Corsair Vengeance M65 Arctic White- 6 Months Review

[GIJew]

After a lengthy two year slog with my Razer Lachesis that had a breaking laser I decided I was due for a new mouse.

 

In the myriad of gaming mouse-dom only one brand really stood out; Corsair.

I had their flashy blue RAM on my motherboard but I'd never seen the Corsair flag label outside of a chassis.

 

I had the option of the M65 or a RAT 7 and I chose the M65; what follows is my six-month roundup review.

 

Aesthetics/ Build Quality

 

From the moment I took this bad boy out of the box I knew it meant business. 

 

I can quite easily say that this mouse has without a single doubt the best build quality of any peripheral I have ever owned.

The mouse is essentially made of less than 3 parts (not including wires and electronics) its basically 3 plastic panels mounted over an aluminum chassis, and interspaced with blue LED's this gives it a definite weight and a really clean semi-robotic design that is quite beautiful to my eye.

 

The side panels (where your thumb, pinky and ring finger will rest) are made of a rough "grippy" plastic, at first this was slightly unpleasant but now I'm used too it. These give the mouse fairly decent grip.

 

The top panel (on the arctic white version) is a glossy plastic that has a beautiful sheen and more grip than you'd expect, the bottom of the panel has been cut short, this means you don't ever really have to worry about palm sweat.

 

Finally the scroll wheel is nicely textured and being made of metal has a nice heft to it.

 

Over the past 6 months its looks have barely changed;

The side panels are a little less grippy

The top panel is little dirtier (a wash will fix this).

 

Aesthetics and Build Quality: 9/10

 

Functions and Features

 

The mouse has all together 3 non-regular buttons (Left MB; Right MB and Scroll).

 

Two of these are programmable and they rest just above the right thumb in the perfect spot for me. 

The final button is a "Sniper Button", this slows down DPI when depressed, so you could say use it when you pick up a sniper in BF3 and you need maximum steadiness to take the shot.

Personally I have never really used it, but it is a nice touch.

 

Underneath the mouse are 3 removable weights, this is a great feature IMO.

 

The mouse has 2 buttons below the scroll wheel that changes the DPI currently on the mouse. Between them is a 3 light set that represents which setting your own with the relative lights lit.

The button closest to the scroll wheel increases DPI whilst the one closest to your palm decreases DPI. 

Speaking of which the Maximum DPI is 8200

 

These 3 DPI adjustments and many other features (Delay; height register; lights etc) can be changed in the Driver which is not too bad, but sadly it doesn't come with the mouse.

I've heard people complain about this software but I think it gets the job done.

 

8/10

 

Performance

 

The M65 performs much as you'd expect any $50-60 gaming mouse, it floats gracefully over a nice mousepad.

The laser has never given me any troubles, and the mouse is always pinpoint accurate.

 

The buttons/clickers are slightly lighter than the regular mouse, it took me a week or so to get used to them.

 

I have loved every second of gaming with this mouse, it has never faltered.

 

Conclusion

 

The Corsair M65 is one of the greatest peripherals I've ever owned, and definitely the greatest mouse.

 

I thoroughly enjoy playing with it, its got some great features but its just generally a great mouse.

 

As far as sizing goes I have relatively normal hands and I'm confident it will only be uncomfortable in the most extreme cases.

 

(tl~dr)

All in all if your looking for a great mouse that has some neat features, a super slick look and some insane DPI look no further.

9/10

 

And now for a picture feat Marcus Kincaid!

 

 

 

[Damikiller37]

I have the M65 in black and I absolutely agree with you! It's a fabulous mouse for the price IMO. I have had mine for about 4-5 months and like you have mentioned the side 'panels' have lost some of their grip, which by all means I prefer since at first it felt a bit like sand paper. In terms of the Sniper button I don't think I have ever used it yet but it may be quite handy for some. BTW a little typo, Maximum DPI is 8200 not 82000

[GIJew]

I have the M65 in black and I absolutely agree with you! It's a fabulous mouse for the price IMO. I have had mine for about 4-5 months and like you have mentioned the side 'panels' have lost some of their grip, which by all means I prefer since at first it felt a bit like sand paper. In terms of the Sniper button I don't think I have ever used it yet but it may be quite handy for some. BTW a little typo, Maximum DPI is 8200 not 82000

Yeah I know exactly what you mean! As someone who hates dry stuff and or having dry hands the first few days with the mouse were not much fun, but now the side panels are perfect!

 

Thanks for the heads up