Kernic

Just my toughts.

ATTACK SHARK X3 MAX replaces Logitech G PRO X SUPERLIGHT

· by Kernic
Category: Hardware
Tags:#hardware, #gaming, #review

Logitech devices have been with me since the beginning of my PC hobby. Not without issues, but the performance was okay for the price. That's why, 1.5 years ago, I chose the Logitech G PRO X SUPERLIGHT mouse. A mistake, as I've now come to realize.

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The Quality Doesn’t Match the Price

The Logitech G PRO X SUPERLIGHT was not a cheap mouse. I shelled out nearly 112 euros for the pointer-pusher on Amazon in August 2023. It feels good in the hand, it’s quite light, and cleanly manufactured, at least on the outside. You can find more details in my review from back then: Logitech G PRO SUPERLIGHT

With my previous Logitech mice, the infamous double-clicking issue always appeared after a certain period of use. Wear and tear on the mouse button switch caused a single click to be registered as two, making the mouse trigger double-clicks. Thanks to optical switches, this was supposed to be a thing of the past with the SUPERLIGHT, and I was optimistic that Logitech had finally eliminated the last weak point of their mice.

But it wouldn’t be Logitech if, besides the mediocre software, there wasn’t a planned obsolescence point somewhere in the hardware. On the Logitech G PRO X SUPERLIGHT? The scroll wheel. By now, you can find many reports online about the scroll wheel jumping. And mine does it too. I scroll down and can watch the lines randomly jump up or down. This can be temporarily fixed by turning the mouse over and scrolling it quickly across the mousepad. But the problem doesn’t go away and quickly gets worse. The scroll wheel’s sensor is apparently not well-protected and gets dirty easily.

You Have to Hunt for Customer Service

After a quick search online, it was clear to me that this is a design flaw on Logitech’s part. A more permanent solution would be to open up the mouse and clean the sensor by hand. But for a mouse that costs over 110 euros, I don’t expect to have to tinker with it after less than two years. I still have a warranty, so someone else should deal with the problem and realize they made a mistake here.

But who? In my Amazon account, I was directed straight to Logitech. Various links lead to various Logitech pages where no help can be found. If you search on Logitech’s site, you eventually end up in a chat—after logging in. With a bit of cunning, you sneak past the chatbot to a real person, search like a madman for the serial number (hidden under the round cover), and then get several quests (try another PC, another operating system, update drivers, software, …). I had already done all that, and the employee went into review for several minutes. Of course, he had to calculate and procure the quest reward.

No such luck. I was told to contact Amazon as my retailer. To my reply that Amazon had sent me to Logitech, I got one last quest tip: Go to the chat on Amazon. The quest then turned out to be a labyrinth in the Amazon jungle. Eventually, I found the chat, and Amazon just said: Contact Logitech. I did that! Well, then the mouse is junk. Please send the mouse back, the money will be refunded to your account.

A Replacement is Needed

So, the mouse is going back, and I have to find a replacement myself. The same mouse currently costs under 100 euros, but I’m not stupid enough to buy the same piece of junk again. The successor, the Logitech G PRO X SUPERLIGHT 2 LIGHTSPEED? Lightspeed is now integrated and no longer a paid add-on? I even built the charging station for mine myself. But I’m more of a Bob Andrews, and my research showed that the new model has the same design flaw with the scroll wheel.

So, I looked for an alternative. There are a lot of lightweight mice on the market now. First, I stumbled upon the Maya and Inca mice from Lamzu and the Sora V2 from Ninjutso. The Maya was quickly ruled out—open bottom and only available as an orange Fnatic version. The problem with the Inca and the Sora V2? Not directly orderable in Germany. This limits the warranty, as well as the option to return it if I don’t like it. On top of the price of over 100 euros, there are shipping costs of 10-20 euros and probably customs and import taxes. I’m certainly not buying a pig in a poke.

So I dug through reviews and YouTube videos. Eventually, I found a video that talked about a Chinese manufacturer: ATTACK SHARK. Sounds like AliExpress, and it probably was. But the brand has since established itself and is also available via Amazon in Germany. They have their own website and seem to be very productive, at least considering the what feels like 50 different keyboard models. The selection of mice is smaller. The reviews were mixed, but followed the theme: from mouse to mouse, the quality improves and is now very good.

ATTACK SHARK X3, X3 PRO, or X3 MAX?

So I looked around at ATTACK SHARK and identified the X3 as a good option. And of course, there are multiple models here too. The X3, the X3 Pro, and the X3 MAX. The Pro can transmit the signal at 8000 Hz instead of 1000 Hz, while the MAX is back to 1000 Hz, but it has the latest sensor from PixArt and optical instead of mechanical switches. I couldn’t care less about the sensor; you haven’t been able to tell the difference for 10 years. But the optical switches were important to me. Remember? Double-clicks? And 8000 Hz? It uses a lot of power and doesn’t do anything for me at my age. It takes me about 150ms to react to an event on the screen. An extra millisecond makes no difference there.

So, the optical switches and the better sensor beat the higher polling rate, and I decided on the ATTACK SHARK X3 MAX. Price-wise, the X3 MAX at 63 euros is also between the X3 (52 euros) and the X3 PRO (82 euros), and in the end, it’s only half the price and 10 grams lighter than the Logitech G PRO X SUPERLIGHT 2 LIGHTSPEED. The mouse has been ordered and arrived yesterday. I will now test it for a few weeks and then publish my conclusion here.