Corsair M65 RGB Elite Gaming Mouse Review

A Closer Look and Performance

The M65 comes hard-wired with a high-quality black braided cable. It features the latest revision of the USB header you’ll find on new Corsair peripherals too. It’s a simple, tangle-free cable that’s not too heavy, but it’s plenty durable.

The mouse is plug and play ready. However, if you want to customise the RGB, macros, button configurations, etc. Then, you’ll need the Corsair iCue software on your system. Although you can save your profiles to the mouse and don’t always need the software open to use them.

Classic Styling

If you’ve seen the old M65 gaming mice, well, then you’ve seen the new ones. The design has been pretty much unchanged over the years. Of course, this is great news for fans of the older models, as it means the new M65 feels right at home. Sure, they’ve made some tweaks to the build quality over the years. The plastics are tweaked, the colours fine-tuned, and so on. However, that same panel over an aluminium chassis design remains the same.

One of the most prominent features of the mouse has to be the sniper button. It’s pre-set to drop the DPI when pressed. For those who like to play FPS games, this means you can have a high DPI for fast turning while you play. Get a nice scouting spot on the map, hold the sniper button to scope in and drop your DPI for extreme precision to nail that headshot. Let is go, automatically back to your higher DPI level, and ready to repeat the magic. It’s not a new feature, but as a tool for competitive gaming, it’s pretty fantastic.

Right-Hander

The shape of this mouse is tuned for right-handed users only. Not only because of the shape of the mouse, but also that side button configuration is fixed on the left only anyway. There are extended and angled sides on both the left and right sides of the mouse. Each providing plenty of room for larger hands to use palm, or finger/claw grip play styles. It’s not a massive mouse, but it’s certainly accommodating for both larger and smaller hands. The body has a light texture to it too, allowing improved grip on the sides.

Eight Buttons

The whole mouse is fully programmable, which is great for both work and gaming. However, at default, you’ll find the middle controls offer DPI adjustment, with a clickable mouse wheel for page navigation. How you choose to configure it is up to you, of course. The scroll wheel is a nice size, not too big, but it’s got an easy rotation to it and a lovely soft rubber grip for added control. You can even set the sniper button to any other command, or simply adjust the range of DPI it changes, the choice is all yours.

Glide

The low and wide design of this mouse makes it feel incredibly well planted and stable. For rapid FPS action, it’s super sturdy and accurate. However, a large part of this comes from the durable aluminium chassis and large slipmats on the base. Not only does the mouse feel rigid, but it also glides on pretty much any gaming surface with ease and minimal friction. The star of the show, however, isn’t the sniper button or even the build quality; it’s the new sensor. Offering up a whopping 18,000 DPI, it’s got more than enough range for extremely fast turning and tracking speeds, for twitchy FPS gaming, even on high-resolution displays.

Light or Heavy?

The weight-tuning system allows you to make the mouse as light or as heavy as you desire. This can improve the smoothness of tracking, making the mouse less twitchy. Lighten it up, and you can make quick small movements. The two weights towards the front also allow a little changing of the centre of balance, should you need it.

Sneaky New Product Introduction

Corsair was kind enough to send over their new ultra-wide mouse mat for review too. We don’t review mouse mats, as they rarely make for an interesting read. However, it does look bloody fantastic and I can’t think of a better surface to test the new M65 with!

The M65 glides just fine on the wood surface of my desk. However, it feels even more comfortable on the new mat. The new 18K DPI optical sensor is phenomenal too, offering silky smooth tracking from the lowest settings, right up to the extra DPI levels. Not that you would use much over 8000 DPI for precision work of course. However, at 18K DPI you can swipe across a MOBA map in no time, or turn those slow tank turrets in Battlefield much-much-much faster.

RGB

It wouldn’t be a Corsair product without a boatload of RGB. The multi-zone lighting means you can tweak the lighting on the front scroll wheel section, as well as the Corsair logo and underside of the back of the mouse. It has plenty of colours pre-set to the built-in profiles. However, you can dive into the software and sync this with other Corsair tech, create custom effects, patterns, and much more.