Product Listing

First Looks: CM Storm Havoc Laser Gaming Mouse

By Joy Hou - 26 Aug 2013
Launch SRP: S$99

First Looks: CM Storm Havoc Laser Gaming Mouse

A Regular Gaming Mouse That's Versatile For Everyday Use

Cooler Master’s subsidiary gaming brand conceived in 2008, CM Storm, has bolstered its lineup of peripherals lately by introducing the Pulse-R aluminium gaming headset and the Havoc laser gaming mouse. We take a quick look at the latter that’s set to hit the local market in the coming weeks.

At first glance, the Havoc looks very low-key, easily passing off as a normal mouse with extra useful buttons.

Out of the box, the Havoc looks like a basic, typical mouse: unobtrusive, plain, and simple. The chassis is completely enveloped in a matte coating, except for the glossy right side where you rest your ring and pinky fingers. Upon closer inspection, we found an extra pad of slanted rubber grooves on the left side of the body where your thumb clasps the mouse - just where one needs a better grip most.

It features a DPI setting indicator so that you'll always know which setting you're utilizing at a moment's notice. Also notable from this view is its angled rubber grooves to provide a solid grip as well as comfort for your thumb.

Furnished with eight programmable buttons (including the left and right clicks), the gaming mouse packs an Avago 9800 Laser Sensor which samples up to 8200dpi that's pretty much a standard in laser gaming mice these days. Of course, you can toggle between four DPI levels using the on-the-fly switches located just above the scroll wheel. There’s even an indicator to reflect the DPI that you’re engaged in. In fact, the mouse is equipped with backlighting which can be adjusted by pressing the button on the left panel that’s closest to you. The middle "-" button on that same stretch navigates you to the previous page, for example, if you’re browsing the web, while the first button brings you back to the page you were.

You can store your shortcuts (macros) and your configs (profiles) in the Havoc.

In addition to incorporating Japanese Omron micro switches that offer a lifespan of 5 million clicks, the 128KB onboard memory lets you store up to four macros and four profiles, so you’ll never have to worry about your lost configurations when shuttling between impromptu LAN parties. If you can afford the time, you can still download the software utility for full customization of buttons, backlighting, and DPI levels.

 

Finals Thoughts

We find that our first experience with the Havoc was a bit awkward - its body is a little stunted in length, as well as slightly too elevated at the hind for claw-grip gamers; both aspects may cause some minor discomfort after a prolonged gaming session. Also, it weighs in at a fixed 140g - it does not come with additional weights (that some gaming mice have) to boost your gameplay needs according to individual preferences.

Besides housing 8 programmable buttons, it also comes equipped with the regular features a proper gaming mouse would own: backlighting, on-the-fly DPI buttons, onboard memory, and a braided cable.

Having said that, the mouse performs better than it looks, and sports the usual gaming essentials such as the on-the-fly DPI switches, along with the 1.8m braided cable. Furthermore, it features the exceptionally useful rubber grooves which keeps the thumb securely in place at all times. We tried fast re-swiping, which involved lifting the mouse entirely for a brief moment, moving it to the left in the air, putting it back on the surface, and then gliding it to the right rapidly, all in quick succession. Our thumbs maintained its position throughout this trial. This is extremely advantageous especially for professional FPS gamers as they encounter mouse "drops" sometimes, thus taking a few moments to recover and get back into the game while the enemy capitalizes on this.

With a price tag of S$99, the Havoc is definitely a steal, as its inconspicuous design makes it a versatile mouse for casual, everyday use too.

Here's a quick glance at some of the more prominent 8200dpi gaming mice available in the market presently:-

  Tracking Engine Programmable Buttons Weight Main Features Price
CM Storm Sentinel Advance II Avago ADNS-9800 Laser Sensor 8

139g
(additional 5 x 4.5g weights)

  • 128KB Sentinel-X memory
  • On-the-fly DPI switching (+/- 200dpi)
  • 5 profiles with 4dpi setting each
  • Customizable OLED logo
  • Customizable multi-color LED light system
S$109
Razer Naga 2014 4G Laser Sensor 19
(MMO-optimized)
135g
  • 12 button mechanical thumb grid
  • Tilt click scroll wheel
  • Razer Synapse 2.0 enabled
  • Green LED backlighting
  • Zero-acoustic Ultraslick mouse feet
  • 2.1m braided cable
US$79.99
Razer Taipan 4G Dual Sensor System 9 95g
(without cable)
  • Ambidextrous form factor
  • Razer Synapse 2.0 enabled
S$119.90
Roccat Kone XTD Pro-Aim Laser Sensor (R3) 8 123g
(additional 4 x 5g weights)
  • Roccat Titan Wheel (4D scroll wheel)
  • 41 DPI settings from 200 to 8200dpi
  • 72MHz Turbo Core V2 32-bit Arm based MCU
  • 576KB onboard memory
  • 4 LED light system
  • 1.8m braided cable
S$125
Roccat Kone Pure Pro-Aim Laser Sensor (R3) 7 90g
  • Roccat Titan Wheel (2D scroll wheel)
  • 41 DPI settings from 200 to 8200dpi
  • 72MHz Turbo Core V2 32-bit Arm based MCU
  • 576KB onboard memory
  • 16.8 million color lighting system
  • Soft-touch surface
  • 1.8m braided cable
S$109
Logitech G700s Rechargeable Gaming Mouse Laser Sensor  13  153g
  •  Choice of wired / wireless play
  • Dual mode scroll wheel
  • Multiple DPI settings
  • Hydrophobia Coating
 S$135
Logitech G600 MMO Gaming Mouse Laser Sensor 20
(MMO-optimized)
 133g
  •  Dual-dish thumb panel
  • G-shift button
  • Custom color backlighting
  • Up to 3 onboard memory profiles
  • On-the-fly DPI switching
  • 2m braided cable
 S$99
Logitech G500s Laser Gaming Mouse Laser Sensor  10  165g
(optional weight tuning up to 27g)
  • Dual mode scroll wheel
  • In-game sensitivity switching
  • Hydrophobia Coating
S$89
Prolink Hesperus (PMG9801L) Avago ADNS-9800 Laser Sensor 9 (additional 6 x 5.8g weights)
  • 4-way scroll wheel
  • 5 switchable profiles
  • Teflon mouse feet
  • 1.8m braided cable
S$109
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