Logitech MX Vertical – Vertical Ergonomic Mouse Review

Time for another review of yet another review of yet another ergonomic device I stumbled upon along my ergonomics journey. That is not to say that I am an expert or even an amateur in ergonomics, it’s just that I have spent some time and money to find out what works best for me to make my long hours on the computer the most comfortable.

Introduction & Motivation

So, why would you want to have a Vertical mouse? What benefits does it bring to your work desk? As I understood the issue, the problem with normal, regular mice is that the bones in your forearm “twist” when your palm goes to hold the mouse. This in turn, makes the muscles in your forearm irritated.

That means you are twisting your forearm – and internally something in your shoulder as well, every single time you go to hold a mouse. And as you can imagine, for us, software developers, as well as anyone else who spends a lot of the time on a computer, this can lead to quite a bit of discomfort.

You can test this yourself if you simply stand up right now and make your arms simply “hang” from your shoulders. What you’ll notice is that your palms are oriented to your hips and not in the way you hold a traditional mouse. If you then bend your arm, you will see that the hand comes to a position like how you would approach a handshake. If you then mindfully decide to get your palm in a position it would occupy as if you were holding a mouse, you will notice that your forearm indeed does extra work to twist.

Vertical mice are designed to instead keep you in the more natural, handshake position. Not only that, but the idea is that you will then use more natural movements to move the mouse which will over time lead to a greater comfort than you would have as opposed to a classic mouse.

As we will later see, I found all this to be true, although with some caveats to which we will get later. On with the Review.

Straight to the point

The Logitech MX Vertical is a very well built, premium look-and-feel Vertical Ergonomic mouse which should, if you’re like me, make you feel more comfortable during those long work hours. It is especially well suited for people with larger hands.

However, it lacks features compared to Logitech’s more premium classic mouse, the MX Master 3S. It unfortunately lacks features even when compared to another vertical mouse from Logitech, the Logitech Lift. Here’s my review of the Logitech Lift.

But when compared to the Lift, I do not know if it is because of the weight distribution or due the fact that this is larger but weighs the same as the Logitech Lift, the MX Vertical simply feels more light, more fluid and in general easier to operate even for me and my small-medium hands. It exerts less pressure on my wrist as it somehow feels much lighter.

Detailed Review

Ergonomics & Learning curve

In this case, a mouse being Vertical does not mean it has a 90º angle – this mouse is tiled on a 57º angle which Logitech says they have determined it to be optimal. As I in my ergonomic journey, came upon distinct designs from other manufacturers, some of which feature a 90º angled design, there doesn’t seem to be a consensus that the 57º angle is “the best”.

Of course, Logitech, as far as I could see doesn’t mention anywhere that this is a medical device or that it has potential to reverse a medical condition. What they do say is that there will be less pressure upon your wrist and I can certainly confirm that this has been true for me.

As I started using the mouse I did indeed start to feel less pressure. But after the first few days of use, I did to feel a bit of pressure on the bottom part on my wrist. However, this was because my sitting posture wasn’t that good. This has not only caused me to hold the mouse in such a way which caused me to drag my pinkie across the desk, exerting extra pressure there, iz has also caused me to move only my wrist from left to right while operating the mouse.

What you want instead is to try to keep your wrists aligned with your arm and use your whole arm to move the mouse instead, that is – I have found that what optimally worked for me is to make the movements from the elbow with my whole arm and keep my wrist straight instead of moving only the wrist and thus exerting pressure upon it. Moving only my wrist has caused the similar pressure to the normal mouse position, only this time it was caused by moving the wrist from left to right while in a handshake position. But adjusting my sitting position and the desk height and switching to moving my entire arm from the elbow has improved the comfort by much.

So, in short, yes, there will be an adjustment period, especially if you never used a vertical mouse before. And the mouse will certainly not do this by itself. You must be an active participant. it’s your body and your posture and it is up to you. All I can tell you is it was certainly worth it for me and if you spend long amounts of time on the computer, I am quite sure it will be worth for you.

Usage in the Real World

Everything I mentioned in my Review of the Logitech Lift is applicable here as well, meaning I am not as precise when using a vertical mouse as I am when using a regular one.

I still feel that this has less to do with just having to get used to it, I believe this is simply inherent to the design as the horizontal position of a regular mouse is simply inherently better than the precision when using a vertical mouse, especially when trying to move your entire arm as opposed to moving only the wrist, as described above.

As I have been using vertical mice exclusively for some time now – about 3 months, I do not believe I will ever reach the speed and precision I have with a classic mouse. However, there is the comfort aspect which is vastly superior with the vertical mouse and when this is combined with the fact that I am more of a keyboard-guy anyway, there’s no doubt in my mind that I#LL be sticking with a vertical mouse as opposed to a classical one.

Mind you, I also plan to give trackball a try, so I will keep you updated with further info.

However, if you’re fond of games I strongly suggest you do not throw out your old, classic mouse as I guarantee it, you will be more successful in gaming with a classic mouse. So, if you’re into gaming, you will just have to switch between a vertical mouse for “normal” computer usage and a classic one for gaming. But even this should prove to be more comfortable than just using the classic mouse for the entire day.

