Anyone who works with a computer for a long time, regardless of how ergonomic the furniture and peripherals are, sooner or later faces discomfort in the wrist - numbness, tingling, loss of sensation, and even pain. These are all possible manifestations of carpal tunnel syndrome, or carpal tunnel syndrome (a rarer variant is ulnar tunnel syndrome, and another variant is neck problems). This is a fairly common disease that, if progressed, can lead to the loss of some fine motor functions and even atrophy of the thumb muscles. There are various methods of preventing and treating carpal tunnel syndrome, and one of the prevention methods is to replace a regular computer mouse with a special vertical mouse. Let's see what these vertical mice are and how they work.
Disclamer
The editors of Mezha do not have medical training and cannot recommend any particular method of solving health problems. All the facts and advice below are based on the author's individual experience and may not work in your specific case. Therefore, in the event of unpleasant wrist syndromes, we advise you to consult a specialist doctor first and follow his or her recommendations.
A little more about carpal tunnel syndrome
Carpal tunnel syndrome describes a set of symptoms that are felt in the wrist, hand and fingers, and in advanced cases in the forearm, shoulder and even neck. Unpleasant sensations occur due to compression of the median nerve in the narrow carpal tunnel.
The carpal tunnel or carpal tunnel is a passage on the palmar side of the wrist that connects the forearm to the hand. Nine tendons from the forearm flexor group and the median nerve pass through the tunnel. At its narrowest point, the tunnel's cross-sectional area is only 1.6 cm², so if any of the tendons swell or degenerate, the canal narrows, which can lead to compression of the median nerve and cause discomfort.
There are many causes of tendon swelling and narrowing of the canal. This can be an injury to the wrist area, including bone fractures and bruises, arthritis of the carpal tunnel joint, tumors, and inflammation of the tendons. Pregnancy, diabetes mellitus, thyroid dysfunction, etc. also affect the condition of the canal.
It is believed that the uncomfortable position of the hands, stress and constant monotonous movements, in particular when working with a computer keyboard and mouse, aggravate carpal tunnel syndrome.
There are many methods of treating the syndrome, depending on its severity. These include an orthosis (rigid bandage) of the carpal tunnel joint to fix it at rest, medication, physiotherapy, and even surgery in the most severe cases.
But the first thing your doctor will advise you when diagnosing carpal tunnel syndrome is to stop performing the repetitive movements that cause symptoms as much as possible. If you constantly work and/or play at a PC for many hours a day, this is simply impossible. And that's where trackballs and vertical mice come in.
Trackballs
A trackball is actually a very good solution to the problem of monotonous wrist strain, because when you use it, your palm and wrist take a different position and perform completely different movements than when you use a regular mouse, but this peripheral is not for everyone.
Interestingly, trackballs were invented in 1946 as a control device for the British Navy's Comprehensive Display System. Initially, the device was called a ball tracker, which later turned into a trackball. Some military systems, including radar and air defense command systems, still use trackballs today.
Kensington Orbit Optical TrackballBut accuracy comes at a price, and the low rotational speed of a trackball's heavy and large ball makes it almost impossible to use such devices in video games. Although unicorns who play with trackballs certainly exist, as do specialized gaming trackballs. In any case, in most games and common programs, a mouse or trackpad is more convenient and faster than a trackball, and such cursor control devices do not require a significant change in skills or time to get used to.
So we're back to vertical mice.
Vertical mice, how it works
The idea behind the vertical mouse concept is very simple. If the cause of carpal tunnel syndrome is compression of the median nerve in a narrow carpal tunnel, then you need to widen the tunnel and remove the compression by turning the palm and wrist from an uncomfortable and unnatural horizontal position to an almost vertical position. The tendons will stop twisting, the width of the canal will increase, and the pressure on the median nerve will decrease.
In fact, almost all modern ergonomic mice try to rotate the palm a little, but most of them, such as the Logitech MX Master 3S or Razer Naga X, have an angle of 5-10 degrees, while vertical mice rotate the palm and wrist at once by 55-70 degrees. As they say, feel the difference.
