I have fondled a lot of rodents in my time. Like most things in life, the majority of the ones tested travel the road of mediocrity–with a smattering of excellence on one end and subpar offerings on the other. We’ve come to appreciate the stellar performance of the more humble offerings like that from SteelSeries and Corsair. A good sensor, solid choice in friction-less feet and comfort in design are the essentials. Number of buttons and intricacy of software suites are secondary and dependent on intentions of use. So keep reading to learn about this and some of the other best gaming mouse you can buy today.
Today’s test subject is from Tt eSORTS. Their VOLOS Gaming Mouse is eyeballing all of the above. It’s ambitious but commendable. Afterall no one likes juggling an army of mice–one for each of the various ways you use your computer and laptops. Gaming mice are divided into multiple subsections. There are mice for first-person shooters, MMOs, RTS, MOBA games and then the categories repeat for diminished-in-size mobile minded mice.
The VOLOS Gaming Mouse makes an admirable attempt to blanket all of these sectors by combining a plethora of configurable buttons, a large form factor with another compliment of large-face controller-style buttons and a formidable laser sensor.
Related: See also the Bloody Gaming Sp Series.
Specifications
But first… The unit ships with the main 14-button laser mouse with industrial rubber coating and tethered via a braided cable. You also get a carrying pouch, two stickers, quick start guide and warranty policy. The mouse itself is quite large–129 x 79 x 433mm to be exact. I’ve mentioned my massive ham-hands in mouse reviews previously. But even I can’t easily reach the 4-controller style candy-colored buttons found on the front left side.
On the same side toward the back are two more buttons labeled “A” and “B”. The right side toward the front, your index and pinky fingers can easily reach the “C,” “D,” and “E” buttons. Up top we have the traditional mouse wheel, plus Left- and Right-Click buttons. Accompanying those just below the mouse wheel are two more buttons which default as DPI setting switches (switch between 5 DPI speeds).
Moving toward the left of this duo is where the Preset switch is found for rifling through your 10 possible presets. Each preset can hold a completely different set of button functions, macros and so forth. While the front four buttons require a bit of effort to reach, the remain 10 are just the opposite. They are all large, responsive and easy to reach.
Related: If you like this mouse you might be interested in our SteelSeries Sensei Mlg Edition Pro Grade Laser Gaming Mouse review.
Underneath Tt eSPORTS has chosen one of the most accomplished sensors on the market. The Avago 9800 laser sensor is almost always used in the best wired mice on the market. IT’s capable of a blistering wide-screen friendly 8200dpi. It’s incessantly responsive with virtually no loss of tracking. Using the Avago 9800 won’t ensure victory.
Tt eSPORTS’ own BMW Level 10 mouse was a horrible disappointment. Yet it too used this same sensor. Still it did nothing for the uncomfortable design of that rodent. This time a larger more traditional build has won the day. The result is a more functional input device where users can take more confident control to make use of the high level of accuracy from the Avago 9800 laser sensor.
The VOLOS is a mighty weapon for the virtual arena. Yet it excels even further if married with the downloadable software suite. It lacks aesthetic elegance in its UI but honestly, I’ll spank a Grizzly it not efficient. For starters, you can program every one of the 14 buttons. They can work as is, take on keyboard functions, be set to launch any program on your system or set to adopt any manner and complexity of macros written and stored in the software suite. Writing macros is immaculately simpler than what we found on the Corsair M95 MMO mouse.
Sometimes macros would have to be written several times over before they would take. Or worse, they would be impossible to remove from the device’s internal memory. Not the case here! The VOLOS asks what type of input you would like the button to adopt. If it’s a macro, then you must select a pre-written macro. Writing macros is as simple as pressing the button sequence you would like the given mouse button to initiate. Timing, delays and length of press are all taken into consideration and can be modified in a macro editing. This is all familiar stuff across most customization software for mice. But it doesn’t always work out as elegantly as described. It does here for the VOLOS. I have no issues to report other than a dated looking interface.
Bottom Line: The Ttesport VOLOS Gaming mouse is marketed as a MMO/RTS mouse. But don’t be fooled. Tt eSPORTS is playing this one far too modest. This is a do-it-all mouse. It’s ideal for FPS, MOBA, RTS and MMO games. I’ve run countless missions in the Battlefield 4 Beta, BioShock Infinite, Battlefield 3, SMITE, DOTA and Warframe. That last one adds 3rd person action games to the mix of superbly handled game genres. The feel and comfort level is very strong. Although a more ergonomic design on the right side would give your pinky a better resting place. Sure, most folks will have a hard reaching those pretty colored console-style buttons on the left side. But it’s clear fast-paced “twitch” access was not the intention of these particular inputs. They function great as forward and back buttons for general use, launching programs…etc. In game they work well for accessing things like pulling up a map and navigating through interfaces and even come in handy for more peripheral actions in FPS games.
The entire device is very well constructed. Nothing feels hollow or cheaply made. I didn’t speak much about the weight system but it definitely helps with the overall feel of the device. I found the best fit was with all weights left in–given the VOLOS a firm solid feel. But you do get a set of 7 weights at 4.5g each for a total of 31.5grams to play with. The feet are not as slick at the Corsair M95 but the added weight help heavy handed gamer maintain more finite movements. If that’s not enough, you also have full control over a 16-million+ color palette to independently adjust the three key illumination zones on the left-click, mouse wheel and glowing company logo at the rear.
