UtechSmart Venus Gaming Mouse RGB Wired, 16400 DPI High Precision Laser Programmable MMO Computer Gaming Mice [IGNs Recommendation]

Wireless Version Review: After many years, it was finally time to replace my beloved wired Venus gaming mouse. The left click button was consistently double clicking when I only clicked once, but after 7 years everything else was still working great including all the other buttons and profiles in the software. Unfortunately when I bought the same mouse last year, the software and drivers no longer work and made using the profiles and changing settings in the UtechSmart application impossible. I decided to go back to my old (although dysfunctional) one and this year decided to try the wireless version. Set up was surprisingly easy given how much trouble I had last time, I really like how the software and drivers come on a usb flashdrive now instead of on the website or a mini disc. This ensures you have some drivers that should make the mouse work in its most basic iteration. It worked as soon as I plugged it in, and the flash drive as well. You can only have two profiles with the wireless version (and switch between then using the button on the bottom of the mouse), but all the buttons are still programmable and you can the light settings on the mouse or turn them off entirely if you dont like the feature or want to save battery, and you can do this on both the app or the mouse itself. The light also goes into sleep mode until you move it again if you dont use it for awhile but leave the mouse on. One thing I dont like is that I think it was easier to program the buttons in the old version, now you have to use macros multi-key input if you want to set hotkeys for buttons that arent already in its drop down menu. The buttons and scroll wheel feel as nice as I expected. The side buttons are a little less mushy than the wired version, but to be honest that never bothered me much. I dont play competitive games and like having a mouse like this for MMOs and sandbox games like Ark that have a lot of actions that we can hotkey. Overall I think this mouse will still fit my needs and I have always loved the design. The only other mouse Ive ever seen that was similar is by Razr but their products have always felt really cheap for how expensive they are. This mouse is half the price and feels a lot nicer. The slightly rubberized texture feels nice in the hand and wears well over time. The curve is very ergonomic for my average to smallish sized hands. Im really happy to have found a version that still works for me. Below is my original review for the wired version from 2015, not sure it combines them and Im unable to write a separate/new review. I have been using this mouse for about 10 months. Im not sure when exactly but at some point it started to turn off and on if I accidentally bumped the USB part of the cable when it was plugged in. For the longest time I thought it was just my computers USB port (the mouse and cable itself still look physically perfect and I took very good care of it) but over the last few weeks it started to do it quite frequently when even just moving the mouse and eventually it stopped turning on all together when plugged in. At that point I realized it had been the cord all along as it would not turn on no matter what USB port I plugged it into. I had purchased an extended warranty when I bought the mouse but when I called the provider they directed me to contact the manufacturer first as they offer an 18 month warranty. It was a bit difficult to find any contact information on the UtechSmart website (and all I did find was an email address) but I was pleasantly surprised by the level of customer service I received in response. They responded within 24 hours (they were more responsive at night which I thought was a bit weird but this worked well with my schedule) and after a few email questions back and forth over the next business day agreed to send me a replacement. The replacement was sent within one business day and was sent with One Day shipping. Needless to say I was very happy as I had already been without a working mouse for my gaming for a few days. The new mouse seems to be working perfectly but there are a few differences Ive noticed from the first one I received 10 months ago that I think are worth noting. The braided cord feels more durable now, the profile color selection now changes the scroll button glow as well, and the texture of the mouse itself has changed. Previously it had a smooth grip texture which I really liked but the new one has a rough/grainy texture which caught me off guard at first. After a few hours I actually came to like it better than the smooth grip the mouse had before. I have read some of the previous views as well and wanted to comment on the mouse and software itself. I have never used a Razer mouse but based on a previous experience with their products and some feedback from my friends I have never been impressed with their quality or durability (a console controller should not break after two months of normal use). I dont really play competitive online games but this mouse has been great for the games I do play (Dragon Age, Rebel Galaxy, Skyrim, Guild Wars 2, etc). I wanted a quality mouse with tons of side buttons to make it easier to get to and use a lot of skills quickly. This mouse has worked out perfectly for that. Yes, the buttons may be considered a bit squishy compared to some of the name brand mice as they are not mechanical but the keys are easy to reach and work well, after a few hours your thumb develops the muscle memory to use the side buttons without issue. Yes, you may not have quite as much control over the settings as you would with one of the name brand mice. However there are still tons of settings you do have control over and I found the