NZXT Avatar Gaming Mouse

  Comparing and reviewing mice is a very subjective thing.  Every mouse is going to feel different to each person.  For example I love the Logitech G9 mouse on the right, others hate it to death.   I’ll do my best to give a general impression of the NZXT Avatar gaming mouse but it’s going to be impossible to give an unbiased opinion.  

  First of all lets look at the overall size and shape of the Avatar as compared to a Logitech 510 and the G9 as mentioned before.   As you can see it’s about the same size and shape as the 510.   It’s probably a little but shorter and not as thick but overall it’s about the same size.   It feels pretty good in your hand and unless you have really large hands will probably fit most people just fine.   It doesn’t necessarily require you to use the “claw” grip that the G9 is going to make you use due to it’s short stature.  

I gamed with the Avatar for about two weeks.  Switching on and of between different games and played mostly FPS to get a good feel of the speed of the mouse.  Mechanically The mouse  flowed and tracked really well.  I found it to be quite accurate and the teflon feet that it sat on felt quite fluid.  All the buttons seemed very responsive and I like the way the rubbery top of the mouse feels in my hands.  The main left and right buttons felt very responsive and I liked the feel of them as well.   

  The DPI adjustment macro buttons worked and functioned flawlessly.  The have a rounded shape to them so when your trigger finger slides over to switch you don’t “get caught” on one you don’t want to press.    Although I did use the DPI  settings for testing purposes mostly I didn’t change the settings around too much.  I found a nice sweet spot right in the middle and played most of my game that way.  Switching occasionally to a higher setting when needed.   Switching the DPI on the Avatar is a little bit easier than on the G9 simply due to the location and the size of the the buttons.  So in my opinion the Avatar does a little better in this aspect.  

   Mechanically speaking the mouse works great.  When it comes to the subjective feel of the mouse I must say that I didn’t really respond to well to it.   Something just felt odd to   I could tell almost from the start that it was the weight of it.   Every mouse I have ever used has had a bit of weight to it.   Some such as the G9 allowed me to change the amount of weight based on my preference.   I personally like to feel like I’m holding something in my hand.  It feels more responsive to me somehow just “right” to feel the weight of the mouse as I move it around.  The Avatar is nearly light as a feather and I had a hard time adjusting to the lighter feel of the Avatar.   Granted this is a purely subjective point of view and may not even matter to you.  Heck, you may even like the feel of a really light mouse.  If that is the case then just disregard what I just said.  If you like a heavier mouse though you may just want to pass on this mouse in exchange for one that includes some weights.  As always if you are unsure you may want to find a brick and mortor store and try one out yourself before buying.

   The other thing that really bothered me is the opposite side thumb button.   It sits right where my last two fingers usually rest.   So whenever I picked the Avatar up or during an intense online battle as I squeezed the mouse tightly I would accidental press this button.    The button is really “loose” too.  Meaning it doesn’t take a lot of pressure to activate it.   I had to go into the setting and turn the button off because it would do weird things inside my game or while browning the internet.   Even so with the button turned off it would bother me to hear and feel it click whenever I moved the mouse.   I found it distracting and annoying to be honest.   This might sound weird to some and completely obvious to others but I can’t play with a mouse unless it feels right.    Between the weight and the thumb button shenanigans it was really hard to be objective and play with this mouse.   Again, to be completely honest I was glad to be rid of it after the evaluation was over.