Small wireless mouse for productivity, similar to MX Anywhere 3 but higher quality?

[Eiri]

My MX Anywhere 3 is great... Except the switches must've been low quality. Right after the two-year warranty period was over, the left click started losing more and more reliability. These days there's about a 20% chance a drag/text selection/etc. will release too soon.

 

So the mouse has been great. I would've kept it if it weren't starting to have drag/click-holding issues.

 

Just re-buying the same one IS an option if I can't find a better idea, but it'd be sad to think it's gonna be e-waste in 2 years because of the crap sensor.

 

Ideally I'd just get the same, but with better switches. I love the size and shape, and the scroll wheel that's step-by-step in small increments but goes "wheee!" when you give it a swing, for scrolling a long page, is absolutely fantastic.

 

The side scrolling by holding down a side button and scrolling up and down is really intuitive, too.

 

The size and shape are important. I simply cannot do mice with a long body that forces the base of my hand off the table. For wrist pain and terrible dexterity reasons, I need the base of my hand (the "bony" part in the bottom, on the pinky side, where the wrist meets the hand) to be able to be firmly on the desk while I use the mouse.

 

I also cannot do wired. Even the slight tug of a wire when moving the mouse is too infuriating.

 

Oh yeah, and I do not need any gaming features. I do 99% of my gaming with a controller. Low polling rate is maybe better, even, if it saves on battery life.

 

As for other mice I have liked, I used to live Logitech's dirt cheap M325 mice. They were arguably even more comfortable to the hand, and AA batteries you can change in a snap are a lot more convenient than an internal battery where you need to use the mouse plugged in for a while when you run out. The scroll wheel was kinda nice in that it was noisy but you could give it a decent swing for long bouts of scrolling. But the side scrolling was kinda bad, and the switch reliability not obviously not better. That's about it. I haven't tried all that many kinds. The only thing I know is that I hate giant mice that try to get your whole hand to ride onto them for some reason.

[seon123]

Looks like it uses the standard Omron D2FC switches. You can just open it up, and replace them. It just requires simple through hole soldering, so super easy. Just choose your microswitch of choice and replace them. I recommend you also get replacement mouse skates. 

[Eiri]

I've never soldered anything, have no idea what I would even need to buy and I have decidedly below average dexterity. Are you sure it's still a good idea for me to attempt this?

 

Also, I have zero knowledge of mouse switches. Can you recommend something basic that wouldn't die too fast?

[seon123]

15 hours ago, Eiri said:

I've never soldered anything, have no idea what I would even need to buy and I have decidedly below average dexterity. Are you sure it's still a good idea for me to attempt this?

 

Also, I have zero knowledge of mouse switches. Can you recommend something basic that wouldn't die too fast?

I am not able to judge your level of dexterity, but if the steps in the video below seem doable, it's not really harder than it looks. A very basic soldering kit seems to be around $20 on Amazon and should be fine for something like this.

 

For switch recommendations, I personally like silent ones, so I got the Huano silent microswitches with a 20M click rating. I haven't been paying too much attention to switches since upgrading mine, but the Kailh GM 8.0 are generally well regarded, and have an 80M click rating. They do seem to be somewhat heavier to press than the D2FC.

 

 

For similar mice to the Anywhere 3, I can only think of the Anywhere 3S and Razer Pro Click Mini. They are both very similar in size and shape to the 3, and have a free wheel mode. Unlike the 3, they both use silenced switches, which are not necessarily more reliable. The 3S uses a different receiver than the 3. The Pro Click Mini uses AA batteries, it can't be used on glass, and you tilt the scroll wheel to side scroll. Rtings also menitoned the scroll wheel feeling loose and not precise, and not having clearly defined steps, in their review. Imo, neither seem like much of an upgrade, given their more expensive price.

[Poinkachu]

18 hours ago, Eiri said:

I've never soldered anything, have no idea what I would even need to buy and I have decidedly below average dexterity. Are you sure it's still a good idea for me to attempt this?

 

Also, I have zero knowledge of mouse switches. Can you recommend something basic that wouldn't die too fast?

If there's a electronic repair shop nearby you can try asking them to do it for you, I don't think it should be expensive since it's pretty much a 1-2 minute(s) job, and only need like ... entry level expertise.

If anything, the dismantling of the mouse gonna take more time than the switch swap. You can just dismantle it yourself at home, and just give them the PCB & switches.

 

Although I do recommend learning some simple desoldering/soldering so that you can DIY repair, which will mean you don't have to buy a new mouse for just a switch / scroll encoder problem, and don't have to rely on someone else all the time.

 

Common favorite switches are :

Kailh GM8.0

Kailh GM4.0

TTC Gold

Huano Blue

 

You can find youtube videos reviewing them, the sound profile etc. Although sound pretty much change based on what mouse it's used in.

[Eiri]

Thanks a lot to both of you!

 

I picked the Kailh GM 8 because it seems pretty average in terms of actuation force, and its quoted durability is higher. As for doing it myself... I watched the tutorial that @seon123 so helpfully provided and... Yeah, I can see about a dozen ways I would break something or injure myself doing that. There IS an electronics repair shop nearby though, so I'll order switches and replacement feet (both from AliExpress, because apparently that's the only place where you can buy those sorts of thing for my mouse), and bring that to them.

 

Really appreciate your advice. If I can save the mouse and NOT end the whole thing to e-waste just because of a low quality switch, that'll be great.

[Poinkachu]

3 hours ago, Eiri said:

Thanks a lot to both of you!

 

I picked the Kailh GM 8 because it seems pretty average in terms of actuation force, and its quoted durability is higher. As for doing it myself... I watched the tutorial that @seon123 so helpfully provided and... Yeah, I can see about a dozen ways I would break something or injure myself doing that. There IS an electronics repair shop nearby though, so I'll order switches and replacement feet (both from AliExpress, because apparently that's the only place where you can buy those sorts of thing for my mouse), and bring that to them.

 

Really appreciate your advice. If I can save the mouse and NOT end the whole thing to e-waste just because of a low quality switch, that'll be great.

Here's more advice :

1. Ask the repair shop first, so at the very least in the event they refuse to do it and you don't have anyone else to do it for you, you don't end up with switches already bought etc

 

2. When buying the spare parts, I suggest ordering more than just two switches, so you have spare for the future and save up on shipping fee.

[Eiri]

Sorry for the delay. Firefox mobile notifications are still broken so I only know people have replied when I manually visit the forum.

 

Good advice all around! The switches are like a dollar each, so I don't think I have to worry about ending up stuck with them if the shop refuses. But still a good idea to call them!

 

And the low price is even more justification to buy a few more switches, just in case.

 

I'll have the time to do all that and more. My orders failed last week, and AliExpress is now suspicious of me and wants my ID and everything. I thought I'd done that already but they still haven't replied to my appeal so I guess something went wrong last time.

 

Man, if I were doing fraud, I wouldn't be ordering 10 dollars' worth of mouse parts. Calm down, AliExpress.