On the subject of mice, Corsair’s choices run the gamut of gaming wants. Ergonomic, FPS, MMO; you identify it, they make it. The newest Corsair mouse to slip throughout my desk is the Katar Elite Wi-fi. A small, 6-button FPS mouse, the Katar Elite Wi-fi arrived concurrently a sizzling new first-person shooter launched, so I’ve had loads of time to place this little man via its paces. Ought to the Katar Elite Wi-fi discover its means into your loadout? It might be the right match for some players, however I doubt it can grow to be the meta.
Specs
- Present Worth: $79.99 (Amazon)
- Monitoring:
- Sensor: Marksman 26K
- DPI: 100-26000 in 1 DPI increments
- Max Acceleration: 50G
- Max Pace: 650 IPS
- Programmable Buttons: 6
- Button Swap Sort: Omron
- Button Sturdiness: 60M clicks
- Connectivity: 2.4GHz SLIPSTREAM and Bluetooth wi-fi, Wired
- Report Fee: 125/250/500/1000/2000 Hz
- Battery Sort: Rechargeable Lithium-Polymer
- Battery Life:
- SLIPSTREAM: As much as 60 hours of steady use
- Bluetooth: As much as 110 hours of steady use
- Grip Sort: Claw, Fingertip
- Hand Dimension: Small, Medium
- Weight: 69g
- Dimensions: 115.8 x 64.2 x 37.8mm (LxWxH)
- Software program: Suitable with Corsair iCUE, one on-board reminiscence profile
- Guarantee: 2 years
The Katar Elite Wi-fi is Corsair’s newest refresh of a line of FPS/MOBA mice that features the unique Katar, the wired Katar Professional XT, and the wi-fi Katar Professional. Moreover the addition of two thumb buttons and the removable wire on the wi-fi fashions, the outward look of the sequence has seen little or no change. The Katar Elite is comparatively compact and weighs a mere 69g, planting it firmly in ultra-light territory. It incorporates a slight slope from the entrance of the mouse to the highest of its hump, adopted by an aggressive curve on the again third of the mouse, giving it a truncated feel and appear. As a substitute of concave sides that contour to your fingers, the Elite is widest on the high of the mouse, with barely convex sides resulting in a thinner base.
The Katar Elite’s design favors a claw or fingertip grip and is ideal for small or medium measurement fingers. Because of the Elite’s quick size, tapered sides, and low peak, customers with massive fingers might discover a lot of their hand dragging alongside their mousepad with a claw grip. No matter your hand measurement, a palm grip is out of the query because of the Elite’s form and measurement.
Once I pulled the Katar Elite Wi-fi out of the field, its matte black floor gave me some concern. The plastic may be very slick, and the small triangle texture added to the edges of the mouse didn’t seem to be it might present any additional management. -Gripping the Katar Elite felt unusual initially, however I rapidly discovered that its distinctive form afforded a strong grip with minimal strain from my thumb and pinky. I usually choose a palm grip and discover a fingertip grip to be very fatiguing, however that isn’t the case with the Elite. I may precisely management the Elite with a really relaxed grip, resulting in hours of gameplay with out my hand changing into sore or cramped.
Whereas all my issues concerning the shell’s slick floor had been initially quelled, one challenge arose whereas utilizing the Katar Elite. The mouse buttons are fingerprint magnets. The sleek buttons do nothing to cover any oil transferred out of your hand to the shell, and the Elite rapidly turns into an eyesore that have to be cleaned often.
Whereas the Elite shares the identical aesthetics as different Katar variations, Corsair has significantly upgraded its internals. Even in case you don’t want the Marksman optical sensor’s most 26000 DPI setting ({many professional} players keep beneath 1000 DPI), odds are you received’t push up in opposition to its spectacular 50G acceleration and 650 IPS monitoring thresholds.
The Katar Elite additionally makes use of high-quality Omron switches assured to final 60 million clicks. The Omron switches are paired with Corsair’s Quickstrike buttons. In concept, the Quickstrike’s zero hole design offers lightning-fast responsiveness to finger presses. In actuality, the zero-gap design doesn’t present sooner clicks, nevertheless it does remove that spongy feeling some mice have; if I get a mouse click on.
