You’d be forgiven for not associating the Logitech brand with gaming. A long time peripheral maker the company has a rich history of creating some of the best third party devices on the market. From keyboards to mice to universal remotes, Logitech have a great understanding of almost every aspect of our now daily interactions with technology.
It seems only natural that Logitech would take that knowledge and expertise and apply it to a new high-end range of devices made specifically for the gaming community. And they’re not messing about either. Feature-rich and aggressively priced the “Logitech G” series of peripherals are sure to impressive the most stalwart of PC gamers.
Logitech G933 Artemis Spectrum Headset
Logitech sure aren’t holding back when it comes to producing a top of the line, high-end, wireless headset for that core gaming market. Aggressive on price point and packed with features the G933 Artemis Spectrum headset is one of my most favourite yet.
At their core is a new patent-pending Pro-G audio driver that’s constructed with a hybrid mesh. The sound the reproduce is nothing short of amazing for such a compact and lightweight system. The bass is rumbling and the top end clear and crisp, which is exactly what you want when immersed in a full 7.1 Dolby or DTS Headphone enabled title.
Naturally the G933’s are highly customisable too. An extensive sound profiling system allows you to fine tune your listening experience just the way you like it. You can then quickly toggle between each profile using the on set “G Keys” that site on the left cup along with the volume dial. These buttons can also be linked to functions on the desktop to like skipping music tracks. All of this is configured through Logitech’s Gaming Software, which will also let you change the lighting colours on the headset and needs to be installed to get the full 7.1 sound experience on your PC.
The true power of the G933’s though are there versatility. The headset can literally work with any device out there and even better it doesn’t require its battery to be charged to do so! Included in the box is an industry standard 3.5mm cable that allows you to plug the headset into pretty much anything. Console gaming, PC even your phone. All of them work seamlessly with the G933, no charging required.
But wait; there’s more! Pop open the cup on the left ear and inside is Logitech’s USB Mix Adaptor. A small USB dongle the Mix Adaptor acts as a transmitter to send your audio wirelessly to the headset for up to 12 hours per charge. Not only does it do that but it has a 3.5mm jack in it too, that allows you to plug in a device and have it streamed wirelessly as well! So now when your wife’s gone to bed and you want to stay up watching the Tour de France until 2am for three weeks you can simply plug the headphone jack from your TV into the Mix Adaptor and push the sound wirelessly across to the headset. How awesome is that!
In fact using the Mix Adaptor you can have it plugged into your PC, then push audio into it via it’s 3.5mm jack as well as have the headphones plugged into another device via its 3.5mm jack and listen to all three streams at once. Should that take your fancy. Versatile. I love it.
Finally they’re just a well thought out and built headset. The stow away mic is clear and folds back up into the left cup so it’s not in your face all the time. They’re comfortable and don’t weigh your head down like some headsets can do after a while. I’m really, really happy with how they sound, what they’re capable of and at a lower price point that more targeted high-end sets.
The Logitech G933 Artemis Spectrum Headset retail for an RRP of A$329. More information available on the Logitech website.
Logitech G502 Proteus Spectrum Mouse
I’m only just getting back into PC gaming. Mice for me have been a work tool and my work horse of choice has coincidently been the Logitech MX Master that I glowingly reviewed a year ago. Sadly when it comes to gaming the ole MX Master, she’s not quite the right fit.
Enter Logitech’s King of the cabled mice the G502 Proteus Spectrum. It’s pretty amazing how much tech is inside such a small device these days and just how far we’ve come from the mouse-ball days of barely a couple of decades ago. The G502 has an adjustable 200 – 12,000 DPI laser inside of it. So if you’re playing a first person title and want pin-point accuracy using a sniper rifle you dial it right down then when you’re running or using a more spread fire weapon push it right up. All on the fly, all in the midst of play. That’s amazing. Well beyond my skill-set but amazing none the less.
Like any good piece of gaming hardware the customisable features continue. Included in the box are five 3.6g weights that can be placed in different positions inside of the mouse to better weight it to your personal taste. The mouse is also has a completely customisable lighting system supporting up to 16.8 million colours and eleven programmable buttons. For such a slim device I actually had to turn it over and around a few times to find them all!
Most importantly it feels good in your hand. The customisable weighting scheme surprisingly goes a long way in helping that to my surprise – it’s really not just a gimmick. It is corded but that’s intentional. Logitech G do have a model above this, the G900 but there aren’t a lot of gamers that aren’t prepared to have the risk of any lag that could potentially occur. Not to mention it’s RRP is $140 more. Besides, the G502’s cable is anything but ugly a beautiful braided material that comes with a hook and loop cable tie to keep things tidy.
It would take a lot to give up my MX for day to day but for gaming I’m really happy with the G502, to the point I actually do plug it in when I do play one, especially something twitch sensitive like Overwatch or Lawbeakers. That says a lot about it I think.
The Logitech G502 Proteus Spectrum Mouse retails for an RRP of A$129. More information available on the Logitech website.
Logitech G610 Orion (Brown) Keyboard
I’m not going to lie. Mechanical keyboards are not my jam. Well… they weren’t (how’s that for sizzle!) and the last one I’d used on a regular basis was probably back at the turn of the century.
Whilst I’ve noticed their resurgence going on around me I’ve never really felt the need to go searching for that keyboard nirvana. I’ve always just sort of adapted to what’s been put in front of me instead. Now after a month of using the G610 Orion whenever I have to use anything else I cringe.
The G610 Orion comes in a couple of different varieties dependent on which feel you prefer when it comes to mechanical switches. Logitech are making use of the most popular switches out there, Cherry MX, and offer models using Blue, Brown & Red switches. Each colour has their own qualities to it depending on what you’ll be using the keyboard for but for a quick overview if it’s just for gaming you’ll probably want the Red, just for typing Blue all the way and a good in-between is the Brown – the model I have. Lifehacker has a great in-depth look at all the switch colour types out there and what suits you best and if you’re unsure be sure to check it out here.
“…after a month of using the G610 Orion whenever I have to use anything else I cringe.”
In addition to the mechanical keys the G610 includes a bevy of high-end gaming features. Of course there’s a fully customisable lighting system that’s configured via the downloaded Logitech Gaming Software and a fingerprint-masking matte texture on the keys to ensure you never accidentally slip. You also have the ability press a crazy amount of keys (including modifiers like Alt, Control & Shift) in any order with the exact outcome you’d expect with 26-key rollover.
What really won me over though, the icing on the G610 Orion Brown cake if you will, was it’s little foam roller of a volume toggle. Top right of the keyboard you’ll find a series of media buttons; play, next, prev, mute etc and a roller that looks like a rectangular mouse scroll wheel that easily allows you to change the volume. So simple, so ingenious, why isn’t this on every keyboard I ask you?!
The Logitech G610 Orion keyboard is what’s made me fall in love with mechanical boards all over again. It’s only downside is a fair allegiance to the world of Windows, it’ll work on a Mac but you do lose a great deal of customisation and configuration options I’m afraid.
The Logitech G610 Orion Brown keyboard retails for an RRP of A$209.95. More information available on the Logitech website.