Page 3 - Subjective Performance Tests
This is where the fun begins. After installing Corsair iCUE, I adjusted the Katar Elite Wireless to my personal settings. This included modifying the sensitivity and calibrating the mouse for my current mousepad. Afterward, the tracking performance test began. This was done by using it for my typical applications. This included simple web browsing, gaming, and Microsoft Office. Some graphics testing was also done in Adobe Photoshop. As the Corsair M65 RGB Ultra is designed for both first-person shooter or FPS and multiplayer online battle arena games or MOBA, I used games such as Valorant and League of Legends to test this mouse. Please note these are subjective tests, but we will attempt to make them as objective as possible with my cross-reference testing methods.
As previously mentioned, when it comes to mouse grips, I personally prefer to use a palm grip, but I can also adjust to claw grip if needed. I found the Corsair Katar Elite Wireless is a mouse more suitable for claw or finger grip styles due to the shape and size of the mouse. The claw grip style specifically works very nicely with the small size of the mouse. The crisp clicks of the Omron switches only further compliment this grip style. While the mouse fits decently into the palm of my hand, it started to get uncomfortable after a longer period due to the small size of the shell. Therefore, I would say palm grip users may want to opt for a larger mouse. At 69g, the light weight of the Corsair Katar Elite Wireless is advantageous for first-person shooter games requiring swift actions for aiming and shooting.
When it comes to sensitivity, I prefer it in the 3000 to 4000 DPI range, even when gaming, including FPS games. The 100 DPI to 26,000 DPI range of the Corsair Katar Elite Wireless will have users enjoying the flexibility of sensitivity options, even if very few users would choose to go up to a sensitivity that high.
The Corsair Katar Elite Wireless is advertised as a gaming mouse, so I ran my tests on FPS and MOBA games. When playing Valorant, I was impressed with how responsive the Corsair Katar Elite Wireless was. I like to hotkey common commands such as reloading and melee to available buttons on my gaming mouse. While reloading and switching to melee, every button was quite responsive. The Corsair Katar Elite Wireless gave quick response rates when in combat, further complemented by the crisp clicks of the buttons. When playing League of Legends, the tracking movement was very standard, although the light weight of the mouse made large movements easier when compared to heavier gaming mice. I found this to be especially true with League of Legends, where I was constantly swinging the mouse around to move my champion to different areas of the map.
While the Corsair Katar Elite Wireless is best utilized for games, I found that it continued to give good performance when using it for more work-related applications. When using Microsoft Office to write work reports and track project progress, this mouse continued to deliver on its tracking performance, especially when going between multiple cells and sheets on Microsoft Excel. When doing my regular browsing between different websites, the side switches gave a very nice response, with going back and forth between pages being almost seamless. A big part of this is thanks to the Corsair Marksman sensor, which gave pinpoint accurate responses with incredible control speed.
I found that the Corsair Katar Elite Wireless to be very responsive and precise with the switch clicks and polling rate of 2000Hz. This polling rate is better than most mice, since 1000Hz has been, and still is, the industry standard. When testing on the USB 2.4 GHz connection, the response time was very consistent from 100 DPI to 26,000 DPI with no input lag. There was a little bit of lag when testing the response time using a Bluetooth connection, which is a bit unfortunate to see, although this is to be expected. There was also some noticeable observable jittering at 26,000 DPI, although this is not entirely surprising given how high this sensitivity is, which I feel very few people would use. At lower sensitivity levels, I experienced no jitter issues. From testing using my mouse pad, wooden desk, and kitchen tablecloth, I found there were no issues with tracking.
When it came to battery life, the results were pretty close to the rated specifications. I got about 49 hours before the mouse ran out of juice over the 2.4 GHz connection, which is shorter than the rated 60 hours of charge. When in Bluetooth mode, it came in at about 101 hours as opposed to the rated 110 hours. Regardless, this is still good, and as they say, your mileage may vary.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. A Closer Look - Hardware and Software
3. Subjective Performance Tests
4. Conclusion
