Unless a person is fam🌳iliar with a variety of different types of gaming mice, they have no idea the mouse they use every day may be a bad fit. Realistically, a large percentage of gamers would probably find that somethin𒁃g a little lighter, a little bigger or a little more curved could actually improve their gameplay.
It seems the product pros at recognized this and sought to introduce a way to take the ha𒆙ssle out of finding the right mouse. A subdivision of , Zowie creates products for competitive gamers and esports professionals. With its , Zowie attempts to take the annoyance factor out of buying a new mouse. For only $10, a person can experiment with ten unique mice for two weeks, then select the mouse they wish to purchase before sending back the kit in its entirety.
The company requires a credit card deposit of $250. Once 🐻a player returns the kit, Zowie releases💙 all but $10. However, the company will keep the deposit upon someone’s failure to return the package.
It’s a practical approach, especially in an era of COVID-19, with fewer opportunities for in-person demos. The kit provides an excellent way to t🅘ry a few different mouse options without forcing a commitment to any of them. Whiไle it doesn’t represent all the mice in Zowie’s arsenal of options, it’s undoubtedly a robust sampling.
Not only did the k🎉it allow me to sample an array of Zowie mice, but the results of my testing showed me the Razer Mamba Elite that I’ve been using for more than a year might not be the best product for my play style.
KovaaK And The Quest For The Perfect Mouse
Arriving in a cardbo♋ard box that the user is instructed to use for the return, the Mouse-Fitting Kit is a sleek, red-and-black package. Inside, the mice are neatly arranged in columns. A visu🐓al on the inside packaging shows identifies each model.
Mouse options include sizes from small to eꦺxtra large. Some are specifically designed for right-handed players, while others are ambidextrous. They vary in length, wꦏidth and design.
Of course, at the end of the day, a mouse is just a mouse, right? I didn’t expꦿect to notice any su♑bstantive differences between any of the mice in the kit and the mouse I usually use. I’d never truly considered how much size, shape and weight can impact gameplay.
Rather than immediately testing the mice on an FPS game, which are frequently unpredictable and therefore make it di♏fficult to compare the mice in a structured way, I chose to test them on . KovaaK is an aim trainer popular with competitive gamers as it has many different minigames designed to help players improve their movement, wrist flicking skills and arm control.
For the purpo𝔉ses of this useful, if unscientific, test, I stuck with just one game called One Wall, Six Targets. In this game, red bubbles appear on a wall.𓆏 As the player shoots each bubble, it disappears and randomly reappears somewhere else on the wall. A 60-second challenge encourages players to shoot as many of these targets as possible and deducts points for missed shots.
The game’s median player high score is 102.85. Going into this series of tests, my own high score was 115.3, which represents at least half a dozen hours of gameplay. I tested each of the ten mice by playing three diffꦉerent one-minute challenge rounds with the mouse. For mice models that had several options for refresh rates, I tried those at both the low end (125 Hz) and the high end (1000 Hz). As a control, I also tested the Razer Mamba Elite I use regularly.
First, I tried the three mice in Zowie’s , which references its ambidextrous high-profile mice, available in small, medium and large sizes. Since I have somewhat small hands, I tried the smallest one first. It felt way too little. Of these three options, my average score was lowest with the small one, averaging 98.23. I played slightly better with the large one, averaging 101.83,🔯 and best with the medium one, averaging 104.40. However, these scores were all lower than the score I later earned with the Razer Mamba Elite, which was 108.9.
Next, I tried ℱthe mice in the , designed for ambidextrous use with a low profile for better control. These come in medium, large and extra large. Interestingly, my top average score of these three came from the FK1 extra large. With that mouse, I managed a high score of 1📖08.3, which is still not quite as high as the highest score I landed with the ZA high profile ambidextrous medium, which was 111.1.
I then tried the and right-handed ergonomic mice. Because they have options to adjust the refresh rates, I ran two separate tests on these. The🥃 mouse with adjustable refresh rates has the option of running at 125 Hz, 500 Hz or 1000 Hz. I chose to run the tests at the lowest and highest ends of the scale.
Despite landing a 109.4 score with the large EC1 in one round when playing at 125 Hz, I didn’t like how this mouse felt. However, due to its size and shape, I got a sense that I had more control with this mouse. My average score with the medium E2 was higher at both 125 Hz and 1000 Hz, with 105.97 and 106.7, respectively. (I took an extra turn to come to this score as I a distracted disrupted one of my ꦕtries.)
I then tried the . I instantly felt like I had more control, and my scores proved this correct. At 125 Hz, my best score of three was 117.4, which marked a new personal high scor𒈔e. However, in the next set of games at 1000 Hz, I scored an even higher 121.2. This score blew past my previous Kovaaks high score by nearly six points.
Ultimately, my highest average came from the . In fact, at 1000 Hz, two of my thr꧟ee scores were higher than my previous Kovaak🐼s high score.
It 🌟was only after all these tests that I also tested the . My average score on that mouse, which I use every day, was 108.9. This average trailed behind the S2 at 1000 Hz, where my average was 114.83 and was also lower than both of my scores with the S1. As gamers know, even this marginal difference can make a significant gameplay impact.
Since my first test represented one of my lowest scores, I did a final test on the ZA large mouse again to see whether having warmed up had an im🎃pact. With just a couple of points of difference, it appeared there wasn’t a huge difference between the first test and final tests on the same mouse.
The Real Test: I Am The Apex Champion
🎃My data showed that the mice that worked best for my playstyle were the S2 small and the S1 medium. So I played a game of with each of these mice. With the S2 small, I felt🅰 as though my aim off. It was almost like 🌠the mouse was too light for actual gameplay.
However, I felt the S1 medium truly elevated my game𒊎play. I had a 10-kill game and won the game as the kill leader, which isn’t particularly common for me.
With a price tag of only $10, I felt good about my mouse-fitting experience and Z🎉owie mice in general. It was eye-opening how much difference the right mouse makes. I liked the S1 medium so much that I end💎ed up for the retail price of $69.99.
Those wꦑho are interested in exploring mouse options with the Zowie Mouse-Testing kit can find it .
BenQ sent a pr🔴oduct to the author for demonstration purposes only, which she returned after this review.