HYPERX PULSEFIRE HASTE
Lightweight legend
OH, THAT HONEYCOMB design isn’t going away, is it? It’s been adopted by virtually every manufacturer trying to produce an ultra-lightweight gaming mouse, and for good reason; it allows for better airflow and reduces overall weight significantly without sacrificing structural integrity. It also looks cool as heck, if you like your sci-fi architecture to focus on hexagons rather than circles or triangles.
Visually, this is a pretty basic mouse. Besides the hex-patterned perforation, there’s little to focus on; just a subtle HyperX logo beneath the two thumb buttons and a single LED that illuminates the scroll wheel. This is distinctly a gaming product, but not an ostentatious one. The honeycomb holes extend up onto the back edge of the two main buttons, and a tiny DPI adjustment button nestles behind the scroll wheel. There’s no thumb rest, and lefties are left out in the cold as per usual.
Fortunately, this bog-standard layout belies a more complex interior. The left and right mouse buttons house TTC Golden micro dustproof switches rated for up to 60 million presses, which (as the name suggests) are coated in a dust shield. It’s an ideal inclusion, given the perforated casing’s propensity to gather dust and debris after extended use. If you like to eat at your desk, we advise investing in some compressed air and an extra-narrow nozzle.
The sensor powering the Pulsefire Haste is a PAW3335 from PixArt, which offers a maximum DPI of 16,000. That’s easily enough for the average user, with only the most twitchy of esports pros likely to turn their noses up at it. Considering the $50 price point, it’s a reasonable package. There’s no unique selling point here; it’s just a good mouse that doesn’t weigh much.
So how lightweight is the Haste? It weighs in at just 2.1 ounces (59g) without the cable or 2.8oz (80g) with it. That’s certainly deserving of the ‘lightweight’ label, and combined with the ultra-lowfriction PTFE feet, it glides effortlessly over any desk surface. The cable will be familiar to anyone who has handled a HyperX mouse before, a flexible black paracord material that shouldn’t impede regular use. It isn’t detachable, but that’s hardly surprising; wireless technology would weigh down this mouse.
GRIPPING STUFF
Contained in the box, there is an extra set of PTFE pads (if you’re planning on hitting that 60 million click limit, you’ll need to replace them at some point) and, more interestingly, a set of specially shaped grip tapes that can be adhered to the buttons and sides. These significantly improve the grip of the mouse’s matte casing, which will prove invaluable for claw and fingertip grip users. The grip tape has a hexagonal patterning to match the chassis, which is a nice touch.
As expected, HyperX’s NGenuity software can be used to tweak the settings. Ultimately this comes down to adjusting the DPI profiles and RGB lighting, but it hardly feels like a necessary download when five DPI presets come loaded onto the mouse straight out of the box and there’s only one RGB zone to edit, which defaults to the expected rainbow pulse. Onboard memory means you can save one setting profile to the mouse, which is handy if you’re using it with multiple devices.
The Haste isn’t that unique, but it does what it sets out to do near-perfectly. Most competitors in the ultralight gaming mouse arena are more expensive, such as the Roccat Kone Pro or the
Steelseries Aerox 3, or end up having to make sacrifices in either performance or design. It’s swiftly becoming a busy market space and, while we’d readily admit that the Haste doesn’t do enough to stand out from the crowd, it’s still one of the best options available.
For those who prefer a weightier mouse—this reviewer uses a chunky Logitech G502 Lightspeed with 8g of extra weights slotted into the underside—the Pulsefire Haste is never going to hit the spot. If what you want is featherweight handling for gaming, though, this could be the mouse for you.