Corsair Ironclaw RGB gaming mouse review / Overclockers.ua

The main problem with Corsair gaming mice, apart from the recommended price, has always been design over functionality. It looked especially strange against the background of their very successful mechanical keyboards in all respects. However, the latest fresh mouse models of this brand make me happy. They have become both simpler and more practical, without losing, at the same time, their signature aesthetics. And the first representative of the new line, which we will talk about in this review, is called Ironclaw RGB.

Specifications

Contents of delivery

The cardboard packaging of the mouse is decorated in beautiful black and yellow colors. There are a couple of photos of the product, a short list of its advantages and information about system requirements. Detailed specifications can only be found on the official website. Inside, the mouse is protected from damage by cardboard inserts and a plastic transparent form.

There is nothing in the kit, except for three brochures with instructions and information about warranty.

Appearance and design

Externally Corsair Ironclaw RGB looks interesting and solid. At least, its shape does not try to repeat the popular options for mouse cases and is clearly made according to its own patterns. The protrusion on the left is not so much a thumb rest as an extension of the case, which, in my memory, other manufacturers have not tried to do. The top solid panel is made of silky soft-touch plastic. Divorces from fingers appear here over time, but in general, the coating is quite resistant to pollution. Two glossy keys in the middle are responsible for switching the profile and changing the current resolution level. They have a soft short stroke and a quiet but ringing click. The two main buttons have a medium pressing force and the same, not very loud actuation sound. The LKM and PKM panels have a slight backlash, however, this is imperceptible if you do not look for it specifically. The switches under the main buttons are Omron D2FC-FK(50M), with a long stated MTBF, and under all the other buttons are different types of Kailh switches. The middle button is tight, with a muffled actuation sound.

The left side of the mouse consists of several separate zones. The front is metal – here Corsair couldn’t help but insert at least a little bit of metal into their mouse. The middle part of the body, on which there are three inclined LEDs that display the current profile and resolution level, is made of matte plastic. The side keys are made of matte plastic, they are huge and protrude far from the case. It is convenient and pleasant to press these buttons from any angle. The keys are a little tighter than average, with a quiet actuation sound, there is practically no free play. The rest of the place is occupied by a rubber pad, with a small relief in the form of rhombuses. It sits pretty tight in the hand, but quickly gets clogged with dirt and requires regular cleaning.

The front panel has an aggressive relief, in the form of thick vertical stripes (or recesses). The signal cord enters the mouse body in the middle, high enough from the surface and has good kink protection. The scroll wheel is large and rubberized. The tactile relief on it remotely resembles the pattern of an off-road car tire. The wheel spins easily, rather quietly downwards, but with a crunch if you quickly turn it up. There are fixation positions, although they are hardly distinguishable.

The mouse signal cable is thin and hard as a wire. Very well maintains a given shape, straightens with difficulty. The cord is 1.8 meters long and is completely covered with a nylon braid. There is a Velcro to adjust the length. A tag with a serial number is glued to the wire closer to the USB connector. It can be removed, but you should not throw it away, because there are no stickers with a number on the mouse itself, which means there may be problems with the warranty.

The right side of the mouse is straight and devoid of additional buttons. The rubber insert here is the same as on the left. It sits firmly in the fingers, but tends to collect dirt.

There is nothing interesting on the stern, except for the RGB-lit Corsair logo.

The base of the manipulator is unusual. The front part, on which two small Teflon feet are fixed, is made of metal. The rest of the case is plastic. There are triangular glossy indentations around the edges, and there is no traditional sticker with a serial number. Two more large Teflon legs are built in at the back. The protruding right side of the mouse is half hollow inside, but it is made of thick plastic. The window of the optical sensor PixArt PMW3391 is located along the central axis of symmetry of the mouse, but slightly shifted forward. To the right of it there is a small yellow hole. It is possible that this is a service button to reset the mouse controller to default settings. But it is not exactly.

RGB backlighting is implemented a little strange. Its most functional part is the three LEDs on the side. They are color-configurable and indicate the current resolution or profile. There is an RGB logo on the stern, it is already more decorative. But why it was necessary to make the backlight somewhere near the central part of the scroll wheel, this is completely incomprehensible. After all, it is visible only at a right angle from above, and almost no one even looks at the mouse.

Software

The Corsair Ironclaw RGB Mouse uses the Corsair iCUE Universal Software at the current version 3.14.104. It needs to be downloaded from the official site and installed. By default, the program is registered at startup, but it also provides the ability to disable this setting.

On the main screen, you can select a device among those supported by the program, quickly switch the profile, and also bind it to the start of a specific program.

After selecting a device, the first tab available is Actions. Here you can remap any of the six mouse buttons. The left button and scroll wheel directions are not available for changing commands. Right here, an advanced macro editor is built in, which allows you to record cursor movements as well. In addition, a key can be assigned a text message, a media command, launching a specific application, a timer, completely disabling a button, changing a profile, an assortment of keyboard and mouse commands, changing the current layout or key combination.

