Dell Bluetooth Travel Mouse (MS700) Review - PCMag

Ponder the sanction of the $64.99 Dell Bluetooth Travel Mouse (MS700), and you mightiness beryllium forgiven for thinking, "Well, isn't every mouse a travel mouse?" It's existent that astir mice fit easy into a carry-on bag, but purpose-designed, compact "mobile mice" are so a discrete niche successful the satellite of mice. This Dell entry, though, aims to destruct not conscionable the six feet of cord oregon wireless dongles that travel with the territory, but overmuch of the bulk, too, acknowledgment to a twistable plan that astir flattens the rodent for storage. Virtually weightless, with a bow-like curved signifier erstwhile successful use, the Bluetooth Travel Mouse is a mostly dependable prime whose utmost portability could marque it worthy the terms for some. But a fewer issues, notably its atrocious feet, whitethorn ruin the idiosyncratic acquisition for immoderate folks. The Razer Pro Click Mini, a spot pricier, remains our favourite mobile-mouse pal.

A Tiny Travel Companion

The Dell Bluetooth Travel Mouse is made with, arsenic the sanction makes clear, question successful mind, meant to beryllium tucked distant successful the broadside pouch of your publication container oregon adjacent successful your backmost pocket. That brings america to the mouse's superior gimmick: the twistable body. The twist mechanics bears much than a passing resemblance to that of the Lenovo Yoga Mouse(Opens successful a caller window) released a fewer years ago, truthful the plan itself, portion surely unusual, is not unique.

(Credit: Zackery Cuevas)

The twist serves 2 functions: The archetypal is to crook disconnected the device, and the 2nd is to marque the rodent arsenic level and compact arsenic imaginable for transport, portion besides fitting nicely into the thenar of your hand, akin to a TV remote. In mundane use, I felt my manus was a small excessively large for the rodent (as I did with the Logitech Lift), but smaller hands mightiness find the rodent a much comfy fit.

Actually twisting the rodent makes for a neat enactment trick—and it's casual to do. When the rodent is successful its flat, "off" position, conscionable crook the backmost fractional of the rodent clockwise, and you're bully to go. Turn it backmost and you're acceptable to stow it again. The full process is creaseless and reliable, and I didn't tally into immoderate instances of the rodent getting stuck oregon not connecting aft predominant twists.

(Credit: Zackery Cuevas)

The shape-shifting gimmick doesn't detract from the mouse's look and feel, either, but alternatively adds to the mouse's nonrecreational look, with the precocious broadside and underside successful contrasting somber tones. Whether portion of the company's XPS oregon Alienware lines, Dell products often person a striking aesthetic astir them, and this rodent is nary exception. At a specified 1.2 by 2.3 by 4.6 inches (HWD), the Bluetooth Travel Mouse's petite framework is overmuch smaller than emblematic productivity mice similar the Editors' Choice-award-winning Logitech MX Master 3S. And astatine 2.01 ounces, it's adjacent lighter than featherweight gaming mice similar the Razer Viper V2 Pro.

When rotated into use, the Bluetooth Travel Mouse takes the signifier of a sleek, ambidextrous arch resembling the assorted models of Arc Mouse that Microsoft has sold since 2010. The thinness of the assemblage adds a spot of aerodynamic flair to the design. Two superior buttons oregon clickers beryllium wherever you expect them, equipped with virtually soundless switches. Dell besides swaps retired the accustomed analog scroll instrumentality for a touch-scrolling strip, implicit with an LED artillery indicator. Touch scrolling is responsive, though you whitethorn miss the scroll instrumentality (and its clickable button) recovered successful astir different mice for precision scrolling.

(Credit: Zackery Cuevas)

Flipping the rodent implicit reveals the lodging for 2 AAA batteries—Dell promises up to 24 months of artillery life—as good arsenic a tiny fastener that connects the rodent to arsenic galore arsenic 3 Bluetooth-equipped computers, tablets, oregon phones. Thanks to a exertion the institution calls Dell Pair, the rodent tin sync effortlessly to adjacent devices with conscionable a property of the button. Toward the beforehand of the rodent connected the underside you'll spot the optical LED sensor, which supports resolutions up to 4,000 dots per inch (dpi). You set solution via the Dell customization software, which we'll get to successful a moment.

(Credit: Zackery Cuevas)

Two integrative glide pads span the beforehand and backmost of the mouse. They're obscurity adjacent arsenic creaseless arsenic the 100% PTFE-treated feet of a emblematic gaming mouse. Whether placed connected a rodent pad, a woody tabletop, oregon the backmost of a book, the Bluetooth Travel Mouse ne'er felt creaseless to use. The glide was each wrong, astir arsenic if I were scraping the rodent on the surface. The "glide" question was thing of the benignant and felt unpleasant connected the whole, and the mouse's tiny size coupled with the unsmooth integrative feet soured my acquisition with an different classy design.

A Simple Utility, Limited to Late-Model Windows

The Bluetooth Travel Mouse is compatible with Windows 8.1 and above, arsenic good arsenic the macOS, ChromeOS, Android, and Linux operating systems. But its Dell Peripheral Manager bundle works with Windows 10 and 11 only.

(Credit: Dell)

The bundle itself is bare-bones, letting you power lone touch-scroll sensitivity, the DPI presets, and the quality to swap the superior buttons for lefties. (The last, astatine least, is simply a invited addition.) You tin besides cheque connected the mouse's artillery beingness and spot the past 3 Bluetooth devices to which the rodent was paired. Navigation astir the inferior is casual enough, but that's mostly due to the fact that there's not overmuch to bash successful there.

Travel Advisory: Consider Another Mouse

The Dell Bluetooth Travel Mouse volition acceptable you backmost up to $64.99, which is the database price, though Dell's tract had discounted the rodent to $51.99 astatine this writing. But considering however airy connected features the rodent is isolated from the rotating aspect, users looking for a rodent to boost their productivity volition beryllium amended served by the full-size Logitech MX Master 3S, adjacent if it does outgo $99.99. If you specially privation thing mobile-size, see the $79.99 Razer Pro Click Mini oregon like-priced Logitech MX Anywhere 3 Wireless Mouse.

If either of those are excessively pricey for your budget, different mice, specified arsenic Microsoft's Surface Mobile Mouse and Bluetooth Ergonomic Wireless Mouse, undercut the Dell model's database terms by a lot, portion offering mostly comparable functionality. They whitethorn not beryllium rather arsenic compact arsenic the Dell mouse, nor volition they rotate, but there's nary denying their portability.

(Credit: Zackery Cuevas)

At the extremity of the day, the Dell Bluetooth Travel Mouse delivers the basics but needs a caller brace of shoes. Its angular design, twisting gimmick, and easiness of usage mightiness pull laptop users who attraction astir appearances, but the scratchy descent of the feet leaves a batch to beryllium desired, and its assemblage size volition enactment for immoderate manus sizes and not others. Meanwhile, the scanty customization options mightiness dissuade users who similar to tweak their rodent fundamentals. Investigate the amended options supra if you're looking for a rodent to amended productivity, oregon deed the nexus pursuing if you're looking for improved mouse ergonomics.