This position does reduce the pressure on the median nerve and unpleasant symptoms in the wrist, but you need to understand that this is not a panacea and, by and large, not a cure, but rather prevention and freezing of the current state of affairs. If the symptoms worsen, you will still need to see a doctor.
Getting used to and relearning
Unlike a trackball, which takes some time to master, changing your skills, getting used to a vertical mouse doesn't take much time, you can learn in just one day and after that, a regular, "horizontal" mouse will seem uncomfortable.
Personally, I had the most problems with the normal click, during which the mouse moved slightly to the left, throwing off the aim in games, but in a few days I got used to this button position and was able to play even competitive shooters normally. But you need to understand that almost all vertical mice are heavier and slower than regular mice, and they are equipped with simple office optical sensors that are inferior to gaming ones. So it's unlikely that you'll be able to compete at a professional level, but a vertical mouse won't hurt to play for fun.
Keep in mind that the vertical mouse is large and fits only one type of grip - the palm. The "claw" and "fingers" grips for light and medium-sized game controllers don't work at all, you just can't grip the vertical in this way. So you need to relearn.
Also, vertical mice are heavier and much taller than regular mice, so after almost 3 years of use, I can still hit the mouse when I look for it on the mat, especially at night, and given that I use wireless mice (in the case of vertical mice, wires are 100% unnecessary), it can fall off the table.
And vertical mice don't work well with wrist orthoses (rigid braces). Because of the rigid frame, which is just a piece of inflexible plastic on the palm and wrist, you won't be able to grip the mouse and you'll stop reaching some of the buttons, especially the side ones. The worst situation is with medium and small "vertical" mice (there are some of them too), when you use an orthosis, they turn into a piece of plastic. With large models, the situation is a little better, but you will only play turn-based strategies, economic managers, and card games, and you will have to forget about shooters and RTS for a while. As well as the precise small-scale work of designers, artists, planners, etc. But nothing can be done about it.
To be fair, conventional mice, especially small and medium-sized ones, also do not work well with orthoses. So do gamepads and joysticks. Maybe it's a little easier with trackpads and trackballs, but the author hasn't tested that. With smartphones and tablets, there are almost no problems, the touchscreen is our everything. By the way, typing fast with an orthosis on a low-profile keyboard is generally normal, you just need to get used to it. Although you will lose about 20-30% of your initial speed.
Personal experience
I have been working and playing at a computer for over 12 hours a day for 32 years. I started experiencing wrist discomfort 20 years ago, but a few years ago it worsened significantly, so I went to the doctor, received medication and advice to change my field of activity. Since the latter was not an option, and the discomfort in my wrist appeared with any kind of stress (the worst was holding down the keys while drag and dropping or aiming in games), I decided to try switching to a vertical mouse instead, especially since some of my friends had already done it before.
I've been using Logitech mice and keyboards exclusively for many years now and I'm very loyal to this brand. I have owned: Logitech First Mouse (1991), Logitech MouseMan (1995), Logitech MouseMan Wheel (1999), Logitech MouseMan Dual Optical (2001), Logitech MX500 (2002), Logitech MX518 (2005), Logitech G5 second generation (2007), Logitech G500 (2009) and Logitech G500s (2013). The G502 and its variations didn't work for me, so I used G500s until 2021, and I had several of them.
So, as you can imagine, there was no question of which vertical mouse to choose. At that time, which was the summer of 2021, there was only one vertical mouse in the Logitech lineup - the Logitech MX Vertical and it cost a lot - more than $100, so at first I decided to test the concept (whether it would be convenient for me at all and whether I would be able to play with a vertical mouse) and bought an almost complete copy of the Logitech MX Vertical - Delux M618C RGB Black, which at that time cost 4 times cheaper.