software very intuitive and easy to use (especially considering I have not had much experience using these settings in the past). I love the glow feature because it helps me remember to change profiles depending on which game I want to play and its also just aesthetically pleasing (lol!). Like all the other reviewers have said the mouse is also just super ergonomic, it is probably one of the most comfortable gaming accessories I have ever used. If you are on a budget but need a new gaming mouse this is definitely a great option. For the price, quality and level of customer service I would definitely buy again and recommend to any of my friends who are considering a customize-able gaming mouse. Update: Two years later and this mouse is still working great. I havent had any issues with ghosting or dpi like some other users have mentioned. I would highly encourage any users with these issues to contact the manufacturer to see about a replacement, every once in a while there will be a lemon. Update 5 Years Later: I have been regularly using this mouse every day for five years now with zero problems, I am actually really surprised. The cable has held up well, and Im considering replacing it with the same model just because mine has gotten kind of gunky and gross from so many years of use. Still love this mouse. Update July 2021: I did end up purchasing a new one, but unfortunately the drivers are broken and dont recognize the mouse when you go into the customization software. Luckily my old mouse still works so when I plugged it back in, all of my settings were still saved on the old mouse which means this is an issue with the new model. In researching this issue seems to have been going on for a few months now, I hope they fix it soon. It does work as a normal mouse, but if youre buying it for its intended purpose (gaming) you wont be able to change the settings to fit your preferred keybinds/button configurations. Very disappointed and contemplating returning and waiting to see if a new version comes out.

I had to stop using the wired one after a couple years of use, not due to hardware failure but the drivers and software not being updated. Ive retried the g600 since then and the EVGA. EVGA has a trash scroll wheel and I tried a replacement as well. First one also started turning its self off after awhile. I decided to try the wireless version of this since I really liked the wired and the software is newer and seems to be updated. So far Im happy. Easy to program buttons and macros. Being wireless will take some getting used to since Im used to having to fight the wire and pull the wire around to move the mouse. Its great but muscle memory still wants to pull the cable. It came already charged and worked before even finding the software/drivers download link. The driver card failed but when I had the old one it worked so I consider that a fluke. I found the software/drivers through their sites FAQ page. Its a bit lighter than Im used to but its built well. Smooth clicking and the scroll wheel is smooth and no clicking or grinding or jumping around. Ill update again if anything changes but I expect it to last awhile. The g600 main button would always break after just a year, and EVGA scroll is trash, where as the old one of this held up physically. Old review: Ive used a Logitech G600 for many years and when it was finally time to get a replacement I decided to try this on a whim since it was cheap and had the full 12 side buttons. Normally I read lots of reviews and research an item first but I didnt this time. Short answer is its great and Im glad I got it. First one negative difference is the ring finger rest. On the G600 that is a button that I could program. Its not been a too big of a deal. I reset those to the trigger button in their profiles but it took some time for my my muscle memory to catch up. My ring finger would still like to do something sometimes. The G600 had clicks left and right on the scroll wheel that could also be programed. I never used this so dont miss it but its a difference to note. Software: Ive seen complaints about the software. Over all its pretty good. On the G600 I had to enter combo keys to do things like cntrl+W for sprint in a game or close window, and I had to set up a hot key combo for volume up and down with the g600. This allows me to just select the option to walk or close window, and even volume with no extra hot key combos needed to be added. The options are already in the software. I did enter a combo key for closing a tab and it worked fine, once I remembered to hit apply. So to me this seems a lot better as it can more easily do what I want. (this part is not relevant to the wireless pro)A little bug that seems to be a software issue. Sometimes the scroll wheel stops working but if I switch the profile to a different one and back it fixes it. This seems to happen after Ive turned the port off but not every time. I turn the port for the mouse off when I leave the room due to pets. So this might not be an issue for most. (this is the issue that got worse later it was either drivers being too old or maybe the cable wearing out) Another minor negative is the G600 could cycle colors as far as Ive found you can only select one color with this. (I just leave the lights off on he pro for longer time between charging. It lasts all day that way) Over all Im very pleased with my purchase(have had it a few months at this time). The roughened texture feels great, the weights help a lot(I have hand tremors and the weight allows for better control). The cable is even better, less stiff. The wheel feels better and looks better. The whole thing just feels and looks good and preforms well with the occasional minor glitch with the wheel. If I were buying today I would select this over the G600, its cheaper and better.

