It didn’t have the fancy features and overwrought design of many gaming mouse, but the MX518, which first came out in 2005, remains one of the most beloved gaming peripherals among PC gamers. Simply put, few peripherals have managed to achieve its perfect combo of ergonomics, performance, and price, which prompts longtime PC gamers to look back on it very fondly. And that’s the reason why it’s coming back in the form of the Logitech G MX518.
That’s right, Logitech is resurrecting one of its most popular gaming peripherals, allowing you to enjoy your modern shooters, RTS, and RPG games with the same mouse you used to play all those classic in the mid-2000s. Well, almost the same mouse, since this is equipped with a lot of modern electronics, so you get the same ergonomics and general design as the classic, while enjoying the capabilities of contemporary tech.
The Logitech G MX518 retains the same shape as the original, from the curved shell and the thumb well to its much-loved ergonomic shape. While it looks very much like the original, it uses updated materials (a lot has changed since then, after all), along with a finish that, the outfit describes, as sophisticated and contemporary. Inside, however, it’s an entirely different story, with the peripheral being fitted with the kind of hardware you’ll find in a modern gaming mouse.
Those contemporary components include the outfit’s HERO 16K, the same 16,000 DPI sensor found in the outfit’s flagship gaming mouse, which boasts a capture rate of 17,000 frames per second while achieving 400+ IPS across its entire DPI range (100 to 16,000). And it does that with zero smoothing, filtering, or acceleration, making this a genuinely capable peripheral for high-precision gaming. They also threw in a 32-bit ARM processor that enables a high-speed 1ms response rate over the USB interface.
The Logitech G MX518 has two dedicated DPI buttons that you can use to switch to one of five pre-programmed DPI settings (they work much like volume buttons). Out of the box, the buttons will cycle between 400, 800, 1600, 3200, and 6400 DPI, although you can easily change the settings from either the Logitech Gaming Software or the Logitech G HUB. Eight programmable buttons can be used to bring up different actions with a single press, allowing you to play games while minimizing your keyboard interactions. Up to five different button profiles can be saved right on the mouse, so you can access the same button mapping even if you’re playing on a different machine.
It’s wired only, with a seven-foot long USB cable included for plugging it into your PC. We know, we’d have liked it in a wireless configuration, too, given that Logitech has been making esports-ready gaming mouse peripherals as part of its lineup in recent years, but this will have to do, especially since it seems to be aimed at longtime gamers that extensively used the mouse from several years back.
Want one? The Logitech G MX518 is available now.
- Laser Sensor Technology: Features laser-based movement detection for precise tracking.
