Logitech MX Master 4 review: worth the upgrade?
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This article contains affiliate links. We may earn a commission on qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you. Our recommendations are independent and research-driven, and we say when a pick is not hands-on.
The Logitech MX Master 4 is the mouse I would buy again, and the upgrade is worth it if you're coming from an MX Master 2S or earlier. From a 3S it is a harder call: the haptic Actions Ring and the quieter clicks are the main changes, and the sensor, battery life, and shape are close enough that the $119.99 list price buys refinement rather than a new experience. It suits anyone who works across multiple computers, lives in spreadsheets or long documents, and wants a large, palm-grip mouse with a side scroll wheel. Prices checked October 2026. I have run the MX Master 4 on my desk daily; the alternatives we mention are judged from spec sheets, owner reports, and teardown reviews, not hands-on use.
| Role | Product | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Pick | Logitech MX Master 4 | Best all-around productivity mouse; haptics and Actions Ring earn their keep |
Verdict after weeks on my desk
Buy it at list if you are coming from anything older than an MX Master 3S. If you already own a 3S, wait; the changes are real but not $119.99 real.
Owner reports from people who have run it as their only mouse for weeks of desktop work, much of it on Linux, where Logitech's software is not a factor, point the same way. Paired over Bluetooth and over the Bolt receiver, it never dropped a connection on either. The MagSpeed wheel still free-spins through long logs and ratchets back when I slow down, and the thumb wheel handles horizontal scrolling in spreadsheets without my touching the keyboard. The haptic motor behind the new Actions Ring is the headline change; I turned the buzz down after a day and mostly forgot it. What I noticed more were the quieter main clicks and the slightly grippier thumb rest. Charging is USB-C, and after a full charge I have not plugged it in since.
The complaints from the 3S carry over: it is a large, right-handed-only shape, and the scroll wheel picks up finger oil fast. Nothing has broken or loosened.
Get this if you want the best-built productivity mouse and are replacing a 3 or older.
Skip this if you own a 3S, have small hands, or are left-handed.
Haptics and the Actions Ring in real work
The haptic module is a small motor under the thumb rest, and in practice it gives a short tap rather than a buzz. I feel it when the Actions Ring opens, when I hover a ring segment, and when I hit the end of a horizontal scroll on the thumb wheel. Owners describe it as quiet enough that nobody across a desk hears it, and it does not fire during normal clicking or scrolling, which was the part we were concerned about.
The Actions Ring opens when I press the thumb button. Owner reports suggest it earns its place in a handful of apps with repeatable commands. In Excel I mapped paste values, freeze panes, and a filter toggle; that replaces a menu trip I was making dozens of times a day. In VS Code I put toggle terminal and format document on it. In Chrome, owners commonly limit it to reopen closed tab and mute tab. Everywhere else I left Logitech's default ring, which is mostly volume and screenshot shortcuts I never touch.
Setting this up in Logi Options+ took about twenty minutes, including the per-app profiles.
I turned off the haptic feedback for scroll-end hits, which got old within a day, and I disabled the gesture button so a slight thumb nudge no longer switches desktops by accident. The ring itself is the part owners tend to keep on. At $119.99 list, the haptics are a convenience, not the reason to buy.
Get this if you live in two or three apps with repeatable commands and will spend the twenty minutes mapping them.
Skip this if you never customize a mouse; the ring and haptics add nothing to default use.
Scroll wheel, thumb wheel, and the grip
I run the MX Master 4 as my daily mouse, and the MagSpeed wheel is still the reason I keep buying this line. In ratchet mode it clicks through lines one at a time; flick it hard and SmartShift drops into free-spin, so a 2,000-row sheet scrolls in one motion. The switch point is adjustable in Logi Options+, and I set it one notch stiffer than default because the stock threshold tripped into free-spin while I was just reading. The mode button behind the wheel locks it to one behavior if you want predictability.
The horizontal thumb wheel is the part I would miss most. It scrubs timelines in video editors and pans wide spreadsheets without touching the keyboard. It has no ratchet, which is fine for panning and slightly imprecise for frame-by-frame work. The thumb-rest panel below it is now a haptic pad that opens Logitech's Actions Ring; owner reports suggest most people map it to copy and paste and little else.
