HyperX Pulsefire Surge

The HyperX Pulsefire Surge is a very tidy little mouse. That's the first impression we got when we cracked open the box and got it out. It's relatively small and compact, it's got a little heft to it but not too much, the RGB lighting is elegantly done, there aren't many buttons but they're well positioned, and, generally speaking, the whole thing feels well put together. It's a strong first impression to be sure, and after a number of weeks using the mouse, we're left feeling much the same way. HyperX has delivered a very capable, no frills gaming mouse here.

The Pulsefire Surge is priced at around £60 so it's pitched at the middle ground, but for that level of investment you'll be getting a very well-rounded gaming mouse with all of the features you'd expect from a device positioned around that price point. Straight out of the box this unassuming mouse looks simple and elegant, and this feeling is only reinforced when you plug it in and check out the full 360 degrees RGB lighting, which starts at the back, runs along the length of the mouse and then meets underneath the main buttons. The preset "wave" pattern is particularly classy.

You can download some software called NGenuity, but that's a rather misleading name for the app in our opinion. While you can assign buttons to new functions, tweak the RBG settings to suit your tastes, and generally customise the mouse to satisfy your needs, the app itself is not particularly well designed and we found it to be needlessly fussy and not at all intuitive. That's a shame as there's clearly room to tweak the settings and really personalise your experience, however, the software simply doesn't facilitate that process as well as it should.

That's our major gripe out of the way, and otherwise, the Pulsefire Surge impressed us plenty. The mouse comes with Omrom switches that are rated for 50 million clicks, so you should get plenty of mileage out it. Both buttons feel responsive and satisfying to click, so no complaints there. Of similarly high quality is the sensor (it's even got a name: the Pixart 3389), which is not only responsive but offers oodles of accuracy, and you can crank it up to 16,000 DPI if you want a really snappy response when playing, making it ideal for twitchy shooter fans.

The no-nonsense approach means there isn't a big range of buttons to assign, so if having lots of programmable options is important to you, you're better off looking elsewhere. On the other hand, there are two easy to reach buttons running along the left side of the mouse (if you're right-handed - the Pulsefire Surge is otherwise left-hand friendly), but apart from that, all you've got to play with is the mouse wheel and the button that lets you switch between preset configurations.

The Puslefire Surge has a nice feel to it (it weighs in at around 100 grams), but it also glides nicely on your typical gaming surface. It's on the smaller side of the spectrum in terms of size, but that doesn't stop it from being comfortable to use and it won't take long to acclimatise to its shape. Overall it looks and feels like it has built to a decent standard, and the elegant and understated design means it should appeal to plenty of people (especially if you're not fussed about having a mouse with removable parts). Apart from the classy RPG flourish which edges around the Pulsefire Surge, this is a no-nonsense gaming mouse suited to anyone who's after a touch of understated quality.