Page 2 : IR Sensor, Scroll Wheel & Buttons, Glide Performance & Stability

PMW3366 IR Sensor

The Logitech G502 Proteus Spectrum mouse uses an IR sensor, instead of a laser sensor. This may seem like a downgrade but professional gamers will tell you – IR sensors actually deliver better precision and sensitivity than laser sensors, especially on textured surfaces.

The Logitech G502 Proteus Spectrum uses the much-vaunted PMW3366 IR sensor, which supports resolutions from 200 DPI all the way to 12,000 DPI. But ignore that upper number – no one will actually use that. What’s really important about this sensor is its precision and sensitivity.

In those aspects, the PMW3366 optical sensor really rocks – it was both sensitive and precise. Sensitivity is critical in gaming because you want your every move to register, even the slightest move. Precision is also important because you want your move to be precisely tracked so that it registers exactly in the game, or application you are using.

That said, please note that the PMW3366 sensor will not work with glass or highly glossy surfaces, unlike the Logitech MX Anywhere 2‘s Darkfield laser sensor. This isn’t really a problem because you can easily “fix” it with a proper mouse pad, or even a piece of paper.

 

Scroll Wheel & Buttons

Although Logitech claims that the Logitech G502 Proteus Spectrum has 11 programmable buttons, there are really just 9 programmable buttons. To make it a little more confusing, there are actually 10 buttons on this mouse, but one isn’t programmable while the scroll wheel can be programmed for 3 functions. That’s how you get 11 programmable “buttons” – 8 physical buttons that are programmable + 1 scroll wheel that can be programmed for 3 different functions.

 

Button	Default Setting	Button	Default Setting
1	Left Click	6	Back
2	DPI Up	7	Right Click
3	DPI Down	8	Left Scroll, Middle Click, Right Scroll
4	DPI Shift	9	Scroll Mode Switch
5	Forward	10	Profile Switch

Pressing on the Scroll Mode Switch (Button #8) switches the scroll wheel between these two modes :

• a “hyperfast scrolling mode” – smooth and quiet scrolling but lacks tactile feedback, and
• a “click-to-click scrolling mode” – the typical ratcheted mode which precise but “noisy”.

We found the scroll wheel to be too loose in the hyperfast scrolling mode. A flick will send the screen scrolling far beyond what we would expect. The ratcheted mode is far better. The only downside – it is quite noisy if you scroll rapidly.

Note that smaller hands may find it hard to reach the DPI Shift button (#4).

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Glide Performance & Stability

The Logitech G502 Proteus Spectrum is supported by four asymmetric pads of what appears to be UHMWPE (Ultra high molecular weight polyethylene), also known as UPE.

The traditional PTFE (commonly known by its trade name of Teflon) is slicker and gives a smoother glide, but is also more expensive and less durable. It is also hard to differentiate the gliding performance of UPE against PTFE. So we are not surprised to see UPE being used in the Logitech G502 Proteus Spectrum.

What’s more important to us is the stability of the Logitech G502 Proteus Spectrum. We are glad to report that it was very stable. Nothing irritates us more than a mouse that “rocks”. It’s pointless for a mouse to use PTFE feet for a smoother glide if it’s so unstable that it rocks as you move it.

Next Page > Weight Tuning System, USB Cable, Logitech Gaming Software

 

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