Whereas the Katar Elite’s removable USB-C to USB-A cable can be utilized for wired connectivity in a pinch, the Elite helps Bluetooth and Corsair’s SLIPSTREAM wi-fi know-how. SLIPSTREAM makes use of a low-profile 2.4GHz dongle to offer 2000 Hz hyper-polling, though I couldn’t understand any distinction between the trade normal 1000 Hz setting.
The Katar Elite Wi-fi specs beg the query of how a lot is an excessive amount of? There’s little question you’ll be able to discover the distinction between a sensor polling at 250 Hz and polling at 1000 Hz. Can you actually inform the distinction between 1000 and 2000 Hz, although? I had that very same query after I reviewed the Corsair Sabre RGB Professional and its 8000 Hz polling price. The reply then was, and nonetheless is, no. The identical goes for the elite’s different “upgraded” specs. Is anybody utilizing a mouse set at 26000 DPI, or is it only a advertising quantity that by no means comes into play throughout precise use? Sixty million clicks sounds higher than 50 million, however will the button’s spring final so long as the Omron swap? In my expertise, the reply is not any.
One of many modifications that may be translated to an precise enchancment in use is the Katar Elite’s diminished weight. To drop the burden of the Katar Professional Wi-fi’ 96g right down to the Elite’s 69g, Corsair has performed away with the AA battery used within the Professional and changed it with a lighter rechargeable inside lithium battery. The numerous weight discount leads to fast, exact motion with little or no pressure. There’s a draw back to the battery swap, although. The lithium battery is simply rated for as much as 60 hours of continuous use via the two.4Ghz SLIPSTREAM connection earlier than recharge. That’s lower than half of the time the Professional may run on a single AA and doesn’t examine properly in opposition to the opposite light-weight wi-fi mice on my desk, which may all go 100+ hours on a single cost. Nevertheless, even at 8 hours of continuous gaming a day, the Katar Elite will nonetheless final a whole week with no need a cost.
When you plan to combine some productiveness work or low-reflex gaming into your schedule, you’ll be able to stretch out a single battery cost to as much as 110 hours by switching to a Bluetooth connection. This, in actual fact, is among the key promoting factors of the Katar Professional Wi-fi: as of this writing, it’s the solely wi-fi mouse out there from a significant model that options dual-mode connectivity. Whereas related by way of Bluetooth, the enter was marginally much less responsive than when utilizing the two.4GHz dongle (although is measured at 8ms versus the 0.5ms of SLIPSTREAM), with the true challenge being some jaggedness throughout speedy path modifications.
Bluetooth can be an awesome selection when you have portability in thoughts. There’s a small compartment on the mouse’s underside to stow the SLIPSTREAM dongle, so there’s no probability of dropping it throughout transit. There’s additionally onboard reminiscence that may retailer a single profile, so you’ll be able to maintain your favourite {hardware} choices with out having to obtain and set up Corsair’s iCUE4 software program on secondary units. The small measurement additionally pays dividends on the subject of having the ability to throw it in a bag with out it grow to be a cumbersome additional.
Talking of iCUE4, Corsair’s software program opens up many customization choices for the Katar Elite. For starters, the iCUE4 software program lets you configure the RGB emblem on the Elite and seamlessly sync it with the remainder of your Corsair peripherals. Extra importantly, iCUE allows you to remap all six of the Elite’s buttons to different buttons, keystrokes, or macros. You may as well set as much as 5 DPI settings that may be cycled via with the DPI swap (assuming you didn’t reassign it to one thing else), in addition to regulate the mouse’s polling price, sleep mode, energy saving mode, and whether or not or not a battery gauge is seen in Window’s Notification space.
Last Ideas
On the finish of the day, selecting a mouse is a really private affair. It takes greater than easy performance to win over a consumer; a mouse has to have the fitting match, too. As such, the Corsair Katar Elite Wi-fi received’t be the right mouse for some individuals. In reality, it fills a really particular market. If you’re in search of an ultra-lightweight wi-fi FPS mouse and already produce other Corsair peripherals, have small to medium measurement fingers, choose a fingertip or claw grip, and need elements that will or might not present a profit over cheaper choices, then the Katar Elite is an ideal selection. If just one or two of these gadgets are in your “must-have” listing, the Elite’s price ticket of $79.99 feels a little bit excessive, and a distinct mouse is perhaps a greater possibility.
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