I’ve been on a binge of Element Gaming’s lower end product and at the moment and I am pleasantly surprised with them (somebody may link them here for you, if not you’re just going to have to find them yourself.) I finally move on to the final of the three: The Cobalt 120 Gaming Mouse. Can a ‘gaming’ mouse compete at £12.99? Is it any good at £12.99? Well Element says for that bargain price you get this:
- Sensor: Super optical
- Connection: Wired USB
- Resolution: 2000 DPI
- Key travel: 0.8mm
- Key pressure: 70g
- Key lifetime: 3 million
- Rated voltage: DC 5V / <100mA
- Supports Windows XP / Windows Vista / Windows 7 / Windows 8
Straight from the box I liked this mouse. If you like the amount of buttons on your mouse rivalling your keyboard keys this may not be for you. Personally, this is a safe step up from the Siemens mouse I used for about three years. Like everything Element Gaming, you get a driver CD which I duly ignored and plug in and play has worked fine for me.
So besides the basic three keys this model comes with two sets of extra keys: Two thumb keys and two central keys devoted to DPI modifying. The thumb keys are heighted slightly differently, which gives a nice indicator of which is which and from the go only seems to go back and forward within internet browsers. The keys are programmable though, and can be used for anything you wish. The DPI keys are also heighted differently, yet feel a bit too small squashed in the middle between the two main buttons and the scroll wheel. However, as of yet I have not clumsily hit anything wrong, despite how small this mouse feels under my massive hands.
Make no mistake from my shovel hands; this mouse is a pleasure to hold. Curved in under the thumb and arched out on the right to rest unused fingers, this mouse is comfortable under hand. The whole mouse is built out of a matte black plastic which feels sleek and able to withstand an immense amount of FPS punishment. This isn’t the most eye candy mouse and there, to my eye, a major error in that the changing colour logo is placed at the back where it is permanently hidden under the palm. The LED under the scroll wheel doesn’t change colour at all; this seems like poor planning.
In a gaming situation the mouse performs well. Ramping up the DPI is useful in certain games and the mouse handles the change with no latency. While 2000dpi may not be enough for the hardcore I found it perfectly adequate for FPS games. The extra buttons are quite useful, especially in FPS games, where I bound them to reloads and weapon swapping to free up my left hand to focus on movement.
In a non-gaming setting the mouse has performed just as well as any other mouse. It’s hard to see any improvement over any other regular mouse. The redeeming feature is the two thumb keys. These allow for much faster movement when mapped correctly. However, as someone who has lived his whole life with basic 3-button or trackball mice the mouse does not seem leagues better than any 3-button mouse; only succeeding because the DPI buttons are a useful gaming addition.
There’s nothing really bad about this mouse; yet conversely, there is nothing really great about the mouse. If I had found this mouse I would’ve likely bought it; however, only because trackballs are a little expensive. Nothing really jumps out and screams ‘I need this mouse in my life.’ However, compared to other mice of the same specifications this is a good part cheaper. I will likely keep using this mouse. It works perfectly fine as a mouse, gaming or otherwise. I don’t feel like I’m going to throw it and upgrade to a lunatic gaming mouse with a full number pad built in.
In total, I’m going to rate this mouse at 3/5. If you want a mouse just above the bog-standard three button lump of plastic, go for this. However for an avid gamer, this mouse probably will not have enough keys on it for you.
You can but the Mouse on eBuyer Here
Or
Element Gaming Here
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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