Logitech MX Master 3S review

The Logitech MX Master 3S ($99) is a premium office mouse and successor to Logitech’s brilliant MX Master 3, which spent a long time in possession of our award for the best wireless mouse around. 

The MX Master 3S improves on its predecessor in a couple of key ways, doubling sensitivity to 8,000 DPI and reducing the mouse’s audial profile through quiet button switches. Thankfully, this comes without sacrificing anything that made the original Master 3 great in the first place. There’s a lovely-feeling scroll wheel with infinite and ratchet modes, comfortable ergonomic shaping, plenty of controls (including touch gestures) and lots of customization through the Logi Options+ companion app.

That said, this mouse isn’t perfect and there are a couple of issues (albeit minor) that might give you pause if you’ve not yet made up your mind. Find out more in my Logitech MX Master 3S review.

Logitech MX Master 3S review: Cheat sheet

• What is it? A premium, ergonomic productivity mouse 
• Who is it for? Office and creative workers, plus casual gamers
• What does it cost? $99 / £119
• What’s good? Virtually all of it, especially the scroll wheel, 8K DPI and customization options
• What’s not? Its quite pricey, lefties are left out, and it’s missing my favorite scroll wheel features from other Logi mice

Logitech MX Master 3S review: Specs

Logitech MX Master 3S review: The ups

Master by name, master by nature, the Logitech MX Master 3S is a premium mouse in every sense, with a wide variety of features and customization options. There’s also quiet clicking and 8K DPI — two updates from the original MX Master 3.

I guess money CAN buy class

The Logitech MX Master 3S is built extremely well, with a pleasant weighting and premium build: the scroll wheels are made from milled metal while the body is covered in a matte grippy rubber that feels high quality. If I were to nitpick, I’d say that, like many Logitech products, it’s a little aesthetically unadventurous, although it’s certainly not ugly.

The mouse is ergonomically designed with a moderate angle for increased wrist support. If you’re like me and have wrist issues, it likely won’t be enough of an angle to soothe chronic pain — an ergonomic vertical mouse like the Logitech Lift ($69) or Anker 2.4G Wireless Vertical Ergonomic Mouse ($25) would suit you better.

Scroll away

The MX Master 3S features the same metal scroll wheel as the Logitech MX Anywhere 3S ($79), which is a very good thing. You can toggle between infinite and ratchet scrolling, the latter providing satisfying haptic feedback. It’ll scroll at up to 1,000 lines per second, too — if that sounds a little abstract, here’s the simple version: it’s rapid.

There’s also a secondary thumb scroll wheel which has a pleasant weighting to it and a smooth scrolling motion. The only thing missing is the ability to change the weighting of the ratchet — this was possible on the MX Anywhere 3S, and I really enjoyed setting the scroll weight to its heaviest setting for the most tactile feedback.

Sneaky clicks

Once again, just like the MX Anywhere 3S, the MX Master 3S features quiet clicking — and while not silent, it is very quiet. Personally, I’m not overly fussed about the sound of my or my colleagues’ mouse clicks (we test some of the loudest and best mechanical keyboards known to mankind in our office, and mice are rarely audible over the din of thocking and clacking boards). That said, it’s nice that the MX Master 3S features quiet switches for those who want to keep a low profile.

Fine-tunable

The MX Master 3S is ideal if you need lots of control and high levels of customization. The mouse features two thumb buttons, a button on the thumb rest, four thumb swipe gestures, a top button, scroll wheel button and the aforementioned secondary scroll wheel.

All can be remapped in the Logi Options+ software for Windows 11/10 and macOS, and there are even per-application layers to set up specific control layouts for individual apps — ideal for speeding up workflows in the best video editing software, for example.

I set up the secondary scroll wheel to function as a zoom, allowing me to quickly dive in and examine fine details in Adobe Lightroom, for example. I also set the thumb buttons up to copy and paste in Chrome, which massively sped up the large amount of work I have to do in Google Sheets.

In general, Logitech gear isn’t as customizable as products from other brands. I use Corsair’s fantastic iCUE software with my Corsair Scimitar ($80), for instance, which lets me remap the mouse’s controls and even assign keyboard bindings to buttons. Logitech’s Logi Options+ feels a little limiting in comparison, although if you aren’t using the mouse for gaming, it should offer more than enough customization.

It’s worth pointing out that if you’re solely a macOS user, there’s a dedicated Mac version of the MX Master 3S. We tested the dual Windows and Mac version, and it worked perfectly on both, as the Logi Options+ app lets you assign integral macOS controls like App Exposé to gestures or buttons. Unless you particularly like the space gray color, I can see no reason to limit yourself to the macOS model.

A casual gamer

The MX Master 3S isn’t designed to be one of the best gaming mice — this is a productivity mouse first and foremost. However, if you do want to game, it’ll happily handle casual play thanks to a maximum sensitivity of 8,000 DPI. This is a decent chunk higher than the original Logitech MX Master 3 ($99), which could scale to 4,000 DPI.

I used the MX Master 3S for some casual gaming, playing first-person shooter Hell Let Loose, and found the mouse sensitive enough for close-quarters action. If you’re a competitive gamer, though, and need a mouse that can keep up with your reflexes, we’d recommend the Logitech G Pro X Superlight 2 ($159), which offers up to 26,000 DPI. If you’re on a budget, check out the SteelSeries Rival 3 ($30).

4 weeks’ work

The Logitech MX Master 3S’ battery life isn’t going to win any awards, but it certainly isn’t bad. 25% of charge netted me around a week of full-time work use, with a smattering of gaming throughout. Extrapolating, you can expect around 4 weeks of work from a single charge. In the words of Anatoly Dyatlov in HBO’s Chernobyl: not great, not terrible.

Logitech MX Master 3S review: The downs

I have very little to say against the MX Master 3S. Certainly, there are cheaper mice out there to think about if you’re on a budget, and if you’re a leftie, you’ll be left out.

Hardly budget-friendly

Obviously, all the premium features I’ve described above (at least altogether) don’t come particularly cheap. The MX Master 3S costs $99, so it won’t be a purchase for those on a budget. That said, it isn’t any more expensive than its predecessor and plays in a similar ballpark as other premium mice like the Contour Unimouse ($89). If the purse strings are tight, though, you may want to consider the Razer Pro Click Mini ($79) or the Logitech Signature AI Edition M750 ($49). 

Left out

Now, we all know left-handed people are evil, but that doesn’t mean they should be excluded from owning a comfortable, premium mouse. I’m kidding, obviously (although my sister is a leftie), but not about the exclusionary bit. The MX Master 3S is distinctly right-handed only: its ergonomic design means it can’t function as an ambidextrous mouse and there is currently no left-handed option. It would’ve been nice to see a premium offering like this extended to cover the other 10% of humanity. For a premium mouse that’s available in left-handed orientation, check out the Contour Unimouse ($89).

Logitech MX Master 3S review: Verdict

The Logitech MX Master 3S has very little going against it. It’s on the pricey side, sure, but isn’t astronomically positioned versus the competition and packs a solid amount of features and functionality to make its price tag relatively palatable. It would be nice to see more left-handed versions of premium mice, too, especially from a huge manufacturer like Logitech.

The MX Master 3S is otherwise a fantastic mouse, with a design and build that befits its price tag. It’ll be a brilliant purchase for anyone needing a productivity mouse, but in particular, those with large and/or complex workflows — the number of controls and the ease with which they can all be customized will really help to speed up repeated tasks. Enter the master (or the newest one at least).