Originally, I was sold on and am currently using Corsair’s Vengeance M90 mouse due to a more versatile overall design and larger onboard memory; however I couldn’t help but wonder just how well the M60 actually performs compared to its ‘big brother’ since they seem like two very different products altogether. Thanks to Convergent, I’ve managed to get my hands on the Vengeance M60 which is Corsair’s solution for an FPS optimized gaming mouse!!
Technical Specifications:
• 5700 DPI — Avago Technologies ADNS-9500 LaserStream Gaming Sensor
• Adjustable DPI in 100 DPI increments
• 1000Hz/500Hz/250Hz/125Hz (1ms/2ms/4ms/8ms) selectable response time
• Tracking up to 165 inches per second, up to 30g acceleration, and automatic frame rate control
• Adjustable lift distance — five selectable levels to fit your play style
• Surface quality detection
• 8 individually programmable buttons
• Side mounted sniper button provides user settable DPI change while pressed for enhanced precision targeting
• Comfortable ergonomic design with soft-touch surfaces and grip improving textures
• Omron left and right click switches rated for eight million operations
• Aluminum metal frame and base for improved rigidity and mass distribution
• Solid metal, weighted scroll wheel with rubberized scroll surface for improved finger traction control and feel
• Ultra Low Friction PTFE pads for smooth performance and accurate gliding
• USB Connector with gold plated contacts
• 1.8m lightweight non-tangle cable
FIRST LOOKS AND PACKAGING:
Corsair has opted to pack their Vengeance mice in hard plastic shells rather than in a pretty box. On the one hand, it makes it a tad easier to try out the mouse on your hand and produces less overall waste. On the other, I'm not a fan of this kind of packing as opening them up is usually a messy and destructive affair leaving the packaging wrecked.
However, Corsair really surprised me by paying so much attention to even the packaging! The back is perforated which peels off with minimal effort. The entire back portion can be peeled off and flipped open, but does not come off completely (it is 'hinged' at the bottom). Not only is it easy to open, it leaves everything inside intact! Real thumbs up to Corsair for this! It's the first time I'm seeing hard plastic shell packaging being retainable and non-destructive to the products inside!
See? Still pretty out of the shell!
Contents of the package. You get the M60, a Quick Start guide, and a Warranty guide.
BUILD QUALITY & DESIGN:
As with the M90, a close visual inspection of the M60 does not reveal any obvious design flaws or shoddy manufacturing. The mouse is extremely well built and exudes first-class quality. Encasing the innards is a unibody aluminum frame which not only feels sturdy but is fairly lightweight for the amount of structural integrity it provides. I must say I am thoroughly impressed with the aluminium chassis; the M60 (and M90) are the best quality mice I have ever used to date.
The M60 weighs slightly lighter than the M90; which I’d say is just about the right balance of being heavy enough to not feel cheap, yet provide you with more precise control over the mouse while not being overly weighted such that moving it requires too much effort and tire your wrist after extended usage. Another nice feature is that the 3 adjustable weights enable you to optimize the M60’s weight / center of gravity just the way you want to.
TOP view. The entire top surface of the mouse has a smooth, *slightly* soft touch finish that somewhat feels less ‘rubbery’ than the M90’s finish, but still feels pleasant nonetheless. There are 2 additional buttons behind the Scroll wheel programmed to “DPI Up” and “DPI Down” selection functions by default; and between them is an LED indicator for your current DPI setting.
RIGHT view. Here you can see the Sniper button, and 2 other side buttons. All are fully programmable to macros or other commands aside from their default functions. Both sides of the M60 have a rough textured finish, presumably to provide a better grip for your fingers. However, I personally prefer something of a smoother feel.
LEFT view. Here is where your ring and pinky fingers rest, featuring the same rough texture as the other side. You can also distinctly make out a gap between the finger rest area and the top area, exposing the aluminum frame with some vent-like structures. Personally, while it might give the M60 a somewhat ‘fiercer’ look, I’m not a fan of that design because there IS a tradeoff in overall comfort when gripping the mouse with your palm around that area. A similar gap is actually present on the right side as well; but you can’t see it as clearly.
BOTTOM view. What will immediately strike you are the 3 circular weights which are removable by unscrewing them using a coin or screwdriver. They each weigh 4.5g; and removing them all can make a discernible difference in the mouse’s overall weight.
