If you’ve ever been inside spitting distance of a Plunkbat hen dinner, you realize the significance of getting a lightweight, nimble mouse beneath your fingers. You gained’t be tucking into something even remotely bird-shaped for those who’ve solely bought one thing huge and hulking just like the Roccat Kone Aimo or Corsair Scimitar Pro RGB at your disposal. Instead, you want a mouse you may transfer with ease and minimal resistance. Something, maybe, just like the HyperX Pulsefire FPS.
You in all probability know HyperX extra for his or her sticks of RAM and gaming headsets (see our beautiful HyperX Cloud Flight review for extra on that) than their mice, and with good cause. Indeed, the Pulsefire FPS is the one mouse HyperX at the moment makes, making it all of the extra shocking that they haven’t gone for one thing uber premium with all of the RGB bells and DPI whistles possible.
Instead, the Pulsefire FPS is about as simple as gaming mice come, placing it in roughly the identical bracket because the Steelseries Rival 110. Priced at simply £40/$45 and weighing a mere 95g, it comes with two additional facet buttons and one other just under the scroll wheel to alter its DPI sensitivity settings, and that’s type of it. There’s no extra software program to put in, no nothing. You can simply plug it in and get going.
Of course, no software program means you can also’t customise what these aforementioned facet buttons really do – which on this case is restricted to simply ahead and again clicks for once you’re shopping the net. That’s nice if you wish to surf the web like a king; much less so for those who like recording your personal macros.
This makes the Pulsefire FPS far much less versatile the Rival 110, which is type of an issue when it really prices a fraction extra. Not a lot, thoughts – the Rival 110 is at the moment £35/$38 at time of writing – however as you may see in our Steelseries Rival 110 review, there are dozens extra choices accessible for these two facet buttons once you obtain Steelseries’ Engine three software program, letting you assign every little thing from keyboard buttons to OS shortcuts with ease. They’re additionally a heck of rather a lot simpler to succeed in with my thumb, too.
While the Pulsefire FPS has a really related form to the Rival 110 (largely symmetrical however nonetheless very a lot supposed for right-handed use), its buttons sit a lot greater off the bottom, making them tough to hit if, like me, you want resting the decrease portion of your hand again on the mouse mat.
Now, I realise this is likely to be as a result of I even have tiny lady palms, however the farthest button was fairly a stretch except I moved my hand additional up the mouse into what esporters would in all probability name a ‘claw grip’. This shortly grew to become fairly tiring throughout on a regular basis use, although, and for the sake of a single ahead click on, in all probability not definitely worth the ache of extended hand contortion.
The central DPI button modifications color relying on what DPI setting you decide. Its wheel and rear HyperX brand, nonetheless, are pink it doesn’t matter what.
The central DPI button additionally limits you to simply 4 predefined sensitivity settings, too, which once more is kind of restrictive in comparison with the Rival 110. By default, the Pulsefire FPS is about to 800 DPI, however that is actually a bit sluggish for on a regular basis computing duties, so I bumped it up a setting to 1600 DPI. This is round what I’d usually set my mouse to given the prospect, and for most individuals this may in all probability be completely fantastic for each gaming and workplace duties alike. You can even go greater to a slightly-too-fast 3200 DPI or drop proper right down to a dead-slow 400 DPI for once you’re stalking somebody down a sniper sights, however that’s your lot.
The Rival 110, alternatively, enables you to set your DPI settings to no matter increment of 100 you want between a variety of 200 and 7200 DPI. Admittedly, you solely get two choices to hop between right here on its central button, however for some this can be preferable to having 4 you may’t change.
Despite its shortcomings, although, I nonetheless ended up preferring the Pulsefire FPS, if solely as a result of its excessive, barely lopsided arch and rubbery sides simply felt nicer over the course of a day than the low-rise, altogether extra uniform form of its Steelseries rival. Going again to the Rival 110 now, as an example, didn’t really feel almost as comfortable because the Pulsefire FPS, and it made me realise how knobbly and tough its textured plastic sides are in comparison with the graceful, soft-touch materials HyperX’s gone for.
In this gentle, I’d fortunately pay a bit additional for a extra snug mouse, even when in apply it’s not almost as versatile as its primary rivals. Personally, I can stay with out having its two facet buttons all the time in attain, and its pre-set DPI choices are nonetheless all fairly wise regardless of the actual fact you may’t alter them. The PixArt 3310 sensor HyperX have used right here additionally feels greater than correct sufficient for taking part in video games, and the big skates on the Pulsefire FPS’ underside made it splendidly straightforward to maneuver it throughout my mouse mat.
The solely barely annoying factor in regards to the Pulsefire FPS is the actual fact the Omron switches beneath its proper and left click on buttons are in some way louder and extra grating than a dripping faucet. It’s uncommon once I really feel the necessity to comment on the type of noise a mouse makes, however the deep, deliberate CLICK CLICK CLICK of the Pulsefire FPS actually is one thing else. It’s nearly as if HyperX has got down to make the mouse equal of a mechanical keyboard – it’s that noticeable. Lovely tactile suggestions, however good grief does it make a racket. Again, that is one thing I’m prepared to place up with for the elevated consolation, nevertheless it might not be to everybody’s tastes.
For some, after all, customisation trumps all, through which case the Pulsefire FPS isn’t for you. For these after a snug gaming mouse with minimal fuss and most hen dinner potential, nonetheless, it’s properly value a glance.
