Corsair Ironclaw RGB Wireless review: Heavy-handed

Corsair have produced some improbable gaming mice this yr. The Ironclaw RGB went straight into my best gaming mouse listing after I checked out it again in March, as did the Harpoon RGB Wireless after I examined it in Could. Due to this fact, it absolutely follows wi-fi model of the Ironclaw RGB, which makes use of the identical Corsair Slipstream know-how because the Harpoon Wi-fi, must be one other absolute shoe-in, proper? Err… not fairly. Right here’s wot I feel.

From the surface, the £85 / $73 Ironclaw RGB Wi-fi feels roughly equivalent to its wired £45 / $58 sibling. Its massive, palm-hogging form and patterned, rubbery sides are simply as comfortable and wonderful to the contact as earlier than, and its smooth, easy end doesn’t get sullied by horrible sweat patches once you take your hand off it. It additionally has the identical 100-18,000 DPI sensor inside it, too, and a 1.8m braided cable for when you should cost it.

The principle downside I’ve with the Ironclaw RGB Wi-fi is that it’s so rattling heavy. Whereas the wired model was nearly okay for my spindly fingers at 105g, the wi-fi mannequin is available in a whopping 130g, which, after the 80g delights of my day-to-day Logitech G Pro Wireless mouse (and even the 99g Harpoon RGB Wi-fi) simply seems like I’m shunting a really massive rock round my desk (albeit a really easy massive rock) as a substitute of a light-weight, nimble clicking machine.

House automotive from the longer term, or RGB mouse?

The transfer from seven to 10 programmable buttons additionally feels mildly pointless, as attempting to hit its knobbly Triforce of thumb buttons is sort of unimaginable with out a number of deliberate thought and focus. The underside two are simple sufficient to faucet, however the prime one undoubtedly requires a correct press from above, relatively than under or the facet the place your thumb may naturally sit as a way to hit the opposite two. Meaning squashing your thumb even nearer to your forefinger, and it’s simply not very simple or sensible to do within the warmth of the second.

I additionally discovered it laborious to press the decrease of the 2 forefinger buttons additional up the mouse. Bizarrely, these are the DPI up and down buttons by default (not the 2 under the scroll wheel, which cycle by its three out there profiles), however fortunately you’ll be able to assign this perform to whichever button you need by downloading Corsair’s iCUE software program.

Right here, you get all the standard choices, corresponding to with the ability to assign keyboard instructions, media controls, recordable macros, in addition to utilizing them to launch sure purposes, and you may also assign one button to be a devoted sniper button, which can sluggish the Ironclaw Wi-fi’ DPI velocity right down to a crawl to assist line up issues like headshots when taking part in video games on-line. I simply want all of its many buttons have been simpler to press with out me having to consciously give it some thought.

This can be much less of an issue for these with bigger, extra versatile fingers than I, however each second I take advantage of the Ironclaw RGB Wi-fi simply makes me lengthy for both the Harpoon RGB Wi-fi or common wired Ironclaw RGB – or, certainly, my trusty Logitech. I would really feel barely otherwise if the Ironclaw Wi-fi had a superior battery life to both of its wi-fi rivals, however its 2.4GHz endurance is miles behind the Harpoon RGB Wi-fi, coming in at simply 16 hours with its default RGB lighting enabled and 24 hours with out, whereas the Harpoon’s respective batteries lives are rated for 30 and 45 hours. The Logitech G Professional Wi-fi, in the meantime, is even additional out in entrance with 48 hours on its default lighting and 60 hours with all of it switched off.

All in all, a wi-fi model of a terrific gaming mouse doesn’t one other greatest gaming mouse winner make. The Logitech G Professional Wi-fi remains to be the head of wi-fi gaming mice in my eyes, however in case you’re after one thing that doesn’t break the financial institution then Corsair’s Harpoon RGB Wi-fi is the following neatest thing at simply £53 / $50.