You can also see the PTFE glide pads (5 in total) which covers significantly more area than the M90, and the aluminum finish of the mouse. Finally, there’s also the 5700 DPI Avago Technologies ADNS-9500 LaserStream Gaming Sensor, which can reportedly track and report the position of the cursor at speeds of up to 165 inches per second, with a mouse acceleration of up to 30G!
Close up of the braided USB cable. It even comes with a velcro tie for cable management!
All powered up! The scroll wheel area and DPI buttons glow blue. The Corsair logo, however, is not illuminated like the M90’s is.
FIRST USE IMPRESSIONS:
The M60 seems to accommodate both a Palm and Claw grip; but I feel it was more designed for the former due to the placement of the Sniper button and how the mouse is arched.
The following pictures show where my hand and most importantly thumb positions are when using a Palm, and then Claw grip:
For the most part, the Palm grip fits my hand size well and is comfortable. However, upon switching to a Claw grip, my thumb no longer aligns to the Sniper button, leaving it fairly hard to reach without me having to shift my grip slightly. For reference, I do have small hands. In my view, Corsair could have shifted the Sniper button back slightly (say, at the very least 0.5cm) or implemented some kind of shifting mechanism to allow users to adjust the position of the sniper button according to their own requirements. I'm assuming that the M60 should generally suit people of all hand sizes; considering mine are small, people with larger hands can reach the Sniper button easier.
That being said, the Sniper button has pretty much a perfect amount of force required to actuate it without being too easy to press to prevent accidental clicks.
The other 2 side buttons are well-placed and very easy to press. How you wish to program them is all up to you. No complaints with the Left and Right click mouse buttons either, as well as the scroll wheel button. They each actuate well enough regardless of the grip I used.
One thing I’m not too crazy about however is the scroll wheel. It IS touted as a high mass scroll wheel and it DOES feel great; but it’s another thing altogether in practicality’s sense when the amount of force required to scroll is significantly higher than pretty much all other mice I’ve tried. I would still certainly favor fluidity and ease over mass and precision here. It would certainly require getting used to; but over time the scroll wheel should ‘loosen’ up and you will gradually find it easier.
I must mention that I am not completely sure if the extra force required to scroll was indeed by design, or a manufacturing batch flaw. I experienced the same hardness to scroll with my first M90; however, it died (via a BETA software update… I advise to use only factory releases) and I got a replacement, and my replacement M90 scrolls WONDERFULLY. Same high mass scroll wheel, same feel, but different SCROLLING feel. It is extremely easy and fluid compared to my first M90 and this current M60 which I have for review. Would probably need an official word from Corsair to clarify this.
IN-DEPTH USE AND GAMING:
I’ll get right to the point here: I WAS COMPLETELY BLOWN AWAY with how the M60 mouse felt in use. Having used the M90 for about 2 weeks now and as some of you might recall from my review of the M90, I maintain that the M90’s tracking and precision is near flawless. I was VERY happy with it and it was definitely a step up from my previous mouse, a Razer Imperator 2012. The M60, however, really takes the cake here and, if I dare say, this is as close to flawless as it gets. I’m not joking when I say the M60’s performance is like nothing I have ever used; from regular Microsoft mice to their Sidewinder to Razer’s offerings and even the M90!! While tracking was so incredibly fluid, you still have a high degree of control over the precision of the mouse pointer. I noticed that even at the same DPI and polling rate, the M60 seemed more ‘responsive’ than the M90. I have problems with accuracy with the M90 at higher DPIs, but not as much with the M60.
The Avango laser definitely is a winner here; Corsair mentions it can track and report the position of the cursor at speeds of up to 165 inches per second, with a mouse acceleration of up to 30G. I would also attribute the M60's outstanding performance to the extra PTFE glide pads which cover a wider overall surface area than the M90, plus the fact that the weight of the M60 is pretty much spot on. Top that off with the adjustable weights, and you have a mouse that really holds up to being more than just a ‘gimmicky’ one that relies on the gaming monicker. Removing the top 2 weights allows the mouse to be centered to the base where your palm rests and lets you swivel the mouse from side to side easier; while removing the bottom weight affords you greater control of swiveling the mouse. Removing all 3 weights makes the mouse slightly lighter.
Also, if you already have a good gaming keyboard, the M60’s Sniper button is pretty much all the extra functionality you really need for an FPS mouse. It takes some getting used to, but soon enough you will be automatically activating the DPI switch while scoped and aim down your enemies with incredible control. Alternatively, if you are already used to not having a DPI Switch even when scoped, you can assign another useful function such as “SHIFT” to the Sniper button (which steadies your scope in Battlefield 3).
