My favorite mouse costs less than USD 10

Anyone looking for a new mouse usually stumble upon the Logitech MX Master at the top of recommendation lists (MSRP: USD 99). The one I use daily costs a fraction of that, or 1/10 to be exact. Are they worth what they cost?

I’ve never used an MX Master, and maybe never will because it’s a right-handed mouse. (I’m right-handed, but use the mouse with my left hand.) The most refined experience I’ve had with a mouse was another Logitech model, a gaming one (MSRP: USD 69). It wasn’t one of the best (story in pt_BR).

The mouse that’s been with me since 2019 is another one from the same brand, the humble M90 (MSRP: USD 9). It’s ambidextrous and connects to the computer via USB cable. It has three buttons (the third is on the scroll wheel), traditional shape, no advanced or different features. It’s “plug and play,” meaning it doesn’t need an app to configure anything.

The Logitech M90 is the image that comes to mind when you think of “mouse.” This quality is shared with several other models, from other brands, most at more affordable prices, but with lower quality and/or durability. The advantage of Logitech’s “pedigree” is that, even being a cheap mouse, it’s a good mouse. Good, cheap and… ok, it wouldn’t win a product design contest. Good, beautiful and honest.

I even understand those who buy a mouse full of buttons and functions because they need or make use of the extras. Gamers, video editors… who else? For everyone else, knowledge workers who spend the day filling spreadsheets, writing documents and scrolling web pages and *.pdf files? Maybe I’m underestimating the superpowers of an expensive mouse, the extra buttons and turbocharged wheels. Maybe not.

Actually, I miss products that are so “direct” like the M90. I see it as the equivalent of the home button iPhone for phones: the almost perfect product for what it sets out to do, with the right dose of bells and whistles (the laser instead of the infamous ball from 1990s mice) and a refined, time-tested design (it could be on a computer desk from the 2000s without looking out of place).

What else do we have that’s like this? Even refrigerators, my favorite example of products that don’t require much research before buying, are adopting features that nobody or few people asked for, like screens and internet connectivity, complicating something that should be (and was) easy.

I emphasize that, despite the manifesto tone of this text (a “review”?), the M90 is good. It’s what a mouse needs to be, or everything I need from a mouse. A piece of plastic with a laser underneath to control the mouse pointer on the computer screen. I wish every tech gadget worked like this: within expectations, no surprises, and reliable.

Not to say the M90 is perfect, over time (and the quiet of home) the clicking and scroll wheel noises started bothering me. I wasn’t considering replacing it just for that, of course, but I didn’t think twice before buying the M110 Silent (MSRP: USD 24), an identical variation with silent clicks and wheel. This one, the perfect mouse?