My Logitech MX Vertical developed the cursed double click issue again caused by low-quality omron switches, and I’m sick and tired of replacing them every year or two. Repairing it is possible, but there are a lot of steps, it requires the likely destruction and subsequent replacement of the mouse sliders, and the switches need to be soldered which I don’t have the equipment or experience for.
I would like a mouse that:
is easy to source quality replacement or upgrade parts for
has hot-swappable switches (I don’t want to do any soldering)
allows the servicing of the switches and battery without the likely destruction of any other part
can be used as both a wired or wireless mouse
Ideally, the mouse would also vertical, but I think I’m willing to give up on that for a mouse that I can easily repair and modify.
I did a bit of research and it seems like I’m going to want a mouse that uses optical switches. I saw these pop up in my own searches:
Razer has optical mouse switches, but it’s unclear how easy they would be to replace.
Asus has hot swappable switches and they have a video showing how easy they are to service.
Lunar Artefacts is insane and I am not buying it, but it looks cool and it is supposedly designed to be fully repairable. As far as I can tell, it does not have hot-swappable switches.
Ploopy is open-source and runs QMK – both of which are big pluses in my opinion – and you can even 3d print it. It requires soldering though and, as far as I can tell, it does not have hot-swappable switches.
Does anyone have recommendations or experiences to share?
Allegedly Razer Optical switches are hot-swappable. However, optical switches tend to have unique pin-outs between manufacturers; lack of standardization and all that. You get the benefit of a highly durable and responsive switch that’s easy to service, but you might be locked into their ecosystem.
At least for Asus, they have a compatibility chart in the page I linked earlier:
Brand
Model
Gen 1
Gen 2
Omron
D2F-01F
V
V
Omron
D2FC-F-7N(10M)
V
V
Omron
D2FC-F-7N(20M)
V
V
Omron
D2F-F-3-7
V
V
Omron
D2FC-F-K(50M)
V
V
Kailh
CMI126603D08-5（20M）
V
V
Kailh
CMI126603D09-3（30M）
V
V
Kailh
CMI126601D01（60M)
V
V
Kailh
CMI126601D03（80M）
V
V
TTC
E169-60G60G0
V
N
TTC
E169-60B80G0
V
N
Cherry
DG series
V
N
HUANO
V
N
I’m assuming “V” means that it’s compatible and “N” means that it isn’t. Kalih, Omron, and TTC appear to be some of the more widely available brands in my research, so it seems unlikely that I would get vendor lock-in here. For some reason their Gen 2 mice are less compatible. According to their website, this is because Gen 2 supports optical switches in addition to mechanical ones.
Zowie came up a few times while I was doing more research, but when I looked up teardowns (like this one) of it on YouTube, not only does it appear to be difficult to get to the mouse buttons, you also have to damage the skates. It sounds like Zowie is compatible with a number of different mouse switches (see this), but I couldn’t find a compatability chart.
Razer seems easier to service than Zowie (at least, for the Razer Death Adder), though you still have to damage the skates. But, you’re right, looking up compatability leads me to posts like this one where people say that the Razer mouse button switches are incompatible with anything else. They don’t even sell replacements for the mouse button switches on their replacement parts page, so I think that rules out Razer. I did find some videos of people replacing the mouse switches though, but it requires soldering.
As for Ploopy, the only thing I could find about compatibility was this, which makes it sound like it doesn’t have much compatibility with other switches. But, this post is also pretty old, I’m not sure how true it is anymore.
Really wish they explained what the heck the chart meant. They don’t even explain it on the pages linking to the charts, they just expect it to be self-evident. I tried to find some easy to use customer service to ask but the chats all ask for a product serial number, there’s no email, and I am not gonna call and try to explain this over the phone when it makes more sense to be able to send direct links to the content.
I bought a second Logitech MX Vertical for this very reason. I’ve heard dust finds it’s way into the mechanics easily.
For this reason, I take a strip of tin foil every now and again and form it over the mouse. I plan to make some sort of papier-mâché mold and then make some sort of silicone pour covering. But until then, tin foil has worked.
My first one failed after a year and the second (with the tinfoil top) has lasted like three years so far.
