A good mouse can be hard to find.
Some gaming mice are too flashy, with their bulky shapes, additional weight and gaudy RGB lighting. Sometimes, something understated is exactly what you want on your desktop. Enter Endgame Gear’s XM1r range of mice. They’re lightweight, traditionally shaped, and completely unassuming. But on the inside, they pack in all the technology you’d expect from a mouse.
It supports up to 19,000 CPI – that’s counts per inch, or the number of movements the mouse cursor does in each inch it’s moved. Essentially, the higher a CPI count, the more sensitive a mouse will be to your movement. With the XM1r, there’s a huge range available, and the sensitivity can be easily tailored to suit you. Software can be used for micro-precision, but it can also be changed on the fly by pressing a button hidden underneath the mouse.
Importantly, the Endgame Gear XM1r feels good in the hand. It’s just the right size to be cradled comfortably in my average-sized palm, with my fingers resting on both buttons. As you’d expect, there’s also a two-way scroll wheel between the buttons, and two further programmable buttons on the left side, reachable with your thumb. That’s it; the XM1r is free of any extra bells and whistles – but it doesn’t need them.
The build quality of the mouse feels wonderful. It’s solid but incredibly lightweight; if you’re the type of person who likes to put additional weights in your bulky gaming mouse, then the lightness here might not be for you. But it makes for pleasant usage, the mouse gliding smoothly over your tabletop surface. It comes with a very soft braided USB cable; so soft that it’ll easily bend as you move the mouse around your mousepad. There’s no worries of it snagging or offering any resistance as a stiffer cable might.
Perhaps the most unique thing about the Endgame Gear XM1r is the range of colourways it comes in. These, too, are fairly understated; you can have a sleek black or an eye-catching brilliant white. But there’s also Dark Frost and Dark Reflex, black in colour but translucent, offering you a view of the mouse’s workings inside. Dark Frost is matte to the touch while Dark Reflex is glossy, allowing a better view of the mouse’s innards.
It’s an unusual but rather cool touch; translucent tech might be seen as a little ‘retro’ in 2021 but it’s still a novelty that many of us enjoy. The downside to the glossiness of the Dark Reflex colourway is that it’s more prone to show off fingerprints and any greasy marks. You’ll want to keep it clean by polishing it with a dry cloth regularly.
At £50/$60, the XM1r sits very much in the middle price range of gaming mice. Sure, cheaper mice are out there, but you’ll be hard pushed to find one as solidly constructed and as pleasant to use for much cheaper. To buy, or to find out more about the mouse, visit the official Endgame Gear website by clicking here.
A XM1r was kindly provided by Endgame Gear for the purposes of this review.
