Corsair M65 Pro RGB FPS Gaming
The king of the squeakers?
YOU KNOW, mice are one of the most subjective products on the planet. As a device, they’re such an odd concept: Although highly precise, accurate, and incredibly useful, we’re never actually taught how to use one. Ironic, when you consider how we write, how we speak, and even how we type. Because of that, you tend to get as many different styles of grip as physics allow, and so-called bad habits have become entire techniques of mouse usage. So, designing any one mouse to satisfy all of those different niches, all those different people, is a challenge.
The M65 lineup from Corsair has always produced an eye-catching mouse. The aluminum chassis presiding over the whole sleek affair glistens on the undercarriage of this well-crafted pixel-pusher. The 0.7 ounces of adjustable weight locked in place underneath help you configure the mouse to exactly the right heft for you. The finish, unlike that of its elderly cousins, is now split—the thumb and pinky side rests have a hint of sandblasted elegance, resisting grease and sweaty fingers, while the top features a gorgeous soft-touch rubbercoated finish. BIGFOOT? IS THAT YOU? As far as feel goes, this mouse is right up there. It’s definitely on the larger side of things for a mouse, certainly in contrast to this reviewer’s small hands, but the reality is that it still lends itself to a comfortable palm grip. It’s not long but wide in its overall footprint. That’s not to say those fingertip and claw grip users among you will be out of luck, as it's chunky enough and wide-spread enough to make that style achievable, too. Almost the perfect mouse then, surely? Well, it’s an odd experience. The way your hand folds to this mouse is reassuringly open; nowhere near as grippy and embracing as Mionix’s legendary Castor, but then it doesn’t need that— they’re two very different mice, aimed at providing a high degree of comfort in two very different styles.
When it comes to utility, the M65 Pro loses out to the likes of the more buttonheavy competition. In reality, short of the obvious buttons, you only get those oldschool forward and back buttons, followed by a shift hold reduced-DPI button, flatteringly adorned with a crosshair logo, so you remember that this button is for lining up the most perfect headshot possible. Honestly, though, for the likes of our audience, and us here in the office, the M65 Pro would be damn near perfect if this one button was removed. Add another slimline button to the opposite side, and it would be flawless—just enough balanced utility for the everyday user, with sufficient class to match it to the original Corsair K70 Keyboard from way back when.
What is nice about this little beauty is that we’re finally stepping away from laser sensors in favor of more precise, high-range optical sensors. Zero jitter, zero interpolation at higher DPI settings— surface accuracy with optical sensors is phenomenal, and it’s something that we’re really glad to see becoming the norm when it comes to good mouse design. How on earth they managed to achieve 12,000 dpi with an optical sensor is beyond us, but props to Pixart Technologies for managing it. Maybe one day, when we’re all running 8K screens, it’ll be necessary, but we’re still not really convinced that it’s required just yet.
The M65 Pro reminds us exactly what catapulted Corsair to greatness to begin with. The Obsidian line of cases, the Dominator Platinums, the K70 Vengeance mechanical keyboard. It’s all there. You’ve got the aluminum concepts embedded inside its beautiful frame, that soft-touch finish on the top, sandblasted on the side, that pleasing degree of utility via the three buttons, a unique level of comfort, and the subtle LEDs, lines, and curves that together separate a good product from just a garish one. –ZAK STOREY