Comfort and Ergonomics: 23 out of 25
While this trackball is bloody massive for a thumb style trackball it is so comfortable that you will not care. It is just that comfortable to use. Mix in the new tilt adjustment abilities and this is a long term device that you can use for 12 hours or more with little to no discomfort. Color us impressed.
Usability: 22 out of 25
If the tilt adjustment was more fine-grained and the software was not such a step backwards we would consider this a perfect 25 out of 25. If the beta’ish software is fixed before you read this please add another point to this result. Until then, its good but still has room for improvement on both the software and hardware side. Put simply it needs a button layout redesign to be perfect. You may feel differently on this side of things. If you do… add another point or two to the final score.
Customizability: 8 out of 10
While the tilt / cant adjustment is fairly crude in this first generation device the fact remains it is so far above the norm that it still is the best available – dare we say paradigm shifting? You may feel differently but we think this is the future of trackballs and it will be hard to go back to ‘normal’ ones after using this bad boy.
Abilities and Features: 8 out of 10
On the one hand you have some amazing features, some of which have been standard on cheaper trackballs for a long time now, but on the other there still is a lot of room for improvement on said features. The fwd/bkwd buttons are touch too small, and the DPI adjustment button is in a rather lass then optimal location to be truly useable. In other words a great step in the right direction but still room for improvement.
Software: 5 out of 10
This is easily the weakest link of the new Logitech MX Ergo series. Hopefully Logitech fixed this software ASAP and at the very least bring back the missing features of its predecessor the Logitech SetPoint software suite. If they do… please add 3 to 4 more points to the final score!
Value: 17 out of 20
This is a tough metric to quantify. On the one hand the new MX Ergo trackball models are less customizable on the software side of the coin but making up for this is the fact that they are so bloody customable on the hardware side of things. Mix in excellent battery life, with no worries over AA batteries premature death and yes we think the MX Ergo series easily justifies its price and then some.
Final Score: 83 out of 100
It may not be perfect, and certainly has room for improvement for future generations, but the Logitech MX Ergo trackballs are some of the most comfortable thumb style trackballs we have used to date. It really is a great update to Logitech’s illustrious trackball history and we look forward to a ‘2.0’ model that has all the bugs worked out.
