Logitech G309 Lightspeed review: Great with PowerPlay

The Logitech G309 isn't the first wireless mouse to contain a supercapacitor — and only a supercapacitor, but it is the most versatile one.

This wireless, lightweight gaming mouse has a supercapacitor, which holds just enough energy to power the mouse when it's not directly touching Logitech's PowerPlay wireless charging mat, and keeps the mouse's weight at just 2.4 ounces (68g). The mouse has unlimited battery life if you use it with PowerPlay, but you can also use the mouse without PowerPlay. It runs for around 300 hours on a AA battery — a good option for travel, or for someone who just... doesn't have PowerPlay. Whether you should buy this mouse if you don't have PowerPlay is, of course, a different question. 

Battery life situation aside, the G309 Lightspeed is a fairly basic, lightweight, sub-$100 gaming mouse. It sports Logitech's Hero 25K sensor and hybrid optical-mechanical switches, can connect over both 2.4GHz wireless and Bluetooth, and retails for $80.

Design and Comfort of the G309 Lightspeed

The G309 Lightspeed is a lightweight 6-button mouse with a symmetrical, ambidextrous shape. It comes in both black and white colorways (our review unit came in white), and features a fairly generic-looking design with flat, separated mouse buttons that taper to a point at the front.

The mouse buttons are separated from the body of the mouse via a semi-translucent textured gray plastic strip that looks sort of like a place for RGB lighting to shine through, but this mouse does not have RGB lighting. (It does have a pinprick status LED that changes colors as you cycle through DPI steps, however, and that is located on the strip.) The mouse's body is made of smooth, matte plastic and has the Logitech G logo printed on its hump in light silver.

Image 1 of 3

The mouse is on the slightly larger side, measuring 4.72 inches (120mm) long by 2.52 inches (64mm) wide, and has a mild hump that is 1.54 inches (39mm) tall at its highest point. Logitech lists the weight at 2.4 ounces (68g) without a battery installed and 3.03 ounces (86g) with one AA battery. Our review unit actually weighed slightly less without a battery installed (and with the Logitech PowerPlay puck installed) at 2.35 ounces (66.5g), which is just 6.5 grams heavier than Logitech's ultra-lightweight champ, the Logitech G Pro X Superlight 2. (The G309 weighed around the same with a battery installed — 3.02 ounces / 85.6 grams.)

Image 1 of 2

The G309 has six programmable buttons if you include the scroll wheel click (left click, right click, two thumb buttons, and a DPI switch between the primary buttons), as well as a connection switch button on the bottom of the mouse.

The buttons are well-placed and tactile — the primary buttons have Logitech's optical-mechanical hybrid switches, which are crisp and clicky and have yet to give me the double-click issues that are frequently seen in Logitech's mechanical switches. The side buttons are glossy on the sides but have a matte texture on their faces. The scroll wheel is just a scroll wheel (no tilt), and is notched. Maybe I'm just used to friction-free flywheels now, but I thought the wheel was just a little too stiff. However, it felt very similar to the wheel on the Logitech G Pro X Superlight 2.

Image 1 of 3

On the bottom of the mouse, you'll find three PTFE strips for glide, a power switch, a connectivity switch button, and a magnetic dummy puck that can be swapped out for a Logitech PowerPlay puck for wireless charging. The back of the mouse slides off to reveal the regular battery compartment, which takes one AA battery. There's also a slot for storing the mouse's 2.4GHz wireless USB-A dongle located on the underside of the backplate that slides off.

The mouse comes with a 2.4GHz wireless USB-A dongle, pre-cut grip tape, and a AA battery in the box. It also comes with a 5-foot (1.5m) USB extension cable, which you can use to place the dongle closer to your mouse. It doesn't come with a charging cable, however, as it has no rechargeable battery (and no charging port).

Logitech G309 Specifications

Performance of the G309 Lightspeed

The G309 Lightspeed sports Logitech's Hero 25K optical sensor, which has a maximum sensitivity of 25,600 DPI, a maximum speed of 400 IPS, and can handle up to 40 G's of acceleration. This is the same sensor found in Logitech's G502 X Plus but is a step down from the Hero 2 sensor in the Pro X Superlight 2. The mouse gets a maximum polling rate of 1,000 Hz, so it's a fairly standard budget lightweight mouse if you use it with the PowerPlay charging system. 

The G309 features hybrid optical-mechanical switches in its primary mouse buttons, and the clicks are light, crisp, and responsive. They're a little loud, but not as loud as the switches on the Pro X Superlight 2. If battery life isn't a concern, you can switch to "optical only" in the mouse's device settings; This will lower latency and ensure you won't experience any of the problems sometimes associated with mechanical mouse switches, such as double-clicking, but I haven't had any double-click issues with Logitech's hybrid switches (yet). Still, if you're using the mouse in its battery-free state with PowerPlay, you might as well go optical only. 

The side buttons also have decent switches — not quite as crisp, but they feel nice enough and the buttons themselves are large and easy to press. The only minor issue I had with the click experience on the G309 was its scroll wheel, which has a rather heavy middle click as well as the aforementioned stiffness to its scroll. 

