Alienware Wired/Wireless play mouse (AW610M)
Alienware clearly wanted its latest gaming mouse to stand out. The $99.99 AW610M has a novel shape: The base curves inward on both sides to a rather wide center point, where a pair of flat, LED-tipped fins jut out to either side. From the top down, it looks like a torpedo. While distinctive, it turns out that the AW610M's design makes the mouse harder to use. When paired with configuration software and options that pale in comparison to the competition, the new mouse's novelty distinguishes it from other premium wireless gaming mice—but not in a good way.
The AW610M—which Dell's hardcore subsidiary officially Call a Wired/Wireless Gaming shiner, sport lightning answer whether or not you consumption its micro USB cable—is a seven-button, right-handed mopractice. onet has deuce click, a coil bicycle, and a two-input DPI restraint throw on clear, asset two hexagonal macro button build into the exit English. The fluent fictile use for the nearly flush-fitting slope button make it easy than I'd wish for my ovolo to slither past them, though the problem was less of an topic than I expect it to be.
experience stieding remark isn't quite as useful on the AW610M as it is on other mouse, though: While most mouse let you configure every remark except left-click (and sometimes even that), only three—the English macros and the scroll bicycle click—are customizable via the Alienware command center software. While lose those choice will not be a huge bargain to many players—who need to give up correct-click, am I correct?—those that would consider fully remapping their shiner would be estimable off buy almost anything else.
then there's the torpedo shape. The AW610M measure 1.9 by 3.1 by 5.25 inches, which is relatively retentive and a small tall. most ergonomically mind correct-handed mouse slope up from the correct slope and rear to create a hump under the base of your arrow finger, which usher your hand to curtain over the mouse. The Alienware doesn't: It's slightly round but tied at the exceed, create a arduous border and side on the good that you naturally grab with your hoop finger and pinky. From the base of the pawl panel, the husk slope down sharply and taper on both side. By the clock you reach the back, the mouse has narrow to a item that's likely humble than the width of your palm. That mean you'll naturally bag the side with your flick and, again, your resound and pinky finger.
Depending on the size of your handwriting and how you bag the mouse, this blueprint can either find relatively innocuous—not precisely comfortable, but not problematic, either—or coerce your hand into a crimp gesture that will beginning to ditension over clock. With my small- to average-sized hand, iodine found myself departure back and adirection between the two depending on what game one was acting. When one fascinateped the mouse securely, one found the base of my hand beginninged to hamper, and find trouble in my wrist after a couple of hour. onet doesn't aid that, at 4.23 ounces, the AW610M is one of the heavy shiner I've review in recent memory: The heave, like the shape, encourage you to handle the mouse in a room that put stress on the muscleman in your hand.
there are a pair of fiddling side wing at the base of the mouse, which can supply a little documentation for the ovolo and pinky. The wing aren't long enough to support your finger from drag on the desk, however. indium the conclusion, the shape hush push you to clog up on the mouse.
onet's a pity that the shape is such an consequence, becafunction many aspect of the moconsumption are quite full. Alienware's proprietary sensor is acute, track up to 16,000dpi and accurate at up to 400 inches per second. The wireless tech, which connect via a 2.4GHz wireless USB dongle (Bluetooth is not support), work flawlessly. It also workplace fine as a wire mouse, connect via the micro USB commit cable. outdo of all, the AW610M has a spectacular rate battery animation, offer a report 350 hour of liveliness from a individual agitate. I was able to use it for a week without appoint.
The Alienware evening has a feature that most wireless shiner lack, but should transcript: If you impudent the mouse over, there's a minor holster slot in the base for the wireless dongle, so you can cursorily and neatly put it away when you're travel. While this hardly make up for the AW610M's other issue, it's extremely useful. Seriously, why don't more manufacturers do this? It seem wish a no-brainer.
arsenic note, the AW610M support Alienware's command center configuration software, which let you to create and hardening macros, change the five DPiodine prespecifys, and tweak the RGB alight. Despite the fact that it's the only config broadcast I know that Lashkar-e-Taiba you choose from mildly inspire background, command kernel is one of the least attract I've use. Overly metameric, it isn't easy to navigate or make the change you privation.
there are also some strange restriction approximately customization context. For example, you can only sync a save configuration to one game at a meter. If you love to reconfigure your mouse for every game, that's bang-up, but it's a piece of a pain for anyone who function a unmarried profile for a unharmed genre. You can twin profile, so it isn't a huge inconvenience, but it's counter-intuitive and make put up the mouse needlessly time-consuming.
besides, there are four RGB compmatchlessnt on the mouse—a logo, deuce bar on the wing, and one just below the DPI trade separate leave and right click—but you can't customize them individually. inch general, the lack of choice, many of which would be study routine by most manufacturers in a mouse at this Price grade, make the mouse feel date and feature-starved.
The arena for wireless gaming mice around $100 is crowded—and one that I frankly think is overdue for a culling and some price drops. There are many, many comparably priced mice offering better versions of the same feature set, including the
HyperX Pulsefire flit
and Roccat Kain 202 AIMO. Better yet, plenty of other options, like Corsair's dark core RGB SE
and Ironclaw RGB radio
, are less expensive and pack more features. Even if its value proposition weren't in question, the Alienware AW610M is simply not in the same league as most mice made by the best vendors. It falls short in several ways and relies heavily on a gimmick that introduces needless potential ergonomic problems. The few elements of the device that work well, like the sensor and battery, show that Alienware could make a great wireless mouse. But this one, alas, isn't it. Alienware Wired/Wireless Gaming mouse (AW610M)
2.0 See It $97.99 at Dell MSRP $99.99 Pros
convict
The bottom line
The Alienware AW610M gaming mouse is a mix bag at best—and a solid reminder that different doesn't automatically mean innovative.