Logitech MX Air Rechargeable Cordless Air Mouse Review

Aug 16 2007, 12:00am CDT | by Shane McGlaun

We have reviewed lots of mice form Logitech over the months and today we are back with another Logitech mouse review. This is no ordinary mouse though; we are having a look at the Logitech MX Air Rechargeable Cordless Air Mouse. This mouse is at home both on your desk and in your hand across the room controlling your media center PC. Read the full review to see how well the Logitech MX Air Rechargeable Cordless Air Mouse performs.

Gallery

7 images

Benchmarks

Design
The first thing I noticed about the Logitech MX Air Rechargeable Cordless Air Mouse was the shape. This mouse is shaped very differently from the other Logitech mice. The shape is because of the dual purpose nature of the mouse with use both in the air without a desk and on the desk to take into consideration.

The Logitech MX Air Rechargeable Cordless Air Mouse is a low profile, narrow design that uses glossy black plastic and shiny chrome trim on the bottom. The mouse matches pretty well with the Logitech DiNovo Edge keyboard, but would match better if Logitech had used brushed silver rather than shiny silver.

Gesture Control
Logitech used Freespace technology to take hand motions when you are holding the mouse and transform them into commands for your media. I had some problems with this particular function. I couldn’t for the life of me get hand motions to control my Rhapsody music. I’m not sure if this is because it just didn’t work, or if it was due to my Rhapsody not being compliant. The instruction manual gives no hints as to how the Freespace is supposed to operate other than saying a flick of the wrist changes your song and moving left and right controls the volume.

Touch sensitive Scroll & Users Guide
The user’s guide was rather surprising in that it didn’t offer much in the way of details for using the Logitech MX Air Rechargeable Cordless Air Mouse. The Logitech MX Air Rechargeable Cordless Air Mouse lacks a real scroll wheel and uses a touch sensitive scrolling area, which reminded me quite a bit of the Saitek Obsidian mouse.

Logitech used free wheel scrolling like the Revolution series of mice had and the MX Air even makes its own click sounds as you scroll to give you an idea of how fast you are scrolling.

Battery & Connectivity
Power for the Logitech MX Air Rechargeable Cordless Air Mouse is via a built-in Li-ion battery and the wireless connection uses 2.4 GHz technology and has a range of 30 feet. I was able to use the Logitech MX Air Rechargeable Cordless Air Mouse from across my living room without issues. I noticed no interference from WiFi signals or other items in my home.

Mouse Feel
When used on the desk the Logitech MX Air Rechargeable Cordless Air Mouse feels just like any other Logitech mouse offering good accuracy and what feels like 800 dpi resolution. In the air the Logitech MX Air Rechargeable Cordless Air Mouse felt just like using my Wii remotes.

Sometimes the pointer didn’t go exactly where I expected it to and I would find that my hand had wandered away from the position it was in when I locked and centered the mouse. When you are centered well the cursor is surprisingly accurate. If you have ever played the Nintendo Wii with the Wii remote, you have a very good idea of how well the Logitech MX Air Rechargeable Cordless Air Mouse functions in the air.

Charge Base & Receiver
Logitech includes a charging base that is small and takes up little room. The power adapter is large though and will probably block adjacent outlets on your surge strip. Logitech also includes the familiar black polish cloth they have begun shipping with their high-end products. The cloth is a nice touch because the shiny materials used on the Logitech MX Air Rechargeable Cordless Air Mouse smudge easily.

The wireless receiver is called a micro receiver. It’s nowhere near as small as the VX Nano, but it is a bit smaller than some of Logitech’s other wireless receivers. Like all other Logitech mice, SetPoint issued and allows you to map the buttons on the mouse to other functions as you want. The keys and buttons on the mouse are backlit so you can find them easily when navigating in a dark room.

Verdict

Conclusion

Pros

Backlit buttons
good looks
works well for navigation in the air

Cons

Gesture controls didn’t work for me
User manual not much help if you have questions

Verdict
The Logitech MX Air Rechargeable Cordless Air Mouse worked well in testing for navigating form across the room. The gesture based controls didn’t work well for me, but the mouse was great when use don the desk. In all the Logitech MX Air Rechargeable Cordless Air Mouse feels like a cross between my Wii remote and the Saitek Obsidian. If you can get the gesture controls to work and need a good mouse to navigate your media center PC from across the living room, the Logitech MX Air Rechargeable Cordless Air Mouse will work well.

6.0

where to buy

Buy from Amazon

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Shane McGlaun
Leading our review center, Shane knows technology inside out. His extensive experience in testing computer hardware and consumer electronics enable him to effectively qualify new products and trends. If you want us review your product, please contact Shane.
Shane can be contacted directly at shane@i4u.com.