Cooler Master is one of PC gaming’s most well-known and trusted brands, with a product catalog including a variety of different components and peripherals. Is the MasterMouse MM710 any good? Why choose this mouse over a Razer or Logitech? Read on to find out!
Backstory/Exposition
Firstly, let me tell you how I ended up with this mouse.
One of my good friends is extremely picky when it comes to mice. He bought this MM710 a a few months ago, since he is quite fond of trying out different mice, and used it for a while.
As one of those people who are really, really fussy, the fact that he used it at all for any length of time, speaks volumes on it’s own. But, he is not writing this article, I am, and he lent this mouse to me to try out after finding another one.
To be honest, I didn’t really give it a chance. I don’t like the look of it, and the very thought of dust getting trapped inside the honeycomb structure tilts me. I chose to instead, stick with my Razer.
My mom needed a mouse and rather than going out to get her one like I normally would, I mean she doesn’t need a high performance mouse, I decided to let her use my Razer, not really wanting to let her use my friend’s mouse that he had entrusted to me. It’s my mom, but still, I feel bad letting anyone else use something I was borrowing.
Backstory Ends, Review Starts
Right off the bat I have to say the 710 is one of the lightest mouses I have ever used. That is it’s main selling point, and arguably the only reason you would even look at this mouse. It looks very similar to the Glorious Model O at first
glance, but side-by-side they do look quite different.
The matte black CM MM710 in my hand weighs a whole 0.3 oz (5 g) less than the Model O weighing 1.86 oz (53 g) and 2.04 oz (58g) respectively.
I think most people would first think of Logitech or Razer, or some other gaming peripheral brand before they think of Cooler Master but may be curious about this mouse if they are looking for something really light. And, well, it is light.
I can’t really compare it to the Model O, as I have never tried it, so I’m just looking at the numbers here.
The Software
Cooler Master’s software is, at least on the surface, much more complicated than that of Razer or Logitech and it may even allow for more customization than usual. It’s less intuitive, but is one of those set and forget things for me so it gets the job done and I have no problem with that. It’s unobtrusive which is another positive.
The software even allows for surface calibration,which is pretty neat, although I have no real way of knowing what sort of effect it has, if any.
You can also set the liftoff distance, which I left on low.
Curiously, there is a setting for button response time, I have no idea why you would want the buttons to respond slower. Seemingly, the default is 12ms but you can take this down to 4ms, less input lag is better amirite guys?
The software reminds me of a well-meaning friend introducing me to someone and completely overselling it.
The Sensor
Enough about the fiddly software, let’s get on to the important stuff- the performance!
I used basically the same settings I was using before with my Razer mouse – 800 DPI, 1000Hz. polling rate. This worked just fine.
The sensor is the same Pixart PMW3389 that Razer uses in the DeathAdder Elite, and it is every bit as precise. Lifting the mouse even fractions of an inch off the mat renders the cursor nonreactive to the movement of the mouse, which I think is great for games like Counter Strike, but other gamers may require a higher liftoff distance.
In short, this is a high performance mouse by virtue of the sensor, so let’s take a look at the rest of it’s features.
The Hardware
The unspectacular shape is ambidextrous, and surprisingly comfortable.
You can feel the satisfying click of Omron switches and the scroll wheel provides similar tactile feedback while operating smoothly. These things, I feel, are a given with gaming mice. Some are just bad.
There are 2 side buttons, which should be standard on most mouses these days, with a remappable DPI button just behind the scroll wheel. I normally remap that button, haven’t really found changing sensitivity on the fly useful as yet.
The PTFE feet provide a very low-friction surface for the mouse to glide on, and when combined with the “Ultraweave” cable, the mouse feels almost weightless. At the very least, there are probably wireless mouse with more drag, the cable is so light that it provides almost no resistance, the mouse is also really light in the first place.
Other than that, there isn’t really anything special about this mouse, they basically took the guts of a DeathAdder and built this mouse around that using every weight reduction technique they could think of. This is a fast, and very precise, piece of gaming equipment.
It’s pretty small in the hand, too, so it depends on how big your hands are. Mine aren’t very big, and I find this mouse to be a good size for my hand.
Summary
The Good
- Ultra light, lighter than Glorious Model O
- DeathAdder precision at a great price
- Minimal cable drag
The Bad:
- The honeycomb design
- The dust in my mouse legitimately tilts me.
The Ugly
- -rep they copied Glorious’ homework and, from what I can see, got higher grades.
This article is not sponsored so I’m not going to provide links, pretty sure that would be against TAY rules anyways. I guess you can find this mouse wherever they sell Cooler Master products.
There is an RGB version, the MM711, but why you would want RGB so you can see all the microscopic dust particles congregating in your mouse is beyond me. I think the 711 is marginally heavier, by a gram or two, than the MM710.
What is something hardware related that tilts you? Could you tolerate dust in your mouse for better gaming performance? Do you even care about what kind of mouse you use? 1v1 me in the comments section! Or, if you prefer, you could join the TAY Discord server for a more active, if tangential, discussion!
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