Logitech G502 X: A good replacement for the G604

To this day, I think the Logitech G604 has been the (almost) perfect mouse. It has a good sensor (I don’t really need a 25K sensor that the G502 X has) and the buttons has been working perfectly for me over the last 4 years. Having 6 configurable side buttons is GREAT! Unfortunately, the rubber material of the mouse has started to disintegrate, forcing me to find a replacement for the otherwise perfectly working mouse.

Getting the G502 X to replace the G604

Meet the Logitech G502 X, my replacement for the G604. The G502 X is the current flagship Logitech G gaming mouse model without RGB lighting. It does have one with RGB lighting, the G502 X Plus model, but it’s about US$20 more.

You can still find the Logitech G604 on sale. But with the bad rubber material, I decided not to go back to the G604 anymore.

Packaging

The packaging for the G502 X is not much different from the other Logitech G mouse. It’s good that Logitech has significantly reduced the use of plastic in the packaging. The box was not shrink wrapped and once opened, all you find is the mouse itself sitting on a cardboard holding it in place.

Taking out the mouse, you the find the cable, USB receiver, USB-A to USB-C converter and the G6 button replacement.

First impressions of the G502 X as a G604 user

1. It’s light

The weight of the G502 X was the first thing I immediately noticed. At 100g, it is a lot lighter compared to the G604. While this is obviously a personal preference, I actually didn’t mind the light weight of the mouse.

The fact that the mouse is powered with an internal battery helps with the weight of the mouse. The G604 mouse uses a single AA battery for power.

2. The buttons are more click-y

The G502 X uses the newer LIGHTFORCE hybrid optical-mechanical switches which is supposed to be a lot more reliable and lower latency. Coming from the G604, the buttons definitely feels different. However, it didn’t feel bad and I am able to get used to it pretty quickly. However, it does sound more click-y too.

3. It feels more comfortable

At first impressions, the G502 X seems to have a better ergonomic design compared to the G604.

The G502 X also does have some rubber materials used to help with the grip of the mouse at the sides of the mouse, but it has less of it compared to the G604.

4. The G502 X buttons are well positioned

The buttons of the G502 X are well positioned and and feel as natural as those on the G604. No real complaints here. Of course, I do feel the lack of additional buttons to configure. To compensate, I changed the G6 button to a G-SHIFT toggle, which allows me to reconfigure the top buttons for alternative commands. The position of the G6 button is distinct enough to make it ideal for that purpose.

Here’s how I configured the G-SHIFT buttons using the G HUB software

The top buttons are pretty much the same as the G604.

5. Other interesting impressions

The G502 X supports Logitech’s POWERPLAY to continuously charge and power the mouse. This means that you could also use third party charging docks that use the POWERPLAY charge points at the bottom of the mouse.

Speaking of battery life, the G502 X seems to be quite power efficient. But time will tell how well the battery holds up. At full capacity, the mouse can last around 140 hours of use. You can get the battery life information on G HUB application.

Lastly, remember that weird button replacement for the G6 button? You can swap it to physically disable the button on the fly. Not sure why you would want to do this, but it’s there if you need it.

Final thoughts

So far, I’m not regretting the decision to replace my G604 with the Logitech G502 X. I managed to get it at the same price I paid for the G604 4 years ago so it feels like the perfect replacement. While there’s obviously less buttons, I don’t seem to be missing it too much considering I can make better use of the G-SHIFT buttons with the well-positioned G6 button.

If you are in the same position and looking for the next successor to the G604, you can indeed consider the G502 X. And thankfully, it does have a non-RGB lighting version.

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