For pro gamers crafting their new gaming setup, high-quality gaming peripherals are key to ensuring your hardware doesn't hold back your gaming performance. This is especially true for mice, with purchasing a gaming mouse being one of the easiest ways to improve how well you play in games overnight.
There are hundreds of gaming mice on the market from dozens of manufacturers. But, for the past year, there’s been one product that has sold more units than any other gaming mouse on Amazon US.
In this article, we’ll explore why this gaming mouse is the most popular choice for pro gamers on Amazon. We’ll have a look at its features, price point and design, and ultimately answer: should you buy the best-selling mouse of 2023?
What was the best-selling mouse of 2023? Logitech G502 HERO
The most popular gaming mouse of 2023 on Amazon.com was the Logitech G502 HERO.
While many pro gamers and tech journalists pay close attention to the top-of-the-line expensive gaming mice (including the G502’s wireless cousin the G502 Lightspeed wireless mouse), most people don’t want to spend over $100 on their gaming mouse.
That’s where the Logitech G502 HERO has attracted so many gamers in this category. It's a feature-rich high-performance gaming mouse that doesn't break the bank.
But, why is this mouse so popular? What is it about the G502 that gamers love? Let’s have a look at its key features one-by-one.
Sensor: The Hero 25K
The G502 is a wired gaming mouse powered by Logitech’s premium HERO 25K sensor. Once you’ve updated this mouse’s firmware through G Hub, this mouse is capable of a DPI of up to 25,600K. This is the same brilliant optical sensor that’s in the $130 Logitech G Pro Wireless.
For the uninitiated, DPI measures the sensitivity of the mouse. It’s a metric that describes how quickly the cursor will move across your screen relative to the distance you move your mouse.
High sensitivity is a desirable trait in a mouse as it allows for sweeping actions and flicks with high precision and accuracy – even if you don’t plan on using this mouse at its max DPI.
A standard office mouse (like Amazon’s best-selling normal mice the Logitech B100) is only capable of a DPI of around 800 DPI. You can, of course, change sensitivity on a software level through Windows. But any inaccuracy the sensor has will also be artificially enlarged, making it unsuitable for pro gaming.
Logitech also advertises that this mouse doesn't use any smoothing or acceleration – a particular annoyance and hindrance to pro gamers, especially in first-person shooters.
Buttons: Macro Heaven
The Logitech G502 HERO features a whopping 11 programmable buttons. This includes of course the left and right-click, which feel satisfying to click and are super durable.
This is joined by a DPI down and DPI up button. If you like to change the sensitivity of your mouse on the fly, this is a brilliant feature. Prefer to keep your mouse set to one constant DPI setting?
You can remap any of these buttons, including the DPI switch, to any function or keyboard shortcut.
1 - Screenshot shows a previous version of the Logitech Gaming Software - now G Hub.
You’ve also got a forward and back button on the left-hand side of the mouse – with the buttons feeling brilliantly clicky and satisfying. Also, here we have a sniper button. This is just a fancy name for a DPI shift button, allowing you to have a toggle switch for a specific DPI. Need some extra precision when looking down a sniper? Just hold your sniper button to dial the DPI right down.
All of these buttons are remappable through Logitech’s G Hub utility software. You can even set G Hub to automatically recognize when a certain game or application is running and adjust your button configurations automatically. For example, you could have macro presets for video editing, FPS games and strategy games and have G Hub cycle between them for you.
Overall, gamers love the choice you have here. They also appreciate that Logitech hasn't gone overboard with the number of macro buttons. Many consumers are turned away from mice with keypads or paddles on the side of them. The G502 keeps it simple but still provides an incredibly useful selection of macro buttons.
Design: Sleek and Exciting
For the G502 Hero, Logitech has opted for a sleek and exciting design that gives users that 'gamery’ aesthetic whilst not going too overboard. Some manufactures like Mad Catz go too far with their industrial, cyborg-like designs – and while there are some elements of this design language here, it’s tasteful and attractive.
The surface of this mouse has a few panels of glossy plastic – a feature that minimalists will wish Logitech went without. But, the overall shape of the mouse stays intact, leading to a comfortable feel in the hand.
The G502 doesn’t miss out on the obligatory gamer-style RGB lighting either. The ‘G’ logo has an addressable RGB LED tucked underneath. This color can be customized through Logitech’s G Hub utility program.
Shape and Feel
With a length of 130mm and a width of 76mm, this mouse falls comfortably into the mid-to-large gaming mouse market segment. Those with small hands might want to look elsewhere (like the Logitech G203 LIGHTSYNC), although, for medium and large hands, this shape is perfect for all grip styles.
As the shape of the mouse is molded to the right hand, this mouse excels with palm grip, offering some great support and comfort. The soft-touch thumb rest is a great touch, allowing for palm grip users to grasp the mouse comfortably. Claw grip is also comfortable, especially for those with large hands.
This mouse is by no means ambidextrous. Left-handed gamers and people with no dominant hand may prefer the Logitech G Pro or Razer Viper. It’s slanted design however is great for subtly reducing carpal tunnel strain.
Weight: Adjustable
One of the most overlooked specifications of a gaming mouse is weight. Of course, every gamer has their own preferences when it comes to how heavy they like their mice. With a great level of weight customization, this is a category the G502 excels in.
By default, this mouse weighs 121g. For a large mouse, this is light enough for easy lifts, spins and trick shots. However, suppose you prefer a weightier feel?
Logitech includes five 3.6g weights that slot in underneath the mouse, allowing you to configure the weight of your mouse with impressive granularity.
Price
For a mouse that offers gamers an impressive set of features, good build quality and an attractive design, you’d expect the Logitech G502 HERO to break the bank. However, especially on Amazon, this isn’t the case.
The MSRP of this gaming mouse is $79, which is teetering on the higher-end of the pricing scale. However, this isn’t what the Logitech G502 HERO usually goes for on Amazon.
Currently (as of 8th January 2022), this mouse has a list price on Amazon.com of around $40. This places the G502 HERO in direct competition with the Razer DeathAdder V2 and the SteelSeries Rival 5. The brilliant HERO sensor and this mouse’s customizability gives the G502 HERO a massive edge in this category.
Conclusion
In the past decade, mouse technology has reached a peak where gaming mice became so good, manufacturers aren't able to meaningfully improve on their old models with new releases. This, combined with the global supply chain issues of 2023 hampering R&D in all sectors, means very few new gaming mice came out in 2023.
It's, therefore, no surprise older mice still dominate the market. Having been released in 2019, the Logitech G502 HERO is by no means ancient. However, what this mouse does show is great longevity.
Two years after its release, gamers are still impressed by the brilliant performance, interesting design and great build quality. The HERO 25K sensor makes this a perfectly capable gaming mouse for the highest tier of professional esports gaming.
Its aggressive, cyborg-like aesthetic may turn off some gamers. But, it's not as overkill as some fewer mice adopting this style, and the RGB G logo is a lovely touch.
The Logitech G502 HERO performs admirably in all categories. It’s therefore no shock that it’s the best-selling gaming mouse of 2023 on Amazon.com… and there's no indication that will change coming into 2024.