‘The endgame of budget productivity mice’: I tested the $49 Logitech M850L and its built-in cushioned palm rest delivers unparalleled comfort

Few manufacturers are better than Logitech when it comes to creating comfortable productivity gadgets, and the Swiss-American giant has done it once again. The Logitech Signature Comfort Plus M850L is unlike any other Logi mouse as it features a built-in cushioned palm rest that delivers all-day comfort.

The M850L is a beast for productivity, thanks to its speed-adaptive smart scroll wheel, quiet clicks, and extensive customization capabilities. But it isn’t perfect — few things in life are. The mouse uses disposable batteries and doesn’t come with a 2.4GHz receiver. Are either of those dealbreakers? Not at all, given that the mouse costs just $49.

To find out if this is the best mouse for you, read my full Logitech Signature Comfort Plus M850L review.

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Logitech Signature Comfort Plus M850L review: Specs

Logitech Signature Comfort Plus M850L review: Cheat sheet

• What is it? A right-handed rodent and Logitech’s first mouse with an integrated palm cushion
• Who is it for? For sedentary workers needing a comfortable mouse
• How much does it cost? The Logitech Signature Comfort Plus M850L is available for just $49 / £49
• What do we like? Its built-in cushioned palm rest, overall comfort, user-friendly companion software, quiet clicks, and speed-adaptive scroll wheel
• What don’t we like? It uses disposable batteries and doesn’t come with a 2.4GHz receiver

Logitech Signature Comfort Plus M850L review: The ups

From its eco-friendly design, built-in cushioned palm rest, quiet clicks and speed-adaptive scroll wheel, the Logitech Signature Comfort Plus M850L is perhaps the best budget productivity mouse you can buy today.

Low-key and eco-friendly design

The Logitech Signature Comfort Plus M850L is a productivity-oriented mouse for the office, and it’s designed as such. It sports a minimalist, low-key design that doesn’t draw eyeballs to your desk thanks to the lack of any flashy RGB or lighting. The mouse is available in three colors: Graphite, Black, and Off-White. I tested the Graphite model which is covered in a couple shades of light and dark gray, and it looks fantastic.

Measuring 4.79 x 2.92 x 1.74 inches, the M850L is ideal for those with small- or medium-sized hands. It weighs 3.8 ounces so it’s got a bit of heft to it, which is nice — it makes the mouse feel sturdy and substantial when your hand is cupping it. The textured surface that runs along the length of the body gives your thumb a good grip over the mouse. I’ll discuss the overall comfort in the following section.

The M850L feels extremely well-built, and you can tell that the plastic it utilizes is of high quality. I also like that the Graphite and Black models are made of 63% recycled material (49% on the Off-White version), and the mouse comes in paper packaging derived from FSC-certified forests.

All-day comfort

The Logitech Signature Comfort Plus M850L is a mighty comfortable mouse, and before diving into the overall comfort factor, I want to talk about its headline feature. This is Logitech’s first mouse to feature a built-in palm cushion, located right behind the left- and right-click buttons.

The M850L’s palm cushion is made of durable, squishy material. It’s designed to provide some ergonomic relief by reducing pressure on the main bit of your palm — and it works wonders. After two whole days of using the M850L, I didn’t feel any discomfort. Combined with the soft rubber grips that my thumb rested on, and the contoured shape which enabled my hand to sit more naturally on the mouse, the M850L is a killer rodent for the office.

A productivity beast

The Logitech Signature Comfort Plus M850L is a beast for productivity. It has a maximum DPI of 4,000 which is adjustable via the button located between the left- and right-click ones. Though this isn’t anything special for gaming , it’s more than enough for those who want a speedy work-first pointer — after all, this isn’t a gaming mouse. Polling-wise, I didn’t notice any input lag or latency issues over Bluetooth, which will max out at 125Hz. This won't be enough for competitive gaming, and with no 2.4G connection as standard (unless you buy the receiver), there's no option for rapid poll rates out the box. Again, though, this isn't a gaming mouse, so I can forgive it. For a budget productivity/gaming mouse, check out the Keychron M6 8K ($69), which polls at up to 8K.

Thanks to two PTFE skates on the mouse’s underside, the M850L glides effortlessly across most surfaces — including plastic, glass and rubber desk mats. One of the things I love most about the M850L is its silent microswitches designed to reduce noise by up to 90%. This means that your coworkers won’t be disturbed by your clicking the mouse’s buttons — and neither will you, and this can help maintain your concentration on the task at hand.

I haven’t even talked about the best part yet, though, and that’s the M850L’s SmartWheel. Logi’s SmartWheel technology isn’t brand new, per se, and it’s found primarily on the brand’s productivity mice — and I love it. The scroll wheel on the M850L is speed-adaptive, which means that it automatically switches between two scrolling modes based on how fast you’re spinning it. You don’t need to manually switch between tactile (ratchet) and super-fast (free-spin) scrolling, like you need to on the Razer Pro Click Mini ($79).

