Logitech MX Air - DigitalVersus

Logitech MX Air


Amazon.co.uk	64.30
E-buyer	80.25
Gameseek	89.99
Misco UK	91.99
Dell Business	104.78

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Sensor	Laser
Wired? / Docking Station?	Non / Oui
Battery	Batterie Li-Ion
Frame Rate	NC
Maximum Resolution	800 cpi
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Reporting Frequency	125 Hz
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Vincent Alzieu
Test date: August 29, 2007

And in games?

Our first fear with this mouse was that it would spontaneously change into remote control mode even with slight lifting. Indeed, it does change modes in one second however high it is raised – an inch or a yard. In use, however this doesn’t pose a problem as long as you don’t keep the mouse in mid-air between movements. This would more be an issue for strategy games than action ones. For now it isn’t possible to adjust the delay in going from one mode to another.

Actually, in action games, there was one slight disappointment. The MX Air is the most expensive mouse on the market and we therefore could expect to have the Rolls Royce of peripherals; the one with the latest technology. This is true for the scroll wheel, the materials used for construction, and the sensor. In fact, the MX Air displays low level performances that are barely up to par for a mid-range mouse. There is of course a laser sensor but also only 125 Hz / 800 dpi like the Logitech MX 610, which is 3 to 4 times less expensive. Concretely, this means a latency of 8 ms in games (the G5 is only at 1 ms) and rather slow tracking on large screens (when not used as a remote). There is a manual adjustment you can make to remedy this, however, it’s a software acceleration (interpolated) that results in a loss of precision.

We started testing this mouse by passing it around the office and the MX Air was immediately very popular. Summed up in one word, ‘’Wow’’ by many of our staff, the tapered shape is attractive as well as the combination of the two materials used for construction. On the desk, the mouse glides well and when raised its transition to a remote proved to be very practical – at least on large screens and televisions. For those who wish to watch movies stocked in their computer with a television, we tried the remote function from a distance of 18 meters (+ 2 walls) and it worked. Off the top of our head, this is a new record. Another nice surprise was that the precision of the sensor was good and better than the Wiimote (for the Wii game console).

As soon as we lift the mouse, it becomes a remote control. Several buttons or movements applied to the mouse now have a new function. For example, if we press the volume button with our thumb and we move to the right or left we can adjust sound levels. Pressing play and a rotating movement in the air equals a skip to the next track or chapter. Pressing Back fixes the cursor on the screen. In addition, it’s possible to define other shortcuts in the driver.

We liked its virtual dial. We didn’t like the absence of buttons under the thumb.

Back on terra firma, we quickly have a classic mouse which is more practical and precise for selecting small icons or, for example, closing windows. Here we preferred (more than in the air) its dial which we found simply fabulous. It’s a touch sensitive zone that artificially reproduces a click-to-click scroll wheel or is free depending on the scrolling speed of your finger. On the other hand, we were really disappointed by the absence of buttons under the thumb. There is a Back button but it is under the index finger which is less practical. And there is no forward button either.

P.S. Despite the absence of a Mac logo on the packaging, the MX Air functioned perfectly well with our iMac. One small change was that the cursor doesn’t change shape in remote mode. It remained small and less visible than in use with a PC.

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Design, material, originality

Can be transformed into a remote by simply lifting

Precise in ''Wiimote'' mode

18 meter range (proven in tests)

Light at 95 g. Battery recharging dock.

Very low

No buttons under the thumb

Laser sensor but is 125 Hz and 800 dpi...

It’s very attractive and practical but the very high price hurts its score. Also, we would have liked to have seen a faster sensor and buttons under the thumb.