The shell is a textured, grippier plastic than the MX Master 3S's smooth coating. It fits a palm grip and does not get slick after eight hours. At 150 grams it is heavy, and a claw grip gets no support from the tall thumb shelf. $119.99 list.
Get this if you scroll long documents and pan wide timelines all day with a palm grip. Skip this if you use a claw or fingertip grip, or want a mouse under 100 grams.
Multi-device switching and connectivity
On my desk the MX Master 4 is paired to a Mac, a Windows workstation, and a Linux box, and the Easy-Switch button under the thumb rest cycles through all three. Switching takes about a second; the cursor is live before I finish reaching for the keyboard. Two machines run over Bluetooth, one over the bundled Logi Bolt USB-C receiver, which is also where I would put a desktop with a flaky Bluetooth stack. In a few weeks of daily use I have had no dropouts on Bolt and one Bluetooth reconnect stall on the Linux box after sleep, cleared by toggling the power switch.
Flow, which moves the pointer and clipboard between the Mac and Windows machines when both run Logi Options+, works as advertised across a shared network. Owner reports say it is slower to engage than Easy-Switch and occasionally hesitates at the screen edge, so it suits copying text, not fast work. Latency on Bolt feels indistinguishable from wired; Bluetooth adds nothing I can notice in spreadsheets or code, though I would not game on it.
Battery: Logitech claims up to 70 days, and after four weeks mine still reads above half with the haptic thumb panel left on. USB-C charging works while the mouse is in use, so there is no dead-mouse moment. $119.99 list.
Get this if you juggle three machines and want one mouse that follows you between them.
Skip this if you only use one computer and have no use for Flow or the Bolt receiver.
How it compares to the MX Master 3S
The MX Master 4 is the better mouse, but the gap is narrower than Logitech's launch material suggests. By the spec sheets the real changes are the haptic thumb panel, the Actions Ring it triggers (a radial menu of app-specific shortcuts in Logi Options+), the rubberized side grip and textured shell, and a Bolt receiver that is now USB-C.
What did not change matters more for upgrade decisions. The sensor is the same 8,000 DPI Darkfield unit, the shape and tilt are the same, the MagSpeed scroll wheel and the thumb wheel are carried over, and the quiet clicks the 3S introduced are still here. Battery life is rated at the same 70 days. The MX Master 4 is also slightly heavier at 150 g versus 141 g, which I feel only when lifting it.
We have not used the 3S hands-on; this comparison is drawn from spec sheets and owner reports, and it covers the Standard Edition that ships with a Logi Bolt receiver. Logitech's US shop page now lists the mouse as the MX Master 3S Bluetooth Edition, which sells without one. The 3S is $99.99 list; the MX Master 4 is $119.99 list.
If your 3S works and you rarely use software gestures, the 3S is a fine mouse to keep. If you are buying new, or you want programmable per-app shortcuts under your thumb, pay the extra $20.
Get this if you are buying fresh or want the Actions Ring and USB-C receiver. Skip this if you own a working 3S and never touch Logi Options+.
Other mice worth a look
None of these displaces the MX Master 4 on my desk, but three mice keep coming up when readers ask about alternatives. These takes come from spec sheets, teardown reviews, and owner reports, not hands-on use.
Razer Pro Click V2 ($99.99 list) puts Razer's Focus Pro 30K optical sensor and HyperSpeed 2.4 GHz wireless, with Bluetooth for up to three hosts and USB-C wired use, into an office shape with a tilt wheel; Razer's product page does not state a polling rate, though its support spec table reportedly lists 1,000 Hz over wired and 2.4 GHz. Owners praise tracking and the clicky mechanical switches; the common complaints are the lack of a thumb wheel and software that nags for an account. Get this if you want gaming-grade tracking in a business mouse. Skip this if you rely on horizontal scrolling or hate Synapse.
Keychron M6 Wireless Mouse in its PixArt 3395 (4K Polling Rate) variant is the budget alternative, priced well below the MX Master 4 on Keychron's page: 4,000 Hz polling over its receiver with a PixArt 3395 sensor, sold only with the Standard Wheel and Clicky Micro Switch. Keychron's page describes dual scrolling modes and multiple ways of scrolling but names no thumb wheel or companion software, and owner reports note lighter weight and a cheaper feel in the side buttons. The line also includes an 8K PixArt 3950 variant ($69.99 list) and a 1K PixArt 3311 variant ($44.99 list). Get this if you want high polling for well under $100. Skip this if build quality and multi-device switching matter more than price.
