WIRELESS 2,000Hz GAMING MOUSE! Corsair Sabre RGB PRO Wireless Review
This is the Corsair Sabre RGB Pro Wireless Champion Series – great name I know – but it’s a really impressive mouse with some pretty unique features. Despite being wireless it weighs just 79g AND has a quoted 90 hours of in-use battery life. On top of that, it uses Corsair’s Slipstream Wireless connection meaning according to them “Sub-1ms connectivity” and even features 2,000Hz polling – a feature I don’t think we’ve seen in many other options. Now, there are a few catches so let me run you through it in full then give you my thoughts having tested it out.
Let’s start with the connectivity. As you can see from the switch on the bottom, this supports both Bluetooth and the 2.4GHz dongle which uses Corsair’s Slipstream Wireless technology. They claim it offers a sub 1ms connection, although assuming all other factors are equal in theory that is still somewhat slower than a wired connection. In practice though any delay it may introduce is easily negated by the convenience of not having a cable to drag or get caught.
Add to that the 2,000Hz polling rate – I’ll leave a video in the cards explaining more about polling rates and why having a higher rate is generally better – but the TLDR is the higher the polling rate the less input lag you should have as the USB controller in your PC can register the click faster and start drawing the frame with that action faster, aka you can shoot first.
This benefit is somewhat undercut by their use of OMRON mechanical switches rather than optical ones like Razer uses in their Viper 8KHz mouse. I’ll leave another video in the cards explaining why optical switches are generally faster and in my opinion better, but again a TLDR is mechanical switches rely on a springy piece of metal making physical contact with another piece of metal. When they come together they bounce, enough that the mouse might register those as separate clicks so you have to “debounce” them. Basically just adding a delay between when it can register inputs which slows the process of sending off that click. With an optical switch it just makes or breaks a beam of light so no debouncing is needed, so can be faster and more reliable over time.
Now, Corsair did introduce an inverted debouncing system for their K70 TKL that you can enable in their iCUE software. That helps somewhat negate the drawbacks of using mechanical switches. I should note while you do need to enable it in iCUE the device settings are saved to hardware so you don’t need iCUE running or installed for that or the polling rate to work after it’s been set.
Since we are talking about the switches, I should mention the new “QUICKSTRIKE” buttons. Basically the little bar that attaches to the mouse buttons and is the piece that actually presses the little tab on the switches, is now resting on the switch rather than having even a tiny air gap. The aim is to give a more responsive and fast action and I’d agree they do, although it also raises the sensitivity to a point that makes me just a little uncomfortable with it. I found if I was too firm when putting the mouse back down after lifting it the left mouse button would trigger even without my finger resting on it. I understand this is aimed at pro and aspiring gamers, but as a more average gamer this feature in particular is one that would turn me away from using this mouse.
What really impressed me though was just how insanely light this thing is. It’s 79g, I checked, meaning it’s so easy to flick around. It honestly feels empty inside, making it really easy to run at low DPI and flick to your heart’s – or perhaps your wrist’s – content. The light weight even negates the relatively poor grip it offers at the sides thanks to it’s smooth and fairly slippy plastic. It’s still pretty easy to lift or hold onto although you may find your fingers shifting around a fair bit.
Despite its low weight, it still offers perfectly good battery life. Corsair quotes up to 60 hours of usage using the 2.4GHz dongle (without the RGB LED lighting mind you), or up to 90 hours of usage over Bluetooth again with the LEDs off, although that doesn’t have the benefit of the low latency or fast inputs. In a standard gaming setup I’d expect it to last a number of days before needing a charge, which you can do with the USB C port on the front.
As for the shape, it’s definitely on the larger side. It’s 129mm long in total, with a fairly tall and extended profile. I have medium to large hands and this hits the base of my palm no matter what position I hold it. It’s definitely a palm grip style, although extra-large hand owners may be able to hybrid grip it instead. I still found it fairly comfortable, and the two side buttons are placed and sized well for easy access plus are reinforced well too.
Of course we have to mention the sensor too, that’s a Corsair brand one they called the Marksman 26K. It’s a custom spec PixArt sensor that as the name implies offers up to 26,000 DPI. The minimum is 100, but offers 1 DPI steps should you want to be quite that picky. It’ll do 650 inch per second and up to 50G acceleration before dropping accuracy, and in my time with it I can say it does a great job.
Playing with this was a really good experience. The combination of the light weight, good tracking and fast connection meant I had confidence in its ability, even if my inputs to it are rarely perfect. I should make it clear I’m no pro gamer so as with any purchase if you are considering buying this please watch more than just this video. With that said, I felt like I was just a smidge more accurate than I normally would be. I can’t say the input lag was noticeably improved even at 2,000Hz compared to the Logitech G703 I normally use up here, it felt much the same, unlike the Razer Viper 8KHz which did feel like it was just slightly faster to register my shots.
So, should you buy one? Personally, while I did enjoy my time with it on the whole, the extra sensitivity of the left click meant I had to be quite conscious of my movements with it so as to not accidentally have it fire. I’d rather not have to expend mental energy in being gentle with my mouse while trying to focus on what’s happening in my game, so I don’t think it’s quite for me. Otherwise it’s pretty good. On top of the polling rate and debouncing settings I’ve already mentioned, you can of course use iCUE to tweak things like the RGB lighting, the 4 saved DPI settings you can cycle with the button on the top that has an RGB LED so you can easily see which settings you are in, also change the lift-off distance and the sleep mode timer to save battery life.
Pricing wise it’s MSRP is £90 or $110 which places it fairly well in the market, around the same price as Logitech’s G PRO Wireless which seems like one of its main rivals. Sadly I haven’t had the G PRO Wireless in so I can’t give you a verdict on which I prefer, but I can say that assuming you don’t mind the extra sensitive switches this is a pretty good option. It’s light, tracks well and assuming it fits your hand well it can be pretty comfortable. It’s definitely geared towards the more pro players so if that’s you definitely give this a look.
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TechteamGB Score
