Quick take
The Logitech G502 Hero is a great budget gaming mouse if you want to find a good balance of price, performance, and customizability. There are a ton of programmable inputs to configure in Logitech’s G-Hub software, making the gaming mouse just as good for gaming as for productivity. The free-scrolling and L/R tilt functionalities are great features. You’ll also save some money since it’s a wired gaming mouse. While it appears bulky this gaming mouse feels surprisingly small in hand. It’s not meant for small hands, and it’s also not just for large hands. There are a few improvements to be made, including the quality and feel of the switches and the scroll wheel’s functionality, that Logitech fixed with its newest-generation more expensive G502 X gaming mice.
- Great click latency
- Includes customizable weights
- Lots of buttons to customize
- Balances gaming and productivity well
- Exceptionally-well priced
- Wired
- Switches could feel better and be more durable
Logitech G502 Hero specs
Alternatives
If you want better switches and a better scroll wheel: The Logitech G502 X has better-feeling, more durable L/R switches, and a better scroll wheel than the G502 Hero. You’ll pay more for the newer-generation G502 X, but it may be worth it for some gamers.
If you prefer an ergonomic Razer gaming mouse: The Razer Basilisk V3 is enduringly popular among gamers, just like the G502 Hero. The Basilisk V3 has a few more programmable inputs, is slightly lighter, and the switches are more durable and better feeling. It’s more expensive but is still an affordable ergonomic gaming mouse.
If you want more programmable buttons: The Logitech G604 has six buttons on the side and several other buttons. This makes it a good fit for MOBA/MMO gaming and productivity. The G604 is wireless and weighs slightly less than the G503 Hero’s minimum weight. Importantly, you’ll still get L/R tilt and free-scrolling functionality for the scroll wheel, but there’s no RGB.
If you want a dedicated MOBA/MMO gaming mouse: The Razer Naga X has endless customizability with its 12 side buttons and a total of 34 programmable actions. It is also much lighter, but its weight can’t be customized. The sensor tech is slightly older with a lower DPI, among other features, but this downside is balanced out with better feeling, more durable gen-2 Razer switches.
Performance
Weight
The Logitech G502 Hero will not win any lightness contests, but that’s not the main goal in this category. The Logitech G502 Hero can be tuned from 121 to 139 grams with the five 3.6-gram weights included in the box. This way, you can tune the balance and overall weight by popping off the underside cover and sliding in the weights.
When maxed out to 139 grams, the Logitech G502 Hero is among the heavier options in this ergonomic gaming mouse category, including tipping the scales more than some of the best gaming mice that offer more programmable buttons and include a battery.
Interestingly, the Logitech is still a favorite among gamers of all types, including casuals wanting a fast gaming mouse for first-person shooters and other fast-paced titles. That’s because the Logitech G502 is both fast and still somewhat snappy with its gripping power which is great for precision movements and micro-adjustments.
Sensor
Many of the best Logitech gaming mice use Logitech’s Hero 25k sensor, including the Logitech G502 Hero. This sensor has an incredibly high max DPI of 25,600 and is accurate and fast. For perspective, the Hero 25k sensor can track up to 400 inches per second, which is more than enough to accurately track the quickest mouse flicks and full-arm sweeps.
There are ergonomic gaming mice with higher IPS ratings, including the Razer Basilisk V3 and the Razer DeathAdder V3 Pro, but 400 is still competitive among the fastest models. A higher IPS rating is a great technological achievement, one that is mostly marketing hype that won’t be noticed by most gamers.
Polling rate
The Logitech G502 Hero has a max polling rate of 1000 Hz and can be adjusted to 125, 250, or 500 Hz presets as well.
We don’t see the value in using anything but the max polling rate. Maxing out the polling rate improves performance since the mouse reports actions to your computer 1,000 times per second versus fewer times per second using a lower polling rate.
This is also a wired gaming mouse, so a higher polling rate (AKA report rate) doesn’t impact battery efficiency.
For comparison, 1000 Hz is high for most performance-oriented gaming mice and far higher than productivity-focused mice. A few gaming mice offer a higher polling rate if you want to squeeze out a fraction of a millisecond latency advantage over 1000 Hz polling rate mice. The aptly-named Razer Viper 8K Hz maxes out at an 8000 Hz polling rate and several wireless Razer gaming mice, including the Razer Viper V2 Pro, work with Razer’s aftermarket HyperPolling dongle that can run your mouse at up to a 4000 Hz polling rate.
Switches performance and sound
The Logitech G502 Hero is incredibly popular, but the switches don’t do much to explain why. The D2F-01 switches in the L/R buttons are perhaps the biggest area for improvement here.
The L/R buttons are highly sensitive, require little downforce to actuate a click, and don’t provide much tactile feedback. Some gamers may prefer this feel, but know that you’ll inadvertently trigger clicks from time to time. The switches are comparatively quiet, as are the various other buttons
Some longer-term users have reported double-clicking issues. We didn’t experience any such issues in our tests. But we’ve not been testing the Logitech G502 Hero for millions of clicks either.
We also couldn’t find any durability rating for the switches. If the durability was something to write home about we’d presume Logitech would readily include the specs in its marketing materials. So, our assumption is that switches aren’t great, which should be expected with some budget gaming mice.
Gliding
The Logitech G502 Hero glides well enough on most surfaces. Since it’s somewhat heavy, you shouldn’t expect the mouse to be hyper-sensitive on a mousepad.
The Logitech G502 Hero has limited underside coverage with five PTFE feet. There’s a small sliver of a foot on the backside, one larger foot near the front, two feet on both sides, and a hexagon-shaped foot surrounding the sensor. More surface area for the feet could improve the gliding experience, but the upside potential is limited with its weight.
