CAST YOUR MIND BACK one whole issue, and
you’ll remember our review of Logitech’s
G502 Lightspeed, a tremendous wireless
reimagining of a mouse design, which
has attracted enough reverence to stay a
top-line choice for many years. Corsair’s
Nightsword isn’t a G502, but boy, would
it like to be. It’s laid out in almost
precisely the same way in terms of
buttons and thumb shelf, it also features
customizable weighting, and Corsair’s
engineers are no doubt looking very
pleased with themselves for besting the
G502’s ludicrous 16,000 dpi sensor with
an even sillier 18,000 dpi eye, last spotted
in Corsair’s Ironclaw wireless mouse.
A s m u c h a s w e ’ d l i k e t o s h o v e t h i s a s i d e
as some kind of wannabe clone of the
king, though, it’s also very much its own
beast. It avoids some of the pitfalls the
G502 fell into. Notably, the scroll wheel,
which eschews switchable freewheeling
for a comfortably resistant notched-
only mechanism, is a whole lot better
than that of its rival. The button layout is
slightly closer, meaning less stretching
and more in-the-moment immediacy.
The shell is just slightly wider, and the
thumb cradle a little deeper, making this
more suited to larger hands.
It also doesn’t do certain things quite
as well. Despite its size, it seems to have
been built, as is tradition, for a cartoon
world in which little fingers do not exist.
You’ll be trailing yours on the desk. While
there’s a huge DPI-slashing sniper button,
the Nightsword’s upper side buttons
are tapered to a point, making them
indistinct and difficult to press. There
are no side-click functions on the scroll
wheel, which is nestled slightly lower in
the shell than is entirely comfortable.
And the weighting is concentrated on a
single cluster around the sensor, rather
than being spread over the whole body of
the mouse. Whether the idea of mouse
balance is a placebo or not, the fact is
that placebos can work if you’re told they
do—and the Nightsword is smart enoughLive by the sword,
die by the Nightsword
Corsair
Nightsword RGB
8
VERDICT Corsair Nightsword RGBNIGHTSWORD Great lighting;
mostly comfortable design;
outrageous sensor; clever weighting.
NIGHT SOIL Some awkward buttons and
positioning; reasonably expensive.
$80, http://www.corsair.comSPECIFICATIONSSensor Optical
Sensitivity 18,000 dpi
Sensor Model Pixart PMW3391
Polling Rate 1,000Hz
Programmable Buttons 10
LEDs RGB, four-zone
Cable Length 6 feet
Weight 4.05–4.83ozto recognize which weights have been
put where, with Corsair’s iCue software
working out the center of mass, as well
as helping to manage macros, lighting,
and surface calibration.
For a moment, though, let’s stop
comparing apples to apples, and look at
this fruit on its own. The Nightsword is
an exceptionally pretty mouse, with RGB
lighting delightfully presented through
one palm light, from deep within the
scroll wheel chasm, and through seven
translucent windows around its base.
These are covered in a circle-cut mesh,
which (while entirely pointless) does add
to the premium feel. It’s heavily textured,
with everything but the buttons on the
top shell stippled for grip, some stickyish
rubber grips on either side, and those
main buttons (which are well dished
and feel just great) are independent of
the shell. It’s also pretty chunky—even
unburdened by the optional weights, the
Nightsword is at the heavier end of
the mouse spectrum.
In the guts we’ve got gaming-standard
Omron switches, which we can’t complain
about one bit, and the Nightsword’s
sensor didn’t falter even slightly in our
tests. Neither did we expect it to. It’s a
custom version of a Pixart PMW3391,
and it’s great. There’s no need to drive it
as hard as it’ll go, unless you’re a lunatic
with particularly exact wrist control, but
it’s perfect at lower resolutions, copes
well with black and reflective surfaces,and the adjustable lift height means it's
suitable for anyone’s style. We’re not
going to say the Nightsword is better
than the G502, because that’s a pinnacle
mouse at a far higher price. We can’t
even call it better than the Ironclaw from
which much of its hardware has been
culled; it’s probably on equal footing
with its sibling. But the Nightsword is,
in its own right, a quality, smart, and
comfortable mouse with some serious
chops—niggles be damned. –ALEX COXmaximumpc.com SEP 2019 MAXIMUMPC 87