World of Warcraft Wireless Gaming Mouse Review

[Ghostbear]

World of Warcraft Wireless Gaming Mouse Review

Product: World of Warcraft Wireless Gaming Mouse
Developer: SteelSeries
MSRP $129.99
Editor: Jeremy 'Ghostbear' Spurlock

What's Hot: A solid, responsive wireless mouse.

What's Not: A bit lighter than I want.

I’ve shied away from wireless mice in the past, probably a holdover from a decade or so ago when they tended to lack the responsiveness of a “proper” wired gaming mouse. Does the World of Warcraft Wireless Gaming Mouse change my mind? Let’s find out.

This is a very nice looking product, with a WoW logo that glows a soft blue and a pattern of Azeroth printed over the surface of the mouse. The charging station has some nice effects as well, with glowing runes activated while the mouse is in use. The charging station will not light up unless the mouse is synched up with it, so it’s a good indicator in addition to looking cool.

“That’s all well and good,” I hear you saying in the dark parts of my mind, “but what about performance?” First of all, I’ll thank you to keep out of my mind and second, it performs very well. Never once did I notice any lag, it was as responsive as any wired mouse I have used. I ran it through multiple genres too, shooters, RTS, mech sims, etc. All the buttons have a satisfying click to them and I never accidentally hit one while gaming.

Speaking of buttons let’s talk about them; there are eleventy billion buttons on this thing. That might be an exaggeration, it’s probably only eleven. I am not typically one for mice with a lot of buttons, but this mouse has done a decent job of changing my mind. The buttons are laid out in such a way that they are quick and easy to use. The buttons on the side of the mouse, for example can be clicked by just by twitching your thumb in the appropriate direction. Ten of the available buttons are programmable and the 11th is used to adjust resolution on the fly.

The CPI (counts per inch) of the mouse is 100 – 8200, with the aforementioned button halving that when clicked. This can be customized in the SteelEngine software, which is also used to program the buttons, and change the lighting (faster, slower steady lights). The SteelEngine also takes on a custom WoW look when the mouse is connected to your machine. If you plan on using the mouse with World of Warcraft it has a nifty bonus feature. You can forgo using the SteelEngine software to configure the buttons and just do that in game.

The shape of the mouse feels like a natural fit for your hand, provided you’re right handed anyways. Which is fine, we can’t trust those lefties anyways; they’re always plotting to take down our proper right handed way of life.

The mouse has a built in battery pack that, so no need to worry about picking up batteries. Battery life is somewhere in the neighborhood of 16 hours and if that isn’t enough you can always plug the cable for the recharge station directly into the mouse and keep on playing. Seriously though take breaks, you’re an animal.

This is a personal preference, but I found the mouse to be on the light end of things. I could have done with it weighing just a tiny bit more. I tend to prefer my mice on the heavy side, so this complaint will likely only apply to folks who like their mice to be a bit weighty.

All in all in all this is a great looking, well crafted piece of hardware that I think any gamer will appreciate and enjoy using. If you’re a WoW player, you get a small bonus in looks and in game integration. I recommend this mouse to anyone looking for a great wireless design.

Score: 4 out of 5 CoGs


Jeremy Says, “If you’re in the market for a new mouse, you can hardly go wrong with the World of Warcraft Wireless mouse. Pick it up.”

[Exodus]

no way go naga or nadda!

[Vandabo]

Nice review. I have a Razer Mamba that is a wired/wireless hybrid, but it doesn't last anywhere near 16 hours in my experience. I have ended up using it almost exclusively wired, which is a bummer. What they need to develop (and it doesn't seem like it would be too far from what we already have) is a mousepad that inductively charges the mouse while you are using it.

[digitalErich]

I wish this had come out a few months earlier. I used the SS WoW mouse that was basically the wired version of this. I wore the paint off that thing and wanted to go wireless so I switched to a G700 but I much prefer the layout of the extra "face" buttons on the SS.

I'm glad to hear that SS might be upping its quality, while I loved that WoW mouse it never felt as solid or well built as a Razor or Logitech.

Also, all of the SS WoW mice are ugly as sin. The base of that thing screams 'designed by a former Trapper Keeper employee"

[Ghostbear]

Originally Posted by digitalErich

I wish this had come out a few months earlier. I used the SS WoW mouse that was basically the wired version of this. I wore the paint off that thing and wanted to go wireless so I switched to a G700 but I much prefer the layout of the extra "face" buttons on the SS.

I'm glad to hear that SS might be upping its quality, while I loved that WoW mouse it never felt as solid or well built as a Razor or Logitech.

Also, all of the SS WoW mice are ugly as sin. The base of that thing screams 'designed by a former Trapper Keeper employee"

I dunno, Razer has been pretty inconsistent with quality. Sometimes their stuff is great and sometimes is just plastic garbage. Whereas every SteelSeries product I've used in the last couple years has had great quality. Also I think the base looks pretty nice.

[digitalErich]

The 3 or 4 Razor mice I've owned have always been the upper tier "flagship" model of their day. I've never dipped into their mid range models where I have heard the quality goes down a bit.

I was just goofing around about the looks, that "looks like gaming hardware" gaming hardware has never appealed to me. Then again I have a black desk with nothing but a black keyboard, black monitors, black mouse, silver speakers and a grey mouse pad. I like my desk looking Spartan.

[Exodus]

I swear by my naga.

It's saved me from having 3 different modifiers for my keyboard. I can literally dole out my rotations with one hand.

The best.

[Hawkzombie]

Originally Posted by Ghostbear

This is a personal preference, but I found the mouse to be on the light end of things. I could have done with it weighing just a tiny bit more. I tend to prefer my mice on the heavy side, so this complaint will likely only apply to folks who like their mice to be a bit weighty.

THANK YOU for mentioning this. Most reviews of hardware like this never mention the weight or the feel of the weight of it during use. Good to know, because I've been debating going wireless again, but love the weight of my wired G5 currently.

[Ghostbear]

Hawk, I'll say that I noticed it less as I used it a bit more and became accustomed to it. It's a great mouse despite the weight.

[ACfromDC]

Not unless its Minnie.

[Widgetcraft]

Originally Posted by Ghostbear

I dunno, Razer has been pretty inconsistent with quality. Sometimes their stuff is great and sometimes is just plastic garbage. Whereas every SteelSeries product I've used in the last couple years has had great quality. Also I think the base looks pretty nice.

Yeah, I had a Copperhead, and really didn't like it. I currently have a G700, and I adore it, it's very comfortable.

[Master_Blaster]

I've never used a mouse that cost more than $30. It kinda reminds me of buying a car and having them nickle and dime you for all of the little details. But if it works solid and is comfortable for hours then why not. I know my mouse cord is always bringing me down when it gets caught and causes me to missfire a gauss rifle round or two.