HyperX's new Pulsefire Surge gaming mouse is in the middle of an extremely competitive category chalked full of high-level competition. Can it stand out from the crowd? Or will it fail to deliver? That's the exact question this review is set to answer.
The Pixart 3389 sensor, Omron switches, and clean RGB lighting make the Surge a very attractive mouse at a glance. But, unfortunately, it's not a mouse that'll work for everyone as it's built entirely with claw grip gamers in mind and has one excessively annoying flaw that we'll get into in a moment.
HyperX Pulsefire Surge
The Good
The Bad
Summary
HyperX's Pulsefire Surge is an all-around good mouse with only a few minor flaws. It's not the perfect gaming mouse, but it's a great option if you prefer a claw grip and clean RGB lighting.
Specs
- Sensor: Pixart 3389
- Switches: Omron (50-million clicks)
- Buttons: 6
- Lighting: Fully-customizable RGB
- Weight: 100g
- Warranty: 2-years
Details
HyperX's new Pulsefire Surge gaming mouse is a solid entry to their lineup of mice and boasts some of the cleanest RGB lighting I've seen so far. But, there are some drawbacks that we'll get to in a moment.
The Pulsefire Surge comes in with an MSRP of $69.99 which puts it at a higher price-point than the previous Pulsefire FPS as well as many competing mice. For those looking to get a good mouse without paying a premium price, the Pulsefire Surge might not be your best option.
Although the Pulsefire FPS and the newer Pulsefire Surge share a similar name, they are very different mice both inside and out. As far as the basics go, the Pulsefire Surge is a claw-grip mouse that's great for people with smaller hands and the FPS is better for a palm grip and bigger hands.
There are other big differences between the Pulsefire Surge and the Pulsefire FPS, most notably the FPS does not have any kind of lighting and the Surge has very nice RBG lighting. The sensors used are also different with the FPS using a Pixart 3310 sensor and the Surge using a Pixart 3389. Most people probably won't be able to tell a difference between the way a 3310 and 3389 sensor feels, but some people definitely can.
Design
The Pulsefire Surge is shaped in a way that caters towards people who prefer a claw grip opposed to a palm grip, or people with small hands.
If you don't know what the difference in grip is, hold your mouse. Do you rest your palm on the mouse? If so, you palm grip. If you find yourself hovering your palm over the mouse and gripping with your fingertips, that's a claw grip.
The braided cabling that HyperX opted to use for the Pulsefire Surge is nice and smooth and doesn't seem like it'll get caught on too much. It's a lot smoother than the cabling used on the Pulsefire FPS in comparison.
HyperX opted for a 360 degree RGB lighting effect that has to be one of the cleanest implementations of RGB lighting I've seen on a mouse so far. The colors are vivid and bright without being overbearing and it's super easy to customize using HyperX's NGenuity software.
Performance
When it comes to performance, the Pulsefire FPS is solid. The sensor tracks nice and smooth while being very accurate which is a must if you're a highly competitive gamer.
The Pixart 3389 sensor is a good high-quality sensor that tracks buttery smooth and very accurately. It's a great sensor for gaming in general and is easily one of the top 3 sensors you want to use. The other 2 being 3310 and 3366.
The mouse 1 and mouse 2 switches generally feel great, but sometimes there's a bit of shifting in the buttons that gets worse the closer to the front/sides you're pressing. Basically, it's possible for the M1 and M2 buttons to overlap right in front of the MMB which is a bit of a design oversight at the end of the day. In extreme cases, this can cause missed clicks and when you're gaming that's not an issue you want to be dealing with. That being said, after using the Surge for a while, it seems as though the buttons overlap less and less the more they're pressed.
The middle mouse button feels a little spongy when clicked, but it's not terrible. When rolled there's a nice bump feedback that's not overbearing. The thumb buttons are placed well but like the MMB they feel a little spongy when clicked.
The last button is by default the DPI toggle, located about a finger's distance away from the middle mouse button. The DPI button is used for a variety of functions aside from simply switching the DPI, like changing the lighting brightness, switching between profiles, and even factory resetting.
As far as default DPI scaling goes, there are 3 levels you can easily toggle between. Within the associated NGenuity software, you can create a custom profile with up to 5 custom DPI points anywhere between 100-16000 DPI.
The default DPI options are:
- 800 DPI (blue)
- 1600 DPI (yellow)
- 3200 DPI (green)
Conclusion
HyperX's Pulsefire Surge is an all-around good mouse with only a few minor flaws. Its MSRP of $69.99 puts it in a highly competitive category chalked full of really great mice, some of which might even be a better alternative for some people.
If you have bigger hands and you prefer to palm grip your mouse, the Pulsefire Surge might not be the best mouse for you. But, if that's you, the Pulsefire FPS would definitely fit your hand a lot better.
If you have smaller hands/use a claw grip, the Pulsefire Surge is a great option to consider. The high-quality Pixart 3389 sensor and Omron switches combined with some of the cleanest RGB lighting I've seen make this mouse an overall awesome choice.
