Pulsar X2 CrazyLight
Why Even Use a Mouse
I work as a designer, and for me, a mouse is an essential and irreplaceable tool. When I go to the office, of course, I just take my MacBook and work on its excellent trackpad, but I can physically feel how much lower my productivity is in that case. It’s easier for me to precisely target the tiniest pixel-sized elements with a mouse. You can do that with a trackpad too, but aiming takes more time and requires a higher level of accuracy from me. Besides that, I play games on my PC, and in games, you simply can’t do without a mouse.
What I Want in a Mouse
I like my mice simple. The fewer bells and whistles a mouse has, the better for me. Over many, many years of using computers, I’ve tried a bunch of different mice, including the beloved Logitech MX2 and MX3, G305, G Pro Wireless, Magic Mouse 1 and 2, Razer Orochi v2, and some others I can’t even remember anymore.
- Wireless. Bluetooth is okay, works fine for daily tasks. But I prefer a radio dongle. Even though I’m not an esports player, modern wireless protocols allow mice to operate with a delay of 1 ms or less, which feels really nice.
- DPI control. I feel comfortable around 1600 dpi. Ideally, this should be adjustable via a button on the mouse itself or through software that doesn’t cling to the OS like a parasite (looking at you, Razer and Logitech).
- Buttons sanity. 2 main buttons (left and right), a clickable scroll wheel (for opening links in new tabs), and 2 side buttons (back and forward in the browser, or item scrolling in game inventories). If a mouse has more than that — it’s already too much for me.
- Modest design. I can’t stand “gamer” design in anything — chairs, monitors, computer hardware, keyboards, or mice. The more modest and unremarkable a daily work tool is, the better.
- Lightweight. There’s a current trend in modern mice to make them as light as engineeringly possible. This is especially important for esports players, who play at very low sensitivity and swing their arms like crazy (which actually improves aiming precision). But I’ve found that a more lightweight mouse is more comfortable for daily use as well, and now I dislike heavy ones. Manufacturers are now using special plastic compounds, minimizing internal components, using smaller batteries, and even cutting holes into the mouse body to make them lighter.
Many Magic Mouse haters forget that this controversial mouse has one very cool feature: its top surface is a touchpad. By sliding your finger across it, you can perform various gestures in the OS and browsers. It also only has one button, but depending on whether you click on the left or right side, it registers as left or right click accordingly. Left-right swipes move you forward and backward, and vertical swipes scroll pages — with inertia and pixel precision like Apple’s trackpads. That’s where the Magic Mouse’s perks end: it’s uncomfortable (too flat), heavy, drains battery quickly, and has a charging port in a ridiculous location, making it unusable while charging.
So until recently, I used the Logitech G305 for work and the G Pro Wireless for gaming. But I liked the inertia scroll on the Magic Mouse, so I installed a program called MacMouseFix, which adds inertia scrolling to any mouse (and lets you remap buttons however you like).
A New Member in the Family
My G305 broke, and I started researching what’s currently considered the coolest. After watching several hours of YouTube reviews, I settled on the Pulsar X2 CrazyLight. It’s a relatively new Korean brand that makes some of the most high-performing — yet not the most expensive — mice right now. They’re not perfect (nothing is), but very solid.
- Just the right number of buttons
- Claimed weight 35 g (mine is 37.4 g with large skate pads)
- Works via radio dongle up to 8K Hz refresh rate
- Modest design
The mouse finally arrived yesterday, and I’ve already tested it in both work and games. It’s now my favorite mouse ever. It's very comfortable because of more concaved surfaces for your index and middle fingers. The lightness of this mouse is mind-blowing. It feels like you’re holding an empty shell — it’s that weightless. My G Pro Wireless weighs 80.2g (with bottom cover), and the Razer Orochi v2 is 89.2g (with one AA battery). After watching Ali Sayed’s video about mouse refresh rates, I set my X2 CrazyLight to 2000 Hz, set the sensitivity to 1600 dpi, and now I’m enjoying it to the fullest.
The Cost
Yes, I’m one of those people for whom spending €130 on a computer mouse is no big deal. I’m fine with it for one simple reason: I use this tool so much that I care more about it being reliable and high-performing than cheap. The Pulsar X2 CrazyLight is my strong recommendation if you’re looking for the same.
