It is a literal brick. If you’ve ever held a Logitech G600, you know exactly what I’m talking about. It’s wide, it’s heavy, and it has enough buttons to launch a space shuttle from your desk. Most gaming hardware companies are currently obsessed with "ultralight" mice that feel like they might float away if you sneeze too hard. But the G600? It ignores every modern trend. It’s a relic that refuses to die, and honestly, for a specific type of gamer, it’s still the best tool ever made.
You’ve probably seen the "MMO mouse" category dominated by the Razer Naga or the Corsair Scimitar. They’re fine. They work. But the Logitech G600 has this weird, cult-like following for a reason. It’s not just about the 12 buttons on the side. It’s about that third mouse button—the G-Shift—that sits under your ring finger. It’s a design choice that basically nobody else has successfully copied, and it changes everything about how you interact with a PC.
The G-Shift Secret Sauce
Most people look at the side panel of a Logitech G600 and see a confusing grid of buttons. 12 of them. It looks like a calculator glued to a mouse. But the real magic isn’t the grid; it’s the G-Shift. By default, clicking that far-right button doubles the functionality of every other button on the mouse. It’s like holding down "Shift" on your keyboard.
Suddenly, those 12 side buttons become 24.
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This isn't just for World of Warcraft or FFXIV players who need to manage three rows of hotbars. It’s a productivity powerhouse. Imagine mapping your most-used Excel macros or Premiere Pro shortcuts to a single hand. You don't have to hunt for keys. You just... click. It becomes muscle memory. I’ve known video editors who refuse to use anything else because their left hand can stay on the keyboard for navigation while the right hand handles every single cut and ripple-delete. It’s efficient. It's fast.
The build quality is another story. Modern mice often feel like hollow plastic shells to save weight. The G600 feels like it could survive a drop from a second-story window. It uses a wired connection—no latency, no batteries to charge, just a thick, braided cable that lasts for years. While the sensor isn't the "Hero" sensor found in the newer G502 models, the Avago S9808 laser sensor inside the G600 tracks perfectly well for anything that isn't high-stakes competitive CS:GO. You aren't buying this for flick shots. You're buying it for control.
Ergonomics for Huge Hands
Let's be real: if you have small hands, the Logitech G600 is going to be a nightmare. It is massive. But for those of us who find the "standard" mouse size cramped, this thing is a godsend. It’s one of the few mice that actually provides a resting place for your ring finger and pinky.
Instead of dragging your fingers across the mousepad, they sit comfortably on the chassis. This reduces fatigue during those 8-hour raids or long work shifts. It’s a "palm grip" mouse through and through. If you try to claw-grip this thing, you’re going to have a bad time.
What Most People Get Wrong About the Side Buttons
A common complaint is that the 12 side buttons feel "mushy" or hard to distinguish. That’s usually a first-week problem. If you look closely at the G600 side panel, the buttons are actually angled into two distinct "dishes."
The front six buttons tilt toward the middle, and the back six do the same. This creates a physical valley. Once your thumb learns where that valley is, you stop mis-clicking. It’s a subtle bit of industrial design that Logitech got right back in 2012 and hasn't bothered to change since. Why fix what isn't broken?
Comparing the G600 to Modern Rivals
If you go to a Best Buy today, you’ll see the Razer Naga V2 Pro or the Corsair Scimitar Elite. They have higher DPI. They have RGB that looks like a disco ball.
The Razer Naga is great if you want wireless, but it’s also nearly triple the price of a G600. The Corsair Scimitar has a sliding side panel, which is cool for thumb positioning, but it lacks that crucial third "ring finger" click.
Logitech’s software (G Hub) is... polarizing. I’ll be honest. It can be buggy. But the G600 has onboard memory. This means you can set your profiles once, save them to the mouse, and then uninstall the software forever. The mouse will remember your macros on any computer you plug it into. That is a level of reliability that’s becoming rare in the "Software as a Service" era of gaming peripherals.
The Limitations You Need to Know
I’m not going to sit here and tell you it’s perfect. It’s not.
- The Weight: It weighs 133 grams without the cable. In 2026, that’s considered "heavy." If you play fast-paced shooters, this will feel like moving a paperweight.
- The Sensor: It’s an older laser sensor. It works on almost any surface, but it has a tiny bit of inherent acceleration.
- Availability: Logitech occasionally stops producing these for brief periods, leading to price spikes. If you see one at the standard retail price ($40-$60), grab it.
Beyond Gaming: The Productivity Hack
We need to talk about using the Logitech G600 for work. It is arguably the best productivity mouse ever made.
If you are a coder, you can map "Copy," "Paste," "Comment Out," and "Run" to the side buttons. If you work in CAD, you can map your views and toggle snaps. The G-Shift button effectively gives you a second keyboard on your mouse.
I’ve seen accountants map the entire numpad to the side of the mouse. It sounds insane until you see them fly through a spreadsheet without their right hand ever leaving the mouse. It’s about reducing the distance your hands have to travel. Over a year, that saved movement adds up to hours of saved time and significantly less wrist strain.
The Lifespan Factor
I’ve had my current G600 for four years. The clicks are still crisp. The scroll wheel hasn't started ghost-scrolling yet. In an era of planned obsolescence, there’s something deeply satisfying about a piece of tech that just keeps working.
Most users report that the first thing to go is the "double-click" issue, which is common in almost all mechanical switch mice. But even then, the G600 seems more resilient than the early batches of the G502 Lightspeed.
Actionable Steps for New Owners
If you just picked one up or are thinking about it, don't just plug it in and play. You’ll hate it. Follow these steps to actually enjoy the experience:
- Skip the Default Profiles: The default button assignments are usually garbage. Open G Hub and clear them all out.
- The "Valley" Method: Spend ten minutes just touching the side buttons without looking. Feel for the two distinct groups of six. Once you can find "Button 5" and "Button 8" by touch, you’re ready.
- Map G-Shift to a Modifier: Don't use G-Shift for random macros yet. Map it to "Ctrl" or "Alt." This allows you to use your mouse thumb to modify keyboard presses, which is a massive game-changer for ergonomics.
- Weight Adjustment (Advanced): Some people actually open the mouse and remove the internal metal weights to make it feel more modern. I don't recommend this unless you’re comfortable with a screwdriver and possibly voiding your warranty, but it is an option if the heft is truly bothering you.
The Logitech G600 isn't for everyone. It’s ugly. It’s old. It’s "heavy." But for the MMO veteran or the power-user who values function over aesthetics, it remains the undisputed king of the "More is More" philosophy.
Find a comfortable spot on your desk for this beast. It’s going to be there for a long time.
Final Maintenance Checklist
To keep the G600 running for a decade, keep an eye on the feet (PTFE skates). They are large and gather dust quickly. Replacing them with third-party ceramic or high-quality PTFE feet every two years will make the heavy mouse glide like it's brand new. Also, clean the sensor lens with a simple Q-tip and isopropyl alcohol every few months; laser sensors are notorious for getting "jittery" if a single cat hair gets stuck in the housing.