The Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 computer that I purchased demonstrated multiple failures and defects, but I am wondering if one of the annoying behaviors was normal.
Suppose that you have a Bluetooth mouse connected to a laptop. You don’t use it for a couple of minutes because you’re typing on the keyboard. You touch the mouse. Is it normal for the mouse/computer to ignore the first second of motion/input? That was sort of the best case performance of any Bluetooth mouse and the Dell (the worst-case for Bluetooth was that the machine would ignore all mouse input after a brief functional period).
Readers: Have you ever tried a Bluetooth mouse? Does it function like a wired mouse or is there a latency period if you try to point after a minute or two of idle time?
[Separately, I continue to be awed by Dell’s strategy for avoiding handling returns. If you call their return line they put you in various loops for 20-30 minutes at a time until you give up. Eventually you might connect to a human who will then say “Oh, it has been more than 30 days since your invoice was generated so we can’t process a return.” I’m not sure how they can sustain this given that the credit card chargeback time limit is 120 days. Do they just wait to see if consumers will do a chargeback for defective goods and then issue a refund rather than fight with Visa/MC/Amex?]
Hey Phil,
I have an older Alienware (which is also technically a dell laptop) that i’ve never been able to connect a bluetooth mouse to. Despite a solid couple hours of trouble shooting.
So to answer your question, no I’ve never experienced any latency.
No latency here. I have a Logitech and a HP mouse that I use. My wife has a Microsoft mouse that she uses. They all work fine with the dongles they came with. We have never used one with the computer built in Bluetooth stuff.
Are you going to send back the Dell and get your money back via your credit card? I would do it before your time runs out if you can. I don’t know how to go about that but good luck. I bet finding some way to send it back to get Dell so they will accept the shipment will be hard.
Good Luck.
I definitely get latency on bluetooth headphones so I would not be surprised if it is present in mice also (although your problem sounds more like something involving a sleep function than full time latency) . I think you are better off with a dedicated wireless mouse. If you can’t find one for usb-c then an $1 chinese adapter would take care of that.
I assume the mouse goes into some sort of sleep mode to save the batteries if you don’t move it for a while. I also assume this is built into the hardware and is not something you can change in the drivers (I don’t mean the computer sleeping, I mean the mouse itself sleeping).
Bluetooth in general has been a pain to work reliably for me. I usually get only an ~80% reconnect rate when I turn on my media stick pc (lenovo pc 300 stick) to use with my bluetooth mouse and keyboard (both Apple).
I have also noticed Bluetooth mice (and keyboards) to have latency, especially when using them after ~15mins of “rest”. I think it might be because of some battery saving mode when not in constant use (probably depends on the brand/model). Maybe this causes a ‘re-pairing’ bluetooth event everytime the mouse comes back on.
Another thing I’ve noticed, the pc stick uses the same antenna for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. This causes all sorts of problem when I have both on. So to circumvent this I use a wifi dongle for the pc stick, so that the two don’t conflict anymore (bad design by lenovo). Maybe your laptop is also doing the same trick (ie. sharing the same antenna) ? Something to try, maybe turning off the Wi-Fi for a moment to see if latency improves.
Folks: I tried the same MSFT mouse with a Surface Book and don’t remember any of these issues, so I’m not sure if it is the mouse trying to save power. Why would it behave differently than the dongle-dependent wireless mice? I thought that Bluetooth was supposed to be efficient? Are the communications methods used by the dongle mice actually much lower power? The MSFT folding mouse shouldn’t need to be aggressive about power-saving because it is typically unfolded and therefore switched totally off when not in use. It won’t be left on a desktop for days or weeks with the blue light glowing.
I never had any problems with BT mice (Apple, Logitech) and my Macs. I prefer wired mice because you don’t have the hassle of changing batteries every now and then.
There will be some latency (milliseconds) that gamers find objectionable, which is why they prefer wired ones.
The wireless dongles used by certain mice are indeed lower-power than older Bluetooth versions, but I doubt they are more efficient than Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE, a.k.a Bluetooth 4.0), which reduced power consumption significantly at the expense of some range and data bandwidth. You may be experiencing compatibility issues because of BLE vs. old Bluetooth compatibility in some older chipsets.
Never any latency. Used Logitech MX-Master bluetooth mouse and Microsoft Arc Touch (folding) Bluetooth mouse, paired with built-in Windows 10 bluetooth on Lenovo Thinkpad Yoga (2016), Surface Pro 3, Surface Pro 4, and Surface Book — no dongles. Absolutely no problem.
dingus: “So to answer your question, no I’ve never experienced any latency.”
In your case, the latency is infinite (not zero).
bill: “They all work fine with the dongles they came with.”
The dongles aren’t bluetooth. So, the fact the dongles work isn’t really relevant to a question about bluetooth. The dongles are supposed to be more reliable.
I have this mouse.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000Q7V0W4/
On an HP laptop, it takes a mouseclick to reconnect, and I typically re position the marker using trackpad before the reconnect click, to avoid unintended action. The mouse will go to sleep after a few minutes of inaction.
I did have a problem connecting for a while, it was related to power saving settings in windows (7) bluetooth driver. Also, if using bluetooth mouse on another device, I typically will have to delete device and reconfigure.
You’re not selling me on Dell. Nope. Will stick with my Macbook Air, thanks.
Bluetooth is a general purpose protocol that has to be flexible enough to accommodate not just mice but audio, keyboards, printers, etc.
By contrast, a non-bluetooth wireless mouse can run on its own proprietary protocol – doesn’t have to interoperate with anything but its own matched dongle and the communications can be optimized for mouse traffic.
I use a Microsoft Surface mouse with my MacBook Pro. When I wake the external display and raise the backlight brightness on the Retina display sometimes I have to open the bluetooth preferences and nudge the entry for Surface Mouse in order for the mouse to become active again. Also, if I haven’t used the machine in a a while, yes, it will take a second or so for the mouse movement to translate into a cursor movement.
This behavior is peculiar. I have not seen it happen with an Apple mouse, and not when using the wireless mice that use the proprietary RF to USB dongles.
I’ve had a similar problem with both bluetooth Apple Magic Mice that I’ve owned and used with my Macbook Pro. After even a few moments of inactivity, they will become completely unresponsive to finger swipes on the mouse surface. I have to actually click the damn mouse a few times to get it to “wake up”. Very annoying.
Used several Bluetooth mice from Apple’s magic mouse to the very cheapest found on Amazon. No latency problems either with Mac or Linux.
I have a MS BT mouse that I used on a Dell Windows 5175 tablet. It doesn’t appear to have any of the latency you are seeing. (The dongles (not BT) appear to work better but the dongle doesn’t work for my needs.)
I have a Lenovo Thinkpad T460s and a Lenovo bluetooth mouse/keyboard combo. It has latency when I first use it after it automatically shuts down, after which a keypress and 3-second wait is required to restart it. However, it only shuts down after a long period of non-use, way more than a couple of minutes. I also have a logitech wireless trackball, which uses a proprietary wireless dongle, and that has no noticeable latency ever.
For customer service struggles, GetHuman.com is a company that handles cases like this for you so you don’t have to wait on hold. I recently used them to reduce my Comcast bill, and would probably hire them again in your case.