Logitech’s new G502 Lightspeed is a wireless version of the company’s beloved G502 Hero gaming mouse that’s available today. At first glance, it doesn’t look very different; it still has 11 customizable buttons, it includes a range of weights to tweak how quickly (or slowly) the mouse can be dragged along your mouse pad, and it’s still comfortable to use for hours on end. Oh, and its Lightsync LEDs light up in some very nice ways.

These similarities are no coincidence. Logitech told me it was scared to change basically any facet of the mouse, but it said that it had to change almost everything internally in order to fit in its new low-latency Lightspeed wireless tech and add the ability to wirelessly charge by way of its optional PowerPlay wireless charging mouse pad. Its feet are the only pieces that could be salvaged from the old design.

Priced at $149, Logitech is charging an almost $100 premium for these two big features, and one of them can only be enjoyed by those who also own the $99 PowerPlay wireless charging mouse pad. Even if you decide against the PowerPlay and are generally against mixing wireless mice with gaming, the G502 Lightspeed might tick enough boxes to make it a worthy purchase for you.

Grid View

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

Its Lightspeed wireless capability claims to deliver “better than wired” performance when it comes to latency. (Its included USB adapter has a report rate of 1ms.) During my time with it, those claims seemed to hold true; the G502 Lightspeed has the level of responsiveness that I come to expect from a wired mouse. The highest praise that I can give to a wireless mouse is that latency didn’t once come to mind while I played some games. I still suck at Apex: Legends, mind you, but this mouse didn’t make me suck any more than usual (or less, unfortunately).

I don’t own a PowerPlay mouse pad at home, so if you’re like me, this mouse’s 48-hour battery life is another factor that you’ll have to mull over. Initially, I was worried that it wouldn’t last through a weekend of testing, but several days have passed without much in the way of a flinch on the battery indicator. Obviously, how many hours you spend gaming in one day will dictate how often this mouse needs to recharge. When you do need to charge, the G502 Lightspeed includes a braided Micro USB cable to plug in. For the time that it takes to recharge, you’ll have a wired mouse on your hands. If that irks you, I get it. But it’s your only option unless you purchase the PowerPlay wireless charging mouse pad for $99.

Logitech’s G Pro Wireless is practically the same mouse

There were a few other things that popped out about the mouse. Its scroll wheel has some extra grip by way of a rubber coating. I found the scroll wheel on the G502 Hero to be just a little too slippery, so this is a good change. Also, likely due to constraints in the G502 Lightspeed’s design, it’s noticeably lighter than the wired version. The new model includes 16 grams of additional weights (two 4g weights, four 2g weights), totaling up to 130g. The wired version weighs 139g with all of its weights installed. I personally like a heavier mouse because I tend to flick it around recklessly during a firefight, much to the amusement of friends and confusion of adversaries.

If you’re comparing different wireless gaming mice, you should know that Logitech’s G Pro Wireless mouse, our current favorite, is practically the same offering. It has the same Lightspeed wireless tech found in the G502 Lightspeed, along with the Hero (High Efficiency Rating Optical) sensor that can scale between 100 and 16,000 DPI. They’re even the same price at $149.99. Choosing between the two comes down to personal preference: do you want a super light gaming mouse that doesn’t have a flashy design or much in the way of customizable buttons or would you rather have a more tweak-friendly mouse with a more ergonomic feel in the palm? For fans of the G502 Hero, the choice is clear.