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

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.

EDIT: Its been a month and a half since my initial review, and I will say that my complaint about the 4,5,6 line of buttons being unpressable/hard to press is no longer an issue! After regular use, they fell in line and became very good buttons. The whole keypad is wonderful to use now, I am happy to report! Ive been playing around with this mouse enough and liked it enough that I ordered two more as replacements for when this one eventually kicks the bucket. Its very responsive, easy to configure on the software, though the wording can be a bit hard to understand so bear with it. One of the biggest things that stood out to me instantly is that while the website was slow to load to get the install file for the software, once I had it running, the software was perfect. Light, quick, runs flawlessly, doesnt freeze, lag, or eff with the rest of my system (looking at you, Corsair ICUE). You can configure scrolling speed with the software itself versus having to find it in Windows mouse config, configure the light colors and how fast you want them to pulse. RBG-wise its not as fancy as a Corsair or Razer, but Im more than happy to sacrifice that to only pay $30 and still get high performance. DPI is perfect and FULLY configurable (with sliders, change from 9800 to 9900 DPI if you want to, or go to 14800 from 16500), click performance wasnt as slow as someone else mentioned on here, at least not that I noticed. Perhaps it was fixed with newer models. EDIT: This section is no longer relevant after a month and a half of use, but I will leave it for historys sake: ((My only possibly big complaint that lines up with another review is the buttons on the 4,5,6 line. All the rest of my buttons are great, but just those three are quite stiff and difficult to press. The others feel great, click great, and respond great, so perhaps I could just move abilities around in gaming, but I used to use 4,5,6 a lot on my old mouse (a Corsair) so it will be sad to have to change that.)) I will see if they wear down in time, perhaps theyll get better to press with heavy use. If you have large hands, as well, I cant see this mouse working well for you. Look at a mouse with adjustable side buttons like a Corsair Scimitar (good mice but expensive and you gotta deal with the BS that is ICUE, but Ill say they were solid overall)

The Good: The mouse is comfortable and feels pretty solid. The left and right click feel great, the wheel has a nice soft ratcheting that is very quiet and just barely felt but gives a slight haptic feedback and keeps the wheel from just spinning freely. Most of the side buttons feel nice and clicky but there are a couple (Notably the 5 and 10 for me) that are a little more mushy and dont provide much feedback. Im sure it varies between mice, you may have no mushy buttons or several. The buttons are also small and close together so it can sometimes be difficult to hit a middle row button without hitting the top or bottom row, but the columns are easy to distinguish thanks to the opposing angles. The Bad: So the mouse itself is pretty solid for the price, although longevity has yet to be determined. However, the driver software is not great. It has decent configuration options to map pretty much any action you might want and is not difficult to use, but the combination button assignments (Alt or Ctrl + another key) only work about 10% of the time, randomly. The majority of the time, it will only register the key as if alt or ctrl were not being held, making the feature useless. There is a workaround by setting up a macro, but that is a tedious process that shouldnt be necessary. The software is also somewhat barebones. It has 5 profiles you can set up that are stored on the mouse, and you can also save profile configurations to your hard drive for later recovery. The profiles have to be selected manually, there is no option to set profiles to run with certain programs. There is a button on the bottom of the mouse that cycles through the profiles, or you can select them manually within the configuration utility. For some reason after spending a good chunk of time setting up all the macros and keybinds for the side buttons, after the first time I restarted my computer the config tool just said disabled under every button and wouldnt let me change any bindings. The problem persisted after uninstalling/reinstalling both the config software and the mouse itself, and rebooting. The mouse continued to work under the profiles I had already set up by using the profile select button on the mouse itself, but the software was unable to communicate with the mouse to detect the profiles or change them. Somehow, after a lot of wasted time and frustration, the situation corrected itself when I moved the mouse to a different usb port. Im still not sure what caused this, but it could be unique to my computer. TLDR; It feels well made for the price, is comfortable to use, with an ergonomic design, ringfinger rest, and a textured, grippy surface, and most of the buttons feel nice and crisp, but the configuration software is somewhat lackluster compared to G-hub or Synapse.

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.