I bought the wired version of this mouse in late 2016. I ran into a minor issue about three years in where I could not click the scroll wheel properly, but that problem seemed to fix itself after a short while. Today it has begun to stop working every few seconds, so I suspect its lifetime may be coming to an end for real this time. It has been a reliable and easy-to-use mouse for both MMO and FPS gaming (though it is a relatively bulky mouse for the latter, even with all the weights removed). My criticisms, having used this mouse for the better part of a decade: - The top surface of the mouse (where the hand rests) has many cracks and crevices where dead skin and oil/dirt can build up. These spots are somewhat tricky to clean and it gets kind of gross after a while. - The textured body is also difficult to clean without damaging the mouse. Rubbing alcohol seems to wipe away the black paint on the outside. - I have rather large hands. The 12 side buttons were generally easy to reach, but the bottom-most row can be awkward, particularly the 10 key in the bottom-left corner. - The 5 key feels mushier than the rest of the keys, despite me not having used it that much. It does not have much travel, and you may drop inputs if pressing it repeatedly. In contrast, the 1 key, which Ive pressed enough times to wear the paint off of, still feels responsive to press, as does every other key (very distinct clicks). - I use this mouse with 2 different computers. I was only ever able to program the mouse buttons on the first computer I plugged it into -- on the second computer, the software didnt seem able to update settings and was also sluggish. You may encounter the same issue. Overall, a very serviceable mouse I got a lot more use out of than I was expecting. Great cheaper alternative to some of the more high-end MMO mice on the market.

I recently purchased the Venus Pro as an alternative to the Logitech G600, which Ive used exclusively for the past 5 years. The reason for my switch was because of the G600 - one of my mouses microswitch was worn out after 5 years, so I purchased a new one. The new one ended up having problems with the side buttons where they activated automatically, so I returned it. In the mean time, I used a spare that I had, which was probably around 4 years old and barely had any use on it but somehow also had its microswitch worn out (this was not a PC issue since the problem occurred on both my desktop and laptop). This made me think that the G600 had some planned obsolescence to it and made me look for an alternative. So here I am today with a new mouse. I purchased this one because of the side buttons, which are very similar to the G600 and I will be comparing some features between the Venus Pro and the G600 because I feel that is probably what people are looking for. Note that some of the cons are simply comparisons between the Venus and the G600 - not that it is necessarily a bad thing Venus: Exteriors Pros - It just feels nice; there is somewhat of a grainy texture on the left and right mouse button that gives some friction. Personally, I like it and think it would feel good during heavy gaming sessions where your fingers are sweating a little bit. - The RGB is fully customizeable through their program (same as G600). There is the option to turn on the mouse without RGB lights to save battery power. - There is the option to go wireless! I cannot confirm how long the battery life is, but from other reviewers it seems like about 3 days of heavy use. - Length of the cord is decently long but is about a full mouse length shorter than the G600. - Comes with a nice bag for travel purposes - Weight is good, similar to G600. Exterior Cons - The side buttons dont feel as nice as the G600. The venus has smoother side buttons with less distinct ridges, especially with 10-12. I do think this is a big issue since the side buttons are very important in an MMO, especially if youre playing competitively. Pressing the Venus side buttons is also a little more stiff. - BIG CON: the Venus has a little hole to attach the wireless USB dongle. However, when putting that dongle into the mouse, it elevates the mouse and thus causes the laser to malfunction preventing smooth movement or even movement of the mouse entirely. I dont know why they made it this way. If I wanted to play with a wired mouse or play while charging the mouse, then Id still have to keep the dongle in my USB port or risk losing it somewhere. - They came with sticker padding to put on the under side of the mouse, but using those stickers produces the same problem as the one listed above. Are they supposed to be back up for if the original padding gets destroyed? I guess its not so much a con as it is a ???. Functionality Pros - There are 13 fully customizeable buttons, 16 if you include the right, left, and middle mouse button. I think for the average user, this should be more