve set it to ‘Hide’ on my Mac, meaning I can hide unnecessary windows with a mouse click. I now find all these functions invaluable in my workflow. The ability to control windows on the desktop with just a mouse click is truly fantastic.

Logitech configuration panel on Mac OS X

The mouse comes with a USB receiver. Just plug it into a free USB slot and the mouse will work—though you’ll of course need to install the Logitech control panel if you wish to use and customize all the extra buttons. As this is a ‘laser’ mouse and not ‘infrared’, it is apparently much more sensitive. I’m not really sure personally, but so far I have been satisfied with the performance. The mouse is also fine for gaming, even first-person shooters (FPS). To be fair, while I think you can play competitively with this mouse, there still is a difference between a wired mouse and the wireless MX Revolution—so if you are really picky then you should probably stick to a wired mouse for your FPS matches, but for most people it will work just fine.

The battery will last you for several days of full usage—at least three days of really intensive use. I haven’t ran out of battery yet, so cannot judge its full capacity, but can say that it does last a long time (says 12 days in the control panel…), and the recharge is very quick—put it on its stand for a couple of hours and you’re good to go again.

MX Revolution recharging on its stand

Finally, let me talk a little bit about the form. The MX Revolution actually has a sibling—the VX Revolution. The VX is the mobile counterpart designed for laptops and so is smaller than the MX. The MX is the heavyweight desktop counterpart and so is quite large in size. My personal experience with using the mouse is very satisfactory. It fits the hand very well, and even has a thumb rest, which I really like. The form factor is very sleek and elegant, and even the little recharger stand won’t look out of place on a designer’s desk.

Conclusion

If you’re a power user and have $100 bucks to spend, then I can really recommend the MX Revolution. If you’re not so fussy about productivity and can’t see yourself using all the 3 extra buttons + the thumb wheel in your daily work, then this is probably too much for you. The mouse really shines when used to its fullest—after you’ve explored all the extra features and buttons and fully customized and tweaked it to your liking. The free-flowing scroll wheel is also one feature that makes this mouse stand out above the rest. It is difficult for me to express in words how satisfying the wheel is to use—you really have to try it to experience the smoothness of it. I’m certainly not disappointed with MX Revolution—the mouse does wonders for productivity. The price isn’t cheap, but in this case I think the product earns it.