Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsWow. Not bad at all!
Reviewed in the United States on November 29, 2018
This review is for the MM520 claw-style.
I have a Cooler Master MasterKeys Pro L keyboard and it has so far been a very satisfying purchase. Real Cherry MX Blues in a no-nonsense keyboard under $100 was a fantastic deal. I figured I could give Cooler Master's Master Mouse a try and see how it works out. I don't mind having matching peripherals if they work well and fit my needs.
So over the years I have used mostly palm grip or universal mice. Razer Habu, Krait, DeathAdder, Logitech MX518, G700s and G900, Gigabyte Raptor. Since using the Habu, I haven't found a mouse I perform well with at all. Since I can't buy another Habu, finding a new mouse that fits my hand just as well has been a real challenge. The G900 came closest I think.
Lately I started noticing my hand retracts into a claw grip naturally when I'm gaming. So maybe my grip has evolved over the years, and I need to start looking at other styles of mice. Along comes the MM520. This mouse is based on previous Cooler Master designs that were very well reviewed within the claw grip community. However, upon trying them they felt way too small for my hand. A common complaint about the MM520 is that it's larger than these older models, so I figured it would be a perfect fit for me. Whether or not this truly fits my grip style, comfort is very good. The ring finger rest feels great and lets my hand relax a bit. Seems to be cutting down the occasional cramps I get when working and browsing. I no longer have to scrunch my hand up to grip an uncomfortably narrow mouse. So ergonomically to me it feels immediately right. Long-term comfort and game performance will tell the rest of the story, but that's completely subjective. Upon first impressions though, I really like it. More than I expected to.
Tracking on my Roccat soft pad and Corsair hard pad is excellent in both cases. Likewise the feet are very large and offer silky smooth movement on both pads. The optical sensor in these mice is lauded as being very good with no hardware pointer acceleration. I'm not good enough to know the true performance differences, but suffice to say the feel is very precise. It feels like a 1:1 extension of my hand. I think the mouse defaults to 1600DPI which is perfect for me. I'm not really interested in switching sensitivity on the fly, so only one button for that isn't a major bother. I made presets for 800, 1600 and 3200 DPI and it more than suffices for my needs. The full 12000DPI this mouse offers is surprisingly controllable though.
Here's where things get weird. I can't explain it, but the pointer precision and input feel noticeably better than my G700S laser and G900 Chaos Spectrum optical. Both were at one point Logitech's absolute top of the line, and both are excellent mice in their own right. These are the two current backup mice in my possession and honestly neither holds a candle to this little budget Cooler Master in feel. Running all three at 1600DPI there is a noticeable increase in smoothness and precision moving to the Master Mouse 520. It's really uncanny. I'm very impressed. Haven't done much gaming yet, but the few I have tried it's noticeable there as well. The sensor is indeed good.
Another small aside is that the scroll wheel is good. Sorta missing the infinite scroll from my Logitech flagships, but the actual feel and function of the wheel is better than both. The wheel itself feels good on my finger with very large and deep ridges for perfect grip. Scroll function is nice and bumpy, and scrolling in games and the like feels precise and controlled as a result.
The RGB is really nice and all 3 zones and use individual colors. I have mine set to solid light blue for the bottom strip, and red for the scroll wheel and logo. It looks awesome. The lighting isn't super bright but it's vibrant enough, and not overdone either. It's definitely not an ugly mouse in any configuration.
My only noticeable issue is that the click switches don't seem as solid or precise as those in my G900. Fair enough, it's a lot cheaper mouse. They're Omrons though so it's not like they're cheap garbage. The mechanism and mounting of the mouse buttons can make a difference here as well. It maybe a difference in materials is the culprit here.. Also, the side switches are different than the click switches, so that took a little getting used to. That said, I don't notice any sort of performance issues with the switches, and clicking feels proper and natural. Some people may point out possible longevity issues with any mouse switches, but that's really down to random chance. I've seen very expensive mice develop double click issues after a month, and $5 bargain basement mice work fine for over a decade.
I got this mouse for $30 on Cyber Monday and it was a mindblowing deal for the performance and features this mouse offers. Solid build, RGB, sensitivity switching, high quality sensor, all for $30? That's insane! I can't fault this mouse at all.
