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Computer accessory maker Logitech International SA announced a sleek wireless travel mouse aimed at professionals and Gen Z, with a unique folding design meant to fit in a pocket.
The $80 (R1 300) Mobi Fold — a play on the word “mobile” — was designed to be used in places like cafes, airport lounges and hotel lobbies. In a statement Wednesday, Logitech said it sees the product serving a large potential market: the vast majority of workers who don’t use a mouse when working in public.
The Mobi Fold’s design resembles the similarly priced Surface Arc mouse from Microsoft, though that device flattens down instead of folding in half. Logitech’s model also has a built-in battery that can be recharged over USB-C, whereas Microsoft’s requires AAA alkaline batteries. Unfolding it automatically powers it on, and collapsing it will turn the device off to conserve battery.
The Mobi Fold can last for as long as 30 days on a full battery, and Logitech claims a one-minute charge can restore 22 hours of usage. You can pair the mouse with up to three devices via Bluetooth or with Logitech’s wireless USB receiver, making it easy to switch between a laptop, tablet and smartphone.
The Mobi Fold could also appeal to owners of foldable phones, as those devices can unfurl to about the size of a tablet, making a standalone mouse more appealing.
Logitech claims the mouse’s hinge has been tested to withstand 15 years of daily use and says the design provides a 22% reduction in muscle strain compared with a laptop trackpad. It can be used with Windows, Mac, Android and iOS/iPadOS devices, though Logitech’s Options+ software, which lets you customise settings like pointer and scrolling speed, is only available for PCs and Macs.
Over a few days of testing the Mobi Fold, it has worked fine with a MacBook Pro, but scrolling on an iPad Pro with the middle touchpad can sometimes be jittery and less pleasant than the trackpad on Apple’s Magic Keyboard. The mouse’s curved shape is ergonomic and comfortable, and the 79-gram weight barely registers in a bag or a coat pocket.
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