Page 2 - A Closer Look - Hardware and Software
At first glance, there is something about the simplicity and cleanliness of the mouse that is satisfying. Unlike the Func MS-3 Jonathan Kwan reviewed almost a year ago, this looks like a traditional palm grip mouse. Gone are the extended finger rests to the right side, which may be a positive or a negative, depending on how you viewed the extension. The body is not symmetrical, as it favors right-handed users in regards to the button placement and the curvature of the mouse. Thus for the rare left-handed mouse users, you should look elsewhere. The entire mouse is coated in a soft touch material; quite similar to the surfaces found on some cell phones such as the matte backing on the HTC One X+, or the Google Nexus 9 tablet. This rubbery like surface makes for an amazing feel in the hand, as it grips well to the hand consistently without the need of extra rubber grips. It also makes the mouse look good, since the surface is without the bumps or ridges you would see from added grips. The matte black finish is also relatively good at hiding fingerprints and marks, but if you have dirt or debris like cheese powder on your fingers, you will start seeing stains. Looking at the shape of the mouse, the Func MS-2 is more rounded at the back, in comparison to the recently reviewed Gigabyte Force M63. In turn, this will encourage users to employ a more palm-like grip when utilizing the mouse, but I will get into this later. Overall, Func knows how to polish the aesthetics of their products, and the MS-2 is a prime example of their attention to visual detail.
As for the dimensions, the Func MS-2 measures in at 70mm in width, 130mm in length, and 43mm in height. These are all very average measurements, but I can note a few things. For one, as I have said before, the Func MS-2 is taller than the Gigabyte Force M63 by around 5mm. While this may not sound like very much, the Force M63 is relatively flat, while the MS-2 has more of a slope and hump to it. Thus it will feel like it is the taller mouse, when in reality it is not much taller. The Func MS-2 is also average in weight at around 100 grams, not including the cable. In comparison, the Gigabyte Force M63 is 85 grams without any weights, while the Genius GX Gaming Maurus X is 178 grams. As the Func MS-2 does not have a specific gaming genre in mind for usage, and calls it an all-encompassing gaming mouse, having an average weight is what I would expect. It would have been nice to see some adjustable weights here, to allow users to fine-tune their mouse to their own preferences. At the top center of the mouse is the orange and black braided cable, which measures at a length of 200cm. This cable coloring is consistent with other Func products, which kind of look like an inverted tiger. Braided cables are preferred over the rubber counterparts as they are generally more durable. I find the braided cable a tad stiff, which is kind of odd considering this is woven fabric. Otherwise, at the end of the cable is a gold-plated flashy male USB plug, which looks nice, but should perform exactly the same as any non-plated USB connector.
From this angle, you can see all of the buttons on the Func MS-2, so I will highlight each of them and their default uses. You have your standard two left and right buttons, with a scroll wheel in between the two. Underneath the two main buttons are Omron switches, so durability should not come into question. The scroll wheel in the middle is a notched wheel, with a nice ridged rubber coating. The sides are translucent to allow the wheel to be illuminated to show which profile you are in. It has an RGB LED behind it, so you can choose from a possible 16.7M colors. Of course, it might be a bit hard to actually distinguish between all of these colors, but it is preferred over limiting it to a preset list of colors. I should note this is the second MS-2 in all our pictures, as the first Func MS-2 we have received had its scroll wheel broke after week of use. Func was more than helpful to provide us with a second mouse. They also noted other reviewers did not report this problem, so I suspect this is just an isolated incident. This has also been confirmed as I have been using the mouse for more than two weeks now, and everything is functioning as it should. Otherwise, the scroll wheel provides a very good notched feel. Some users may prefer Logitech's "frictionless" free scrolling wheel, but I much prefer some feedback.
Underneath the scroll wheel are two buttons to increase or decrease your DPI or sensitivity settings. On the farthest right edge is a singular thin rectangular button, which is used to switch your button layout profile. Finally, we get to our array of buttons, which Func refers to as the T+4 zone. This is similar to the Func MS-3, with only the spacing of the buttons being changed. These four buttons are still accessible by your thumb without any issue. The top two buttons are your standard forward and back, and at the bottom is a mute button. The circular button is used to lock your DPI at a certain, presumably lower, setting, which is similar to the Sniper button found on the Gigabyte Force M63. Otherwise, the layout is superb and within reach for most regular sized hands. All the buttons give a consistent and tactile response.
There are a few hidden LEDs on the Func MS-2, and can be found when the mouse is actually powered on. These three indicator LEDs are located between the crack of the top and side panel, near the back button. They serve two purposes. For one, it indicates which profile you are in and the LEDs turn white in color during this operation. Otherwise, they indicate which DPI setting you are in, and are orange by default. There are a total of three customizable DPI settings. As I have mentioned prior, the scroll wheel also lights up, depending on your profile. I wish these indicator LEDs were customizable to either match what your current profile color is, or just to change it randomly, but this is not a big deal.
On the bottom of the Func MS-2, you can find a few things of interest. First is the difference in surface. There is a glossy ring around the bottom that is slightly lifted off the bottom. This area is not generally going to be touched by the user, the base is a standard hard plastic, with no rubber touch. This is also the second appearance of Func's logo on a specification label, with the first appearance being on the left side of the mouse. Serial numbers and certifications are found on this sticker. Next, there are the three Teflon feet. Teflon is the common name for polytetrafluoroethylene or PTFE, and is found on various items like non-stick pans. These feet are made to ensure a near frictionless experience while using the mouse, and we will see if this holds true in our testing. Finally, in the middle of the Func MS-2's bottom is the optical sensor. Func has chosen the Avago ADNS-3090, the same sensor found in the aforementioned Genius GX Gaming Maurus X, and the Cooler Master Storm Recon. It is capable of tracking up to 4000 dpi sensitivity at a maximum of 6400 frames per second. Acceleration is listed at 20g.
Installing and running Func's utility is simple. Its layout and setup is very similar to what you might have seen from past Func products, such as the Func KB-460. The white and orange layout sticks true to Func's colors and minimal style. As you can see, there are three tabs to customize, so I will overview each one. The first is the screenshot you see above, which allows you to change the basic settings. Included in this are the DPI sensitivity settings, the pointer sensitivity, the scroll speed, the double click speed, and the polling rate. With the exception of the polling rate, all of these are set individually for each profile. Ironically, the sensitivity settings are not very sensitive, as they only allow cycling the DPI between four options (800, 1600, 3200, 4000). While the Gigabyte Force M63 allowed for steps of 50 dots per inch, Func seems to have forgotten this utility is meant to allow "fine tuning". On the next tab, there are options to change all of the buttons, including the default left and right button. While you might not necessarily want to do this, it is good to see Func provide the option. Buttons can be assigned to the standard mouse options, as well as some media keys such as Play/Pause or Stop. You can also record macros with a mix of keyboard and mouse keys to execute on a single click. Finally, the third tab is the most colorful tab, as it allows users to choose what color they want the corresponding profile to show on the mouse. There are options to choose the color, its saturation and brightness, and whether you want it to pulsate or not. You can also disable the backlight altogether.
Using the software overall proved to be easy, but there were a few kinks. The utility still takes quite a while to load the information onto the onboard memory of the mouse, and sometimes the entire thing would freeze while holding focus on the screen. The only way to exit this utility is to force close the entire thing, which makes the utility not the most user friendly. Unfortunately, this has happened more than enough times to be called a coincidence. It looks like Func has some work to do on their software overall, for both stability and user interfacing.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. A Closer Look - Hardware and Software
3. Subjective Performance Tests
4. Conclusion