Design
Buttons
We’ve now arrived to perhaps the most interesting section of this review and the Logitech G502 Hero’s most sought-after features, the number of buttons. You’ll get a total of 12 button inputs with the Logitech G502 Hero.
There are the standard L/R buttons, two on the top to the left of the L click button, three on the left side including the sniper button, a multi-function scroll wheel, and two buttons behind the scroll wheel.
There are no buttons on the underside, but all can be remapped in G-Hub with the exception of the mechanical button to lock and unlock the free-scrolling functionality. The number of buttons unlocks many potential custom actions, binds, macros, and more, which is great for gaming and productivity.
You’ll likely want to keep a few buttons programmed to cycle through profiles and/or DPI settings so you can seamlessly shift settings on the fly as needed. The sniper button and the two buttons to the left of the L click button may make the most sense for these use cases.
The various buttons are compactly integrated into the overall design, which may be a pro or a con for you. This design places all of the buttons within close reach of each other but does lead to inadvertent button clicks, particularly when getting used to using the Logitech G502 Hero early on.
Scroll wheel
The Logitech G502 Hero’s scroll wheel includes tons of functionality but also has some downsides.
Nicely, you’ll get the convenience and versatility of a scroll wheel with L/R tilt and free-scroll functionality. These inputs are great for productivity and gaming.
But you don’t get some advanced scroll wheel features that other competing gaming mice offer, such as dynamically unlocking and locking the free-scroll functionality based on scroll speed or accelerated virtual scrolling, which accelerates the speed of your cursor or scrolling based on how fast the wheel is moved. The Razer Basilisk V3 or the Razer Basilisk V3 Pro are good options if some of those features excite you.
There’s also room for improvement by adding a texturized, grippy material surrounding the scroll wheel. The indents provide some friction, but the lack of a grippy material makes the scroll wheel somewhat slippery.
Your finger can too easily slide over the wheel when locked, limiting the precision. When locked, it’s hard to find the balance between downward pressure and scrolling forward or backward to precisely input a scroll action without clicking the wheel inadvertently.
The newer-generation Logitech G502 X and Logitech G502 X Plus models fix the scroll wheel downside with a rubberized texture added, but both are more expensive.
Shape
The design and shape of the Logitech G502 Hero scream PC gaming with its aggressive-looking shape and angular design cues. There are few rounded edges or angles, as you can instantly see when opening the box.
The ergonomic shape slants downward from left to right, and the R-click button drops down at a sharp angle and is extended fairly far forward. The top hump is also a somewhat high profile, great for ergonomics and increased palm support.
One design feature that stands out is the thumb rest. The thumb rest is one of the few we’ve come across with great gripping power thanks to how well it curves to your thumb. In fact, the contours almost make it feel like your thumb is being gripped by the mouse versus feeling like your thumb is gripping the mouse.
Like some other ergonomic gaming mice, such as the Razer Naga X, there is no right ledge to rest your finger on.
Hand size and grip style
The Logitech G502 Hero is somehow bulky and long without feeling big overall. This may not make sense until the Logitech G502 Hero is held and felt how it contours well to differently-sized hands. Simply, it’s not as big as it looks and is suitable for many hand sizes.
We don’t suggest buying this ergonomic gaming mouse if you have small hands, but it’s also not only for the largest of hands. The Logitech G502 Hero fits well if you have medium to large hands.
The Logitech G502 Hero is suitable for claw, fingertip, and palm grips. The rubberized texture on both sides and the thumb rest provide the necessary gripping power for claw and fingertip grip users.
The hump on top also provides great support for palm-grip users. One potential downside for gaming mice with higher profiles is that the hump makes it harder for claw and fingertip grips to use. The smaller your hand the more likely you’ll find the hump is too high if you use these two grips, but it’s not an issue for most hand sizes using these two grips.
Customization and software
RGB
The Logitech G502 Hero has RGB in the logo on top and the left side. These two zones can be customized independently with standard fixed and other lighting effects.
Memory profiles
You can carry onboard up to five profiles customized in G-Hub. This way, you can seamlessly cycle through profiles on the fly and use the Logitech G502 across different workstations.
You can also customize profiles by game, so the Logitech G502 can use different settings based on the game being played. What’s more, you can set multiple profiles per game, which is helpful to configure your settings based on the role being played at any given time.
G-Hub software
- Remap your mouse buttons and enable G-Shift for an added layer of customization
- Adjust the DPI presets in increments of 50 from 100 to 25,600
- Adjust the polling rate from a list including 125, 250, 500, and 1000 Hz presets
- Customize the RGB lighting effects
- Set custom profiles both by game and multiple custom profiles per game
Beating out Razer, G-Hub has full functionality across Windows and macOS computers. The added compatibility is nice for some gamers who either game exclusively on a macOS device or for those who work across both operating systems.
In the box
- Logitech G502 Hero with cable (2.1m)
- Five 3.6-gram weights
- Plastic carrying case for the tuneable weights
- Sticker
- Operating manuals
FAQ
- Can the Logitech G502 Hero drag click?
The Logitech G502 Hero is not great for drag-clicking out of the box. The L/R buttons don’t have much texture to provide the friction needed when attempting a drag click. Some gamers mod the G502 Hero aftermarket and add texture by applying grip tape or regular tape and then removing it.
- Is the Logitech G502 Hero fast?
Yes, the Logitech G502 Hero is a fast gaming mouse. It can track accurately at up to 400 inches per second and has low click latency, partly due to its high 1000 Hz polling rate.
- Does the Logitech G502 Hero have a warranty?
The Logitech G502 Hero has a two-year warranty. Valid proof of purchase is required, such as the original receipt or the order number if ordered through Logitech’s website.
