Snakebyte eSport Starter Kit Review

Have you ever wanted to get into eSports or just want a cheap, but a good set of gaming peripherals? Well, snakebyte might just have you covered here with their GAME:MOUSE PRO, MOUSE:PAD PRO ESPORTS EDITION  and KEY:BOARD PRO, the question is are they any good?

So first off the MOUSE:PAD PRO ESPORTS EDITION, this is good, well any mouse mat can be good as long as your mouse can glide over it, while not being pulled back by fibres on the mouse mat getting caught within the mouse while in use. With this mouse mat, I used a number of mice to test it out including the GAME:MOUSE PRO, Razer Naga Pro, and the SteelSeries Rival 600. All the mice performed as expected with no drag on the feet, which is great.

The MOUSE:PAD PRO ESPORTS EDITION is oversized and comes in at 48 x 40 cm and its around 0.6 cm in thickness. When it came to purchasing this product I was able to feel what the mouse mat felt like through a hole in the box and was rather happy that the Pad offered a 5-year guarantee. On the underside of the mouse mat, there is a non-slip surface so this mouse mat once down is not going anywhere. The price of the mat is super cheap around €14.99 I got mind from the Amazon store for around £9.99.

 

Next up is the GAME:MOUSE PRO which offers up to 4000 dpi which might be a little on the low side for some gamers, for me it’s more than enough. Offers 7 Colour lighting effects, 2 animations and 20G acceleration. When I grabbed this from the store I was very happy that I could view the mouse thanks to a door on the front that gives me a good look at the top of the mouse and its odd design.

An odd design you ask, well it is engraved all over with lines, but I must admit, it does not detract from your use and feels nice under the palm. The LED lighting can be seen all around the mouse, mouse wheel and DPI buttons see video below for more details and to check out the colour effects.

Now, this mouse requires some software which is great, however, snakebyte does not tell you anywhere on the box that it is required. Even in the instructions, it says Plug’n’Play, which is false, to a degree. Yes, you can plugin and use but to get the animations to work and set up the DPI and such you need the software. snakebyte should add this to the packaging and make it clear somewhere.

The software is easy to find thanks to Google and here is the page https://mysnakebyte.com/pages/downloads-snakebyte.

Once installed the fun arrives, you can reassign buttons, adjust the polling rate up to 1000, adjust DPI in a multitude of clusters allowing you to save up to 4 settings in total. Not forgetting the LED annunciations can be set up and saved to the mouse from here as well.  If you want to be adventurous you can check out the advance settings and play with the mouse speed, scroll speed, double click speed and create your own macros.

The mouse is rather big, but I have small hands and it feels good to use. My thumb rests nicely on one side while my two end fingers rest on the other side, then my core button-pushing fingers rest comfortably on top.

It is not the greatest looking mouse or has the best lighting effects, may not have the highest DPI settings, but it does the job and I like the braided cable. The cost is sweet as well for a good brand, €29.99 or I found it on Amazon for £24.99.

 

The final eSports peripheral is the snakebyte KEY:BOARD PRO.

When I saw this on the store shelf I was able to see the keyboard on the front of the box, noting again the 5-year guarantee, and the UK keyboard layout.

The keyboard offers up, 26 key anti-ghosting, you might have not heard of that saying, so let me explain

Keyboard ghosting is when a single keystroke or several keystrokes are “lost” due to the inability of a keyboard to process simultaneous signals that come natural to many gamers. Source 

Then we have mechanical feeling keys? OK what is snakebyte on about here, how can a key be mechanical feeling? So I went to the website and there was no mentioned of that quote instead they opted to say this ‘The double injection keycaps fuse two pieces of plastic together for a seamless and extremely durable end product.’ Which makes more sense, as in no way do these keys feel, sound or act like any mechanical key I have ever used, they feel more like a membrane key.

Then we have 7 colours and 3 animation effects, everything is plug-n-play no need for software this time. The final thing to note within the sales patter is the alumimum face-plate, which gives the keyboard years and years of gaming.

Checkout the video below for a good look at the effects of the keyboard all activated with the FN Key and 1 – 9 keys.

This is a full-size keyboard, with media keys and a number pad, but nothing to run home about. Due to lack of software, you cannot reassign keys, create macros or make your own animations. The LED lighting shows under every key, and all around the keyboard, so the keyboard really brings the bling effect. This keyboard works, but as an esports keyboard, I do not think so, an esports keyboard really needs mechanical keys, and software to key reassigning and macros, However, you are only paying €49.99 so you can not expect all bells and whistles or mechanical keys of any type, so really you get what you pay for.

There is one thing snakebyte missed here a headset as a headset if 100% required with any multiplayer game and to communicate with other players and team mates.

Overall, this is a good start, if you are looking for a cheap bundle of gaming peripherals for your gaming rig. However, if you want something better you will need to spend a good amount more, for a mechanical keyboard (Cherry MX RED), a higher DPI mouse, but the mouse mat is perfect for anything.

You can purchase each team from the main store or from the links I have added within the article to Amazon. You can also purchase the lot as a bundle for £74.99 which is a steal.

https://mysnakebyte.com/products/key-board-pro%E2%84%A2?_pos=9&_sid=49f42dd4d&_ss=r

https://mysnakebyte.com/collections/e-sport-range-snakebyte/products/game-mouse-pro%E2%84%A2

https://mysnakebyte.com/products/mouse-pad-pro%E2%84%A2?variant=29327827927100

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