the logitech mx master 3 is one of the greatest failures of a premium product
of all time. the mx master series is logitech's flagship line of "productivity"
tools and the mouse (the mx master 3 in question) cost about $115 usd when i
bought it. at first glance, it seems pretty good. it's got the features you
would expect from a solid mouse in that price range. however, as time has
passed, i have become painfully aware of the shitshow that is under the hood of
this thing.
first: bafflingly bad support for non-windows devices. i don't even understand how it's possible to make a bluetooth mouse that just doesn't work on mac. the mac support is bad enough that logitech sells a separate model of this mouse for mac users. maybe this has something to do with the bluetooth file transfer stuff this thing brags about? not that that has ever actually worked. either way, the issues are also persistent on linux devices. they managed to make a mouse that (via bluetooth) only works on windows.
second: shitty hardware and heinous customer support. not 6 months after i got the mouse i began to have an issue where if i scrolled up at a moderate pace, the mouse would fully power cycle, disconnecting from my computer for about 4 seconds. every time. this is such a huge usability issue because i randomly just fucking lost my mouse while doing mundane tasks. a quick search reveals that this is a common issue in this mouse and that logitech has ignored it completely, which is mind blowing for their flagship and highest-end product.
third: apple mouse ergonomics considerations. what i am referencing with that allegation is the whole thing about apple's mouse that you can't use while charging. while you can actually use the mx master 3 while charging it over usb-c, YOU CAN'T CONNECT TO A COMPUTER OVER USB. the only ways to connect to a computer are bluetooth and the little usb key receiver, which is pretty standard for a mouse, but this mouse literally has a usb-c port right in the front. my little receiver dongle was destroyed in airport security a few years ago. i now have zero way to use this thing on any non-windows device, which is just about everything i use, which is totally absurd given the fact that it has a usb port built into it (also, the thing only supports 500mA charging over usb, which is odd).
from my experience, the only logitech products whose performance doesn't fall below their price range are their lowest end products, which work fairly well for their price range. i'm talking the tiny cheap mice that work off one AA battery. currently, because my nice $100 mouse is a brick, i am using a M350 Pebble mouse that currently looks like this:
because parts of it are broken (including the scroll wheel which has fully snapped off somehow?? not sure how this even happened). i actually plan to make a custom body for that circuit board in there because i really like how silent the buttons on this mouse are, although i need to replace one of them with one from another identical mouse (which is fully broken on some electrical level) because it doesn't always work and you need to press extra hard sometimes. this all kind of hinges on being able to fix the scroll wheel, which might come down to some jbweld and a prayer to god.
i've been making this mouse work by clicking the buttons with my fingers and scrolling on webpages by clicking the middle mouse button (the black button just below the right click) and moving my mouse up and down, which works fine. i'm not too upset about the state of this mouse because i broke the top myself and the thing cost like $15 anyways. i'm not sure where i even got it because i just checked logitech's website and it says it's $39.99. it also says that the mouse is minimalist and modern, both of which are strange ways to say that it is not designed for ergonomics whatsoever. however, it makes sense because this mouse is objectively easier to carry around than most because of how slim it is (letting it slide into pockets really easily).
this mouse was what i made the prototypes with for my wood mouse project (flashbang warning).
first: bafflingly bad support for non-windows devices. i don't even understand how it's possible to make a bluetooth mouse that just doesn't work on mac. the mac support is bad enough that logitech sells a separate model of this mouse for mac users. maybe this has something to do with the bluetooth file transfer stuff this thing brags about? not that that has ever actually worked. either way, the issues are also persistent on linux devices. they managed to make a mouse that (via bluetooth) only works on windows.
second: shitty hardware and heinous customer support. not 6 months after i got the mouse i began to have an issue where if i scrolled up at a moderate pace, the mouse would fully power cycle, disconnecting from my computer for about 4 seconds. every time. this is such a huge usability issue because i randomly just fucking lost my mouse while doing mundane tasks. a quick search reveals that this is a common issue in this mouse and that logitech has ignored it completely, which is mind blowing for their flagship and highest-end product.
third: apple mouse ergonomics considerations. what i am referencing with that allegation is the whole thing about apple's mouse that you can't use while charging. while you can actually use the mx master 3 while charging it over usb-c, YOU CAN'T CONNECT TO A COMPUTER OVER USB. the only ways to connect to a computer are bluetooth and the little usb key receiver, which is pretty standard for a mouse, but this mouse literally has a usb-c port right in the front. my little receiver dongle was destroyed in airport security a few years ago. i now have zero way to use this thing on any non-windows device, which is just about everything i use, which is totally absurd given the fact that it has a usb port built into it (also, the thing only supports 500mA charging over usb, which is odd).
from my experience, the only logitech products whose performance doesn't fall below their price range are their lowest end products, which work fairly well for their price range. i'm talking the tiny cheap mice that work off one AA battery. currently, because my nice $100 mouse is a brick, i am using a M350 Pebble mouse that currently looks like this:
because parts of it are broken (including the scroll wheel which has fully snapped off somehow?? not sure how this even happened). i actually plan to make a custom body for that circuit board in there because i really like how silent the buttons on this mouse are, although i need to replace one of them with one from another identical mouse (which is fully broken on some electrical level) because it doesn't always work and you need to press extra hard sometimes. this all kind of hinges on being able to fix the scroll wheel, which might come down to some jbweld and a prayer to god.
i've been making this mouse work by clicking the buttons with my fingers and scrolling on webpages by clicking the middle mouse button (the black button just below the right click) and moving my mouse up and down, which works fine. i'm not too upset about the state of this mouse because i broke the top myself and the thing cost like $15 anyways. i'm not sure where i even got it because i just checked logitech's website and it says it's $39.99. it also says that the mouse is minimalist and modern, both of which are strange ways to say that it is not designed for ergonomics whatsoever. however, it makes sense because this mouse is objectively easier to carry around than most because of how slim it is (letting it slide into pockets really easily).
this mouse was what i made the prototypes with for my wood mouse project (flashbang warning).