Logitech G403 Prodigy Wireless/Wired Gaming Mouse Review

Logitech's G403 Prodigy Wireless/Wired gaming mouse ticks many of the right boxes and is one to consider for your desk.

Published
Updated
Manufacturer: Logitech
16 minutes & 29 seconds read time
TweakTown's Rating: 90%
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The Bottom Line

Logitech's G403 Prodigy is expensive, yet at the same time, we have no real issues with it! The shape is nice, movement is effortless, and the components are still top-tier. If wireless mice is what you are looking for, but you do not find aggressive styling needed, this mouse has what you are looking for.

Introduction, Specifications, and Pricing

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While Logitech has seemingly no issues coming up with many new products every year for us to play with and test, they are no introducing a new series of peripherals. Logitech has come along with something called the Prodigy Series. What does this mean to the end-user? The idea behind this series is that it allows Logitech to offer devices that will not cost as much as their high-end products do, yet at the same time, this series was developed to allow users to try devices with top tier components, just that these products are not as aggressively designed. This change at Logitech is great for everyone. Now you can, for instance, get an affordable mouse, let's say. Within this mouse, you will still find Omron switches, Pixart sensors, and still have access to the Logitech software suite to take full advantage of all the benefits that it offers.

As far as looks and feel are concerned, you are not at any loss here either, just that you will not find as much of the angular designs we have seen come from Logitech as of late. Specialized coatings are still employed, just that the aesthetics fall into something we are used to seeing from just about everyone making mice these days. Again, this is not bad in our mind, as not everyone likes the new styling, and a lot of times, an overabundance of buttons to use can get in the way, or just go unused for much of the life of the device. Another cool thing that Logitech takes over from previous designs is the wireless option, not with all of the Prodigy devices, but is available in what we are here to discuss today.

This time around, we are here with the G403 Prodigy Wireless gaming mouse from Logitech. From what we have been told in our video chat with Logitech and in what we have found in our extensive testing, not just this G403 Prodigy is promising, but the entire series as a whole is something that many users have been looking for. Many had to pass on the G700s and the G900 Chaos Spectrum, mainly due to the cost involved in obtaining them when they were new. It has been quite some time since we had a look at devices for less than $100 from Logitech, and the Prodigy Series and more specifically this G403 Prodigy wireless gaming mouse is something long awaited, and we hope it is everything it is cracked up to be.

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In the chart that Logitech provides on their website, we are first shown the part number, and promptly shown the warranty coverage of two years. The G403 is said to work in any Windows environment since and including, Windows 7, you do need a free USB port, and the software is not shipped in the box, an internet connection is required to obtain that. Inside of the box, you will find the mouse, a charging slash data cable, a wireless USB adapter, a cable adapter, a 10-gram options weight, and the user documentation.

The Pixart PWM3366 optical sensor is in control of the G403. The resolution ranges from 200 to 12,000 DPI, and movement can be tracked at up to 40Gs of force. The maximum speed is which the optical sensor can still read the fibers of a mouse pad is at 300 inches per second or 25 feet per second, and these numbers were obtained using the Logitech G240 Gaming Mouse Pad. As to the ARM microprocessor, it uses a 16-bit channel for communications, offers a 1000ms report rate even while wireless, signals at 2.4GHz while in wireless mode, and is a 32-bit MCU which is more than capable for the G403. Even things like the glide coefficients of friction are listed, along with the 20 million click lifespan of the main switches, and the 250 kilometers of travel offered with the sensor. Along with all of that, you get a mouse with six buttons, RGB LED lighting, onboard memory, all within a structure that is 124mm from front to back, 43mm in height, 68mm from side to side, and weighs 107.2 grams without the optional weight or cord included.

As we looked to find this G403 Prodigy wireless gaming mouse, we also found that there is a wired version for those who want everything we just discussed, but have no need to detach a cable from it. The G403 Prodigy Wireless is at Amazon currently at $79.99, and Newegg is also offering it at an identical price point, and both locations have a free shipping option as well. However, if you went to the wired model of the G403 Prodigy, you can save quite a bit of cash right out of the gate, and get a mouse that is spec'd as one of the current best out there. For those without a need to detach the cable, you can expect to need to shell out only $53 to get all but one thing that we are showing off and explaining in this review.

As it sits, the G403 Prodigy Wireless Gaming Mouse is priced with many of its wired, top-tier, well-equipped competition. This drives the point home about all of the bang for the buck that Logitech is packing into this Prodigy Series, and proves the point we made earlier about how Logitech is trying to put their devices in more hands, no matter your pay grade.

