Page 3 - Subjective Performance Tests
After setting up the Maurus X to the point of satisfaction, I begin a series of performance testing. Due to the nature of my job as a receptionist during the summer, the tests performed are going to be more towards office work and web browsing. Mainly, the office work I will be doing are producing PowerPoint presentations, updating Word documents, and creating Excel spreadsheets. The other test that will be performed will be based on the gaming experience the Maurus X offers specifically in League of Legends. The mousing surface I will be using is the XTracGear Ripper. Please note these are subjective tests, but we attempt to make it as objective as possible with our cross reference testing methods.
I have always used my mouse is with a palm grip; it has been this way for as long as I can remember. I do not believe it was taught to me, but rather, it was based on comfort. This started from back in the days when mice featured a PS/2 connector and a mouse ball. The Maurus X, as previously mentioned, is ambidextrous in nature, making it suited for both left and right hand users. Something new to me using this mouse with a palm grip is the widened base of the mouse. This allowed both my thumb and pinky to rest on the mouse for maximized control, instead of being dragged across the mousing surface with every action. Although this mouse offered by Genius GX Gaming tops out at a sensitivity of 4000 DPI, the built-in weight of 50g permits the mouse to be more predictable in mouse movements. What I would like to know is where the 50g weight is placed, and if precise calculations are made to ensure for a “well balanced mouse”.
Moving on to usage of the mouse, the Maurus X is very easy to get used to. The software is simple to use, but allows for customizations in the options menu to meet your needs. With heavy document editing and other office driven work, I made the left back button to act as a copy button, and the right forward button as paste. This allowed me to work faster without having to right-click and scroll down to copy or paste, or to remember keyboard shortcuts. Although I did not do any further changing with the side buttons, it is clear the functionality is very convenient for users. During my use of the mouse, I still really enjoyed the widened base and the rubberized sides, as it makes for great comfort and control.
Next, I wanted to test the Maurus X at what it claimed to perform best at: Gaming. Although I did my gaming tests at the lab, what I realized was five of the six people, including myself, at the gaming computer stations bought their own mouse from home to game with. So without looking like the newb that I am, I plugged it into the USB port, waited a couple minutes before signing in to my Riot account, and went to "work". What I liked and appreciated was the onboard memory that allowed me to save my DPI settings at 2400. It sped up the process of setting up with the configuration I have already saved at home. This feature becomes quite handy when time is not always on our side, and users can focus on the gaming experience, rather than worrying about the installation process or software issues that may arise. As expected, the mouse tracked very nicely over the mousing surface with no real difference in gaming situations compared to everyday usage. However, I was fortunate enough to have the computer for more than one game, and compared it to the SteelSeries Rival I had with me. I quickly downloaded the 53.3 MB driver from the manufacturer’s website, and waited in queue for my second game of the hour. I tried to set up the Rival to the settings of the Maurus X at 2400 DPI, and left all the other settings at default. From the start, the feel was definitely different from the Rival. It took some time to get used to having my thumb and pinky on the mousepad when moving the mouse. With the DPI consistent between the two mice, it was hard to notice the difference in performance. This being said, both were very smooth, and I did not accident misclick on anything or anyone I did not intend to. Overall, the Maurus X provided a comfortable and precise mouse fit for gaming.
The Maurus X is designed to be a FPS/RTS mouse for a specific performance-driven crowd. In reality, it is more than that. Many argue a gaming mouse’s success should come strictly from an excellent gaming experience. While I am not here to argue against that, I would say it must present itself as something even more. Not only should it give users an excellent gaming experience, it should also possess qualities to make it a great mouse outside of gaming. Overall, the Maurus X glides very smoothly across mousing surfaces, and the control it offers is excellent while the performance was maintained over the span of testing. Set at its highest polling rate at 1000Hz, the Maurus X is quick while keeping its precision high. Consistency is seen throughout the testing with its DPI ranging from 800-4000 DPI. Genius GX Gaming has created the Maurus X with low complexities and high performance.
However, there are complexities I would like to point out. At first, I did not quite understand the reason for an extra foot pad set. As time goes on, the reason will become more apparent, and the evidence is left on the foot pads. While I was using the mouse on a mousing surface, I had no complaints. But once I transferred the mouse over to a harder mousing surface at work, scratches and fading started occurring. After an evening of office work, it picked up scratches that remind me Bruce Lee’s body in Enter the Dragon. Another "issue" --- so to say -- I have with the Maurus X is the number of profiles it offers with all the adjustment possibilities for users. To make it a little more interesting, I went and created two different profiles where I made adjustments to the DPI, and customized the left and right button to do various tasks. I am not a hardcore gamer, or remotely close, but I feel like with this five profiles, users may take up unnecessary time to fine tune adjustments. But regardless, the option of five is there and by no means are you obligated to use any more than one.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. A Closer Look - Hardware and Software
3. Subjective Performance Tests
4. Conclusion
