With all the design tweaks and upgrades inside the iMac, why is Apple still using the same old Magic Mouse? It’s okay for light pointing and clicking, but real keyboard warriors need more control and better ergonomics. The Master 3 is the Ginsu Knife of mice, with a beguiling number of buttons and features.
Feels Great
The first thing I noticed was how much more comfortable the Mx Master 3 was than the Magic Mouse. It’s got a nicely textured rubber-feeling coating that makes a welcome contrast to the hard plastic of Apple’s stock mouse. The Master 3 has an ergonomic design, so it holds my wrist in a position that immediately relieved my developing carpal tunnel syndrome. Measuring 2 x 3.3 x 4.9 inches, the Master 3 is on the larger side, but the height gives my palm a place to rest. If you have small hands, you might want to consider a more petite model. Looks-wise, the Master 3 is a bit of a toss-up. On one hand, it’s a cool-looking gadget with lots of sleek curves and delightfully industrial-looking buttons. That’s all great, but it does clash with Apple’s elegant and minimalist designs. I’m ok with the Master 3 not matching my iMac, considering all the features it offers. The Master 3 is highly accurate for daily use. It tracks at up to 4,000 dots per inch (dpi), and Logitech says it works on any surface, including glass. During my tests, it worked on every surface I could find, including wood and plastic. Admittedly, it’s not as accurate on paper as some gaming mice, but that’s not the intended audience. One handy feature is it can easily switch between connected Bluetooth devices, making it easy to use the mouse with my iPad M1 and my iMac without fussing with settings. The side of the Master 3 contains two macro buttons, and a second scroll wheel. There’s also a gesture button that works like a function key on a keyboard, giving you four additional inputs when you hold down the gesture button and move the mouse. I found the best part of the Master 3 to be the new electromagnetic scroll wheel. The wheel uses magnets instead of mechanical resistance and can even add simulated resistance at specified times, like when you’re scrolling through pages of documents. In practice, I found the new scroll wheel to give subtle and helpful feedback, and it was very pleasant to use.
Fun Scrolling With Magnets
A neat trick the magnetic wheel allows is dynamic scrolling. It will automatically adjust the resistance depending on how fast you roll the wheel. For example, when scrolling through long documents, I quickly spun the wheel, and the magnets let me whirl through pages. There’s also an option to change the resistance manually. Two other buttons underneath the wheel are programmable. I mostly used them as forward and backwards buttons in Safari, and since I’m constantly clicking between websites, this feature was worth the price of the mouse alone. But wait, there’s more! Right below where your thumb rests is a gesture button. You can press the button and slide to do things like launch apps through Logitech’s customization utility software. For example, you can hold down the button and move left and right to switch between open apps. It’s a lot of gestures to memorize, but if you’re a hardcore user, it might be well worth your time. At $99.99, the Master 3 isn’t an impulse buy. But for those who like the ability to customize and want plenty of controls at their fingertips, Logitech has produced the best mouse I’ve found so far for the Mac.