Chad's Peripherals Test System Specifications

Packaging, Accessories, and Documentation

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The new series did not get a whole new packaging concept. Logitech is still using large black panels highlighted with bright blue accents. On the front panel for the G403 Prodigy Wireless, we see indications to its 2.4GHz and chargeable systems, there is a large image of the mouse taking up most of the panel, and the Logitech G name is found at the bottom.

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The right side of the box is offered with a bright blue panel. Logitech simply displays the G403 Prodigy name in the white text here.

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Around to the back of the box, we see the name and a notification to the 16.8 million colors at the top. The center section of the panel shows the 1ms polling rate, the 107 plus 10-gram weight, the 16.8 million colors again, and that there are six buttons. Along the bottom, we then see three images of the G403, this time in red, green, and blue LED colorations.

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The last of the side panels is again offered in bright blue to match its opposing side of the box, but this time space is used for a list of specifications. The fine font used, and it being offered in white, do make this side a bit tough to read, and the lists here are very condensed in what they offer.

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Inside of the box, we find the mouse is resting inside of a two-part inner plastic packaging. The lower section is blue and offers spaces for the mouse, the weight, and the wireless bits. The top of it is clear; it affords a view of what is inside and also is where the cable is routed so that nothing inside can rub another, leaving this G403 Wireless in perfect condition for images and testing.

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Along with the G403, you are also sent a round puck for additional weight, which this side is branded with the Logitech G logo, and its other side shows the 10g weight of it. There is the larger USB adapter to connect to the wired cable if you need to extend the range of the device. Then, of course, there is also the Wireless USB dongle that is what receives the information from the G403 and sends it to the PC.

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Logitech sends six feet of wire to use with the G403 Prodigy. The cable is braided, one end is a USB 2.0 connection to make to the PC, and the other end is an unusual looking, forked, mini-HDMI connection that mates to the front of the mouse or the large adapter to extend range.

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The paperwork is shipped between the plastic inner packaging and the outer cardboard box and is offered in two parts. On the left is the guide, which does not offer much more than how to connect the device, and also states inside, where to go to obtain the software. To the right are the safety and compliance insert, as it is more involved than a standard wired mouse, and has some concerns with disposal.

Logitech G403 Prodigy Wireless Gaming Mouse

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The G403 Prodigy is egg-shaped, it has a plastic top section, and the side panel while made of plastic has been rubberized to ensure grip is of no concern. The left side we are looking at in this image also offers a pair of buttons, to make browsing much easier, and can also be mapped to do near anything in gaming scenarios.

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The heel of the G403 is well rounded, there is not a line found along the back to dig into your palm, and we also can see that the G logo on the back of the mouse is set high on the top. We can also tell from this image that there is a bit of a lean to the right, making this more ergonomic when being used.

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Looking at the right side, we do find the same lines and side panel shape, but this time there are no buttons to be had. While the left is more concave in shape, this side is convex, but it is again rubberized to offset the shape when the need to lift the G403 arises.

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The front view of the G403 shows the deep welling of the main buttons to ensure your fingers rest comfortably. There is a wide center section to support the fat scroll wheel, and below all of this is where the fancy end of the cable connects to the mouse, with deep holes to either side of the mini-HDMI connection to accept the tabs found on the cable.

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With the wired cable now inserted into the mouse, we can see why there was a need for the forked shape of the connection. This allows Logitech to add side supports to the cable so that if it is stretched to its maximum, the Mini-HDMI connection does not take the stress, it is the forks that do.

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Under the G403 we find it to be supported with two wide feet, one at the front, and one at the back of the mouse. The sensors eye is centrally located, and the large round section near the back can be pressed under the G logo, and it tips up for removal.

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Removing the cover shows that there is a pair of magnets which hold the cover in place. Between them is where the product's sticker is located, which displays the model and serial numbers, as well as power ratings, and that it is made in China.

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Inside of the cover is where the optional weight is designed to fit. Notice the weight has 10g marked on it, denoting its weight, and there is another pair of magnets to either side of it to help it stay attached to the bottom of the G403.

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Another feature found under the G403 is the power switch. This is beneficial for wireless mode so that you can turn off the mouse as the red is indicating, or push the switch forward to display a green sticker and turning the mouse on. This can also be used in the wired mode to keep someone from being able to use it without changing the switch position.

