Do You Really Need a S$169 Mouse?
You know those things that look blazing fast even when they’re dormant? This is one of those things!
Perhaps to best start this blog entry is to set a baseline so you know where we are when we made this purchase (yes we are in Singapore but this is more of where our“state of mind” is): the last mouse (mice?) what we had was probably a S$3 cheap plasticky model from an unknown or illegitimate brand back when we were undergrad students. So that’s around 15 years ago. It was neither wireless (such option did not exist “back in the day” — at least at this price point anyway where most bread are more expensive), nor was it pretty looking (small with a bright red dark green combo), and of course it performed in mediocre ways. But it was indeed sufficient, because we could not afford any of the fancier alternatives. When we moved to the Macintosh ecosystem in 2013, the way the operating system (OS) was built at least back then was far more superior to how the Windows ecosystem was utilizing the track pad. Where Macintosh had all these gestures to flick between apps, to go to the launchpad, etc. — the Windows trackpad was just plain vanilla. We have never needed a mouse for 9 years. Until we really wanted one. That is a long and expensive way to justify getting this mouse. Because it is indeed a thing of beauty.
A miniaturized supercar? A mouse on steroids? Who knows!
Now let’s quickly depart from that far too long of an opening. The mouse in question is the Logitech MX Master 3. Note that we have been fans since the first iteration of the MX Master mouse (seems like we saw MKBHD talk about it), mainly because of its ergonomic design and also that is is a flagship. We love flagships — please also note that. Seems like you can get the MX Master 3 is many different outlets, it is by no means rare. Actually it is a bit harder to get the keyboard counterpart to the mouse: the full sized MX Master Keys. For some reason in most online marketplaces its either a full sized Mac version OR a Windows version but mini. Not sure why with the scarcity but for sure we are eyeing that in the near future as we are quite a completionist that likes to keep brand uniformity. Perhaps we get to review that too once we get it. Anyway the mouse we got at Courts but as mentioned you can get this in a lot of places — the MSRP seems to be S$169. So its definitely not cheap. But when comparing to its equally premium competitors its actually reasonably priced. Apple’s Magic Mouse is S$129, the Magic Trackpad is S$199. The four mice that Razer has in their online store front page ranges from S$136 (Naga Trinity) all the way to a whopping S$280 (Basilisk Ultimate with Charging Dock). So no, in the bigger scheme of things the MX Master 3 is not ridiculously priced unless you single it out and compare it to the mediocre options.
What was our first impressions? It took us a while to get over the shock of paying $169 for what is essentially a mouse. But even at the first touch, we started to understand why. There are several things immediately noticeable when we started using the device and the first and utmost of those things is the premium feels. Logitech definitely did not skimp out: the MX Master 3 feels heavy, feels premium, the click wheels feels industrial grade. It looked like someone miniaturized a Ferrari and made it into a mouse. You can definitely see how easy it is to admire the beauty of this thing’s presence just by the amount of photos we can take from it. The second thing noticeable is probably the ergonomics. We have friends advising us that it might be “too big” and that you’d benefit from getting an extra palm rest. This was definitely not the case for us. The MX Master 3 fits really well into our hand and it almost felt like it was custom made for it. We definitely suggest you actually go to a store and checking if you like how it feels. We love to hold it a lot but you may feel differently. And at that price it is definitely worth checking.
Logitech’s promotion says that the mouse is so fast it can scroll A THOUSAND lines in 1 second. Now we’re not sure why someone in their right mind might need that — but you know those online consent form things? But in all seriousness, it really became a breeze scrolling through pages of work documents and websites and felt really tactile to just blaze through and stop at the precise part that you need. The scroll wheel, which Logitech claims as a “machined steel” feels amazing to flick. Its tactile and there’s a really premium weight to it. It also almost feels like the thing is floating. Effortless scrolling with no sound at all so its not annoying which is important as we share a work desk.
Logitech also says that the MX Master 3 is very configurable and that there are some pre-defined customization that is optimized for some apps like Photoshop, Premiere Pro, Final Cut Pro, Chrome, Safari, Zoom, MS Teams, MS Word, MS Excel, MS Power Point, and Edge. For more details look at the photo posted here as an example. Granted, we haven’t been using this mouse yet for any of the photo editing and video rendering software but these little gestures in browsers and such is quite useful especially in the age of many tabs and window.
The MX Master 3 supposedly has an app built around it so you can do even more customizations which shamefully we have not done. But maybe once we get around it we can update this article. The MX Master 3 also has this feature called “Flow” where you can technically connect the mouse into multiple computers (even MacOS with Windows) and the mouse cursor FOLLOWS you from one computer to the other including to drag files. We have not tried this just yet but will definitely use it once there is a need and once we set up the PC and (hopefully) the Mac Studio on our desk. So far there is no need to do this but imagine the possibility of simple sharing files between the Windows ecosystem and the Mac ecosystem that we both use!
One last point: the mouse uses USB-C so that is in line with most devices right now and honestly the battery is so long lasting! We purchased in January and did not charge AT ALL until early March. Logitech does claim a 70 day battery life and that seems pretty accurate based on our current use. Charging time is around 3 hours so not too bad. By the way, the MX Master 3 can also technically be connected to 3 different computers/laptops and there is a switch on the under side to allow you to change if you need to without the hassle of disconnecting and reconnecting.
Just in case you need to connect to 3 computers!
So how does it fare? Is it worth the $169? Yes, in general if you consider that the pricing is not the only mouse priced at that range. Yes, if you consider the R&D that goes through in shaping the ergonomics. Yes, if you are a user that can maximize its features. Yes, if you love that premium feel of a hero product. Maybe, if you consider the bells and whistles but honestly perhaps cheaper mice with a lot of buttons can maybe do the same. At the end of the day we are mediocre users as the title suggests: but hey one day we will want to do more and when that day comes its always nice to know our mouse has the engine under the hood to allow us limitless creativity. Solid 9/10.