than enough, but more details are below in the cons - You can create macros in their program (same as G600 program) - You can adjust 5 levels of DPI, which can be adjusted on the fly using the arrow buttons on the mouse right underneath the scroll wheel. You can also adjust the mouse sensitivity, scrolling speed, an double-click speed in their program Functionality Cons - As I mentioned before, the average user should have no problem utilizing 13 extra buttons on a mouse - most do not need any more. I personally like having more and have used them in MMOs like World of Warcraft. The G600 offers a g-shift button, which is a click and hold feature to the right of its right mouse button that, when held down, changes the whole key settings/bindings, thus allowing buttons 1-12 (+7 of its own) buttons to be bound to other commands. As I mentioned, this probably isnt a big deal to the average MMO user. - A functionality issue that I particularly dislike though is that the DPI buttons cannot be assigned to something else. On my G600, I have those assigned and use them often as I dont need to change my DPI for anything. - The G600 offers a way to tilt the mouse scroll wheel to the left or right with the default command being back and forward, which I use frequently. The venus does not offer this ability with its scroll wheel, although it can be assigned to one of its 12 side buttons. - The UI of the venus program is not nearly as nice as compared to the Logitech Gaming Software. But to be fair, I believe LGS was supposedly shifted over in favor of some new program called Logitech Hub or something of the sort? I used it once and hated it and went back to LGS. Overall I think for the price and for the average user, it is and can be a great mouse. The comparable mouse on the market would be the G600, which at full price is a little more than 150% the cost of this mouse at full price (G600 $79.99 vs Venus $49.99), however most of the time Ive found the G600 to be on sale with my cheapest purchase at around $23 and average at $49. Due to my recent frustrations with the G600 in the microswitches and side button malfunction, Im wary to recommend that mouse now. But time will tell with the Venus in terms of its quality compared to the G600. Ive purchased another G600 for my main desktop since the lack in buttons for my MMOs on the Venus just wont cut it and Ive relegated the Venus for my laptop use.

I am modifying this review a few days after I posted it. I have zero problems with the mouse, but the company (not the manufacturer) selling it left a bad taste. A few days after receiving the mouse I got a card in the mail offering me $12 in Amazon credit to review the mouse, even if it was a negative review. I posted the review you see below. The company gave me $10 in credit and asked if I could remove the disclaimer about being paid to do the review. I told them that this was unethical and that they owed me $2. They pretty much immediately coughed up the additional $2, but again asked me to remove the disclaimer. I am happy with the mouse, but I have serious doubts about a seller who clearly gives zero effs about ethically running a business. In other words: maybe buy this mouse from a different seller. My original review follows: I have used this mouse for several weeks and Im very happy with it. When I first started using it I noticed that the textured surface has a lot of relief. On day two I actually thought the grainy texture might be annoying, but by day three I simply wasnt noticing it any longer. The surface is grainy, but the rubber is forgiving, so it has the texture but not the feel of sandpaper. I hold my mouse with many differing grips and I always feel like I have a good grip on this one. Some mice have an unusual shape that just doesnt feel right -- not so here. The very many buttons all work fine and feel solid. The main right and left click buttons are just a tiny bit easier to click than I would like -- I click them once in awhile while just resting my fingers on them. If I could make them 10% more stiff, I would. I have owned two other mice with similar button layouts, one of them made by Razer. I think I prefer this mouses setup/macro software to either of the others. I regularly use some complex macros, and I sometimes have to use middleware, like Autohotkey, to get my mouse to do what I want it to do. I have not had that issue here, so far. As for durability, I simply havent owned the mouse long enough to tell you that it will last for years and years, but if it does, this will be one of my favorite mice ever, and Im a former IT guy who has literally used hundreds of mice. This mouse gets an easy four stars, and if it doesnt fall apart in the next two years, I think it will earn five stars from me. Disclaimer: Amazon offered me a gift card to write a review for this mouse, but they did not stipulate that it had to be a positive review.