Delux M618C RGB Black
Delux M618C RGB Black specifications
| Dimensions and weight | 115×80,7×75,2 mm95 g |
| Number of buttons | 6 |
| Sensor | TLSR8516 |
| Resolution | 800/1200/1600 DPI |
| Maximum speed | no data |
| Maximum acceleration | 10G |
| Connection | 2,4 GHz |
| Poll frequency | 125 Hz |
| Switches | немає даних |
| Shape | for the right hand |
| Cable | wireless |
| Battery | 1×AA |
| Battery life | no data |
| Approximate price | 900-2000 UAH |
As I said, Delux M618C RGB Black is almost a complete clone of Logitech MX Vertical in terms of shape and size, which is why I chose it for testing. But the mice still differ in weight, side button placement, and some nuances.
Delux M618C RGB Black, like Logitech MX Vertical, rotates the user's palm to a 57° angle, which is believed to relieve the wrist and reduce the number of unnecessary repetitive movements. The palm wraps around the mouse from the side, and the thumb rests on a comfortable, rather high "shelf" with two additional buttons (default back and forth in the browser).
The palm position is very comfortable and takes a few days to get used to. Technically, Delux M618C RGB Black is lighter than Logitech MX Vertical - 95 g versus 135 g. But if you add the weight of the AA battery, which, depending on the type, is 15-25 g, the difference is not so great. By the way, the lightness of a large mouse is not an advantage but a disadvantage, because it is very easy to move it accidentally due to the high profile of the controller.
The Delux M618C RGB Black connects to a PC via its own 2.4 GHz interface, the nano receiver is hidden in the mouse itself. There are questions about its power, if your PC case is made of solid thick steel, like mine, and it is under the table, the reception may be unstable.
But the main problem of Delux M618C RGB Black is the low quality of materials, buttons, scroll wheels, legs and sensor, which became the reason for me to replace this mouse rather quickly. All materials of the case and buttons are cheap, not very pleasant to the touch plastic, and the quality of the sensor... let's just say that even in office tasks it sometimes gets "lost", it's almost impossible to play with such a mouse. Another disadvantage is the non-central location of the sensor, which is significantly shifted to the left, resulting in rather unpredictable and nonlinear cursor movements.
In my opinion, the only thing that makes the Delux M618C RGB Black better than the Logitech MX Vertical is the placement of the side keys on the "shelf". It is really convenient. But the keys themselves are not very good.
In the end, I don't recommend the Delux M618C RGB Black unless you're on a tight budget or, like me, want to see if a vertical mouse is right for you.
But, Delux is one of the few companies that has a really large line of vertical mice, some of which are very unusual and even bizarrely shaped, and maybe among the older models you can find something of high quality and interest. If one of the Delux distributors decides to give us something for testing, we'll be happy to take a look.
Logitech MX Vertical
Logitech MX Vertical specifications
| Dimensions and weight | 120×79×78,5 mm135 g |
| Number of buttons | 6 |
| Sensor | Logitech Advanced Optical Tracking |
| Resolution | 400-4000 DPI |
| Maximum speed | no data |
| Maximum acceleration | no data |
| Connection | Unifying USB receiver 2,4 ГГц, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) 4.2 |
| Poll frequency | 125 Hz |
| Switches | no data, guarantee up to 10 million clicks |
| Shape | for the right hand |
| Cable | wireless, USB-C charging cable (USB-A to USB-C) |
| Battery | built-in lithium-polymer battery 240 mAh |
| Battery life | 4 months |
| Approximate price | 3200-7000 UAH |
The Logitech MX Vertical is the mouse I've had my eye on since the beginning. I've been using the MX Vertical for almost three years now, working and playing a lot. It's comfortable, reliable, high quality, but of course not cheap.
The Logitech MX Vertical has the same shape as the Delux M618C RGB Black, or rather, the Delux M618C copies the MX Vertical. But the design of the mouse from Logitech is more elegant, and the materials are much better. In 2019, it even won the Red Dot Design Award, not least because of the interesting "fan" design on the back of the body, the place for the palm. Just like the Delux M618C, the Logitech MX Vertical mouse rotates the palm of your hand 57° from the vertical.
