Looking to improve your ranking now that Overwatch’s competitive Season 2 is underway? First things first: use the right mouse. Who are we to say what the right mouse is? In this special edition of Test, we look at what the pros are actually using.
Looking to improve your ranking now that Overwatch’s competitive Season 2 is underway? First things first: use the right mouse. Who are we to say what the right mouse is? In this special edition of Test, we look at what the pros are actually using.
VS Logitech G303 Daedalus Apex
• Razer Deathadder Chroma
• SteelSeries Rival 300
• Zowie FK1
LOGITECH G303 DAEDALUS APEX
The Logitech G303 has an unconventional design with an angular tapered rear that can take a while to get used to. The narrow rear, short length and low-profile design makes the G303 only suitable for claw and fingertip grips as there just isn’t enough mouse for a comfortable palm grip. On the plus side, its light weight (87g), four PTFE Teflon feet and small size make it extremely fast and nimble. Strangely enough, while the mouse has a symmetrical ambidextrous shape, it only has side buttons on the left-side. The mouse is made of mostly smooth plastic with some shiny plastic trim. It resists fingerprints quite well, but does feel a little cheap. Under the left and right click are fairly light Omron switches. On the left side of the G303 there are two buttons, and behind the scroll wheel there’s a DPI button. The scroll wheel is fully rubberized, with a smooth surface without any texture or ribs to assist in scrolling. It’s a little stiff and the distance between each scroll click is quite large.
The G303 doesn’t require software to operate, but you’ll need to install Logitech’s gaming software if you want to adjust your DPI settings or change the RGB lighting. The mouse has a thick braided cable, which looks and feels nice, but kinks easily.
The G303’s Pixart PMW 3366 optical sensor tracks well, and has no acceleration, prediction or angle snapping. It has no native DPI and operates exactly the same between 200 DPI to 2000 DPI, as long as you stick to 50 DPI increments. Having said that, above 2,000 DPI (the sensor can go up to 12,000 DPI) there are some slight jitters that get progressively worse the higher you go.
+ Lightweight, four Teflon feet.
- Unconventional shape, left and right click are a little short.
USED BY
Overwatch: aKm, harbleu, TorkTJO, NicholasTJO
CS:GO: Shroud, NahtE, GeT_RiGhT, RUBINO
AT A GLANCE
DIMENSIONS 115 x 65 x 37mm
WEIGHT 87g
BUTTONS 6
SENSORS PIXART PMW 3366
DPI RANGE 200-12,000
PRICE US$69.99*
*The Logitech G303 Daedalus Apex isn’t officially released in Singapore and Southeast Asia.
There’s a dedicated DPI button behind the scroll wheel.
The G303 has RGB lighting on the sides and G logo.
RAZER DEATHADDER CHROMA
Modelled after the shape of the legendary Microsoft IntelliMouse Explorer 3.0, the Deathadder is a fairly large mouse with an ergonomic right-handed shape and a prominent hump in the middle that makes it most suitable for palm grips. Claw grip users will also fare well, but it’s a bit too big for most fingertip grips.
The Chroma is the most recent version of the Deathadder, and adds RGB lighting and a new Avago 3989 optical sensor. The mouse has a matte plastic finish with a gritty feel. The rough finish is an acquired taste but helps prevent hand slippage, even when your palms are sweaty. The left and right click buttons are contoured and provide comfortable grooves for your fingers to rest in. The switches underneath are unspecified Omron models and are very light, requiring minimum force to activate. While this is nice in theory, it sometimes results in accidental double clicks. Two over-sized side buttons can be found on the left-side, and are a little firmer. Since 2013, the Deathadder has had micro-dot textured rubber grips along the left and right side for added stability. There’s a braided mouse cable, but it kinks quite easily. Unfortunately, there is no dedicated DPI button.
While the Deathadder will work without software, you’ll have to install Synapse 2.0 to be able to configure the mouse. Once installed you can access DPI settings as well as RGB lighting options. You can also rebind one of the side keys if you want to switch DPI on the fly.
The Avago 3989 optical sensor is excellent, and has no prediction, angle snapping or acceleration across its 100-10,000 DPI range. Having said that, its native DPI is 1800, and it performs best at this setting.
+ Comfortable ergonomic shape, contoured left and right click.
- No dedicated DPI button, software installation basically mandatory.
USED BY
Overwatch: winz, Twoeasy, vallutaja, liddano
CS:GO: Hazed, k0nfig, FNS, Fugly
AT A GLANCE
DIMENSIONS 127 x 70 x 44mm
WEIGHT 105g
BUTTONS 5
SENSORS Avago 3989
DPI RANGE 100-10,000
PRICE $119.90
The Deathadder has textured rubber grips along the left and right side.
The Deathadder Chroma has RGB lighting on the scrollwheel and Razer logo.