I’ve thoroughly enjoyed using the M850L’s SmartWheel. I deal with many lengthy spreadsheets at work, so being able to go from the top to the bottom of a Google Sheet speedily and within seconds is a boon. Similarly, scrolling through hundreds of unread messages on Slack channels is a walk in the park too. And when I need to, I can simply stop the scroll wheel from spinning to stop at a particular section. Easy as pie.

User-friendly companion software

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Much like many other Logitech office peripherals, the Logitech Signature Comfort Plus M850L is compatible with Logi Options+. This is perhaps one of my favorite software suites as it’s extremely user-friendly and intuitive, and it sports a clean interface with no intrusive pop-ups or ads. Logi Options+ is also compatible with both Windows and macOS, unlike the Windows-only app for the similarly priced Lenovo Go Wireless Vertical ($49).

Logi Options+ enables you to customize the M850L effortlessly and extensively. You can remap the six buttons, assign Gestures to the DPI button, such as media controls and app navigation, and assign app-specific functions too. For instance, you can customize the side buttons to adjust the volume in Spotify, copy/paste in Microsoft Word, or undo/redo in Adobe Photoshop. I find the last especially useful as I do a lot of editing in Photoshop.

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In addition to all of this, you can also toggle Flow which lets you move the mouse cursor from one computer to another. Naturally, you’ll need to install Logi Options+ on both machines to get this working. I did this with my MacBook Air M2 and the Geekom GeekBook X14 Pro, and it worked like a charm. I was able to copy text on my MacBook and then paste it in a Google Docs window on the Geekom. This negates the need to swap Bluetooth sources every time.

Competitively priced

Last but certainly not least, the Logitech Signature Comfort Plus M850L is a very affordable mouse, making it perfect for office workers on a budget. It retails for just $49 / £49 at Amazon — or you can grab the Combo with the MK880 keyboard for $99 at Amazon U.S. / £99 at Currys U.K. Again, really affordable.

The M850L is slightly pricier than the ESR MagMouse ($34) but you’re getting unparalleled comfort and an overall better package. Other similarly priced mice include the Keychron M7 ($49) but that’s predominantly a gaming mouse, and the M850L’s build quality feels more top-notch. The M850L is also arguably better than the productivity-oriented Razer Pro Click Mini which features a noisy (therefore, annoying) scroll wheel.

Logitech Signature Comfort Plus M850L review: The downs

It’s hard to fault the Logitech Signature Comfort Plus M850L, and the only real downsides to this mouse are that it uses disposable batteries and doesn’t come with a 2.4GHz receiver.

Uses disposable batteries

I probably sound like a broken record at this point to those who have read my previously published mice reviews, but I’m here to talk about my dislike for disposable batteries again. The Logitech Signature Comfort Plus M850L utilizes a disposable AA battery, and that might be a dealbreaker for the environmentally conscious.

Disposable batteries are tricky to recycle and they create massive amounts of single-use waste. The upside, for those who wish to see it, is that the M850L can last up to 24 months on one such battery. If you want a mouse with a built-in rechargeable battery instead, I’d recommend the Keychron M7, or splurging more on the Logitech Lift ($69) and the Logitech MX Master 4 ($119).

Logi Bolt USB receiver sold separately

Unlike the Logitech MX Master 4, the Logitech Signature Comfort Plus M850L doesn’t come with a Logi Bolt USB receiver. If you want to use the mouse with a dongle plugged in, you’ll need to buy it separately. It isn’t too expensive, available for just $14 / £11 at Amazon.

For those who own multiple Logi products, the Bolt receiver is a great investment as it enables you to connect multiple keyboards and mice to your computer without needing separate dongles. It could also allow for higher poll rates than Bluetooth. It's a shame not to see it included as standard.

Logitech Signature Comfort Plus M850L review: Verdict

They don’t make sub-$50 mice better than this. The Logitech Signature Comfort Plus M850L feels like a no-brainer if you have a sedentary job. Its standout feature, the integrated cushioned palm rest, genuinely enhances long-term comfort, as does its contoured shape and soft rubber grips for your thumb.

Combine this with quiet clicks, Logi’s excellent SmartWheel speed-adaptive scrolling, smooth tracking, and extensive customization via Logi Options+, and you’ve got yourself a winning package.

Though the use of disposable batteries and exclusion of a 2.4GHz receiver in the box are a little disappointing, neither drawback is a dealbreaker. For office or remote workers seeking a reliable, comfortable and feature-rich rodent on a budget, the M850L is unbeatable value for money.