The G309 is a pretty basic gaming mouse: it performs well in most games, but it's not revolutionary. The Hero 25K sensor is precise, consistent, and accurate, and it handles quick swipes with ease. The buttons feel good and are intuitively placed; I didn't find myself straining my fingers to reach the side buttons, nor did I accidentally hit them when I was picking up the mouse in games like Overwatch 2. The mouse is very lightweight when you're using it without a battery, and even with a battery installed it can still be picked up, though it's not as easy to pick up as mice with some contouring on the sides. Also, the sides are a little slippery, but Logitech includes pre-cut optional grip tape that does a good job of making the mouse's surface less slippery. 

Don't get me wrong, the G309 worked fine in first-person shooters and eSports games, which is what basic, lightweight gaming mice are really designed for. It just didn't stand out much for its gaming capabilities, as there are many other basic, lightweight gaming mice that feel less generic or are more budget-friendly. But  , the G309 doesn't really have enough buttons for MMORPGs and MOBAs.

Features and Software of the G309 Lightspeed

The G309 Lightspeed can be configured with Logitech's G Hub software. You can use G Hub to customize the mouse's sensitivity presets and remap the mouse's six programmable buttons (left click, right click, thumb buttons, DPI switch, and scroll wheel click).

The mouse comes with five preset DPI settings (400, 800, 1200, 1600, and 2400), which you can cycle through using the DPI switch button between the two main mouse buttons. In G Hub, you can change the values of these presets, either by selecting a premade profile (there are a handful of "curated" presets in the software for various scenarios: first-person shooters, MMORPGs, MOBAs, productivity, etc.) or by creating your own profile with custom DPI steps. You can also assign one of the DPI steps as the "DPI Shift," which is essentially sniper mode — when you hold down the DPI Shift button/key, your DPI will switch to this setting. (Of course, you'll also need to map a DPI Shift button/key to hold down.)

I'm not the biggest fan of how G Hub handles button remapping, but at least it's usable. You can remap any of the programmable keys to commands, keys, actions, macros, system options, etc. of your choosing, and you can also map a second layer of controls with G-Shift (though you'll have to designate a G-Shift button to use G-Shift). You can record and save macros in G Hub, and you can set up software-specific profiles that will work as long as G Hub is running in the background. Of course, this is a six-button mouse, so it's unlikely you're going to be doing a large amount of remapping.

Wireless Experience and Battery Life of the G309 Lightspeed

The G309 Lightspeed is a wireless-only mouse, with two forms of connectivity: 2.4GHz wireless and Bluetooth. You can switch between the two modes with the button on the bottom of the mouse; the mouse can connect to one device using Bluetooth and one device using 2.4GHz wireless at a time. The 2.4GHz wireless connection has a 1,000 Hz polling rate, which is the industry standard for wireless gaming peripherals. While most gamers don't need and will likely not notice higher polling rates, several companies have been pushing wireless mice with polling rates of 4,000 or 8,000 Hz — especially in lightweight mice, which are usually aimed at competitive eSports and first-person shooters.

The G309 has two power options — it either takes one AA battery (included in the box), which will last around 300 hours over 2.4GHz wireless or up to 600 hours over Bluetooth; or it can be used without a battery, in conjunction with a Logitech PowerPlay charging mouse pad. Using the mouse with a PowerPlay charging mouse pad gives you unlimited battery life, so long as it's on the pad.  

Unlike Logitech's other mice that work with the PowerPlay charging mouse pad, the G309 has no rechargeable battery inside — it has a supercapacitor, which holds just enough juice to keep the mouse powered when it's not directly touching the mouse pad (e.g., when you lift or swipe off the pad). Well, the supercapacitor actually holds about five minutes' worth of juice, but still — it's not a lot. By cutting out the battery, Logitech was able to cut the mouse's weight, which is why this $80 mouse weighs less than 68g when you use it with PowerPlay. 

I won't lie, it's a cool idea — it cuts out the battery, but still gives you the option of using a battery when you don't have your PowerPlay mouse pad on hand, making it much more versatile than other wireless supercapacitor mice we've seen, such as Razer's Mamba/Firefly Hyperflux duo from 2018. But you don't get a PowerPlay mouse pad with the G309; the PowerPlay is sold separately for $120 and uses proprietary wireless charging tech, so it's only compatible with select Logitech mice (including the Pro X Superlight 2 and the G502 X Plus).

Bottom Line

The Logitech G309 Lightspeed is interesting mainly for its "unlimited" battery life, but you can only take advantage of that if you also have Logitech's PowerPlay mouse pad. If you do have PowerPlay, it's a solid, simple, lightweight gaming mouse that will offer unlimited battery life at home and that you can also travel with, in a pinch. If you don't have PowerPlay, well, there are better options out there. 

Without PowerPlay, the G309 is a generic-looking gaming mouse that weighs around 86g and gets 300 hours of non-rechargeable battery life. It's cheap, but it's not that cheap. Razer's Viper V3 Hyperspeed, which also has a pretty generic shape, weighs 82g and gets similar battery life (280 hours) with a AA battery, and costs $10 less at $70. Plus, it works with Razer's HyperPolling Wireless Dongle (which you can buy bundled with it for $85) for a faster 4,000 Hz polling rate (at the expense of battery life, of course). 

You could always buy PowerPlay, of course, for $120. But I wouldn't buy it just for this mouse. 

MORE: Best PC Gaming Headsets

MORE: Best Wireless Gaming Headsets

MORE: Best Gaming Keyboards

MORE: Best Gaming Mouse