Logitech VX Revolution Laptop Mouse

What would the ultimate mouse feel like? We don’t know, but we’ve got a feeling that this is pretty close.

There is no end to the subtle joys of input device design, especially when they feel and work as well as something like this. Other than feeling like a model’s curviest body part wrapped in silk, this Logitech VX Revolution includes a scroll wheel with two modes, the standard clicking-position wheel mode or a freewheeling mode.

You’ll find yourself flicking and catching the spinning scroll wheel as often as you can. Fluid scrolling is very cool but feels a tad gimmicky at first, even if it is a nice change from the clicking-position wheel we’re used to. It turns out that freewheel scrolling was made for sailing through a bloated inbox, but be warned: you will have to turn the mouse over to switch between fluid and clicking modes.

Because it’s aimed at laptop users it's wireless, we’d want it to use Bluetooth to keep unnecessary clutter out of USB ports. Logitech have stubbornly stuck to their dongle guns, but on the plus side, there’s a small port in the base of the mouse that stores the 2.4 GHz USB receiver when it’s not plugged into a computer, so you don't lose it.

When the dongle is stored in the mouse, it turns the mouse off, and when you eject it, it tuns on, fading the LED battery meter in from behind the black transparent facia. You can still turn it off manually if you are concerned about the single AA battery that powers it, which you shouldn’t be, because it reverts to standby mode when not in use.

It’s beautifully weighted, with drool-inducing looks and refined ergonomics -- the same kind of refinement that small European nation states pride themselves on. We can imagine the designers staring thoughtfully at a mock-up and then staring thoughtfully at old family oil portraits, asking each other “Would great uncle Da Vinci have approved of the shape?” in broken English.

As it stands, all that’s missing is Bluetooth, and we’ve never liked the ideas of drivers for mice, even if it’s the only way to enable the tilt scrolling and zoom features. We really had to scrape the bottom of the barrel to come up with these complaints about the VX revolution though. A hot award well deserved.