If there’s one thing I love about working at NAG, it’s the opportunity to play with the latest hardware as it comes out.
This past week, I got to test out the Logitech G Pro X2 Superstrike before it hits the market in South Africa, and if there is anything that you take from this review, know that gaming mice will forever change from this moment forward.
Many of you who have already read my reviews in the past will know this, but for anyone new here, my daily driver for the past couple of years has been the Logitech G Pro Superlight 2, and before that, the original Superlight.
So, to say I’m a fan of the shape, style, weight, and how the mouse works all-in-all, would be pretty accurate. This suggests you already know where this review is going to go.
So, I’m going to try and answer a few questions, or explain a few “issues” that other people have brought up online to give a holistic, and as unbiased a review as possible, for the latest lightweight gaming mouse from Logitech.
Game Changing Technology
Of course, the main thing to talk about with the Superstrike is the new HITS (Haptic Inductive Trigger System) that comes with the mouse. While the underlying technology is not new, this is the first time we’re seeing it built into a mouse.
There’s no way of saying this without sounding like an overhyped fanboy, but man, these clicks are game-changing. Experiencing this mouse for the first time is equivalent to seeing your first OLED screen, gripping your first clutch in a 1v5 sweat session, or getting that first lick of ice cream on the hottest day of the summer.
It’s an experience that’s hard to describe in a review, and something you definitely need to try yourself should you get the opportunity. But what makes it feel so different?
Well, Logitech have removed the mechanical switches we get in all other mice. Instead, there sits a system of magnets that can more precisely detect how much you’ve pushed down the main button. This means there is no physical feedback each time you click. In comes the haptic system. Here, we have a customisable system that produces feedback each time you click, similarly to how you would experience tapping on your phone screen.
Now, instead of that audible “click” we get from standard mice, you get more of a subtle hum that rings up your finger, through your arm, up your brain stem and hits smack bang in the middle of the dopamine factory. This haptic feedback has five different levels on both the left and right clicks that can be changed to your liking. Personally, I felt the first level gave me just enough oomph to know I’ve clicked the button.
Because the mechanical switches have been replaced with magnets, we now also have access to Rapid Trigger on the mouse and not just our keyboard. Using Logitech’s G Hub software, you can define the actuation point of the mouse click as well as the reset point. What this means is you can essentially activate, deactivate and then reactivate the mouse click again quicker than ever before. Drag, Butterfly and Jitter clicking aside, the Superstrike’s Rapid Trigger technology was used to break the Guinness World Record for most clicks in a minute.
Some professional gamers have even reported a difference of 30ms when using the mouse. That means they are clicking 30ms faster than they were before. Now, for casual gamers like myself, achieving numbers like that was a serious effort.
Going frame for frame, I managed to get a 2ms difference in Apex Legends when completely emptying a clip, but Apex has a fire rate cap on its weapons. In Counter-Strike, with the dual pistols in each hand, I got closer to a 5ms difference.
However, emptying your clip is not the only area where these faster clicks make a difference. Flick shots and quick scopes will be easier to hit because of the faster reaction times. In games like League of Legends, I could distinctly see how much more movement I achieved in heated team fights because I was clicking back and forth a lot quicker than usual.
Heck, in a standard online CPS (clicks per second) test, I went from 9.8cps on my Superlight 2 to 11.1cps. That’s quite a lot more, just because the mouse picked up more clicks than before, thanks to the lower actuation and reset points. The actuation point offers 10 sensitivity steps, while the rapid trigger offers 5.
Of course, gaining an in-game advantage will always come down to mouse control, but having the Superstrike on your side won’t hurt.
The Usual Suspects
Aside from the new click technology, however, much of the Superstrike is the same as the Superlight 2.
The Superstrike comes in at just 61g, making it only 1g heavier than the Superlight 2. It’s been mentioned that the weight distribution has shifted slightly to the front of the mouse, but I could barely feel a difference. It could be because I use a fingertip style grip, so my pushing force is focused near the front of the mouse.
The Superstrike also comes in the same egg shape as the previous mice. I think it’s great. It’s simple, fits my hand perfectly for the grip I use, and doesn’t have anything extruding where I never put my fingers anyway.
I’d say that the two side buttons have slightly more bounce to them than my Superlight 2 does, but I wouldn’t say by much. Logitech has generally regarded its extra buttons on these mice as just that, extras, so if you weren’t a fan of the previous ones, you might find reason to nitpick on these. Again, I never really use these buttons, so they didn’t affect my overall experience.
The scroll wheel is also the same as on the Superlight 2. I’ve never had an issue with it before, and didn’t have any complaints with it on the Superstrike. I perhaps would’ve liked to see a free-wheel option added to the Superstrike for work-related reasons, but it’s not something I would call a deal-breaker.
A hot topic online for the mouse has been just how bad the skates are on the Superstrike. Honestly, I have no idea what they’re on about. Many have said the skates felt sticky or spongy, requiring more force to move the mouse. My usual play style means I barely move the mouse around my mousepad, and using it on either my NAG mousepad, an Evetech one, or even a felt mousepad from MSI, I felt no difference to the Superlight 2. At all times, it felt smooth, and I didn’t experience any sort of hopping or sticking.
Those Last Few Specs
Aside from HITS being something completely different on the Superstrike, much of the mouse feels like the old Superlight 2. And, to me, that doesn’t feel like a bad thing. It’s the mouse I use for hours on end, day in and day out.
Battery-wise, I was still draining the Superstrike at the same rate, meaning I’ll more than likely achieve around 85-90 hours of game time before hooking it up to a charge. This can be drastically reduced if you pump up the haptics to step 5, as that needs a little more juice, and if you run the mouse at an 8000MHz polling rate, which comes standard on the Superstrike, you’ll drain it even faster.
I’m not that good a gamer… Yet. So I kept the polling rate at 1000MHz, the haptics at 1, and found my ideal settings to be level 2 for actuation and level 1 for the reset point.
All of these settings can be fine-tuned in Logitech’s G Hub Software, which I also have no issue with. You can also pull some crazy settings from the community if you really want to see just how far you can push your devices without physically changing up the hardware.
There is also the matter of price. The Logitech G Pro X2 Superstrike doesn’t come in cheap. It’s currently up for pre-order at Computer Mania for a pretty large R3,499. The thing is, the Superlight 2 launched at the same price, and I’m pretty sure the original Superlight launched somewhere near that. So, for the price we’d expect for Logitech’s top-of-the-range gaming mouse, we don’t just get a slight upgrade, we get a step into the future of mice in general.
Final Thoughts
Which brings me to my final thoughts on the Logitech G Pro X2 Superstrike, and you, lovely reader, to the end of this pretty long review.
From here on out, gaming mice will change. The Superstrike has brought us gamers into a new era. While professional gamers will reap the highest rewards, the technology this mouse packs is so different that it will affect even the most casual gamer.
Whether it’s the insanely satisfying feel of the mouse “click” or the faster click speed you get when fine-tuning this mouse, there will be a noticeable difference. At first, I didn’t think it was as big as it is, but when I returned to my old Superlight 2, that was when all the upgrades, or lack thereof, really started to click.
The Superstrike is, as of right now, the best mouse I’ve ever had the chance to use, and experiencing that HITS system for the first time, watching everyone in the office have their minds blown one by one as they approached my desk to test it, will be a core memory for many years to come.
