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Logitech M650 Signature Review: A Silent Performer

Let us be honest for a moment. Your mouse is not the sexiest peripheral around, but perhaps most importantly, it does not need to be.

Sure there are the objet d’art-esque pebble-shapped mouses out there and quite a few vertical options designed with creators in mind, but most people just need a mouse that performs as expected.

Looking at the Logitech mice we have reviewed in the past, this seems to a central tenant that they all have – working as advertised.

So what makes the Logitech M650 Signature any different? Well one of the big selling points here is that its clicks are silent. Given that our daily driver keyboard is a noisy mechanical one, is there a need to have a silent mouse when working from home?

We spent the past week with the Logitech M650 Signature to find out.

Unassuming

As mentioned this is not our first rodeo with a silent mouse from Logitech, having reviewed the M330 a couple of years ago. That mouse offered little in terms of fuss and delivered a fairly solid silent working experience.

The clicks on the M650 Signature are far better than that of the M330, while also being more silent. To that end Logitech says it has reduced 90 percent of click sounds and while we cannot really put that claim to the test, in our experience this is indeed a church mouse.

This is particularly helpful when on videoconferencing calls and we need to check something on our notebook or browser, offering the ability to do some multitasking while keeping the facade that your are paying attention. It helped quite a bit while doing our podcast, which is recorded remotely and regularly necessitates checking things online to reference while we are recording live.

Added to this is a reassuring tactile feel that comes with clicking despite being silent. Much like the clacking of a mechanical keyboard can be comforting, the M650 Signature lets you know it is working without alerting those around you.

In terms of design, Logitech has not pulled up any trees here, with the M650 looking rather understated and refined.

Pair and play

At 61.8mm wide, 37.8mm tall and 107.19mm long, it nestles comfortably in the hand, with the ridged sides adding a degree of texture to grip. The mouse is also lightweight at 101.g (including single AA battery), which means you can move along your mouse or desk pad unencumbered.

In terms of the sensor, Logitech has gone for an Advanced Optical Tracking option that starts at 400dpi and maxes out at 4 000. As such there is a reassuring amount of responsiveness and accuracy.

It should be noted, however, that the Bluetooth paired mode is superior to the USB dongle option, at least in terms of our experience with a MacBook Pro, as the latter proved almost too erratic to work with. This may simply be a symptom of Logitech and Apple hardware not playing well together.

As for other elements on offer here, the two function buttons on the left side of the mouse can be customised for specific controls. This comes in handy for a Mac user, as the mouse controls differ slightly to that of Windows.

There is also the SmartWheel scroller, which is also responsive. We prefer it to the option available on the more expensive MX Anywhere 3, which could be a little unwieldy at times.

Lastly, in terms of battery life Logitech says a new AA battery should offer up to 20 months of use via Bluetooth and 24 months on the USB dongle. We don’t have two years to test that out, but it is certainly a far better performance that what we currently see on the Apple Magic Mouse we use daily, which yields about four months of use before two new batteries are needed.

Final verdict

The Logitech M650 Signature is by no means a class-leading mouse.

That might sound bad, but it is a good thing, as it does not rely on crazy designs or gimmicks to win users over. Instead it offers performance as advertised and a silent clicking system that comes in handy from time to time.

Add to that it won’t break the bank at R799 (RRP) and for those on the lookout for a functional wireless mouse that will last them a long time, the Logitech M650 Signature comes highly recommended.

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