So I have been a die-hard Logitech user for a very long time, but have come under the [strong] impression their quality has been tanking for quite a few years now. I have gone through three replacements of my G604 wireless gaming mouse now because there seems to be a persistent right-click anomaly where holding and depressing the right mouse button actually flutters that signal to the computer. Its not consistent, it can clear and come back, but when it happens I cannot even right-click and drag items in Windows because to the computer it looks like the right-mouse button is being rapidly clicked. Add to that the new G Hub software is very buggy, doesnt always properly detect games, AND that Logitech makes you jump through hoops for a warranty replacement, and I was on the hunt for something completely different. So that background is by way of saying that this is a replacement for my G604 and my comparisons are directly related to that idea. In that regard the mouse actually has a better quality feel. Its solidly-built, and all of the clicks are nicely damped, including the scroll wheel and all of the buttons. This gives the mouse itself a pretty high-quality feel to me, although if you prefer crisp clicks you may disagree. Its also nicely textured for excellent grip all over, and the slider pads on bottom are replaceable. They include a spare set. The battery is built-in, so no more swapping batteries. Battery life is dependent; the ON/OFF switch is actually 3-position, which I think is brilliant. You can turn it on with no lighting, or with the adjustable lighting enabled. This is great because I have my PC on for ~12 hours a day, often for work. When doing work I disable the illumination, so the batteries go quite a few weeks before they need to be recharged. Keep in mind this is ON half the day, every day. I imagine if you use the illumination constantly this would go way down, but I only do so when gaming after hours. The arch of this mouse is considerably smaller than most Logitech gaming mice. This may be a plus or minus depending on the size of your hands. I have very large hands so for me its a small minus, but not at a make-or-break level. The DPI adjustment buttons are dedicated also, meaning they cant be repurposed using the software. This I also consider a plus, due to how inconsistent G Hub was with detecting games. Now comes the mixed bag part. The SW is very clear, easy to use, and building a macro is 10x easier than Logitechs method. You can insert or add any number of events, name the macro, then assign to any of the 15 programmable buttons. HOWEVER, I have found that this software sometimes forgets parts of my macro. Not entire macros, but a step may intermittently disappear from a string I built, usually a delay function. If I add it back in it may remember it for a while, but forget it again next week, or the week after. I am using v3.0.0 of the software, but the support website is probably the worst part of the experience. It looks like it was made by teenagers, and many of the support files are in a zip format and are corrupted, so I honestly have no idea if theres even an update for the SW that will fix it. So there you have it, good, bad and the ugly. Get it at a discount and itll at worse make a good back-up mouse.

UPDATE: UTechSmart reached out and provided a replacement at no cost to me shortly after I placed my original review. The issues I had previously were definitely due to an unfortunate faulty product. The replacement mouse lasted a week of solid use that my original could not have come close to. The issue I mentioned before about the #10 button being loose is also not a problem on the replacement. I am very happy with the level of support and the speed at which it was handled. I can now once again fully recommend this mouse and will be back in another (hopefully) 10 years to buy the latest model when this one finally gives out. ORIGINAL REVIEW: I ordered this mouse after 10 years of using the same mouse as a wired version. I thought it was going to be a great upgrade since I love the wired version which has not failed me. The software that is required to assign functions to each button is not as good as the one that works on the wired mouse. And the main issue is the battery does not last as long as advertised. I get a day and a half of light use max. Really defeats the purpose of having a wireless mouse if I constantly have to plug it in to keep it powered on. Last notable thing is that the #10 button on the side is very loose. It can wiggle side to side with little pressure.

Got this mouse after my old one was starting to fail and I wasnt sure what to expect, the mouse i moved from was a white redragon with the same number pad, this mouse honestly is a lot higher quality then that mouse, the rough surface feels nice when gaming and doesnt get sweaty, the software comes on the strangest flashdrive Ive seen but it was a charming addition, and lastly the software that it comes with is not only easy to use but could easily be just as good as a more expensive brand like corsair. I would highly recommend this mouse to anyone trying to get good performance on a tight budget.

The mouse is on the larger size to accommodate the num pad on the side, but it feels great in the hand. The num pad can at first be a little hard to use without looking, but the different sizes and slants of the keys help you quickly catch on. Ive been using this mouse for the last 5 days and I only charged it once when I got it and its only 50% down as of now. After about 30 seconds with no use, the lights turn off and the mouse appears to enter a low power mode as it doesn’t lose charge when left on overnight. Sadly the only way to check the power level is through the software, but the software is really quick to load, so its fine. The mouse arrived almost fully charged. The charging cable is a nice braided cable. I was pleasantly surprised to see the mouse came with a nice carrying case. Note that the wireless version doesn’t have an option to adjust the weight, but I think it has a pretty good weight already. The software comes on a USB stick that will open a download link to the software. I can confirm that the software is not running in the background taking up any precious processing power, all the macros and key data are stored on the mouse itself. As far as the software itself, it can a first seem confusing, but after you get the hang of it, it works great and has so many great customization options. At first, I didn’t expect to use this for non-gaming purposes, but with the ability to add profiles, and so many customization options that allow you to add tons of macros and key shortcuts I have found it comes in handy for general everyday use as well. I have one profile set up for gaming that includes inventory hotkeys and more for gaming, then I have a different profile with quick keys for copy, paste, enter, and other keys to quickly open/close applications. The process for adding new profiles could be improved as I believe it includes going up to the red arrow in the top right corner and exporting then importing a profile, from there you can easily switch between the profiles with the button on the bottom of the mouse and the software will update accordingly. Once you have the different profiles you can still always change both in the software the same as normal. The window of the software can sadly not be adjusted in size, though its fine. the DPI can be quickly adjusted with the on mouse buttons, and the different levels can also be changed. The mouse can be set to ridiculously high DPI, as if you would ever need it to be that high, which is why I turned my DPI levels way down. The mouse can get some good lighting colors, but I will say that the color on the mouse is not always identical to the color look in the software, and with some colors, the lighting section colors dont completely match each other. The lighting color sections CANT be controlled separately, though Im personally fine with this, and there is an option to completely turn off the lights, which I assume should result in better battery life. All the lighting modes look good, my favorite being Neon which cycles through every color, I use the neon mode on my gaming profile, and a solid color for my everyday profile to help easily distinguish between the two profiles I have. Overall this is a great product and is a great alternative to a ridiculously expensive gaming mouse.