The Logitech MX Vertical is, like the Delux M618C, a large palm grip mouse, and thanks to its size, it can be used even with an orthotic, but only for normal tasks. Access to the side buttons will be difficult.
Unlike the Delux M618C, the side buttons of the Logitech MX Vertical are not on the thumb shelf, but are shifted upward. In my opinion, their placement on the Delux M618C is more convenient, but the quality and information content of the MX Vertical click is much better. The button for changing the sensitivity of the sensor is located on the upper end, and not next to the wheel, as in the M618C, so it's simply impossible to press it by accident.
The main buttons have a short stroke and a light informative click. In the case of vertical mice, this is very important, because with tight buttons or a long stroke, you can move the mouse to the side while clicking, which will lead to a dramatic loss of accuracy in shooters. Unfortunately, the wheel of the MX Vertical is not inertial, which I have gotten used to over the years with Logitech G500s, but it has a clear stroke and click.
The case material is soft-touch plastic. Over the three years of use, it has worn out a little, but it remains just as pleasant. The only damage for 3 years is a scratch on the soft touch in the pinky area, I don't even remember how it appeared.
The MX Vertical is slightly heavier than the Delux M618C due to the built-in 240 mAh lithium-polymer battery, but this is more of an advantage than a disadvantage. The battery is charged using the included USB-C cable. You can use the mouse while it's charging, but it's not very convenient, as I said, the wires negate the advantages of vertical mice by restricting movement.
The developer writes that the battery charge should last for 4 months of operation, but this is only if the mouse is quietly lying on the table all the time, if you actively play, you need to recharge the mouse about once every two to three weeks. By the way, the first minute of charging will give you 3 hours of power, which is convenient.
MX Vertical connects to a PC using Logitech's proprietary Unifying nano receiver or via Bluetooth. Logitech promises stable reception up to 10 meters away. Of course, you can use one Unifying receiver for several Logitech wireless devices, which is what I do. The software for configuring mouse settings is the standard Logi Options+.
The MX Vertical sensor is centrally located, which is very pleasing after the strange placement of the sensor in the Delux M618C. Legs... these are real scissors. There are only two of them and they run around the entire bottom surface of the mouse. As it turned out, this is really convenient, although this shape "helps" them collect dust, so they should be cleaned from time to time.
As I've already mentioned, I play a lot of games with the Logitech MX Vertical, including shooters, including online. And I can't say that my performance is significantly different from what I demonstrated with a regular mouse. Of course, I'm not a professional player and I understand that a vertical mouse is not suitable for eSports competitions, but at the amateur level, it's comfortable and enjoyable to play with.
The Logitech MX Vertical is definitely the best vertical mouse I've tried, and I can safely recommend it to anyone who needs a similar controller and has a large palm. Of course, the price bites, and it's €100 in Europe and 3,200-7,000 in Ukraine (the average price on the market at the time of writing is 4,400 UAH).
If I change my Logitech MX Vertical in the future, it will be either for the same or the next vertical mouse in this series. But I hope that this MX Vertical will last for another 3-4 years.
Logitech Lift
Logitech Lift mouse specifications
| Dimensions and weight | 108×70×71 mm125 g |
| Number of buttons | 6 |
| Sensor | Logitech Advanced Optical Tracking |
| Resolution | 400-4000 DPI |
| Maximum speed | no data |
| Maximum acceleration | no data |
| Connection | Logi Bolt USB receiver, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) 4.2 |
| Poll frequency | 125 Hz |
| Switches | no data |
| Shape | for the right hand, for the left hand |
| Cable | wireless |
| Battery | 1×AA |
| Battery life | 24 місяці |
| Approximate price | 2400-4000 UAH |
Logitech Lift is the younger sister of MX Vertical, which was presented in 2022, and I've been looking forward to getting to know this controller for a long time.
Completely identical in shape and features to the MX Vertical, it is smaller, lighter and has a more rounded design than the older model. It's safe to say, and this is by no means sexist, that Logitech Lift is primarily aimed at women.
