A Logitech G604 mouse review from a Mac user

Yet another Logitech G604 review?!

There are a lot of mouse reviews on the Internet. A quick Google search for “G604 reviews” alone would make my point. However, there isn’t many that reviews it from the perspective of a Mac user. Most reviews also only covers the physical aspects of the mice and its features and functionalities as used on Windows machines.

So when I was looking for a replacement for my trusty Logitech G602 mouse that I’ve used for a couple of years, it took me a long time do decide to take the plunge to give the Logitech G604 a try. This is mostly because there isn’t many relevations on how the good the Logitech G Hub software performs on MacOS.

So why the Logitech and not the rest?

Software plays a large part of the decision making as well, especially for gaming mice where there are a lot of customisations to make best use of all the buttons and features of the mice.

This is the key reason why I do not consider getting another Razer gaming mice at the moment. The Synapse app for MacOS is generally many “versions” behind Synapse for Windows. But worst still is how I’ve come to find it to be unstable, especially when using it with the newer mice. I used to regard the Razer Orochi to be the best portable gaming mice, but ever since OS X High Sierra, I’ve found Synapse to be funky at times.

And that’s when I decided to give Logitech G a try. My past experience with the Logitech MX Master mouse was pretty good and the Logitech Options software worked relatively well on the Mac and I figured perhaps the Logitech Gaming software should also work pretty great. TL;DR: I was right. It’s not perfect, but it’s probably the best there is.

As I mentioned, there are already a lot of reviews out there of the Logitech G604 so I’m no going to write yet another detailed review of the mouse itself. Instead, I would focus more on the aspects of my use of the mouse as a Mac user.

The Software: Logitech G Hub on a Mac

Initially, I had some reservations with the Logitech G604 because it uses a different software that the G602’s Logitech Gaming software. So before I made the final decision, I pretty much tried to find every mention of the software’s performance on MacOS there is. But as you probably have guessed, there just isn’t much out there.

But thankfully, it works as expected. Not only that it’s pretty much the same app as the Windows version, the Logitech G Hub software for MacOS runs stable and seems to be regularly updated as well.

As you will see in the screenshot below, you can configure and customise every feature of the Logitech G604.

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Update: App Expose and Mission Control on the G604

One of the common questions I get in the comments here and offline are if the Logitech G604 supports macOS gestures. Specifically, App Expose and Mission Control. Well, can do it with macros. The following screenshot shows how I set it on my own setup.

The Connectivity: The Logitech G604’s LIGHTSPEED and Bluetooth performance on a Mac

The connectivity performance of a wireless mouse might differ between the Windows and Mac platforms. This was something I learnt firsthand when I used the Razer Orochi 8200 on a MacBook running OS X High Sierra and even had to write on how to fix the bluetooth connection of the Razer Orochi. Even worst was when I bought and tried the Razer Atheris on my MacBook Pro. The Razer Atheris seemed to be incompatible with the MacBook’s Bluetooth 4.0 stack causing it to perform really bad and laggy. I was only able to use it wired, which was kinda missing the point of a wireless mouse. Ever since then, I became very cautious with the connectivity aspect of the mouse and is why this is the second aspect of my sharing today.

From my short use of the Logitech G604 on my 2017 15” MacBook Pro the performance of the LIGHTSPEED wireless was flawless, even at its highest 1000 Hz reporting time. It was very impressive and noticeable better than my Logitech G602’s 500 Hz reporting rate.

As for the Bluetooth mode, the report rate averages at about 125 Hz (between 88-133 Hz, it works as well as my Logitech Anywhere MX 2 mouse. The connection is noticeably laggier when compared to the LIGHTSPEED wireless mode which is expected. Having said that, its still very usable and all the functionality of the Logitech G604 mouse still works as expected. The Logitech G Hub software also will tell you which connectivity you’re on as well.

It’s also worthy to note that the Logitech G604’s LIGHTSPEED connection is a lot more stable as compared with the Logitech G602’s 500Hz receiver. With the G602, the connection gets laggy if I attach the USB receiver on a USB Hub, and therefore I had to plug it standalone to my MacBook. With the G604, the USB receiver is currently running on my USB Hub that is hidden behind the MacBook and I don’t feel any lag at all. Perfect!

The Scroll Wheel: Hyper-fast and ratchet scrolling on a Mac

A big reason why I wanted to upgrade to the Logitech G604was the lack of the hyper-fast scroll wheel on the Logitech G602. Seriously, once you’ve experience and gotten used to the hyper-fast scroll wheel, you would never turn back.

I’ve also always like the scroll wheel implementation on Logitech’s mice as it has always worked well on the MacOS. Often times, I would not need to tweak its scroll speed as the out of the box implementation works perfectly. This was not true when I used other mice over the years.

So, long story short, it works well on the MacOS. The scroll speed works well for me out of the box, both in hyper-fast and ratchet mode. I also like that the Logitech G604 also includes a side scroll buttons too that was missing on the Logitech G602.

The scroll wheel does “wobble” on its sides, but it only does so when you shake it hard. I’m sure Logitech could have made it built better like the Logitech MX Master series. But so far on normal use, I’ve not been bothered by this even knowing about the “wobble”.

There’s however one customisation that’s sorely missing on the Logitech G Hub software for scrolling. The option to reverse the scroll direction. If they can design this feature in the Logitech Options software, why in the world would they not also do it on the Logitech G Hub software?! Thus, I still need to rely on the Scroll Reverser app with the Logitech G604.

Perhaps you might ask, why not change the MacOS’s natural scrolling option instead? Well, for me, the natural scroll direction makes a lot of sense with how the MacOS works with the touchpad. I also have a wireless touchpad that I use (pinch gestures is still the best way to zoom on the Mac) along with the mouse and external keyboard on my desk.

The buttons: Customisations that makes sense for MacOS

With the Logitech Options software which the none gaming devices relies on, MacOS is treated as a first class citizen. The software provides native support for all the MacOS system commands and gestures, such as invoking Mission Control and App Exposé.

Unfortunately, this isn’t the case with the Logitech G Hub software. Having said that, I’ve not yet seen a gaming device software that support it yet. But that’s also not a reason not to support the MacOS natively.

Thankfully, you can easily define macros and assign those macros one of the 15 buttons that you can customise on the Logitech G604 mouse. Better still, there are profiles that you can search through the Logitech G Hub software which has these customisations already done for the MacOS!

I’ve read users complaining the buttons are not as great as the Logitech G602 when researching on the Logitech G604. After using both, I don’t think there is actually much of a difference. I was able to transition well between the two. In short, the button placements are very similar between the two mouse.

In short, the Logitech G604 is a great mouse for a Mac user!

I love the subdued, low key design of the Logitech G604 without any of those RGB nonsense. The built quality of the mouse is actually decent, despite some of the reviews and comments I’ve read elsewhere. The software isn’t perfect but works well on MacOS and the LIGHTSPEED connectivity is really good.

It also runs really long just on a single AA battery, which I prefer as I don’t ever have to worry about degrading internal batteries.

So if you’re looking for a great mouse with lots of buttons to use with your Mac, consider the Logitech G604. It works great.