Unlike gaming peripherals, productivity mice tend toward modest design. The HP 930 Creator Wireless Mouse ($89.99), the company’s newest high-end office mouse for power users, is about as far out there as productivity mice get, which isn’t far: It has a thumb wing and more side buttons than usual. Its solid shape makes it comfortable for long work days. Competing with elite office mice like the $99.99 Logitech MX Master 3, our Editors’ Choice pick in this category, the 930 Creator also has strong customization features and long battery life. It’s a fine productivity mouse for creative professionals and anyone else.
It’s a Lot of Office Mouse
The HP 930 Creator riffs on what I think of as the modern model for premium office mice. Clad in silver and gray, it has a tall, wide design—1.72 by 3.06 by 4.88 inches (HWD)—that feels even wider when you factor in the large, ripple-textured thumb support protruding from the left side. It weighs 4.66 ounces, which is quite heavy for a mouse; you might feel the heft during precision image editing and gaming, but otherwise it feels neither heavy nor light. The mildly sloping chassis provides plenty of support across the full width of your hand, and the thumb wing allows you to rest your hand on the mouse without gripping it tightly.
The 930 Creator has 10 buttons, seven of which are customizable. On top is the usual layout: two clicks, a scroll wheel, and a button in the center column. In addition to the usual center click, the scroll wheel can tilt left or right. The tilt actions scroll left and right by default, but I think they serve better for app-specific functions such as opening a new tab in Chrome or showing and hiding meeting participants in Zoom. I also like using the tilt inputs for vertical scrolling, as the wheel itself feels loose and, at times, a bit imprecise.
Four additional buttons are lined up along the seam between the mouse’s top and side plates. The first three are set to back, Windows task view, and forward; all are customizable. The last button, offset slightly behind those, is a quick select button that lets you switch among the mouse’s three wireless channels. Once you pair the mouse with multiple devices, the quick switch allows you to swap among them with a couple of presses. Having the ability to jump from device to device is really helpful if you regularly use both a laptop and desktop throughout the day.
Let’s talk about those signals a bit. The 930 Creator features two Bluetooth channels, which will pair with any Bluetooth-enabled device, and a low-latency 2.4GHz wireless connection that pairs via a wireless USB dongle. The 2.4GHz dongle has become the connection of choice in recent years, especially for gamers, because it tends to be more stable and introduces less lag. However, Bluetooth drains less battery and can connect to a wider range of devices. All three channels worked fine for me for general computing, including word processing and web browsing, even in a “crowded” environment with lots of Bluetooth signals in the air. A dongle storage slot is hidden under a removable panel covering the bottom of the mouse, so you won’t lose that crucial tiny piece of hardware.
Regardless of whether you use it in Bluetooth or 2.4GHz mode, the 930 Creator gets great battery life. According to HP, the mouse should last up to 12 weeks on a single charge. That estimate is most likely based on using it in Bluetooth mode, but I used the mouse for more than two weeks in 2.4GHz mode and found the battery level only dropped by about 20%. When you need to charge, you can continue using the mouse while plugging it in via its USB-C charging cable. However, unlike many wireless mice, it won’t establish a wired connection over the cable, so you will need to keep your wireless connection open.
A Near-Excess of Configuration Options
The 930 Creator has a surprisingly robust set of customization features that you access through HP Accessory Center, HP’s configuration app for productivity gear. The app (which runs on both Windows and macOS) looks a bit dark and plain, but it’s very usable. It allows you to remap most of the mouse’s buttons and set multiple types of custom non-input shortcuts, among a host of other features.
As with many productivity mice, you don’t quite get full control. HP Accessory Center lets you remap seven of the 10 buttons on the 930 Creator; left click, wireless select, and the button just below the scroll wheel (which switches between segmented and unfettered wheel-scrolling) are locked. It isn’t a huge loss—you shouldn’t remap either of the first two, at least—but limiting users this way has always felt a little obnoxious.
Still, the set of options you have at your disposal is impressive. Accessory Center allows you to reset your default inputs and make custom profiles for individual apps. For popular apps such as Chrome, Microsoft Office, and Zoom, custom input options include app-specific functions such as opening new documents or tabs. Some apps also allow you to set a radial menu for access to multiple functions. It’s worth noting that figuring out what some of these features do and how they work can get slightly confusing. As you wade deeper into the custom configuration pool, you may have to use trial and error to get functions to work as expected.
In addition to your inputs, Accessory Center allows you to set extra shortcuts using Edge Layout, which triggers actions when you move your cursor to the corners or sides of your screen. Edge Layout works really well for some kinds of shortcuts, but not for others. For example, if you set one corner to mute your system, you won’t be able to unmute it via the same corner, because the function is Mute, not Toggle Mute. Also, if you use multiple monitors, the Edge Layout shortcuts apply to both monitors individually, which may lead you to accidentally trigger a shortcut when you move your cursor from one screen to another.
A Solid Pick for Creators…and Everyone Else
The HP 930 Creator is a very nice productivity mouse. The name belies a lack of distinctively creative-specific features, but power users of any kind will appreciate the bevy of buttons and customization options.
At $89.99, the 930 Creator costs just $10 less than our favorite productivity mouse, the Logitech MX Master 3. The two mice are comparable, but the MX Master 3 feels more polished in a few small but noticeable ways, particularly its precise electromagnetic scroll wheel. Don’t give up on the 930 Creator just because there’s something even better out there, though. It’s still one of the best office mice you can get.