In Highlights, you can separately adjust the color, brightness, or one of 17 lighting effects for two separate zones of the logo and the scroll wheel.

There is a separate DPI tab for resolution adjustment. Here you can separately adjust the X and Y axes three levels of resolution in the range from 100 to 18,000 cpi in increments of 1 cpi. In addition, the “Sniper” mode is set to the fourth level, which is activated when a certain key is pressed. It is also worth adding that the internal memory has three separate layers for resolution levels, which gives up to 12 options at the output. You can also assign a different indicator color to each level.

The “Configuration” menu includes such sensor settings as corner smoothing, increased accuracy and pointer speed. For some reason, they also added the color of the current profile indication.

The lift-off height is calibrated in a special menu through a dialog box. Here you need to grab the yellow icon and move it around the virtual surface of the rug, making circular movements at such a speed that the “speedometer” needle is in the green zone. The optimal lift-off height for the specific surface will be set automatically.

The built-in monitoring panel allows the mouse user to monitor PC component temperatures, fan speeds, voltages, and even RAM timings. All this is displayed in the Windows 10 notification area.

Instant effects allow you to change the color immediately and simultaneously on all connected Corsair devices.

In the settings, you can select a polling frequency of 125, 250, 500 or 1000 Hz, adjust the brightness of the LEDs or clear the internal memory of the device. In addition, here you can force update the mouse controller firmware (the current current version is 3.24) or create an archive image of it. All settings of the iCUE application are also collected here. There are 10 languages ​​to choose from, temperature units, program start parameters, on-screen information display settings, monitoring parameters and recording sensor readings.

Ergonomics and testing

The Corsair Ironclaw RGB mouse was tested on a monotonous black Mionix Alioth M cloth mousepad after the tear-off height calibration procedure through proprietary software. The ergonomics of the body of the manipulator is designed for the right hand and is best suited for a palm grip. The grip with fingers and claw will be convenient only for owners of large hands, since the body itself is quite high and long. In terms of weight and balance, there are no complaints about Ironclaw. 105 grams are evenly distributed along the axes of symmetry and there are no distortions when detached from the surface. The soft-touch surface of the top panel is pleasant to the touch, but over time, fingerprints remain on it. The grooved sidewalls sit firmly in the fingers, but are also prone to rapid contamination and require regular cleaning. I didn’t have any questions about the main and auxiliary keys, they work clearly and informatively. Spoils the picture only a small vertical play of the panels LKM and PCM. The scroll wheel in general is also quite good. Although the fixation positions are poorly expressed in it, there is no backlash and, in general, it works quite quietly. Is that the middle key could be made a little less tight. The mouse has moderate glide inertia and is well controlled. The signal cord is very rigid and for normal use it will need a cable holder or fixation in a certain place. The backlighting here is ambiguous and, by and large, one could do without it, especially without the backlighting of the scroll wheel, which is still not visible. But the side LEDs of the resolution level are very informative, they could well be limited. The software is advanced and will prove to be very useful if almost all PCs and peripherals are assembled from Corsair brand products. If only a mouse, then the software will seem a little heavy. On the other hand, the mouse has three built-in memory profiles and the driver can not be started at all unless absolutely necessary.

The PixArt PMW3391 sensor installed here is a further modification of the PMW3389, which, in turn, is an advanced version of the PMW3360. Looking for something better in terms of optical sensor on the market now is probably useless. In addition to the maximum resolution increased to 18,000 cpi, there is the possibility of its step-by-step adjustment with high accuracy. The speed and acceleration parameters are generally the same as for the PMW3389. There is no acceleration and no angular binding, anti-aliasing is low, it is physically impossible to cause the cursor to stall in this mouse. In addition, it is unpretentious to the type of surface and you can adjust the minimum separation height on almost any rug or even just on the tabletop. In general, in terms of performance, Corsair Ironclaw RGB left the most pleasant impression about itself.

Results

The Corsair Ironclaw RGB is an interestingly shaped and well-built gaming mouse that has a good sensor, decent switches, and built-in memory. In general, I really liked her in terms of a combination of qualities. Another advantage here is the ease of execution and the absence of unnecessary “opportunities”. Of the negative points, it is worth noting only a very rigid signal cable and the texture of the rubber sidewalls prone to contamination.

Currently Corsair Ironclaw RGB is on a par with such manipulators as Razer DeathAdder Elite, Razer Basilisk, SteelSeries Rival 310, Logitech G403, Roccat Kone Pure Owl-Eye. And for $60, it’s a more than decent gaming mouse option from a well-known brand. But when choosing this mouse, it is worth considering the fact that the Ironclaw has a large body and is ideal only for large hands.