That aside you will want to know how the mouse
performs in games as that’s what it is for.
The Thunder M7 is a game type specific mouse, we
are talking MMO, MOBA and RTS games here. This isn’t
just what the marketing materials state but in how the
mouse functions, its design and button placement. Any
attempt to use this for FPS games will prove frustrating
at best as it does not lend itself well to those games. It
is a precision tool and for the aforementioned
game types proves to be an indispensable
within your arsenal.
What strikes you immediately about
the M7 are its proportions. It
is a tall mouse so you’ll not have
to worry about the base of your
palm causing friction with
the mouse mat. Secondly,
it is relatively short and of
medium girth. It’s a fairly
compact design that claw
grip users should find
comfortable. It is
probably more suitable
to those with medium to
smaller hands, if only
because of its length
at only 116mm. The
buttons also tend to
be smaller and as a
result you can’t use
the middle of your thumb
to activate them.
You’ll need to lift your
digits especially
for the buttons on
the left lateral face.
Not a major issue for
MMOs, especially for the
more experienced
players.
AORUS stipulates
that there’s a total of 16
programmable buttons
on the mouse, however
physically there are only
14 as mentioned previously.
One can never get used to the
creative way in which vendors
count buttons but, then again, bet
it an actual 14 or 16, there’s more
than enough for your needs.
This brings us to the software, which is
essentially where the other half of the magic is. This is a
comprehensive suit, but one that it simple to navigate. It
has all the usual features such as macro recording and
setting up profiles for each game for a maximum of five
profiles. Each of these can be assigned a different
colour, where activated the LED on the mouse changes
to match the specific profile. As you’d expect you can set
up the mouse sensitivity per profile, specifying the x and
y-axis accordingly with each profile. It has all the bases
covered in a light weight
package that is simple enough to use, but contains all
the basic and advanced functionality you may need.
Overall this is an impressive mouse by any measure.
There are some missed opportunities though and
these concern aesthetics oddly enough. The mouse
has two front LEDs which resemble the headlights of
a car. You’re unlikely to ever notice these when using
the mouse, but in a dark room, where you want no
other light apart from the monitor perhaps,
you’ll find that these cannot be turned
off. They are perpetually and do not
change colour. They have an aesthetic
purpose, but one that may not be
ideal for all users. Instead of
brightness adjustment I would
have preferred them to have
an on/off function instead
as they certainly don’t light
up to match the profile
selected.
During gaming
sessions, you’ll find
the two primary
mouse buttons very
responsive with
great feedback for
all clicks thanks to
the use of Omron
switches. Through the
use of of
customizable
sensitivity and polling
rate options, one can
be very precise in
movement. I would
have preferred the
DPI buttons larger
and closer to the
scroll well as they
are near impossible
to use without lifting
your entire hand of
the mouse. That could
perhaps be a result of
the size of my hands, but
I would imagine this would
hold true for most users.
For a mouse with no weight
management system, it is centre
balanced tipping the scales
at 110g. The compact design seems
to place all that weight in the middle of
your palm somewhat negating the need for
this weight management one finds on other gaming
units. In closing, the M7 is a solid mouse that should
help AORUS make more in-roads into the high end
arena where it will face of directly against the market
leaders. It is unequivocally a step in the right direction
for AORUS and I can imagine that their next iteration
will be even better. For $90 this is more than a fair
deal and if you’re a right handed claw grip user, this is
a mouse you should consider for your next upgrade.
[ The Overclocker ]
Issue 36 | 2015 The OverClocker 41