Page 2 - A Closer Look - Hardware and Software
As we mentioned, Fnatic Gear acquired Func to create these products, and Func's fingerprints are seen throughout. Out of the box, the Fnatic Gear Flick G1 looks pretty similar to the Func MS-2 in styling. We have a full black mouse, covered in the same soft touch feel I ever so enjoy. This makes the mouse easy to grip, while still looking simple and clean. After a while, the surface may start showing stains and scratches, but it is hard to deny the feel. The lack of branding is nice too. All we have is a small logo on the left, and the product's name on the right, subtly printed in gray. Unlike the MS-2, the body is symmetrical with the exception of the side buttons, as you will see later on. The curve of the hump is somewhat near the middle of the mouse, and it is relatively steep, thus allowing for a palm grip. A claw grip is definitely still possible with this mouse.
The Fnatic Gear Flick G1 measures in at 128mm in length, 68mm in width, and 40mm in height. As you can see, the mouse is smaller, although only slightly, in all dimensions compared to the MS-2. When it comes to feel, it is quite a bit different. The Flick G1 definitely has a lower maximum height, and it peaks and drops off quickly. With this in mind, I think claw-grip and palm-grip users will find this mouse easy to use. As for weighting, the Flick G1 weighs in 10 grams lighter than the MS-2 at 90 grams. As Fnatic Gear has multiple teams in varying games genres, the one-size-fits-all mentality is understandable for their peripherals. It might have been nice to see some custom weighting here, as the mouse is still quite light. At the top of the mouse there is a black braided cable, and it measures around 180cm in length. Braided cables are preferred over rubber counterparts, as they are generally more durable. The cable is a tad stiff, but it is not too bad. At the end of the cable is a gold-plated flashy male USB plug, which looks nice, but performs exactly the same as any non-plated USB connector.
From the left side, you can see all of the buttons on the Fnatic Gear Flick G1. You will notice right away this mouse dropped a total of four buttons from the MS-2, which is not exactly a terrible thing either. This does mean there will be less extra triggers on the mouse, but it does make it simpler. At the front, you have your standard left and right buttons, with a scroll wheel in the middle. The two main buttons have Omron switches underneath, rated at ten million clicks each. The scroll wheel is a notched wheel, with the same rubber coating as the MS-2. The sides are translucent with an RGB LED underneath it to show multiple colors. Underneath the scroll wheel, we have a single round button. By default, it is set to be your profile switcher. All of these buttons can be set to other things with the software, as you will see soon enough. Finally, on the left side of the Flick G1, we have two side buttons. By default, they are set to Forward and Back. As I should note, all the secondary buttons are given switches rated at five million clicks according to the manufacturer. Otherwise, the layout is pretty good. The button placement strikes a good balance between being out of the way of accident clicks, and being close enough to easily click if necessary. Overall, the main buttons feel great to press and offers a nice tactile response, as expected from Omron. The secondary keys require a bit more actuation force, but they feel okay. The scroll wheel is also a tad stiff in terms of scrolling and pressing, but this is similar to the MS-2.
On the side between the body exists a slit, and this houses three LEDs. These lights serve two purposes. For one, it can indicate the current profile, as you can have up to three profiles loaded onto the mouse. When indicating the profile, the lights will display as white. However it can also be used to cycle through the DPI settings. When lit up, these show as orange. It would be nice to see these lights be the same color as the scroll wheel, but it would compromise on the functionality aspect of the LEDs, so this is understandable.
Flipping the Fnatic Gear Flick G1 over, we can see a similar state of affairs as compared to other mice. We have four polytetrafluoroethylene, commonly known as Teflon, feet to help with keeping a smooth glide. At the top we have a sticker with some more product information, certification, and a serial number. In the middle of the mouse we have the opening for the sensor. Inside we have a Pixart ADNS 3310. This is a commonly found sensor, used in other mice like the SteelSeries Rival. This mouse thus can offer from 50 to 5000 DPI in sensitivity at a maximum of 6500 frames per second. It promises true 1:1 tracking with zero hardware acceleration, though it can be enabled up to 30g. Tracking speeds peak out at 130 IPS. Finally, report rate can be adjusted to 125Hz, 250Hz, 500Hz, or a maximum 1000Hz. Thankfully, the sensor is attached firmly to the mouse, as I cannot hear any sensor shake, as sometimes exhibited on cheaper mice.
Taking a look at the Fnatic Gear Flick G1 software, we can see Fnatic has made a few changes for the better, as compared to the MS-2's software. The first screen you see here is the "Basic Settings" screen, and this allows you to change sensitivity, pointer sensitivity, scroll speed, double click speed, and polling rate. It also allows you to scroll by page with the scroll wheel. The first thing I was really happy with was the fact the CPI settings were actually customizable. The utility for the Func MS-2 was very rigid in this regard, allowing only four specific CPI levels, and nothing in between. Instead, this mouse can be adjusted from 50 to 5000CPI in 50CPI increments. A total of three levels can be saved for each profile. There are also three profiles to be saved. On the other hand, there is no way to change the lift off distance, but I will mention the importance of this in the performance tests. The next page is the "Button Assignments" page, which allows you to reassign any of the mouse functions, even scrolling up or down, to anything you want. It can even be used for macros. The "Color Settings" page allows you to set different colors and lighting effects on the mouse. Finally, the "Macro Recorder" page is where users can make macros to be used with the mouse buttons. All these settings are saved to the mouse upon exit, and thus you can take this mouse out and plug it into another computer, while still having the same settings. Powering the mouse is a Holtek HT68FB560 microprocessor, and 256KB of flash memory to save all your profiles.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. A Closer Look - Hardware and Software
3. Subjective Performance Tests
4. Conclusion