Now, mind you, while exploring the whole vertical mouse thing, I have also stumbled upon some youtubers who claimed they have made gaming work with a vertical mouse, so you might trying searching for this.

When comparing the scroll wheel with the MX Master, it does not support any kind of free-spin mode, you just get a generic scroll wheel as you did some years ago. These kinds of decisions are unfortunate as they make you feel as you’re paying an ergonomics tax.

Well, do be honest, I did not miss it THAT much as I always use the keyboard to navigate anyway, but you just must decide if that is a big deal for you. It’s just that if you’re accustomed to free-spin mode, you will feel as if you have gone back a bit.

What I do miss however, coming from the MX Master, is the horizontal scroll-wheel. And unlike with Logitech Lift, where you can simulate the horizontal scroll by holding the back or forward buttons and turning the wheel, there’s no such option here.

Speaking of the side buttons, I did not really think they are in an acceptable position, especially the forward button. But this might have to do with the fact that with my medium-sized hands I am not really the target audience for this mouse, as according to Logitech, their other, smaller mouse is a better fit for me.

I however did not think so, as after using the lift for a while, I switched back to this mouse. Keep reading to find out why.

Regarding the DPI (top) button, contrary to other reviewers, i find it very well placed as it’s very natural for me to simply use my thumb to press it. I certainly find this top position to be a lot better than it a position under the scroll-wheel would be.

A brief comparison: Logitech MX Vertical vs Logitech Lift

Speaking about the DPI button, on the Logitech Lift it is indeed placed below the wheel which I have found to be unfortunate as at least for me it was very unnatural to try and bend my finger that way to try and attempt to reach it. So, point for the MX Master there.

Logitech Lift, a mouse which according to the technical specs, should be the exact same weight as the MX Master somehow feels much heavier in the Real World. I am not exactly sure how this was accomplished, but there it is. It has something to do with the weight distribution or the fact that the MX Vertical is larger or with the fact that Lift has a standard AA battery right near the pressure point but there it is.

Overall, this has caused the MX Vertical to be more comfortable than the Lift, even for me and my medium-sized hands. So, at the end I switched back to the MX Vertical, even after initially declaring the Lift a winner.

Logitech Lift is a more advanced mouse, though. It features a smart scroll wheel which makes it possible to scroll faster by turning the wheel faster and to be more precise when turning the wheel more slowly. However, I do not find the wheel on the MX Vertical sluggish, it’s just that it lacks this smart-scroll option when compared to Lift.

Another thing that the MX Vertical is missing when compared to the Lift is the simulated horizontal scroll – meaning on the Lift you can simulate the scrolling by holding back or forward side-button and using the scroll wheel.

Contrary to the Lift, when it comes to the battery, the MX Vertical has a rechargeable battery which you can charge over USB-C. Even if the battery in the Lift is easy to get and it should last a really, really long time, this is in my view a clear advantage for the MX Vertical as I can very well imagine that the IT departments in certain companies do not like to have to deal with the overhead of having to replace the battery even if this is very rarely needed.

MX Vertical is available only for right-handers and only in dark tones, whereas Lift is available in the left-handed version as well. The right-handed version of the Logitech Lift comes is 3 colour schemes, white, dark and pink and I feel they could have offered some colour options for the MX Vertical as well.

Connectivity & battery

In the Logitech signature style, you can connect this mouse with up to three devices and switch between them with a press of a button on the bottom side of the mouse.

I am absolutely in love with this feature – and have used the mouse with Windows, Mac, and iPad without any problems. It just works.

This might be in all honesty, one of the best features ever and it’s probably the main reason I have owned and still own so many Logitech devices.

When it comes to the battery, this mouse features a rechargeable battery which should last foro about four months on a single charge and after a one-minute charge it should have enough power for about three hours of usage which makes it very flexible. I also prefer rechargeable battery because it releases some pressure on your IT Department to have to deal with the batteries which makes companies more likely to want to provide this mouse to the employees.

Software

While it is optional to download the software, as the best features of this mouse – the ergonomics & the connectivity options do not require any extra software, it is recommended to do so, as the software makes it possible to reprogram all of the buttons.

Not only that, but the Logitech Options+ software enables you to reprogram the buttons depending on the app being used which makes it possible to have the side buttons act as Back and Forward in a web browser but in Photoshop as Undo and Redo. As you might imagine, this is very practical.

This mouse also supports Logitech Flow, a feature which makes your mouse switch seamlessly between different devices by simply dragging the cursor to the next screen and back.

The Logitech Flow also makes it possible to copy and paste between the computers which does sound very interesting, should you need that sort of functionality.

Personally, I have never used this but some flexibility to have it as an option should you ever need it. Can’t hurt, right?

Conclusion

If your work or daily life has very little to do with computers, outside of gaming, then I would go out on a limb and say that this mouse might not be the right one for you as it is more difficult to be precise with it than with a classical mouse. However, this really might only be relevant when it comes to the “more than casual level” gaming.

But if you tend to spend long, long hours on a computer, maybe even in both professional and personal life, then the amount of comfort gained from using this mouse is well worth the tiny loss of speed & precision.

The mouse is certainly high-quality and very well built and it does increase the comfort by a lot, so I would argue that you should definitely at least give it a try.