It wasn’t long ago that I wrote a review on another of Anker’s products, the MP141 Portable Bluetooth Speaker, and I was really impressed at how inexpensive it was for the quality of the product. Now I get to review another two of their products; the Anker 8200 DPI High Precision Laser Gaming Mouse and their Premium Medium-Sized Gaming Mouse Pad. However will these products be to the same high quality standard with their low cost of only £25.99 (down from £59.99) for the mouse and what equates to £10.89 for the mouse mat (as it is currently only available in Canada), or will they potentially ruin the good name Anker have built for themselves as company that prides itself on well-built products at affordable prices with excellent customer service.
ANKER 8200 DPI HIGH PRECISION LASER GAMING MOUSE
When it comes to PC gaming, for both those who play competitively or casually, the main things you require are a mouse that is both comfortable and accurate to control. That’s why the design of the Anker 8200 DPI High Precision Laser Gaming Mouse has been made to fit like a glove; with a contoured body to allow your hand and the mouse to come together as one and non-slip buttons to provide incredible control. It’s like building with Lego when two pieces connect perfectly together until you decide it is time to pull them apart, except that the design of the Anker Gaming Mouse looks much more sleek and sexy than a little plastic building block. It has a really nice matt black cover, with a glossy black finish around the casing of the mouse buttons, with lights emitting a glow that makes the mouse look very professional and scream “I MEAN BUSINESS”. The mouse is also designed with a smooth protected underside to allow you to glide over flat surfaces more majestically than Torvill and Dean in their 1984 Winter Olympic display that saw them win the Gold medal for Great Britain.
What’s more, thanks to the Avago ADNS-9800 microchip, the Anker Gaming Mouse can also be set at up to 8200 DPI (or CPI for those who like to be technically correct) and has increased polling and frame rates (1000 and 12000, respectively). Thus allowing you to get ultimate precision in order to help you gain that competitive advantage over friends and enemies alike as there will be no more need to worry about lag. What’s really striking about this though is that it’s even more than the impressive 5670 DPI that the SteelSeries Sensei [RAW] Na’Vi edition offered which I reviewed earlier in the year, and is more expensive than the Anker as well retailing at £69.99; clearly evidence that Anker are definitely offering Big Quality for a Little Price.
Anker’s Gaming Mouse will also please gamers due to its easy customisation through a simply designed control panel that allows you to really make this mouse your own, especially when you consider there are apparently over 16 million lighting options to choose from. There are also nine buttons in all that can be assigned different functions, meaning none of this messing around on the keyboard to have to switch weapons or jump or whatever it is you do with your game, no, now you just program commands to a button on the mouse and you’ve just saved yourself a couple of seconds which prevent your death and allow you to take your enemies life instead. But if you think, “well I play games from different genres so this is no good because I’ll have to customise my mouse every time I want to change game”, well you’d be partly wrong. That’s because you can save two on-board profiles for fast and easy loading. Meaning for the two games you play the most you can set customised profiles meaning less fussing about.
ANKER PREMIUM MEDIUM-SIZED GAMING MOUSE PAD
The mouse pad isn’t something you see many people buying anymore other than for the reason that you can get some that look pretty cool or are collectable. I mean I personally haven’t used one since I was in primary school and had the old mechanical mouse which would have a ball inside that you would take out and play with, then get shouted at for messing around with it. Back then the mouse pad would cause better friction between its surface and the ball which meant the mouse would be more responsive than just rolling it over the desk where sometimes the ball may glide across rather than roll, causing sever frustration by not doing what you wanted it to. However now with almost every one using either an optical or laser mouse they aren’t needed as much as you don’t get the same issues you did with a mechanical mouse. That said many people do still buy and use them and believe that they still help improve mouse performance.
The Anker Gaming Mouse Pad isn’t like some special collectors one you’d see with stunning artwork; instead its design is kept plain and simple with a black background and the Anker Logo and Brand Name in white in each of the bottom corners of the mouse pad. Its size is bigger than a lot of mouse pads I have had in the past that either came free with my computer or I got at a Student fair, meaning you aren’t likely to run out of room and have the mouse slipping off the edge and banging on the table. The top surface is a smooth and textured that allows for swift and precise movement, while the bottom is made from a rubber that grips well keeping the pad from moving around. I was actually very impressed with the grip as the pad never slipped once while I was using it; it kind of reminded me of the special mats you can put on your car dashboard that allow you to stick your phone down without it moving while you drive around.
OVERALL
Anker have done it again, they’ve proved you don’t have to go out and spend big to get good quality. If I were to compare them to Super Markets they’d have to be Aldi, offering similar or better quality items than the bigger competitors like ASDA and TESCO at a fraction of the cost. It’s remarkable to think someone would go out of their way to spend three times the amount that the Anker Gaming Mouse and Mouse Pad cost together, to buy a mouse on its own because of its big brand name, when they’d save money and probably have a better product by choosing this instead. I mean the mouse doesn’t lack anything in any area in my opinion; the design looks stunning and is as Anker describe it ‘fitting your hand like a glove’, it moves with such smoothness you’d believe it was floating on air and the customisation options allow for you to really make the mouse your own. I was also impressed by the mouse pad but like I say I don’t really believe they’re as necessary today as they were back in my early school days, so if I was going to buy the mouse I wouldn’t really think of getting the pad as well unless it came free, but again that’s just my opinion it’s still worth the money.
ANKER GAMING MOUSE PRODUCT SPECIFICATION
- Number of Buttons: 9
- Optical Resolution: 1000 / 2000 / 4000 / 8200
- Product Dimensions: 127 x 79 x 43mm / 5.0 x 3.1 x 1.7in
- Product Weight: 140-160g / 4.9-5.6oz
- System Requirements: Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8 / USB Port / Internet connection for software download at the ianker website.
PRODUCT LINKS
Gaming Mouse: http://www.ianker.com/product/98ANDS2368-BA
Mouse Pad: http://www.ianker.com/product/98ANMP-BA
Disclaimer:All scores given within our reviews are based on the artist’s personal opinion; this should in no way impede your decision to purchase the game.
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