Inside the G403 Prodigy

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Four screws found under the feet allowed us to get inside of the G403. Once carefully split into its two main sections, we see quite a bit is packed into the top half, with just the main PCB and the battery found in the lower section.

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To keep actuation points short with the G403, Logitech puts the main switches right under the large buttons on top of the mouse. We can also see that not only are these Omron switches, but they are the D2FC-F-7N(20M), or twenty million click versions of them.

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For the two buttons found on the left side of the G403, even these are Omron switches. While they are not the 20 million click variants of the switch, the feel is identical and will last quite a long time, as they tend to be used less often than the main switches.

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With no main switches to block the view of the scroll wheel, we find this is a good time to address the fat rounded scroll wheel, and the use of a Kailh switch to track its movements. The wheel is highly segmented in its movement, and with its increased size, it is easy to use, and is made with a center strip that is LED backlit.

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Logitech has chosen to use this Springpower Technology Li-polymer battery to deliver power in wireless mode. It offers 750 milliamp hours at 3.7V, and it rests in a cover to protect it as well as keeping it in place, so its weight does not shift around inside.

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The optical sensor used is specific to Logitech as far as we are aware, and is the Pixart PMW3360DM. Via software algorithms, this sensor, can go as low as 200 DPI on the low-end and tops out at 12,000 DPI to keep up with the Jones'. Not like we need 12,000 DPI.

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We did have to peel a sticker off the top of the MCU, but under it, we find the ARM STM32L100. This is a 32-bit processor, with 16-bit, in and out communication capabilities. This is a Cortex M3 processor, but more importantly, it is designed for low power applications, lending well to a wireless design.

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The last image of the G403 Prodigy is with it displaying its color in Logitech blue. The G logo on the heel is brightly illuminated, and at the right angle, so is the center strip of the scroll wheel. By default, the color is constantly changing inside of the mouse, as it cycles through the full RGB scale.

Also, both the scroll wheel LED and the one under the G logo, both illuminate the same color unless in charging mode with the mouse turned off. It is then that the scroll wheel will flash a green LED, and the log is turned off.

Logitech Gaming Software

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Once the software is downloaded and installed, this is what you are presented with first. There is a notification to the 19% initial charge, an image of the G403 with all of the buttons highlighted, and to the right, you can let it run the game auto-detection or click on the ghosted mouse image and be taken to the second page.

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As we moved to the second window by clicking on the mouse icon on the page before, the scan for new games and programs took off by itself. This will allow the mouse to see that when a game or application is launched, it will set the default profile for each application. Note we are showing only nine of the 617 applications that the G403 will recognize.

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After closing the detection window, we can now see the commands and profiles window. First, you need to select a profile along the top to address any custom settings in. Once selected, via the list on the left, you can scroll through, once you find what action you want, you simply drag and drop it into the image at the right, to a particular switch shown.

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Moving to the next icon along the bottom of the window, we move into the pointer settings menu. It is here that you will address how many DPI levels you want to use, the default is four, and we also see there is a Shift setting, sort of a Sniper Mode if you will, as indicated by the orange line. Once all of the DPI levels are set, you can move into the report rate level, as well as finding a pair of advanced options to work with, covering per profile DPI settings, and enabling enhanced pointer precision.

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The next move is into the lighting settings, and here we can adjust the LEDs in the G403. There are switches to turn off or enable the scroll wheel and logo lighting, you can use breathing or color cycle as modes, and you can also adjust the brightness and speed in which the color change or breathing occurs. You can also set different lighting effects for each profile if you desire such control.

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In the power section, you see a battery icon on the left with the amount of life left to give displayed. You can play around with the LED settings in this window and see what sort of life it gives or takes from the G403, and to the right, you can also see what the current power draw is, broken down by section. It also states here that with a full charge, there are 22 hours of life to give.

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The next icon allows you to tune the mouse to the mouse pad, via the surface tuning section. Click on the "add new surface" icon at the top, name it if you wish as we did, then click on the tune button. With a set amount of speed needed to the movement and drawing figure eights on the pad, after a few seconds, the mouse is calibrated and will increase its readability of any surface you wish to use.

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The last page is a bit of a novelty but is still interesting to look at. Either by assigning a key to activate this software, or clicking the play icon and gaming, you will see the key usage of this mouse when does. The map you will see can be displayed in a heat map, showing red as most used and also displaying the number of clicks on each button. Or, swap over the mode to duration, which will display total time that the keys were pressed along with the heat map.

