By: Brian Cheung (Guest Writer)
September 26, 2014
As you may have read in my past review of the XTracGear Ripper, my family and I were looking for a car. After countless trips between the kitchen table and the Toyota dealership, we finally picked a car. The sleek new design and reliability of the 2015 Corolla S won us over. However, there were still many decisions to make after deciding on the model. We had to choose a color, the package we wanted, accessories, and payment options. With certain colors only available with certain packages, this painted a great big cloud above my head; no pun intended. This was not to mention all the accessories the dealership quite literally tried to push onto the table. They placed 3M samples, body side moldings, and door sill protectors in front of us. In the end, we chose the shiny Slate Metallic with an upgrade package. The final decision we had to make was all based on personal preferences, but could be summed up in two words: Form versus function. For me, my car has to look good, but more so, it has to be reliable and feel good at the same time. I feel the same applies to a mouse. As a tool that is essential in everyday computer use, a mouse must be both aesthetically pleasing and reliable. If the mouse had hands, they would have to fit in mine like it was made just for me, or meant to be. The candidate today in question is the Maurus X from Genius GX Gaming. GX Gaming was started by Genius back in 2011 to provide consumers with a customizable gaming gear at an affordable price tag. Clearly, the Maurus X does not look like your traditional two button left and right click mouse. With looks to boot, will it be the mouse with performance and reliability to stay on my desk? Let us find out.
The Maurus X came in a typical brown corrugated cardboard box from KYE’s American office in California, USA. It was delivered using USPS First Class Service in the United States and then delivered via Canada Post to our APH Networks headquarters in Calgary, Alberta. Calgary is also the place where Paris Hilton bought a Pomeranian for a whooping $13,000 in the recent past. The box was delivered in very good condition and is filled with packing peanuts to ensure there was ample cushion for the trip past the 49th parallel. Unlike the Genius Energy Mouse reviewed by Kenneth Kwok in May, there was no plastic bag to keep things out of the retail packaging. However, everything still arrived safely and is in pristine condition.
After taking it out of the box and removing the packing peanuts from the shipping packaging, it is easy to see this is not you everyday-optical-mouse. The design is very unique in the shape of the box. It is not your regular rectangular package, but rather, it has more of an edge on it. In terms of practicality, I feel a regular design would be better, but hey -- to each according to his own. Moving onto the graphics of the box, it is very easy to locate the brand and model of the mouse. The words “GX Gaming” is metallic, giving a very futuristic and clean look to it. After researching a little bit about the packaging of its predecessor, the Maurus, you can see they kept the original design of the lettering with the addition of an “X”. What is the real X-Factor? Maybe eXtra, eXtreme, or eXcellent? A clear picture of the mouse is present, with a nice red outline to give it a more 3D effect. Under the shot of the mouse, we see the words “FPS/RTS Approved Gaming Mouse”. We will see if it lives up to this claim later on. The inner panel of the packaging reveals several graphic user interfaces or GUIs of the included software to give potential buyers a run-down of what they can expect. Aesthetically, the retail box of the Maurus X would be something that I would definitely grab off the shelf at a retail store.
Before we go any further, let’s take a look at the Genius GX Gaming Maurus X specifications obtained from the manufacturer’s website:
Optical Sensor
- 800-4000 DPI
- 1ms Response Rate / 1000Hz Polling Rate
- 60 Inches Per Second (IPS)
- 20 g Acceleration
Properties
- 6 Professional Programmable Buttons
- GX Gaming Scorpion User Interface up to 30 different macros
- Metal weight built in: 50g
- Braided cable with gold-plated USB connector
Size/Weight
- Weight: 178 g (0.392lbs)
- Height: 41mm (1.6 in)
- Width: 81mm (3.2 in)
- Length: 120mm (4.7 in)
- Cable length: 1.8 m (5.9 ft)
From the manufacturer, out of the box, you will receive the Genius GX Gaming Maurus X mouse, software driver in retro compact disk form for the Maurus X, multi-language installation guide, and an extra set of foot pad. The installation guide is presented in as many languages as the back of the package; twenty two to be exact. However, the English portion of the guide was short and sweet, limiting its content to one page. The Maurus X Gaming Mouse driver is 37.4MB in size, and alternatively available on the Genius’ website for download at 18.8MB.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. A Closer Look - Hardware and Software
3. Subjective Performance Tests
4. Conclusion