If the Logitech MX Vertical fits a large palm perfectly, and a person with a small palm simply won't be able to use this mouse, then the Logitech Lift is made for a small to medium palm, and a person with large hands will find it uncomfortable to use it.
Unlike the MX Vertical, which is only available in black, the Logitech Lift comes in black, white, and pink. And the latter color looks simply gorgeous, by the way.
Moreover, in addition to the Logitech Lift for right-handed people, there is also a Logitech Lift for left-handed people on sale, and this is a very rare case, a real miracle.
The Lift body is finished with the same soft-touch plastic, the top edge is rounded, and the sensitivity button has been moved from it to the scroll wheel. The side buttons are slightly larger and also have a rounded shape. As for me, they are better in MX Vertical in terms of design and pressing information. The pressing of the main buttons is soft, they have a short stroke, but the response seems a little sluggish.
Unlike the MX Vertical, the new Lift is powered by a single AA battery, which, according to the manufacturer, should last for 24 months. As you can imagine, I haven't had time to test this claim, but it seems a bit cheeky. 24 months is only good for leisurely office work, and even then it's unlikely that games should "eat up" the battery much faster.
Unlike all previous Logitech wireless devices, this mouse connects via the new Logi Bolt receiver. That is, if you also have old Logitech peripherals, you will need to use two receivers, which is not very convenient. In addition, Bluetooth connection is possible. The controller is configured using the same universal Logi Options+ utility.
The design of the legs, features, and sensor placement of the Logitech Lift are the same as those of the MX Vertical, except that the lower part is generally smaller. The battery and receiver compartments are held in place with magnetic locks, which is very convenient.
I tried to play with the Logitech Lift, and based on the characteristics of the sensor, there shouldn't be any problems. But I have a large palm, so I felt some discomfort, the fingertips protruded beyond the edge of the main keys and it was uncomfortable. A person with a medium or small palm will be comfortable playing.
Another advantage of the Logitech Lift is its price. The recommended price for Europe is €70 versus €100 for MX Vertical. In Ukraine, it costs UAH 2,400-4,000. The market average is 2,800 UAH, which is 1,600 UAH cheaper than the older model. Plus, let's not forget about the different colors and the option for left-handed people.
That is, if you have a small to medium-sized palm and need a vertical mouse, take the Logitech Lift, it's a great offer. If you have a large palm, definitely Logitech MX Vertical.
Other options
I've described only those vertical mice that I've dealt with myself. But of course, there are many more similar controllers on the market.
As we mentioned above, Delux has a large line of vertical controllers, and most of them are available in Ukraine.
Trust has a good range of models. They're even cheaper than the Delux, with both wired and wireless models available for 500-800 UAH, so if you need to try a vertical mouse, this is the one.
There are a bunch of additional lesser-known brands, but they seem to be rebranding the same Delux and Trust. For example, Adesso iMouse E9 and Anker 2.4G Wireless Vertical Ergonomic Optical Mouse are Trust.
Even Lenovo has a vertical mouse - the Lenovo Go Wireless Vertical Computer Mouse with a side panel made of natural cork.
The Microsoft Sculpt was conventionally vertical, but the original model has already been discontinued, and the new one that comes as part of the Microsoft Sculpt Comfort kit is not the same.
So there really is a choice, and if you're looking for a vertical mouse, you'll definitely find one. But let's repeat ourselves in the end. Vertical mice are not a panacea, they do not cure, they only relieve symptoms and seem to "freeze" your condition, which can worsen at any time.
Therefore, in case of discomfort in the wrist or elbow area while working at a computer, we advise you to consult a doctor first and follow his or her advice. Because, in addition to carpal tunnel syndrome and ulnar tunnel syndrome, discomfort in the wrist can be caused by problems in the cervical spine. The doctor's task is to determine what exactly needs to be treated. By the way, as it turned out, my carpal and ulnar canals are more or less normal, so the problem is most likely in my neck, we continue to look for it.
Stay healthy!