A Closer Look:

The charger, as mentioned before, draws power straight off of the USB bus, so no separate power cord is needed, unlike previous Logitech rechargeable mice that always ended up stealing another outlet on the power bar. The downside is that for optimal performance, you'll need to plug the charger into a powered USB port, either from a powered hub or a port straight from your computer. With today's motherboards providing built-in support for six or more USB 2.0 ports nowadays, this shouldn't be a problem.

The charger.	Batteries go in the bottom slot USB port on top.
Style reminiscent of the MX700.	Side thumb grip.

In the event that a fully-powered USB port is not available, there is a switch on the underside of the charger that can change it from "Boost" mode to "Normal" mode for use on any USB port - the only downside is that charging on normal mode will take around eight hours instead of two to three on boost mode.

The batteries slide and lock into place in a slot in the front for charging, and easily pop out when a button on the top is pressed. A single green LED on the top blinks while the battery is being charged and is solid when it is fully charged. The cord is sufficiently long to place the charger in a nice location, but you'll probably want to keep it relatively close since batteries will need to be changed so often.

The G7 mouse itself has a shape that is very much like that of the MX700 or MX518 mice, being for right-handed users only. Buttons included are the standard left, right, middle/scroll wheel as well as a thumb button and two buttons for adjusting the sensitivity. The wheel also supports side-to-side scrolling. While this may seem like a lot of buttons, compared to a regular mouse, I was actually left wanting more, considering this is one of Logitech's best mice.

In particular, a second thumb button would have been nice, like was seen on the MX518, since having both back and forward buttons near the thumb is a very nice addition, and could also provide more functionality in games. Thankfully, the sensitivity adjustment buttons are both below the wheel - in past Logitech mice a button was sometimes placed over the wheel, making it hard to reach. This is not the case on the G7, as both buttons are easily reached without having to reposition the hand.

The overall shape of the mouse is quite comfortable, if you're right-handed. While being more bulky than most mice, I found that the G7 had a more "full" feel than most mice. Thus, the shape lent itself to having more of your hand around it, and providing more support to it. This can be seen in the profile of the mouse, which is quite thick but slopes gently to the right. If you have always used a mouse just with your fingers and the end of your hand, the G7 should feel nicer with its more round and full shape. The sides are also contoured to fit your hand, and in particular the thumb grip, a staple of Logitech's high-end mice, provides a very nice fit.

Sensitivity buttons.	Side scrolling.
Entire mouse is smooth.	Slopes to one side.

All the buttons were comfortably reached, and even nicer, the status LEDs for indicating the sensitivity and battery levels, were placed so that they would not be covered by your hand, and are easily seen by a glance in the mouse's direction.

Though I found the G7's shape and design quite good, one thing I didn't like was the entire mouse body being covered in a very smooth plastic exterior. While it does make the mouse look very shiny and nice, in my opinion it makes the mouse less comfortable. I would have preferred if the sides were made of a nice rubberized material that provided more grip and the top made of a textured surface.

What is surprising is that the G5, the wired counterpart of the G7, has this exact composition. Why Logitech decided to make the G7 smooth is perhaps beyond me; the only reason I can think of is product differentiation. I've also noticed that the smooth surface seems to accumulate "gunk" faster.

Only one thumb button.	Grips go around entire side.
Mouse is almost too smooth.	Comparison.

While the G7 is bigger than most mice, it ends up being lighter than you'd expect. This is due to the custom Li-Ion battery pack, which helps to keep the weight down. If you've been used to using a regular cordless mouse that uses 2 AA batteries, you'll find that the G7 actually weighs less; even compared to a regular mouse it is only slightly heavier, and I don't think that this will negatively affect its usage. In fact, the G7 slides very easily on most surfaces, and my hand never got tired after using it. This also helped by the three large feet that the mouse glides on, which help to keep down the friction.

More bulky than most.

Battery compartment.

Battery slides in...

... quite easily.

Looking at the underside of the mouse, you'll see the battery compartment, which is slightly angled to make it easy to slide the battery pack in to and out of the mouse. The batteries slide in and lock in to place; as with the charger, a press of the release button will cause the battery to pop out, and this makes battery swapping quick and easy. An on/off button is also on the underside, near the top, allowing you to turn off the mouse to conserve battery life if you're not going to be using the mouse for a long time.

Mini-receiver in charger.

Sensitivity LEDs.

Battery level LEDs.

One last nice feature about the G7 is are the status LEDs that show both the current mouse sensitivity level and the battery life. This is accomplished very nicely by having the G7 show its sensitivity level while you're moving it; the LEDs will glow orange to indicate this.

After not moving the mouse for a few seconds, the orange glow fades and the LEDs will then glow green to show the current battery level; this is a very nice and subtle transition that makes the G7 seem just that much more high-end. After a few more seconds of no movement, the LEDs gradually turn off to conserve battery power. The battery lights will also turn red when the battery levels are low, to tell you to swap out the battery pack before it dies.