Fnatic Gear Clutch G1 Optical Mouse Review

Fnatic have been around for some time, and if I recal right, some time ago they use to work with SteelSeries, with Branded Headsets, Mice and Keyboards. Fnatic are mostly known for the being one of the best eSports teams in the world, playing games from DOTA, CS:GO and plenty more in touraments around the world.

Moving on from talking about Fnatic the team to the actual review, in which I am taking a look at the new Fnatic Gear Clutch G1 Optical Mouse. From the very start, as a customer, looking at purchasing a new gaming mouse from my local retail outlet. The mouse is shown in all its glory on the front cover, almost a full-size version of the mouse.  The name of the mouse and the Fnatic is logo are all present, so it’s easily identified by fans. There is nothing much on the side, apart from a side view of the mouse on one side and the name of the mouse on the other side.

Moving to the back is where all the juicy information is;

INTRODUCING CLUTH G1 BT FNATIC GEAR

Clutch in an esports grade optical mouse, designed by the world-class players Fnatic. Equipped with a high precision sensor, durable switches and a design that delivers the performance and control our players demand.  So you can deliver the skill shots need to stay ahead of the rest.

CUSTOMIZABLE PLAG & PLAY

• Enabled with onboard memory, CLUTCH supports three player profiles for custom buttons, polling rates, and LED colors.

PRO-GRADE OPTICAL SENSOR

• The pixart 3310 optical sensor is a must have for anyone serious about gaming, perfect for all esports titles.

ERGONOMIC DESIGN

• Having a soft-rubber coating and curvy shape, it’s ready for right handed players. Perfect for Claw grip and palm grip, it’s built to be comfortable even during the longest of sessions.

DRAG REDUCTION 2M CORD

• CLUTCH’s unique elevated cord reducing irritating drag when playing.

FNATIC TRUSTED

• Built for eSports, manufactured to the highest guilty, so our players can trust it when the going gets tough.

CUSTOMISABLE 

• RGB LED Illumination with 16.8M colors, a three-step DPI indicator, and custom player profiles allow you truly uniquely customization.

Now for the boring Technical specifications Yawm,

TECH SPECS

I really do not like adding those boring specs to my reviews, but I understand there are many people that like to know everything about the mouse, it also helps viewers decide if this mouse if for them.

Now comes the unboxing, and the first thing I noticed was, well not the first, after holding the mouse I noticed the mouse was picking up grease from my fingers straight away and was easily viewable. This is possibly due to the coating used on the mouse, a rubberized, smooth coating, something I try to avoid as my hands do get rather sweaty during long gaming sessions or long use on my pc while working on the site. So if you are picky like me, this mouse is not for you, as you will be cleaning it constantly.

Now back to unboxing, the mouse is well secured in hard foam, lift the mouse up and you have braided cable and gold plated USB, good choices there as gamers prefer a braided cable, so the cable does not tangle and a nice gold tipped USB, to make them feel special.

Picking the mouse up from the box and chucking it on to some scales. the mouse weighs around 109g, the weight distribution is around the centre, from what I can tell, this is where the mouse’s sensor is set. Due to me owning a good amount of mice, from leading companies, I can tell this mouse is about the same size as the Razer DeathAdder.

Due to the way this mouse has been designed its is for right-hand gamers and not suitable for left-hand gamers, which is a shame, the mouse is also best suited for gamers that prefer the Claw Grip, again due to its design.

As with all gaming mice we buy, the comfort of use is based on your hand size, so let’s scan over the size of the mouse, the grip area is Approx 6cm (60mm) base length is 11.5 (115mm)- *12.5 (125mm) *If you include the tapered edge and approx 4cm (40mm) tall.

Now I did a video for this, sound of the clicks on the mouse, Noting the left and right main trigger buttons use Omron Switches.

The trigger buttons have plenty of travel and easy to press, the centre button (scroll Button) is a little stiff and you will not be accidentally pressing it down during those intense battles. The scroll of the wheel does not feel loose like I have seen with other mice and has plenty of tension. The side buttons of nicely positioned, comfortable and have a good amount of travel when pressed, with a nice audible click. The final buttons are the two DPI buttons above the mouse wheel, which as you guessed it, controls the DPI settings, they are stiff and will not be accidentally pressed.

Now for a new gamer, that is just looking for a mouse, might be a little confused, when they get this mouse, why? there is nothing saying you need software, you might just think this mouse works out of the box, I did on the first view. Then I realised, how do you change the RBG lighting effects, how do you get better CPI, as the mouse in its default setting, moves like a snail.

Off I went to the Fnatic Gear website, well google, typed in Software for Fnatic Gear Clutch and found this page.  So the party had well and truly started and all the options were now at my finger tips.

The first screen allows you to change and set the CPI setting from 0 – 5000 and set it to a level that best suits you,you can set 3 different factors and then choose to set those settings to one of the profiles. You can control the CPI settings with the two buttons above the scroll wheel, you also have RBG lighting on the side of the mouse telling you if you are on setting 1, 2 or 3.

On the same screen you can control pointer sensitivity, scroll wheel speed, double click speed and polling rate. You can also assign up to 3 profiles, backup and restore if you manage to lose or reset your pc.

The second screen, allows you to assign buttons to the mouse, or choose default settings, giving you a good amount of freedom to either keep default or select your own keys for each button.

The Third Screen is all about colours, make your mouse a little disco diva as you choose a colour or cycle through all the colours, its down to your, you can also control the brightnes and saturation.

Then finally the fourth screen, is a macro persons dream come true, create your own macros, oh the joy, Diablo 3 macros created time to game.

Now comes a few tests while gaming, the spin test, does the mouse spin out when you quickly flick it to the left or right, and the answer is no, however, if you are like me and pick it up and flick it down, left or right, it does, which is a shame, other than that the mouse performs great.

The mouse works great on hard and soft mouse mats thanks to its three rubber feet and does seem to work when lifted off the mouse mat a small distance.

The games I played with this mouse, were the following, Diablo 3, loads and loads, Fortnite, Ark: Survival Evolved, DOOM, Forza Horizon 3 and DiRT 4, the mouse performed as expected, good. The only issue I personally had a gripe with is the coating on the mouse that picked up every fingerprint and I was cleaning it more than I care to clean any mouse. There is also the size and shape, as it might be too big for people with small hands and the shape does it no justice either and I normally game with a palm grip, I found it more comfortable gaming with claw grip with this mouse. One more, but not something that should upset anyone, unless you are a true enthusiast, the mouse uses a 3310 sensor, which in short is very old, and as this is a high-end gaming mouse for enthusiasts, Fnatic Gear should consider upgrading the sensor to the 3360 as this sensor offers many more features and is better overall.