Cooler Master CM310 RGB Gaming Mouse Review

Peter Donnell / 6 years ago

A Closer Look and Performance

When it boils down to it, this is an affordable and not overly feature-packed gaming mouse. It’s not overly complicated, it’s not particularly extreme looking, nor is it particularly expensive. However, all that works in its favour, and it’s just a straight up nice looking mouse, without trying too hard.

Down the left side, you will find a durable hard-rubber grip. For those using the mouse in claw or fingertip grips, this allows you to keep a firm grasp on the action. They work well, and the horizontal lines provide extra grip while using a lift-off technique. The side buttons do look a little small here, but they’re angled and shaped just right; you can trigger them with a simple slide up of the thumb. The switches feel light and tactile too, giving good feedback when pressed. CM doesn’t list the switch manufacturer, so it’s likely nothing fancy, but they feel decent and have a good response, and that goes for all buttons on the mouse.

Ambidextrous-ish

Interestingly, this mouse is technically ambidextrous. It has a symmetrical ergonomics design, and you could hold it just as comfortably in either hand. However, there are only left side buttons, so it’s hardly as “ambidextrous” as Cooler Master may think. That’s like moving the steering wheel to the left side of a car but leaving the pedals on the right… But I digress, as on the right side, you will find another rubber grip panel.

The ergonomics of the CM310 are great though, half ambidextrous design be damned. It feels balanced and nimble in your hand. It should too, as Cooler Master says it has been built with equally distributed weight throughout the body. This gives it a perfect centre of balance so neither the head or tail of the mouse drags more than the other. At just 100g, it’s pretty lightweight, but not overly so, giving it fluid control on any gaming surface.

Scroll Wheel

The large scroll wheel looks great too and adds a touch of flair to the design. It has built-in RGB lighting here, as well as around the sides of the mouse, but we’ll see that in a moment.

The wheel also features a soft rubber grip coating, albeit one that’s softer than the side grips. This grip coating makes it very easy to navigate with the wheel. For added control, there are three buttons behind the wheel also, allowing you to toggle through DPI profiles and more.

The CM310 features two large slipmats on the base, which give the mouse great glide on most gaming surfaces. Of course, with the optical sensor, you will need a gaming surface, as glass or wooden desks may not track so well. However, we tried it on both cloth and matte finished aluminium, and it worked perfectly. At 10000 DPI it tracks incredibly fast should you need to, or you can lower the DPI for those more delicate aiming requirements.

RGB

For gaming, the Pixart A3325 doesn’t disappoint. It’s not the most advanced sensor in the world, but it still tracks straight and true with very low jitter, even at extreme DPI. For a mouse in this price range, 1000 Hz, 1ms, 10000 DPI is extremely competitive. For frantic FPS and MOBA gaming, it’s certainly no slouch. However, slow things down and settle into your daily work routine, and the mouse feels every bit as capable. It’s certainly well suited for those who use their PC for pretty much everything, not just gaming.

The give you some added flair, the wrap around RGB starts at the front edge of the mouse, around the back, and down the other side. This is complemented by the mouse wheel, as well as the Cooler Master logo on the top.