alright, ive had this thing since august and have used it constantly since then so i can safely say this is an extremely good mouse for the price with the only caveat being the program that you use to manipulate the mouse functions is lacking in a few smaller, but still important, areas. the mouse itself is sturdy as a rock but nowhere near as heavy with the only physical issue being the area where you are meant to place the weights specifically that there are two rather large openings where you could lose one of the weights in (as i almost did). the buttons make a noticeable click when pressed but do not provide too much resistance but at the same time provide enough resistance that theyre not accidentally pressed. they also seem to have an incredibly long life as i have pressed them all in excess. the scroll wheel itself is, unlike my previous mouse, still functioning appropriately without any noticeable degradation either but has very little resistance to it so clicking middle mouse sometimes scrolls up or down one. the shape of the mouse is satisfying to hold and left/right/middle mouse clicks are responsive and clicky. i imagine i am going to have this mouse for a long time, barring someone intentionally taking a large hammer to it. now for the software. the program used to run the mouse (it doesnt have a proper name just Gaming Mouse Config or GMC i guess) is a solid barebones bit of work which could use more polish overall as well as options in the macro manager section. specifically, the only real detrimental piece is that all macros (and i assume any other mouse button presses) have a minimum delay of 1 milisecond between each character the mouse would generate. this is incredibly detrimental in games where you may need to type a command into a games chat bar to illicit an action but at the same time need to press other keys. the time it takes is short but still long enough to cause the macro to screw up because of receiving extra input during the typing phase and in the same action screw up whatever it is you may try to be doing at the same time. if this gets fixed, macros immediately become something that can be used at any time. the other thing that would be nice to see in the macro manager is more options for macros. an option to set the loop option to loops macro while button is held would be nice, as well as an option to insert delays into the macro itself (so to make the macro press a button, then another a set specific time afterwards), other potential options would be to allow macros to remove either the press or release part of a keypress instead of removing both, and giving macros access to more computer based functions including mouse positioning and movement and mouse buttons 4 and up. another thing that would be nice to be able to do would be to be able to change the scroll wheels color. it seems like it would be able to do so since it can hit multiple other colors as is but the users have no way of changing it to their own specified colors unlike the rest of the mouse and on that note it would be nice to be able to save user generated colors to the color palette or for the less interested user, to be able to turn the lights off entirely. all in all, this is a solid mouse with a usable GMC that could really use more work. definitely worth the price but might not be suitable for users who use macros heavily. would be 5/5 but macro issues bump it down a star. so, please please please UtechSmart look into improving the GMC (and potentially for your other mice as well) as macro use with this mouse is impractical due to the forced 1ms delay between all key presses from the mouse.

I recently built a new box and was grudgingly forced to switch to Windows 10. When I did so, I found that the new G-Hub program with which Logitech has replaced the old Logitech Gaming Software is unspeakably horrible. It does not support my beloved G700 mouse -- or even the G602 -- and also dropped support for the G13 keypad, for which Logitech offers no replacement in their current line-up of products. I swear Logitechs current leadership is deliberately sabotaging the company... Anyway, after 20 years of steadfast loyalty to Logitech, I was forced to abandon them and look elsewhere for my peripheral needs. I came across this little gem of a mouse quite by accident. While several manufacturers have offered mice with numeric thumb keypads in the past, theyve always been wired. This one is dual mode (wired/wireless), which is a requirement for me. At a price of fifty bucks, I snapped it up without hesitation. I am pleasantly surprised at how good it turned out to be, since I wasnt expecting much of it. Let me say this up front, however: No, the programming software is not as good as Logitech (or LGS, at least; anything is better than G-Hub). But it is quite adequate for what I do with it. You can easily program any mouse key to emulate any keyboard key and a small variety of multimedia commands. The only thing it cant do (that I can see; someone correct me if Im wrong), is remove bindings and allow games to see the mouse keys as digital buttons, i.e. - mousebutton4, mousebutton5, etc. This is a little disappointing, but nothing I cant work around. The