As laptops get smaller, so too should the devices we use with them, and that appears to be the general idea behind a new mouse Logitech has made for portable machines.
This week, Logitech — the version of the company with “tech” in the name — has shown off a new mouse made for people who are always on the go that utilises a laser technology that is designed to work on any surface and yet is small enough to fit in a pocket of a bag.
It’s called the “MX Anywhere 2”, and it’s a pint-sized mouse designed to work on glass, wood, metal, anything, and even jump between up to three devices it can be connected to, making it a mouse you can take with you from the desk at home, at work, and on the go with a laptop.
This isn’t your regular mouse, either, with a design contoured for the hand and a geometric pattern sitting along the thumb line with rubber, making it easier to hold onto for longer periods.
There are also a few different buttons beyond the standard left and right click action you might find useful, with a super fast scroll button that jumps between the standard click-click scroll to a more wildly spinning free wheeling scroll, as well as two mouse buttons by the thumb for going forwards and backwards.
Inside the mouse, there’s that laser we mentioned before, and that’s the special sauce, with Logitech’s “Darkfield” laser doing the universal tracking, which can also be modified to work in various resolutions, anywhere between 400dpi and 1600dpi. Your computer will handle these changes, and this connectivity is handled either from the Logitech Unifying receiver USB plug, or Bluetooth, whichever you happen to be using.
That could mean plugging in the tiny Unifying USB key on the desktop at home or in the office and using the MX Anywhere 2 that way there, and switching over to Bluetooth when it’s time to take it to a laptop on the go.
Battery life should be around one to two months for this, and since it’s rechargeable, you’ll be relying on charge over a microUSB cable to bring the mouse back to life.
“The Logitech MX Anywhere 2 Wireless Mobile Mouse is our mobile version of the award-winning MX Master Wireless Mouse and delivers the best combination of connectivity, size and comfort,” said Kit Williams, Senior Product Manager for Mice and Keyboards at Logitech in Australia. ANZ.
“It is designed to work wherever you do, and it’s by far the most versatile portable mouse that we offer today.”
We need to note that based off the design we’re seeing, it is similar to the MX Master released earlier in the year, though not exactly the same, with that mouse featuring the thumb-based scroll wheel next to the left and right buttons, and the extra scroll missing on this variant.
That said, there is a left and right scroll wheel position on the MX Anywhere 2 which we suspect is here to make up for the design difference.
Other than that, it’s a difference in hand-size and how you hold it, as well as overall size, but the similarities are there in technology, and basically this should provide a similar product for people keen to take their mouse on the go.
Pricing between the two is a good $20, though, with the more portable variant, the MX Anywhere 2, arriving at $129.95 against its $149.95 MX Master sibling. You’ll find both in computer and electronics stores this week, however, with compatibility for both Mac OS and Windows.
