Design
The
Proteus Core makes smart design choices at every possible opportunity, offering
a comfortable experience for players who use a palm grip and an exceptional one
for players who use a claw grip.
The
mouse itself is rather small and low in profile. Both the small thumb rest and
the grip for the two outermost fingers are textured, providing both stability
and a pleasant tactile sensation.
With
11 programmable buttons, the Proteus Core is neither minimalist nor excessive.
The peripheral has a left mouse button, a right mouse button, a scroll wheel
that clicks in three directions, two dots-per-inch (DPI) sensitivity buttons
near the top, one button below the scroll wheel and three thumb buttons. There
is also a nonprogrammable button beneath the scroll wheel that adjusts the
wheel's friction.
When Tom's Guide reviewed the G500s, one of our biggest
complaints was that the scroll wheel felt loose and flimsy, even when we
pressed the button to give it additional resistance. Logitech has addressed
this concern on the Proteus Core. The free-scrolling mode is still available,
but the scroll wheel becomes rock-solid upon pressing the button, with
resistance to spare. Its ridged design is both comfortable and effective.
Otherwise,
Logitech arranged the buttons on the Proteus Core in a very smart layout. The
thumb buttons are large and distinctive, and the lowest one is ideally situated
for a "sniper" button that lowers DPI — a useful feature in
first-person shooters. The DPI buttons, located next to the left mouse button,
are both remote enough to stay out of the way and large enough to press easily
without looking.
Palm
players with large hands may find the Proteus Core a bit small for their
tastes. Otherwise, it's hard to see how Logitech could have devised a better
all-purpose gaming mouse design.
Features
The
Proteus Core runs on the same Logitech Gaming Software as all other modern
Logitech mice. While this software lagged behind the comparable Razer Synapse
software a few months ago, it has really come into its own in the interim.
The
Proteus Core can store three profiles internally, or a virtually unlimited
number of profiles on a computer. One of the best features of the Logitech
software is its ability to scan your PC, determine which games you have
installed and automatically create profiles for them.
From
there, customizing the profiles is simple. Simply click on a command (the
profiles use game-specific commands, such as Grapnel Gun for "Batman:
Arkham City" or Attack-Move for "StarCraft II") and drag it onto
the desired button. The software will automatically apply the profile as soon
as the game launches.
Users
can also create macros, control the mouse's illumination and adjust the DPI
range. The mouse ranges from 200 up to an unprecedented 12,000. Out of
curiosity, we tried the 12,000 DPI, and found it far too sensitive to be of
much use. Even so, the option to even go that high is something users won't
find in any other gaming mouse.
The
Proteus Core boasts two other innovative features: a surface-testing capability
and an adjustable weight system. By testing the surface you use for the Proteus
Core, users can optimize anything from a high-end mouse pad to a sheet of
paper. (We tried both, as well as a standard office desk, with impressive
results.)
The
G500s had adjustable weights, but the Proteus Core refines this feature. Rather
than an ejectable canister as on the G500s, the Proteus Core has a magnetic
door on its underside, hiding spots for five 3.6-gram weights. Gamers select
not only how much weight to add, but where to add it. This provides very
granular control over the feel of the mouse, as adding weight to the center of
the mouse can feel very different from adding it to the back.
Performance
Thanks
to the Proteus Core's large, sensibly spaced buttons, the mouse does a good job
of controlling games from just about any genre. We tried it with "BioShock
Infinite," "StarCraft II," "Batman: Arkham City" and
"World of Warcraft," and found it equally suited to first-person
shooter (FPS), real-time strategy, action/adventure and massively multiplayer
online (MMO) games.
In
each game, we found the Proteus Core to be responsive, accurate and precise.
The extra buttons were helpful, but never overbearing. Assigning skills to the
thumb buttons, such as crouching in "BioShock Infinite," selecting
whole groups of soldiers in "StarCraft II" or grappling from point to
point in "Batman: Arkham City" left our left hand free to focus
almost entirely on .
The
one genre to which the Proteus Core may not be suited at high levels of play is
MMO. We found that the Proteus Core worked extremely well with "World of
Warcraft," and assigning our most frequent skills to the thumb button was
extremely convenient. That said, hardcore endgame players may find a dedicated
MMO mouse with rows upon rows of buttons, such as the Logitech G600, suits their
needs better.
The
Proteus Core has no appreciable liftoff range and moderately good Z-axis
tracking. Picking up the mouse and replacing it causes the cursor to move
somewhat, but not enough to interrupt anything but the most demanding
tournament-level play.
It's great to see a company take a nearly perfect product and
iron out its last remaining kinks. The Logitech G500s was a top-notch
all-purpose gaming mouse, but its successor, the Logitech G502 Proteus Core
($79.99), surpasses it in every way. In fact, we can confidently say that the
Proteus Core is the best all-purpose gaming mouse yet.
Specs
Laser Depth: 1.5 mm
DPI: 200 – 12,000
Size: 130 x 76 x 38 mm
Weight: 164 g (Adjustable)
Connection: Wired
Grip Type: Palm/Claw
Laser Depth: 1.5 mm
DPI: 200 – 12,000
Size: 130 x 76 x 38 mm
Weight: 164 g (Adjustable)
Connection: Wired
Grip Type: Palm/Claw
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