There are only 2 things which I could nitpick with the M60’s gaming performance, and that comes with the high mass scroll wheel and the Sniper button placement. As previously mentioned, if you’ve gotten a ‘heavy’ wheel, then scrolling requires a greater amount of effort than average and I found it very difficult to quickly switch weapons in Battlefield 3 using the scroll wheel. Also, the Sniper button can be hard to reach if using a Claw grip without compromising or adjusting your grip slightly; leading to discomfort in the long run. This is undesirable because you cannot afford even the slightest of extra, unwanted mouse movements at times; especially in an FPS. Using a Palm grip should give you no problems whatsoever though!
To sum up, the M60 just felt phenomenal. If you are looking for a top grade mouse specially for FPS gaming with no need / minimal need for extra mouse macro functionality, look no further.
SOFTWARE AND MACROS:
The images below are courtesy of Corsair; and they fully explain at a glance all of the M60 Software's functions. As of this review, the software version is 2.12.
And a Screencast version: http://www.corsair.com/blog/vengeance-m60-and-m90-software-screencast/
Finally, if you are having problems with your M60, here are some helpful links!
MY GUIDE EXPLAINING HOW HARDWARE PLAYBACK WORKS - Although made for the M90, it applies for the M60 as well. If you are experiencing problems with Hardware Playback on your M60, follow my guide step by step and it should get you up and running! Just note that the M60 is only able to store 1 profile for Hardware playback!
M90 user guide - Provides in-depth explanations of how the software works. Although its made for the M90, the M60 pretty much works similarly except for the different number of macro buttons available, and it can only store 1 profile on its onboard memory.
M60 Firmware Flash Utility - Important if you have some initial problems with your M60 and want to 'reset' it to a factory state. Use only if really necessary!
SUMMARY:
Boy; was I surprised at how the 'little brother' of the M90 held its own and actually beats the M90 in gaming performance slightly! I can’t recommend the M60 enough if you are looking for one of the best FPS optimized mice out in the market now, and have minimal needs for advanced Macro functionality. The M60, with all its bells and whistles, simply works. And it works astoundingly well.
In terms of strictly build quality and general performance (excluding macros and software), the M60 is close to perfect. I kid you not when I say the M60 (and M90)'s quality is unrivaled. The laser and mouse in combination are immaculately precise and smooth in their gaming performance as well.
The only complaints I can find is probably the awkward gaps at the rear of the mouse, as well as Corsair's current software not having the same level of advanced Macro programmability and flexibility offered by other gaming mice software. However, it is currently more or less stable and it should only get better; so we shall see!
To conclude, here are the pros and cons:
WHOS YOUR DADDY:
WHOS YOUR DADDY:
- STELLAR gaming performance where tracking, precision, and mouse weight combine perfectly
- Great design, astounding quality with rigid yet light unibody aluminium frame
- High mass scroll wheel feels luxurious (**And should be easy to scroll)
- Actuation forces required for buttons are spot on
- Smooth texture finish on the top surface of the mouse is pleasant
- Rough texture finish on the sides of the mouse, while not exactly 'comfy', do allow a firmer grip
- Rough texture finish on the sides of the mouse, while not exactly 'comfy', do allow a firmer grip
- Ergonomic design
- Aggressively priced for its level of quality
- Aggressively priced for its level of quality
YO MAMA:
- Possible batch manufacturing issues resulting in some mice having stiffer than usual buttons and scroll wheels which are harder than usual to scroll with.
- Gaps in-between the sides of the mouse makes it not as comfortable as the M90’s completely covered unibody finish
- Can get uncomfortable in the long run when using a Claw grip
- Software has room for improvement
OVERALL SCORE: 9.5/10. The M60 is a dang impressive gaming mouse, and one of the best FPS optimized mice you can buy! Probably the biggest factor hindering me giving the M60 a 10/10 is the bundled software. While mostly stable now, it still lacks certain functionalities offered by other gaming mice, and this is quite a bummer since the M60 is close to perfection in terms of its build quality and gaming performance. If Corsair could perhaps design an M60 with side button positions & number similar to Razer's Naga Hex, the M60 will be right at the top of the gaming mice pack; no question.
You can pick one up at Fuwell, Bell Systems, or Cybermind at an SRP of $109, and is distributed locally by Convergent Systems with a 2 year limited warranty!
