VITAL STATS
MANUFACTURER: Logitech
PRODUCT: MX Anywhere 3S For Mac
PRICE: $79.99
WEBSITE: www.logitech.com
Apple ships a mouse with your Mac, a flat piece of plastic with a charge port at the bottom. It’s badly designed and wrecks your wrist. There’s a good alternative, though: Logitech’s MX Master 3S mouse, which is actually not just a mouse.
While Logitech’s Lift is a truly ergonomic mouse, the MX Master 3S is their flagship ergonomic model with good palm support that keeps your hand at an angle of only (about) 20 degrees. The MX Master 3S is a fairly big, right-handed mouse. I got the dark grey version with the USB-A Bolt transceiver plug, so my test sample works with this Bolt dongle as well as well as with Bluetooth, depending on preference.
The MX Master 3S comes with no less than seven buttons and two metal wheels. The one on top can be set to spin in free, ratchet or smart mode. The latter puts the wheel in free-running mode only when you give it a good spin. That free mode makes scrolling as smooth as with my Magic Trackpad.
Working with the MX Master 3S
This mouse weighs a third as much as Apple’s. It feels light when using it, probably due to its four generous glider feet. Setup is done via Logi Options+, with a nice on-boarding experience that puts the buttons in the default settings you like, explains what each button and wheel can be used for and how to use them, etc. It’s also where you customize your mouse.
The newest version of the MX Master 3S, by default, puts itself in 4,000 dpi mode, but the Logi Options+ app lets you set it in its new 8,000 dpi mode if you so desire. I thought I’d need the 8000 dpi setting for my 27-inch, 5K Retina screen, but that was overkill. At 8,000 dpi, the distance the cursor travels from side to side on the screen equals only a few millimeters of travel of the mouse on the desktop. I personally found that distance ratio uncomfortable, even when using the MX Master 3S on a transparent glass surface, which it actually supports without a blink of its electronic eye.
The highest dpi setting will be a boon if you’re using one of those very wide screens DAW users often have on their desk, or if you have two Apple Pro Displays or other wide-screen monitors sitting on your desk next to each other. I ended up setting my test MX Master 3S at 1,750 dpi. While 8,000 dpi is a luxury in my case, a real boon is that there are actual buttons on this mouse and not a touch “zone,” of which the location becomes increasingly fuzzy as years go by. Yet another benefit is the silence of the buttons you use the most. The secondary buttons - i.e. the scroll wheel on top and the small rectangular button next to it - do generate a more audible sound when pressed down.
A bit more
So far, I have only covered the mouse itself, but the thing that makes the MX Master 3S (as well as other Logitech mice) a “bit more” than just a mouse is the Logi Options+ app. It turns the mouse into an app-aware controller by allowing you to program interface actions in various ways.
On the Mac, it’s reminiscent of BetterTouchTool, which I reviewed ages ago. Logi Options+ is somewhat simpler, but in contrast has a very nice UI and some very useful presets. By the looks of its update history, it is also customer-driven and, as I found out myself, easy to program.
The combination of Logi Options+ and the MX Master 3S makes it ideal for creative pros, including NLE and DAW users, because it allows you to program chains of events into one Smart Action.
Logi Options+ did sometimes get stuck at “configuring” the mouse on my old machine after a cold reboot. I solved the problem by simply restarting the Mac again and wiggling the mouse upon reboot.
Verdict
The Logitech MX Master 3S is halfway ergonomic — probably just enough not to get RSI or CTS with normal use — and yet after having used it for a week now, I think it’s the proverbial Rolls-Royce of computer rodents. The hardware is well-built and using it is a smooth experience. It comes with an excellent companion app that keeps becoming increasingly useful with the many new features that are constantly added. It has enough buttons to “clickify” even complex apps or setups, with Logi Options+ enabling “clickification” on a per-app basis. And you can use it on massive screens without having to use your shoulder muscles.
I know my opinion of this mouse isn’t unique or world-shatteringly original, but I can’t but conclude that the tons of attention the Logitech MX Master 3S has been getting ever since it was first released, is spot on. Logitech sells the MX Master 3S worldwide online and in every serious brick-and-mortar store that sells computer peripherals.
Erik Vlietinck is a regular contributor to Post and postmagazine.com. He can be reached online at: erik@thecontentgame.com.