Computer Accessories
Logitech

Logitech MX Mechanical Mini, MX Master 3S review

Classy but at a cost

from ₹ 10,995

Sambit Satpathy 21 Jul 2022 07:10 PM

Mechanical keyboards are cool, but those clickety monsters are as welcome in the office space as pineapple slices on a pizza. To ensure those poor old souls don’t miss out on all the fun, Logitech launched the MX Mechanical keyboard, which blends the functionality of a mechanical keyboard with the aesthetic of a serious-looking computer accessory. 
Accompanying the keyboard is an upgraded version of Logitech’s fantastic MX Master 3. Called the MX Master 3S, it retains the crazy design and everything that made its predecessor great. That said, both these accessories come at a cost and quite a hefty one at that. But do they do enough to justify the price tag? Read on.

MX Mechanical Mini: Design, performance

The Logitech MX Mechanical series is the very antithesis of the POP series. Where the latter is as showy as a TikToker, the former is far more serious about life. It comes in only black and grey colours, and whichever you choose, it will feel right at home in a cubicle or the boss’ cabin. 
In addition to colour options, one can choose from a full-size or a 75% layout. You also get a choice of keys – tactile quiet (brown), linear (red), and clicky (blue). For our review, we received the MX Mechanical Mini with linear keys.

In terms of performance, the keys offer decent tactile feedback and are a joy to use for typing (like this review). There’s just about enough clickety sound to give you that mechanical keyboard feels without disturbing your colleague in the adjacent cubicle trying to catch a quick post-lunch nap. 
Key customisation options are low, which may not suit the likes of designers or editors who want a world of shortcuts right at their fingertips. For the rest of us, there are more than enough shortcuts sitting atop the function keys. Logitech has also added a backlight to this keyboard, which is a welcome addition. You can even choose to increase or decrease the brightness or their lighting style. Our personal favourite is ‘Reaction’, wherein each key that is pressed lights up. Something they borrowed from their gaming lineup.
Unlike the POP series, there’s a built-in battery here, which has a claimed battery life of around 15 days that can extend up to 10 months with the backlit turned off. We’ve been using the keyboard with the backlight for a couple of weeks now, and the battery life has only fallen to 55%, which is quite impressive.

MX Master 3S: Design, performance

For the uninitiated, the MX Master 3S design may seem like something from the outer world sitting on your desk. The raised palm rest with a recess for the thumb design is ergonomic, making it easy to work for hours without any fatigue. The soft-touch material feels nice, and the metal scroll buttons add to the overall premium feeling. Our only complaint at this moment is that there’s no model for left-handers. 
With support for up to 8,000 DPI, the mouse is extremely fast and accurate no matter the surface you’re using it on. Speaking of which, the mouse glides over everything from a wooden desk, and glass to a mouse pad. One of the first things you notice (or rather don’t) is just how quiet the clicks are. No matter how hard you press the buttons, there’s no audible click.

Adding to this stealth mode is the scroll button, which on the smoother setting allows you to scroll through pages faster than your brain can keep up. A simple press of the centre button reigns in this superpower, and switches to a slower scroll. There’s also a side scroll, which is really useful when editing on apps like Photoshop or working on our magazine issue on InDesign. 
The feature, I personally liked the most, is the small nondescript button sitting at the bottom, which enables gestures. A simple press and flick of the mouse registers a gesture. For someone coming from using the Mac trackpad, this allows you to continue navigating macOS without giving up on the gestures.

Software

You can further customise how you want to use the keyboard and the mouse via the Logi Options+ desktop software. Customisations on the keyboard are limited to reprogramming some of the shortcut buttons. For instance, I reprogrammed the Page Up and Page Down buttons to increase and decrease the screen brightness on my iMac.

Things are much better when it comes to customising the MX Master 3S buttons. Aside from the left and right clicks, you can pretty much customise all the other buttons and gestures. These can be specific shortcuts for OS-level tasks or shortcuts for individual apps. 
In essence, all these customisation options come together really well, and the Logi Options+ app is a worthy companion to these expensive peripherals.

Verdict

If you’re looking for a pair of computer accessories to really level up your productivity, then you can’t do worse than the new Logitech MX Mechanical and the MX Master 3S. Once you get used to them, it is difficult to go back to the peripherals you were using before. 
But this experience comes at quite a hefty price. The MX Master 3S mouse costs ₹10,995, while prices for the MX Mechanical keyboard start from ₹17,495. At this range, these great devices are beyond the means for many, and hence it stops us from giving them a perfect score.

Stuff Says

A pair of peripherals to really level up your productivity but they cost a pretty penny
Good stuff
Bad stuff

  1. Great design and build quality

  1. Productivity boosters

  1. Good battery life

  1. Multi device connectivity and seamless switching

  1. Expensive

  1. No mouse model for left-handers

Specifications
MX Mechanical Mini dimensions: 26.10 x 312.60 x 131.55 mm
Weight: 612 grams
Battery: 1,500mAh rechargeable battery
MX Master 3S dimensions: 124.9 x 84.3 x 51 mm
Weight: 141 grams
Battery: 500mAh rechargeable battery