Posted in: Games, Review, Technology, Video Games | Tagged: gaming mouse, Leadr, ROCCAT

Trying Wireless With Some Flair: We Review The ROCCAT Leadr Gaming Mouse

Published Thu, 30 Nov 2017 20:20:35 -0600

Last updated Fri, 01 Dec 2017 03:26:06 -0600

Last month we got a few awesome products sent our way from ROCCAT, who if you're not familiar with their gear, make a lot of gaming tools and accessories that are on the same level with some of the bigger names you're probably more familiar with. One of the products they sent our way was the Leadr wireless gaming mouse, which we got to try out.

Trying Wireless With Some Flair: We Review The ROCCAT Leadr Gaming Mouse — credit//ROCCAT

The Leadr has a total of twelve buttons for you to choose from in what is one of the most programmable mice I've seen that doesn't come with a number pad on the side. Aside from their regular functionality, you can pop into the mouse's diagnostics and set up gaming functions for specific titles to be used at the click of a button. Sure, you still have forward and back buttons along with left and right click and the scroll wheel, But the top half comes with two additional buttons on each side. But this specific design comes with an extra thumb button on the left, the X-Celerator single-axis analog thumb paddle next to the index finger, and the mid-knuckle Fin Switch.

As always, what good is a mouse if you can't find the thing in the dark, which is why the wheel and the base of the mouse light up in an easy-to-program display. The base shows off the ROCCAT symbol in either a solid state or a pulsating flow, which you can have stay single color or switch around. The mouse itself feels pretty sturdy as you can feel where the weight is in the base while the top is made to be lighter as you guide it with your hand where you need it to. It feels odd at first until you realize that it's damn near perfectly balanced.

Because it's a wireless unit, you, of course, need to charge it. The Leadr comes with an upright base that you plug into your tower with a USB, and sits on a small mount using pronged connectors on the back. The base will light up when it is connected, and will display a four-bar light system in int lower left corner to indicate charging status. If you truly don't like having this as a wireless setup after a while, fear not! The cord int he back of the mount can be disconnected and hooked into the top of the mouse, turning it into a wired unit in a few seconds, which will also keep the mouse charged all the time.

I enjoyed the feeling and the design of the Leadr, and can tell ROCCAT put a lot of time and effort into the creation and design of this one so it was different from others on the market. That being said, some of the buttons do feel out of place and it will take a little getting used to it before you're comfortable using them. It's a nice alternative if you don't like other big name brand mice with a different flavor of functionality to it.