Mice, mice, and more mice. Today's world is never short of gaming mice that companies have to offer. Unlike keyboards which have a fairly standard layout, mice are never in shortage of unique designs and features. We took a look at Corsair's latest offer to utilize the RGB model design that's been prevalent in their Keyboards and Headsets.
Specs and Features
The Scimitar is a mouse that is built specifically for MOBA and MMO games which should be fairly obvious as Corsair shows off the 12 side buttons predominantly in their advertisements. While 12 button set-ups are not exactly new, Corsair includes a tool to adjust where the buttons are located on the side.
The side buttons are also textured to help gamers make sure they're hitting the command in the heat of battle. The overall weights in at 135 grams which is slightly higher on than the average mouse.
Being part of Corsair's RBG line means the Scimitar is also able to use the Corsair Utility Engine (CUE) to adjust all your lighting customizations. While it doesn't quite offer the crazy customization of the Strafe Keyboard, it is still a flashy mouse with 4 different lighting zones that can be customized with different lighting variations. The Scimitar also includes Corsair's 12,000 DPI optical sensor, which can be saved on 5 memory profiles so gamers can adjust settings on the fly. The lighting options also allow gamers to select the lighting color for whichever DPI profile they're using
What I like
I am primarily a MOBA player that's mainly used mice with 2 side buttons. Seeing a mouse with 12 buttons is daunting to say the least and it took a bit of time to adjust to the set up. Corsair also makes this adjustment easier by contouring every other column of button so you knew where you placement was. After messing around a bit the 12 buttons made options open up during games where I would normally end up punching my keyboard and screaming like a child. The ability to actually shift where the buttons were located was also a nice addition considering that many gamers' hands are different so moving them to a comfortable position was a welcome inclusion.
Having a mouse with this many buttons is also a pleasant set up if you are deciding to use a gaming mouse for your office job. You can set specific macros that really make mundane repetitive tasks literally become one mouse click away.
The mouse overall also had nice velvety smooth finish that kept fingerprints at bay and maintained a nice grip even during long gaming sessions. Personally the size of the mouse felt perfect in my hands but I use the Palm Grip. Gamers who use the Claw or Fingertip style may not find the mouse the most comforting to use so I would highly recommend going to a store and demoing the mouse before making a purchase.
The other great feature was the DPI light. Being able to change your DPI on the fly is not really a unique differentiator anymore, but having a light reflect the color that my mouse was currently set on was awesome.
What I didn't like
I'm a big fan of heavier mice. Although some might love the weight that Scimitar is at, I really feel that Corsair could have nailed the weight department by adding adjustable weights. During some games I would feel like the mouse was going to floating too much for my taste and having something that would've made it feel more grounded would've been a huge plus.
The 12 buttons that can be adjusted is great, but after using it at work and for gaming, I can say that I used primarily 9 of the buttons with 3 of them left mostly untouched. It's not so much that the macros set to them were useless, but rather the location actually makes me feel like I'm stretching to reach the buttons at the tip of my thumb.
Given how much time Corsair has spent in really showing off the power of their RGB line, it would be awesome if the mouse was somehow integrated further into your games. I would love to have a lighting profile that changes colors based on my APM, or reacting more to game sounds. It doesn't seem like it would be out of the question to incorporate or make it simply a downloading set up. But here's to hoping that Corsair includes this in an update sometime in the future.
Conclusion
While the Scimitar is a mouse with some nice features such as customized lighting and adjustable buttons, there really isn't anything that screams this is the ultimate MMO/MOBA mouse. While having 12 buttons is great, the placement of the buttons isn't very comfortable and I would've preferred the layout of Corsair's Vengeance mouse more. If Corsair were to make a new reiteration, they would really hone in on a great mouse by allowing custom weights and perhaps a new side button layout. The 12,000 DPI sensor is powerful, especially since you can set up to 5 profiles on the mouse to get all types of varying speeds. If you are a MMO/MOBA player I would suggest you give this mouse a quick demo to see how it feels in your hands especially if you use anything outside the palm grip.
