New wireless mouse puts battery level, connection and cursor speed on its own LCD

A mouse is not usually where you would look for a status screen, but Sanwa Supply has found a few things worth putting on one.

The Japanese company's new wireless mouse has a small LCD that continuously shows the battery level, current connection mode and cursor speed. That means there is no need to open software on the computer just to check which connection is active or how much charge is left.

It can pair with up to three devices, using two Bluetooth connections and one 2.4 GHz wireless connection via the supplied USB-A receiver. A switch underneath the mouse handles the changeover.

A screen that earns its space

The LCD is the unusual part, but the rest of the specification is fairly practical. Cursor sensitivity can be switched between 1,000, 2,000, 3,000 and 4,000 dpi, while five main buttons provide the usual left, right, scroll-wheel, forward and back controls. Sanwa also uses silent switches for all of the buttons.

The mouse is rechargeable over USB-C and can still be used while charging. Sanwa rates its battery life at approximately five months, although the company notes that this will vary with the operating environment.

At around 73.1 g, it is not particularly heavy either. The USB receiver can be stored inside the mouse when it is not being used, which should at least give the tiny dongle one fewer opportunity to disappear.

Sanwa has launched the mouse in black, black and blue, and black and yellow, with a Japanese list price of ¥5,500. It is a fairly conventional wireless mouse underneath, but putting genuinely useful information on the little screen makes the display feel less like decoration and more like it has earned the desk space.