ergonomics are quite nice, but understand that Im coming from years of using the Logitech 600/700 series, which are high hump palm mice similar to this one. I prefer that feel and find that flat mice, which encourage a claw hold, tend to be very uncomfortable for me. The numeric thumb buttons are set up so that there are two vertical channels -- 123,456 and 789,0-=. This design is so that you can easily feel which channel your thumb is in and quickly press the button you want without looking at it. This is a real boon in MMOs. Mind you, it will take a while to train your muscle memory, but once youve got it down it is surprisingly intuitive. The buttons have a slight resistance to them, so that you can move your thumb around without accidentally triggering one. They arent hard to press by any means, but you cant activate them by simply dragging your thumb across them; you must consciously press a button. It lights up in pretty colors. I dont give two shakes of a wet cat about such things, but yes it lights up in pretty colors and yes you can change them. Whatever. Enough about that silliness. The cord is a nice cloth braid and is easy to plug/unplug, (the G700 was notoriously fickle in this area). The programming software is obtained via a Dropbox link which is supplied on a little cardboard USB drive. Unconventional perhaps, but it got the job done. The wireless dongle is... well, a wireless dongle. You plug it in and it does wireless dongle things for you. Id definitely recommend this mouse to gamers. Its an absolute steal at fifty bucks. If I were still doing CAD work Id buy one for the office, as all those thumb buttons would make wonderful shortcuts for design software -- similar to the old 18-button digitizer puck I used back when dinosaurs roamed the engineering offices. Or perhaps if youre a digital artist you could use it in your painting software. Whatever your use might be, if you like lots of buttons on your mice, you should definitely pick one up.

My Logitech G600 bit the dust after five long, hard years of usage, so I sought for a replacement. At the time, the G600 faced supply issues and was nowhere to be found, except on eBay for exorbitant prices. So i went with this; the price was similar to that of the G600 and it had all the side buttons I need. Mind you, I dont really use the side buttons when playing games, but instead I use them for power multi-tasking features, such as file operations, volume and media playback control, opening applications, scripts, and macros- whatever I need to do quickly with my thumb, I need at least 12 buttons. Its a huge boost to my productivity. The mouse is similar in shape and feel to the G600. While its quite a bit lighter, the grip and feel (which any MMO mouse will forever change the way you grip any mouse) didnt take me long at all to adjust, close to instant. Theres the same grip corner for you to press your pinky finger against, your thumb sits between the first two sets of thumb buttons (1 thru 6), pointer and middle finger are resting on the left and right mouse buttons respective and its comfortable to easily switch between clicking and scrolling, and theres also an indentation for your ring finger to rest on. Its really comfortable. The response of the mouse is great, really sensitive and precise. Have been able to play all of the games I was accustomed to playing on my G600 easily with this mouse. The software that it requires is actually quite decent, more than decent. You can control the LED lighting (various lighting effects, changing colors, turning the effects off or just turning the lighting off completely) adjust the DPI (the arrow buttons beneath the scroll wheel allow you to set five different levels of DPI adjustment), adjust double-click speed and various other things, but whats the most-impressive is the remappable button assignments, even blowing Logitechs software out of the water. You can assign volume control (up/down/mute), media playback control (next/previous track, stop, play/pause) file management (cut, copy, paste) to even more advanced things like opening, closing and switching windows, changing web browser pages, running macros (!) and swapping profiles. The macro editor is very simple to use and supports delaying keystrokes. Something Ive noticed is that the button assignments are stored in the mouse itself, not the software. The software may be Windows-only, but I switch over to Linux on my computer and the mouses button assignments stick, and function on Linux as intended! Huge props for that. If I were to name a few setbacks, the scroll wheel is the first component of the mouse that wears out. Despite regular maintenance and cleaning, it starts to feel really tacky as if its sliding against something, producing friction and it becomes clunky to scroll at times. It also lacks a tilting scroll wheel, like the G600, where you can physically move the scroll wheel left or right as two more additional buttons; I used that feature all the time for navigating pages back and forth; was a huge finger saver. For the price, it is a great buy, and should the current mouse I am using wear out, become defective or just needs replacement, I wouldnt hesitate to buy this again.