STEELSERIES RIVAL 300
First off, it’s worth noting that many progamers are actually using the original SteelSeries Rival, which is no longer available. Its replacement, the Rival 300, is virtually identical, but with more durable side grips.
The Rival 300, like the Razer Deathadder, is based on Microsoft’s IntelliMouse Explorer 3.0, with a large ergonomic shape and a high profile. The Rival 300 is a bit boxier overall, and less contoured than the Deathadder, which makes it better for people with larger hands, and suitable for both palm and claw grip users. The mouse has a soft-touch rubberized finish on top, with large, textured side grips on both the left and right side. The left and right click use SteelSeries’ own switches, which are quite heavy, but feel a little mushy. Behind the notched, rubberized scroll wheel there’s a dedicated DPI button. On the left side, there’s two side buttons, with the back button being much longer than the forward button, which provides some nice tactile feedback.
The mouse works without software, and comes with 800 and 1600 DPI as the two preset settings. While these are quite usable, if you want to access other DPI settings, you’ll have to install SteelSeries’ Engine 3 software, which will also let you adjust the RGB lighting.
The Rival 300 uses a Pixart PMW 3310 sensor, which is functionally identical to the old Avago 3310 (Pixart now has the license to manufacture all Avago sensors). The sensor is essentially flawless without any acceleration, prediction or angle snapping and has a DPI range of 50 to 6,500. Like the Logitech G303, the Rival 300 doesn’t have a native DPI and works well at any DPI setting in 50 step increments.
+ Comfortable ergonomic shape, large textured side grips.
- Switches feel a little mushy.
USED BY
Overwatch: Kruise, Shadez, Mint, zaphe
CS:GO: olofmeister, fer, Friberg, tenzki
AT A GLANCE
DIMENSIONS 133 x 70 x 45mm
WEIGHT 103g
BUTTONS 6
SENSORS Pixart PMW 3310
DPI RANGE 50-6,500
PRICE $109.90
There’s a dedicated DPI button behind the scroll wheel.
The Rival 300 has RGB lighting on the scrollwheel and SteelSeries logo.
ZOWIE FK1
The Zowie FK1 is an ambidextrous lowprofile mouse that is best suited for claw or fingertip gamers. There are actually three versions of this mouse: along with the FK1, there’s the smaller FK2, and the larger FK1+. Alternatively, if you use a palm grip, Zowie’s ZA series is basically identical, but with a higher profile designed to sit more snugly in your palm. All of Zowie’s mice use the same hardware and cost the same price, so it’s just a matter of finding the shape and size that works best for you.
The FK1 has a minimalist black plastic finish with glossy black plastic found only on the side buttons. Under the left and right click are Huano switches, which are a little on the heavy side but are really crisp and satisfying to click. And unlike the lighter Omron switches, there’s no chance of accidental double clicks.
The mouse is fairly light at just 90g (Zowie’s smaller mice are even lighter), which makes it fast and agile and the two feet on the bottom are large and silky smooth (as a nice bonus, there are two replacement feet included in the box). The mouse is completely driverless and all options can be configured and saved on the mouse itself. On the bottom of the mouse is a DPI switch button that cycles through four DPI settings (400, 800, 1600, 3200); the light color indicating your current DPI (red = 400, purple = 800 etc.). To switch polling rates, you simply hold down one of the side buttons while plugging the mouse in.
All of Zowie’s mice use Avago 3310 sensors, which is widely regarded as one of the best sensors around. It is essentially flawless, without prediction, angle snapping or acceleration, and works well at all DPI settings.
+ Lightweight, completely driverless, crisp switches, multiple size options.
- No option to fine tune DPI settings.
USED BY
Overwatch: INTERNETHULK, talespin, chipshajen, harryhook
CS:GO: reltuC, TACO, MSL, Subroza
AT A GLANCE
DIMENSIONS 128 x 67 x 37mm
WEIGHT 90g
BUTTONS 6
SENSORS Avago 3310
DPI RANGE 400-3,200
PRICE $109
There’s a dedicated DPI button on the bottom of the mouse.
The two feet on the bottom of the mouse are oversized and ultra smooth.
THE BEST PRO-GAMER FPS GAMING MOUSE IS
Zowie FK1
The Zowie FK1 may not have the flashy RGB lighting or advanced software of the other mice in our shootout but it honestly doesn’t need it. It just works, and its simple design and elegant plug-and-play functionality means that you never have to worry about driver issues or malfunctioning software, whether you’re at home or at a LAN. Zowie is also the only brand that offers the same mouse in a variety of sizes, so you can find the one that best suits your exact hand size and grip style. Finally, we loved the FK1’s crisp Huano switches, which never suffered from accidental double-clicks like the lighter Omron switches favored by Razer and Logitech.
