Corsair Raptor M30/M40, SteelSeries Sensei

Corsair Raptor M30

Corsair realizes not anybody tin can, or will, spend upward of $60 to $90 on a gaming mouse, just may bite on something a fleck more affordable. Enter the Raptor M30, Corsair'due south $45 solution that comes with a 4000 DPI Avago ADNS-3090 optical sensor and 1000Hz response time -- plenty to satisfy any weekend warrior.

The M30 has a generous 6' USB cablevision protected with standard braided material, while its rubberized/matte stop is comfortable and attractive. It also has a larger raised pollex-grip area on the left side, making this a right-handed mouse.

The two pollex buttons are in a higher place the grip surface area and provide great feedback. Being a 5-push mouse comes offers express options, but yous can still assign your settings in game. There are limited buttons, you lot can still assign your settings in game and it works out to exist enough to assist out a little in almost games.

When toggled, Corsair's DPI button triggers LEDs to switch in the clear scroll wheel. Speaking of which, the scroll wheel lacks a piddling weight or something and its feedback isn't equally nice as Corsair'south pricier models.

At a much lighter 120g and With a substantially larger glide pad and a lighter weight of 120g, the M30 can sometimes feel a piffling too nimble and may frustrate those used to a heftier mouse. Nosotros miss the rigid aluminum frame of Corsair's other models likewise, though the company's ii-year warranty suggests that the cheaper version should hold up.

There isn't any software to speak of and without slick macro support nosotros can meet MMORPG players scratching this one off the list. Yous also can't change the polling rate, merely this isn't as big of a deal.

Corsair Raptor M40

Next up, Corsair's Raptor M40 is a 'budget' optical version of the company's heavier M65 FPS Laser mouse. While only bachelor in black, information technology still looks fantastic, though nosotros wouldn't blame yous for disliking its glowing red Corsair logo.

While similar in size, the M40 is a fair drop in weight at 115g compared to the M65 at 135grams. This is probably mostly due to its plastic trunk versus the M65's aluminum parts. Along with being 20g lighter, you tin still remove 16g with its familiar-looking vi-piece weight and balance tuning organization.

This makes the M40 a good selection for those who prefer something snappier, especially because its PTFE glide pads, while its grip and build quality are both solid.

With the Avago ADNS-3090 4000 DPI optical sensor, buyers should be happy to get a tried and truthful part with some quality tracking and enough DPI to cover most gaming scenarios.

Switching between FPS and RTS was effortless and the optical sensor was comfy after a short warm up and setting upward the mouse buttons in Corsair's software. At that place are seven programmable buttons and the two nearest the thumb are well-placed and feel great. Again, as per the M65, this pattern just feels right and the slightly reduced weight on the M40 may adapt you.

The M40 has the aforementioned onboard contour storage equally all of Corsair's mice aside from the cheapest pick, the M30. We're not sure if this is a key characteristic, simply it ultimately depends on how often y'all reformat or play on different machines. Nosotros were pleased to detect the same textured side grip and quality high-mass coil bike. We hope Corsair either keeps or melody these features slightly to keep them present in upcoming models. The company'southward software is reliable and relatively well coded with no lag, shortcomings or frustrations to note.

SteelSeries Sensei

SteelSeries is next in the firing line with its Sensei, which seems to be aimed at gamers who love precision and customization. In our opinion, this mouse seems a little banal, if non inexpensive at starting time with its 'metallic' styling. Judging from looks alone, this mouse may lose a few buyers.

Weighing only 108g (without the cable) and measuring 123mm long x 67mm wide 10 36mm tall, this silver surfer is one of the lightest and smallest in our roundup. While usually a hook gamer, information technology became almost 2d nature to utilise more of a palm grip with this mouse for several unfortunate reasons.

Showtime, sweat. Slick palms kept u.s. constantly switching from claw to palm considering of hand cramping while trying to maintain a tight grip. Second, while in hook grip, nosotros accidentally pressed the two buttons on the right likewise often to dismiss it as a not-result. The same misclicks occurred while in palm grip, just less frequently. On top of all that, the cable tends to agglomeration up pretty easily, which can be frustrating.

On the bright side, the Sensei Pro Form'south buttons feel great while its scroll cycle has a simplistic precision about it that gives the correct results every time. We plant vi to be the number of buttons that is natural, so eight should be enough for the average FPS and RTS gamer. Additionally, it feels pretty solid so we doubt information technology'll wear out quickly.

SteelSeries' software is probably our favorite part of this bundle every bit you can create equally many profiles every bit you desire and store five of them on the mouse's onboard storage -- plenty to embrace almost gamers. There are besides a few pre-programmed for popular games.

These can exist ready to auto-load as yous run the specified EXE, which is great for prototype editing, browsing, gaming customization etc. Everything works well including the customization of nearly everything about how information technology interacts with the mouse pad and your PC with settings for CPI (up to 11,400), dispatch, aim, elevator, polling rate, LCD brightness/contrast etc. Combine this with the advanced macro editor, less than noob-friendly design and frankly, you could quite hands spend a few hours tweaking in the offset few days.

It seems strange to make a mouse with then much customization yet non permit some sort of weight tuning for mass appeal, which is arguably one of this model's cardinal selling points to brainstorm with considering its simple ambidextrous design. Nosotros also wish SteelSeries would move the Sensei's LCD console to the rear of the mouse so you can truly use your own logo. It was disappointing to see the box mention a customizable LCD panel with support for your own logo, simply to open the box and find out information technology was on the bottom. We did enjoy the LEDs on top all the same, with nearly whatsoever color possible across the three lit areas.