Building the mouse Logitech won't make

My favorite mouse is the Logitech Anywhere MX. It's highly comfortable despite being pretty small. The back/forward buttons on the side are indispensable for web browsing, file management, and switching weapons in first-person shooters. It takes two AA batteries which last for months and take seconds to swap out. The dongle is small and has good range. The scroll wheel switches between clicky and free-scrolling.

It's pretty much the perfect mouse, IMO, to the point that I built up a back stock by hoarding new and open box on eBay. But there are two main problems:

1) The the microswitches go bad after a couple years. It's possible to replace them, but it's tedious and you run a very real risk of damaging the PCB (as I have already done).

2) The dongle is USB Type-A only. Logitech actively refused to make a USB-C unifying receiver. I assume they wanted to shift to bluetooth but they still made unifying receiver devices for years and years after bluetooth was everywhere, so I dunno.

As far as newer iterations, the Anywhere MX 2S is somewhat tolerable, but it has a built-in battery which must be charged every couple of months, which is annoying. All of the newer Anywhere MX mice are even worse because they changed the basic functionality/features of the mouse with each revision. Oh, yes and they cost $90 (!) retail now.

So basically one of my side-projects, one of these days, is going to be to try building an open source Anywhere MX clone. Should be a fun yet challenging endeavour. I know there are a bunch of online communities making their own keyboards from scratch and at great expense, is there such a thing for mice?

I like my Anywhere MX 3.

The smaller size is actually ideal for my fingertip grip, and I actually like the rechargeable battery. It lasts well over a month on a single charge and then charges really quickly (if it ever does go flat, just chuck it on the charger while you make a coffee, 2-3 min is enough to last the rest of the day). And I love the scroll wheel.

The microswitches going bad is a massive downside.

I read somewhere that it's caused by static build up due to Logitech using much lower voltage/current than what the switches were originally designed for... After a bit of experimentation, I found that simply breathing warm air into the side of the left button clears up my issues for a few days....

Which is stupid annoying workaround, but what else am I going to do, buy a second one which probably has the same flaw?

I too use the mx 3. It’s a great mouse that can also travel easily in my laptop bag.

I went to get a new one to keep at my office last year and noticed that the buttons had changed from clicky ones to silent ones. That drove me nuts and I returned the new version. However, the issue you mention with static and the buttons might explain the change. I thought it was just a vendor making a good device cheaper to manufacture. Maybe it was a better version after all?

Yeah... apparently the MX Anywhere 3S uses new "silent" switches, which I was hoping might fix the issue.

But I've found one post complaining about bad switches on the Anywhere 3S and a few complaining about the MX Master 3S (which uses the same switches?).

I'm sticking with my current mouse for now, since I know it's quirks.

I have a couple of 2s/3s.

I like the 2s feel better. I like the 3s USB C portable better.