Building the mouse Logitech won't make

Building the Mouse Logitech Won't Make My absolute favorite mouse is the MX Ergo from Logitech. It's a trackball mouse with a good number of buttons and a comfortable, ergonomic tilt. It clicked with me as soon as I tried it, and I've been using one since they came out back in 2017. However, it's not without its issues. There are 3 main areas where the sheen of perfection wears off: It uses a micro-USB port to charge. The switches are a little loud and clicky. The software is bloated. After 8 years waiting for an updated model from Logitech, I decided to stop waiting and see if I could tackle these issues myself. After first publishing this article a helpful commenter let me know Logitech released the MX Ergo S in late 2024, with quieter switches, USB-C, and a $20 price increase. Let's just pretend I wrote this article a year ago! Still, at least this project let me avoid some e-waste. The Fixes General Disclaimer These mods could mess up your mouse and will definitely void your warranty. Rechargable batteries can cause fires if handled improperly! Adding USB-C Charging I went in apprehensive - how much of a hassle would it be to swap a port? The easiest solution would be to get a short adapter plug and leave it in the mouse, but that felt like it would be a constant reminder of my lack of ambition. Fortunately, I soon found this incredible guide on how to seamlessly replace the existing port. The port sits on a small PCB under the mainboard. The author of the guide reverse-engineered that PCB, then modified it to accommodate a USB-C port. He made the designs available through PCBWay, and while you can export the design files and send them anywhere you'd like, I opted to stay with PCBWay to manufacture the boards for my project (I ended up ordering 10 so I had spares). Balking at the $50+ charge for turnkey assembly, I opted to take the financially responsible route and pay $200+ for a hot-air rework station to solder it myself. I transferred as many components from the Logitech board as I could. That meant I only needed to source the new port, some resistors, a replacement ribbon cable connector, and a switch. Getting spare PCBs and components saved me a lot of hassle, as it gave me the opportunity to practice soldering some of the trickier components (the USB-C port turned out to be especially finicky). After some initial trial and error I was able to successfully assemble the new board! Some quick modifications to the case with a rotary tool provided enough clearance for the larger port. After reassembling the mouse, I was left with a pretty seamless result! Overall I spent $45 for the PCBs and around $10 for the required components, making this a reasonably pricey mod. You could probably find an intro discount from a PCB manufacturer to lower the prices a bit! If you're interested in trying this out for yourself, I'd recommend reading through Solderking's guide. Silent Switches The one mouse that nearly pulled me away from the MX Ergo was the MX Master 3S, also from Logitech. It uses some fantastic silent switches for the left and right clicks, which I found I much preferred over regular mouse switches. I wanted to replicate that experience as much as I could for the MX Ergo. I started by disassembling the mouse and measuring each switch used so I could find alternatives I might prefer. The left and right clicks use standard microswitches, and I struck gold with the first alternatives I tried! The Huano Silent switches are exactly what I was looking for. They are almost completely silent, with a soft but satisfying tactile bump when pressed. The scroll-wheel clicks use 6x6x4.3mm through-hole switches, while the other buttons use 5.25x5.25x1.5mm surface-mount switches. I wasn't as sure about how to find options that might suit me better, as these are essentially commodity products. I ended up ordering a few different options, and settled on the Omron B3F-1002 for the scroll-wheel clicks and the Alps Alpine SKQGABE010 (see below, left is the new switch and right is the old) for the other buttons. After desoldering and removing the old switches, soldering in their replacements, and reassembling the mouse I could finally try out new switches in actual use. The Huano Silent switches were a huge improvement for me and only cost $2.99! If I were to make one mod this would be it (I ended up ordering a bunch more of them just so I have spares for future mice). While I did notice the change from the other switches, the difference was more minimal and I would probably skip them next time. If you're interested in trying this for yourself, I'd recommend following a guide like this one from iFixit on how to desolder and replace a mouse switch. While the mouse is different the soldering technique is the same! Software Upgrade I really dislike Logitech's peripheral configuration software (Logi Options+). I find it to be bloated, buggy, and occasionally malware-like. In 2024 I started using SteerMouse, and I haven't looked back. It's super lightweight, it can do everything I need it to, and most importantly it just works. I mainly use it to configure the thumb and side buttons to move me between desktop spaces. While it does cost $20, it adds a lot of customization and it works with many other peripherals. Conclusion Overall I'm really happy with how this project turned out. I highly recommend swapping in the Huano Silent switches, while the other switch changes are probably overkill. The USB-C port swap isn't super necessary, but it was a fun project and a great introduction to surface-mount soldering. Moving to SteerMouse is easy and boring but it's a much better experience! More generally, I think there's a lot of fun to be had tweaking the objects we use every day to our liking. Aside from a great mouse, this project has given me a bunch of ideas for things to try next.