Ive had this for over a year and it its been great. Good fit for small to large size hands, buttons feel good, rubberized plastic feels nice, the overall build quality feels better than some premium mice. Batter life is great, wheel has a nice soft rubber. I bought this mouse to play MMOs and because I really wanted a mouse with a side button next to the left click, this is the only MMO mouse that has that. Cons: the software does the job, but feels very basic, having to download it from Google Drive is basically a leap of faith because you dont really know if its a virus or not until you install it (its not a virus), I wish they would update it to give more options, like adding different game profiles.

This mouse is well worth the price. The buttons are just the right size to click with your thumb and the pressure needed to press them make them easy enough to press in tense moments while also making mistakes fairly rare. I use the back of my thumb to press the last column and this even works pretty well. The rapid fire button feels quite nice to press as well. The scroll wheel is segmented but also smooth. Minor complaints include the fact that I am not a huge fan of the sandpaper feel on the left/right buttons and on the edge. In particular, I found that my ring/pinky fingers started to feel chafed by it when first using it, though I believe use of the device quickly wore it in and I no longer get this feeling. I do also wish the thumb rest was extended a bit further out from the mouse. I do not use it that often, but it is not really wide enough to fit the entire thumb without it hanging off the edge. I love that the mouse is wireless, as I could never get used to the cord snag that occurs with wired models, though it can also be used with a wire if that is your preference. The battery life is superb. I can forget to charge it for days at a time and it will still have juice. The sleep mode activates pretty quickly after not using the mouse for a period of time and will automatically awaken after any movement/button presses and will register said input. The two DPI buttons are placed in a nice spot and there are four red lights, or the absence of light, which indicate five different profiles. These are set to 1000/2000/4000/8000/16000 by default, but you can set them to whatever your preference is. As I find any lights on my mouse/keyboard distracting, I set my preferred DPI on the lowest profile. That said, the RGB lights on the mouse are great. The thumb buttons look particularly cool when it is shining through them. If you want to show off a cool new mouse, this is the one for you. The program for this mouse is also pretty great and easy to understand. The default profile for the thumb buttons sets them to 1-0 on the number row and -/+ on the number pad. Im not sure why they decided to use the numpad rather than the number row for the last two, as I have played games which contain item slots on the latter number row keys, though they are easily remappable in the program or in-game. The program allows for importing/exporting profiles, which is necessary if using more than two. The profile switch button on the bottom can cycle between the default, which is itself remappable, and an imported profile. The program also allows the user to design macros which is very convenient for the sake of productivity. For gaming, the number row mapping already makes perfect sense for many games. Even though I do not really play MMO games, I found that being able to swap weapons in GTA and items/shouts in Skyrim with the touch of a button was quite an improvement over using the number row, which takes fingers that could be pressing other keys and has an inconveniently placed second half for the left hand to reach. Of course, you can feel free to map it to whichever buttons you want. I also personally use this for video editing and general productivity shortcuts on my PC and I can report that it is excellent for both. My left hand has to move around far less than what it used to, and overall things feel more balanced. Overall extremely pleased with my decision to purchase this mouse and recommend it to anyone who wants a versatile instrument for any of a multitude of computing needs. EDIT: I have dropped this review to four stars because of an issue with the scroll wheel. After having the mouse on for some time the scroll wheel takes two notches to start scrolling in the opposite direction (for instance, if I am scrolling down and I try to scroll up the first notch on the wheel that is scrolled up will do nothing). If I turn the mouse off and then on again it will return to normal, but will, in time, begin to act up again. It is rather minor, but is quite annoying. And I can see this being a detriment in games. I have reached out to Utechs support and have not gotten a response. I am trying again. If my issue is resolved I will return the review to five stars. EDIT: I managed to get in contact with them through the email for the gift inside the box. They were very nice and sent me a new one. While the second one was on the way, my original somehow started working again. I can only surmise that it has something to do with being kept on for a long enough period of time, rather than being turned off and on again after acting up. Anyhow, I am pleased that it has started working again and that I now have a backup in case it messes up once more, and am now raising it back to five stars!