Gaming and General Impressions

DOOM & OVERWATCH

Gaming is smooth, and with the various levels of DPI, there is no reason why you can't enjoy moving your hand as little or as much as you desire.

The Shift feature helps a lot when rapid movements are needed to get around the map so that you can see everything easily, then slowing down to make the shot count when it matters most. Without enabling the pointer precision, we find no angle snapping present, and where you put the mouse is where the cursor ends up.

12,000 DPI is a tad much for us to control in gaming, but we did find ourselves using the 3200 to 6000 DPI range quite easily, and with the 4K resolution we game at, the movement is still kept to a minimum under our right hand.

We also found the rubberized sides to be a bit less inviting in shape than some of the other mice out there, yet we were still able to lift the mouse anytime we wanted to, due to grip alone.

Windows and Productivity

Daily driving of the G403 Prodigy is a nice feel in hand, and all of the buttons are within easy reach. Scrolling pages of forums or surfing through emails or pages of products for your next purchase is all that we expected it to be. The G403 Prodigy shines when it came to photo editing, though. No matter how minute the adjustment we made, the sensor read exactly what we intended it to, and had us spending much less time going back over things that may have been missed with other mice.

As far as the battery lifespan is concerned, we were able to use this mouse for nearly 30 hours on a single charge. Not too shabby considering it can keep even the most avid gamer happily supplied with power for a full day and not requiring you to stop gaming to clip in the cable to continue for the day.

Final Thoughts

There are many things to appreciate with what Logitech delivered in the G403 wireless gaming mouse. The grip of the rubberized coating is top notch, the egg-shaped design fits in hand well, and with effortless movement, the G403 glides across any surface you put it on.

The internal components were not downgraded in any way. In fact, we found some of the longest lasting Omron switches, a 32-bit MCU, and a sensor that while optical delivers excellent precision and a wide range of usable DPI. The subdued aesthetics are nice, as not everyone digs an aggressive looking mouse, and while not fully controllable like in many other mice, the RGB aspect of the well-placed LED sections of the G403 is a nice added touch.

We also like that Logitech ensures that the cable has stress points in its design so that you are in no danger of damaging the charging or data mini-HDMI connection. The added weight is also nice, but we did like it without the weight in place for most of our use.

Everything about the Logitech G403 Prodigy works as intended, and as a user who games a few hours every day and also tends to use it to scroll through pages on the internet as well as using this when writing reviews, using it near eight hours a day gives us the ability to only have to charge this mouse every fourth day or so. The rest of that time we were able to go about life without any strings attached, and even when it came time to need to be attached to the cable, we replenished the battery in right around an hour's worth of time. The G403 Prodigy offers a feel much like we recall of the MX518 from years gone by, and as one of our favorite mice from that time period, it was like getting reacquainted with an old friend.

We enjoyed using it in wired mode quite a lot. It is precise, it feels good to use, the software delivers multiple profiles and a ton of control options to the device, and the lack of effort needed to move it around are all things we thoroughly enjoyed about this G403. For what it's worth, asking $79.99 for the G403 Wireless Gaming Mouse from Logitech, we would advise that if you do like what you saw, we want to remind you about the wired version for nearly $30 less of an investment.

We did initially run into an issue with our first sample not recharging, but an email to Logitech and the arrival of a replacement mouse has rectified all issues we came across. From our standpoint, if the aggressiveness of the G900 is not your thing, but you want most of the features, the Logitech G403 Prodigy wireless gaming mouse is worth serious consideration.

Chad's Peripherals Test System Specifications

TweakTown award
Performance 95%
Quality including Design and Build 90%
General Features 85%
Bundle and Packaging 93%
Value for Money 89%
Overall 90%

The Bottom Line: Logitech's G403 Prodigy is expensive, yet at the same time, we have no real issues with it! The shape is nice, movement is effortless, and the components are still top-tier. If wireless mice is what you are looking for, but you do not find aggressive styling needed, this mouse has what you are looking for.

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Chad joined the TweakTown team in 2009 and has since reviewed 100s of new techy items. After a year of gaming, Chad caught the OC bug. With overclocking comes the need for better cooling, and Chad has had many air and water setups. With a few years of abusing computer parts, he decided to take his chances and try to get a review job. As an avid overclocker, Chad is always looking for the next leg up in RAM and coolers.

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