Cooler Master Mouse Roundup Review

Cooler Master Mouse Roundup Review

Introduction

COOLER MASTER has a long tradition of producing high-end and affordable gaming equipment, and they were kind enough to send over the Xornet II, Sentinel III, Mizar and Havoc for a COOLER MASTER Mouse Roundup. Three reviewers tackling four mice to give you the low-down on some of the toughest gaming gear out there. Having been a fan of the original Sentinel, which still floats around the lab and has been in continuous use since it came out, we are especially excited to see the Sentinel III in the lineup. We’ve come a long way from the original one button mouse a couple of decades back, with these high-end devices of gaming destruction, you will seldom see a collection like this in one place. So sit back and enjoy the low down on four of COOLER MASTER’s best mice.

CMStorm Xornet II

Overview

The Xornet II is a mouse that caters to those users that prefer a “claw style” grip on their mouse. This style of use typically brings the pointer and middle fingers back towards the body of the hand and results in using the tips of the fingers to depress the mouse buttons, instead of the pads of these fingers. Cooler Master has taken this type of grip into consideration, and has released an updated version of their Xornet line of mice. One thing that you will notice with a first glance at the Xornet II is that it is quite a bit shorter in length than your standard mouse. This makes sense, since the claw grip style reduces the overall grip size.

Features and Specifications

Claw Style Grip – As we have already mentioned, the Xornet II is designed with claw-style grip users in mind. Cooler Master claims that this design can help to prevent cramping and improve comfort. This was our first real experience with a claw grip mouse, so the use of this form-factor took a bit to get used to, but was comfortable none the less.

On-The-Fly DPI Settings – Pretty standard nowadays with gaming mice, the Xornet II offers on-the-fly DPI adjustment via three preset DPI profiles. The DPI range spans 500-3500, and while this is range isn’t quite as large as many other gaming mice, just the offering of this feature keeps the Xornet II current with other mice on the market. The illuminated mouse wheel changes color with the different DPI settings so that you know exactly what setting you are on with a quick glance.

Adjustable Lift Off Distance (LOD) – Moving from different mousing surfaces can give very different experiences, but thanks to the adjustable LOD, you can adjust these settings inside the software package to tune the mouse to your different mousing surfaces.

RGB LED Illumination – While not lit up like Clark Griswold’s house at Christmas time, the Xornet II does features an LED illuminated mouse wheel. This wheel changes color with each DPI setting, and can be customized to take advantage of 16.8 million colors.

Software – Making the DPI and color customization is very easy, thanks to the software that comes packaged with the Xornet II. Other features of the software are the customization of button functions, as well as adjusting the lift off distance of the mouse.

Specifications

Model Number	SGM-2002-KLON1
Grip Type	Claw
Material	Plastic/Rubber
Color	Black
LEDs	RGB
Sensor	Avago 3320 Optical Sensor
CPI / DPI	3 levels and up to 3500 DPI
Tracking Speed	80 ips
Lift Off Distance	< 3mm
Polling Rate	1000 Hz / 1 ms
Angle Snapping	NO
Mouse acceleration	20 g
Programming Profiles	Not Available
On-board Memory	8KB
Programmable buttons	7
Connector Cable	USB 2.0 1.8 m / 70.9 in
Dimensions L x W x H	105.4 x 76.6 x 37.2 mm 4.15 x 3.01 x 1.46 in
Weight	132 g / 0.291 lbs
Weight (without USB Cable)	80g / 0.177lbs
Software	YES
Accessories	NO

Closer Look

Packaging

As can be seen in the introduction of this roundup, all of Cooler Master’s gaming mice come in a sleek black box with a simple door on the front that opens up to reveal the mouse inside. Your standard listing of features and some product images adorns the back of the box.

 

Mouse

As mentioned before, the size of the Xornet II is quite a bit smaller than your average gaming mouse. The overall design of the Xornet II is ergonomic in shape, as there are molded thumb and finger sections. The majority of the body is made of molded plastic with a semi-matte texture. The left and right mouse buttons feature a soft-touch plastic texture, and the thumb and right side of the mouse have rubber grip material to keep your hand in place during fast-paced action.

 

The left side of the Xornet II is home to two thumb buttons that can be configured for a multitude of actions and operations with the included software. In our testing, we found that these two side buttons were very easy to access, where other mice we have recently reviewed had a ridge or obstacle that had to be maneuvered around to access the buttons. Just beneath these two buttons is a textured rubber grip surface.

 

The right side of the Xornet II is pretty basic, as it just features a molded ring-finger section, with a textured rubber grip for the pinky finger.

The left and right buttons flank the illuminated mouse wheel and two additional, and customizable, buttons. The scroll wheel has deep grooves that help to keep a grip, but some users may find their depth to be a bit much. The wheel is not free scrolling, but has a ridged scrolling motion.

 

Flipping the Xornet II over, we can see two large gliding surfaces that help the mouse transverse whatever surface it is used on. The Avago 3320 optical sensor is situated towards the middle of the mouse, and has a sensing range of 500 to 3500 DPI. DPI settings are adjustable on the fly, and can be customized with the included Cooler Master software. The USB plug for the Xornet II is pretty standard, and the cord is plenty long at nearly six feet.

 

Usage

Since the claw-style grip is not our standard mode of operation, it took a bit to get used to the feel of the Xornet II. It was very similar to using a travel mouse, with regards to size. And while this mouse is designed with claw-style users in mind, a standard palm grip will work, depending on the size of the user’s hand. The feel of the three different textures found on the mouse was pleasing overall, and we really like that the textured rubber on the sides was not overly textured, which can be distracting, or even uncomfortable, at times.

Xornet II Conclusion

Cooler Master is really targeting a pretty niche market with the Xornet II. The compact body of the mouse lends itself to being used by gamers that prefer a claw-style grip. While this grip style isn’t our usual mousing preference, we were still able to utilize the mouse with our standard grip. Besides the obvious smaller stature of the Xornet II, there really isn’t too much that sticks out about the mouse. It has an adjustable DPI sensor for on-the-fly adjustments, and a couple of customizable buttons for your most utilized macros, but other than that, the mouse is pretty basic. An LED-lit scroll wheel can be adjusted to the color of your choosing, but Cooler Master has really kept the looks of the Xornet II very plain.

If you are in the market for a claw-grip mouse, you will find very limited options. Thankfully Cooler Master has provided a solid, no-frills mouse to get the job done. With a price tag of $35USD at the time of publishing, the Cooler Master Xornet II earns a Bjorn3D Best Bang for the Buck award for its affordability in a very niche market, where you often find inflated prices.