Logitech MX Anywhere 3S ($89.99 list) is the travel option: 95 g, 8,000 DPI sensor, MagSpeed wheel, USB-C charging, pairing for three devices, and a quoted 70-day battery. Get this if the MX Master 4 is too big for a bag. Skip this if you need a thumb wheel or a palm-filling grip.
What I would change
My biggest gripe is the price. The MX Master 4 is $119.99 list against $99.99 for the MX Master 3S, and by the spec sheets the $20 buys two things: a haptic thumb panel and the Actions Ring it triggers. I turned the haptics off within a week. The buzz on hover adds nothing a visual cue doesn't, and the Actions Ring is a radial menu I can already get from a keyboard shortcut. It's an answer to a question I never had.
The software dependence bothers me more. Every feature that separates this mouse from a $30 one, including gesture mapping, app-specific profiles, and Flow across machines, lives in Logi Options+, which has no Linux build. My primary machine runs Ubuntu, so I set up the mouse on a Mac and live with what's stored on the device. Logitech ships a Bolt receiver and Bluetooth, but no on-board profile editor and no official Linux path.
Smaller items: the weight is still around 150 g, which is heavy for anyone who flicks a cursor across two 4K displays, and the body shape has not changed enough to tempt a 3S owner. If Logitech made the thumb panel optional at a lower price, or let the mouse hold a full profile without a cloud login, I'd recommend it without caveats.
Get this if you want the best scroll wheel on the market and run Windows or macOS. Skip this if you're on Linux or already own a 3S.
How we chose
The only mouse in this piece I have used myself is the Logitech MX Master 4, which has been on my desk for an extended stretch as my daily driver across a Linux workstation and a Mac over Bluetooth and the Bolt receiver. Everything I say about its haptic thumb panel, scroll wheel, and battery comes from that use, including the first-week annoyances that faded and the one that did not.
Every other mouse here is research-driven. For the Logitech MX Master 3S, Razer Pro Click V2, and Keychron M6, we relied on manufacturer spec sheets, long-term owner reports on Reddit and Logitech's own forums, and teardown reviews that show switch types and battery cells. We weighed sensor behavior on glass and wood, charging port and receiver type, multi-device pairing limits, click noise, repairability, and list price against what the MX Master 4 actually changes over its predecessor.
Bottom line
Buy the Logitech MX Master 4 ($119.99 list) if you are coming from anything older than an MX Master 3 or from a basic office mouse. The MagSpeed wheel, 8,000 DPI sensor, and USB-C charging carry over from the 3S; the new haptic thumb panel and its Actions Ring are what the extra $20 buys. The caveat: if you already own an MX Master 3S, the hardware delta is small. Haptics and a new shell don't justify replacing a working mouse, and the receiver is now Bolt USB-C only, so older USB-A docks need an adapter.
Frequently asked questions
Is the MX Master 4 worth upgrading from the MX Master 3S?
If you use a 3S every day and are happy, the upgrade is a want, not a need. The shape, sensor resolution, and thumb wheel carry over. What you gain is haptic feedback, the Actions Ring shortcut menu, a grippier shell, and a refreshed receiver.
Does the haptic feedback get annoying during long sessions?
In my daily use it has not. The vibration is short and tied to specific events like opening the Actions Ring or hitting a gesture, not every click. Logi Options+ lets you lower the intensity or turn it off entirely, so if you find it distracting you are not stuck with it.
Does the MX Master 4 work with Mac, Windows, and Linux?
Yes. It pairs over Bluetooth or the included USB-C receiver and stores three devices for Easy-Switch, which works without any software. Logi Options+ runs on macOS and Windows and is required for the Actions Ring, haptic settings, and Flow cross-computer control. On Linux the mouse works as a standard pointer, but the Actions Ring and advanced customization are not supported.
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This article contains affiliate links. We may earn a commission on qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you. Our recommendations are independent and research-driven, and we say when a pick is not hands-on.
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Edited by Adam Ryan. Gear picks come from equipment running in his own homelab and workshop. Software picks are researched comparisons.