Top critical review
2.0 out of 5 starsA Good Example of Form Over Function
Reviewed in the United States on February 24, 2022
I think this is possibly the worst designed product Apple has ever made, in my opinion. I see it as putting form well above function. It was like Apple decided to combine a mouse with a trackpad. In this case, the tracking is done by moving the trackpad around as opposed to using the pad to track. If I remember correctly, someone else on here referred to this mouse as an ergonomic disaster and I have to agree. The sides of this mouse are sharp and pinching with barely anything to grab on to. It appears the mouse was not designed with a consideration for where to put thumbs and any other fingers people might need to use to hold on to a mouse, or at least a spot where they can rest those fingers so they're not in the way. What's more, if my thumb drops as it is inclined to do due to gravity and because it is in pursuit of a stronger grip then my thumb gets pinched between the silver base and the white top part of the mouse that functions like a giant mouse button. It's like my thumb is in the way of this mouse doing what it wants to do. On the opposite side, my little finger gets dragged and pushed around on the mousepad as it has no place to go.
To make matters worse, the white touch surface top does not feel secure. It rocks sideways ever so slightly. That loose top gets tiring after a while and I think it may be in part responsible for my struggles getting the mouse to start selecting text on the letter that I want it to start selecting on.
The flat white surface of the mouse, the mini trackpad that doesn't track, is good for quick scrolling but there's a catch, I find it gets tiring after a while because my pointer finger is repeatedly hitting and gliding over a hard surface. Sometimes my fingernail scrapes along the surface as well. It was after my fingernail got caught scraping the top of the mouse while scrolling one day that led me to say to myself enough, I'm not using this anymore. In addition to the scrolling getting tired after a while, my index finger does drift over to the middle of the mouse. Having used ergonomic mice, I now believe that the flat shape is in part responsible because there is so little for my hand to grip on to. The drifting leads left clicks to turn into right clicks. It is annoying when I occasionally click on something expecting to select it or what not, only to see the context menu pop up instead. I also got this mouse for my mother to use and her finger drifts over to the right so often that I decided to turn off the right click function to help her out. She doesn't use the right click button so she isn't missing anything but others might have use for the right click button. Despite that, the scrolling feature gets in her way still and she uses that. Another issue both of us have with scrolling, and this is one of the most annoying things about this mouse, is that we often, her more than me I think, find ourselves scrolling sideways while scrolling down or up when we just want to scroll down or up. I've never had that issue on mice with scroll wheels, or any other mouse for that matter. There'd be times when I'd have what I'm looking at lined up just right and then when I scroll, I can't scroll down or up in a straight line with out it moving sideways at some point. Another annoying thing about the touch surface of the mouse is that occasionally I'll brush it with my finger when I'm in the process of putting my hand back on to the mouse after typing on the keyboard. That leads to something happening that I didn't want which needs to then be corrected.
One of the bonuses of the touch surface is that it opens the door for tapping and swiping, adding functionality without the need for buttons. I never got comfortable with swiping on a mouse, while I just used tapping in order to use Mission Control. The way it is set up requires a double two-finger tap on the touch surface but what feels like half the time, I don't tap the top of the mouse right and I have to do it again until I get Mission Control to work. That issue didn't go away over time with practice. Tapping, for me, is not a replacement for a third button on a traditional mouse.
Another negative, and this one is talked about a lot, is that the lightning port used for recharging is on the underside of the mouse which means in order to recharge the mouse it has to be on its side or laying down with its belly up. That of course means you can't recharge the mouse and use it at the same time.
To make matters worse, there aren't many positives I find with this mouse. It is Apple's mouse, for one, and for that you are assured lasting compatibility with Macs. I've had multiple experiences where Logitech mice all of a sudden don't work properly or are not compatible after an update or with a new Mac. Two, the battery lasts a good amount of time. Maybe up to three months on a single charge. That seems good to me. However, I did encounter an issue when I recharged the mouse the first time. Despite following the directions on how to check when the mouse is fully charged, when I went to use it again the following morning I noticed that the charge was at 74%. It was at 12% before I recharged it the night before and said it was at 100% when I unplugged it. I had to recharge it a second time in order to get it up to 100%. Hopefully, that was just a one time issue. The third positive is that the mouse is lightweight. I prefer lightweight mice but in this case, it doesn't make up for the drawbacks. The fourth positive is that its shape and weight makes it easy to fit in a bag or in a pocket.
In the end, the positives do not come close to outweighing its negatives for me. The key phrase is, "for me," as there are people out there that prefer tapping and swiping and smaller mice. From my experience, seeing my mother's struggles and reading other reviews, this mouse is simply not for everyone and I don't fully understand why Apple designed it the way they did. Too much form over function to me. I would take a corded mouse over this one if I had to. Unless you prefer mice like the Apple Magic Mouse as opposed to a traditional style mouse with scroll wheels and a mouse like shape, I'd recommend trying out other mice first before paying for this one. Chances are you'll find something that's more comfortable and less frustrating to use for less money. But if you are willing to spend a bit more. Then there are mice out there like the Logitech MX Master which are designed to be more comfortable, may even feel like they are better made than the Magic Mouse, while having more features and capabilities.