Edit: 8 months later, I still love this mouse! The UtechSmart VENUS Pro wins my award for the Best Ergonomic Wireless Productivity Mouse of 2020. I am a mouse enthusiast, and this is my 9th and favorite mouse. PROs: 1. With 16 buttons, I have been able to program keyboard shortcuts to operate from my mouse, and I love it. My coworkers are jealous of my ability to mute and unmute our conference calls with a dedicated mouse button. 2. The ability to switch between wireless and corded is really cool. 3. The lights are cool. 4. Ergonomics are great. The ergonomics of this mouse are so good I almost forgot to mention it, because it feels so good I quit thinking about it. I have rejected other ergonomic mice because they werent big enough, but this mouse fills up my hand allowing me to hold a nice round shape and reach the buttons comfortably. Most ergonomic mice are too small or flat such that I have to distort or shrink my hand to grip them. Of the 12 side buttons, there are two buttons that I cant reach easily. I suppose I can reach them, but I have to adjust my grip enough that I usually dont bother. If you dont use those 2 buttons, you will still have a 14 button wireless ergonomic mouse, which is better than Ive been able to find anywhere else on the Internet. CONs: 1. The software to program this mouse is only available for Windows. No Mac Software. If you are rich enough to own a Mac, then you probably have an old windows laptop under your bed or in your closet. You can program your mouse on the windows computer and then use your newly programmed mouse, including shortcuts, on your mac. NOTE: The free mac software called Karabiner can act as a substitute for the missing mac software. After youve set it up with Karabiner, you can also use the mouse with the productivity software Better Touch Tool and Alfred. Karabiner and Better Touch Tool can make any mouse programmable. 2. This mouse does not work well on my dark, grey desk. Often it will not track motion smoothly on dark surfaces, as though the laser or light underneath is not strong enough to reflect off of a dark surface. The problem doesnt happen every day, but it happens often enough that I cant use it normally on my black desk. Since its not all the time, Ive tried to figure out what the trigger is for this problem kicking in. Ive decided its either when the battery is low, or else there is some kind of calibration where the mouse thinks its in a dark room and loses focus on my desk. If I use a colored mouse pad, or even a piece of paper under the mouse, it tracks motion great. I contacted the seller, and they were very quick to reply. They offered to send me a free mouse pad. I dont think that mousepad ever arrived, but it wasnt a big deal because I made my own mousepad. 3. The rechargeable battery life feels a little short to me. My other wireless mouse uses AA batteries, and they last at least a month. This mouse lasts about a week if I leave the lights off, or two days if I leave the lights on. Recharging this mouse is easy using the included USB cable, and I can keep using the mouse while its plugged in. Since this mouse can be used as a wired USB mouse, having the fancy lights on makes more sense when its plugged in. Less Important: I dont actually use this mouse for gaming, I use it to program productivity shortcuts (forward and backward in the browser, move between browser tabs, close windows, copy, paste, Ctrl, Command, Shift, Fn, zoom in and out). The scroll wheel on this mouse is the same as most gaming mice I have used: it scrolls with a bump or jump between lines. I actually would prefer a smooth scroll so that my page doesnt jump as I read. The only gaming mouse Ive used that does this is the wired Logitech G502, which could switch between bumpy and smooth scrolling. CONCLUSION: The battery life and lack of windows software have not been a major problem, but I am disappointed that it doesnt track well on a dark grey surface. I have fixed this by using a mousepad, but its the only thing keeping this from being my perfect productivity mouse. Ive spent years testing programmable mice for increased productivity. This is the only one Ive found that meets my 3 most important criteria: 1. Truly ergonomic 2. Wireless 3. More than 11 buttons. If you are ok with fewer buttons, or you arent as picky about ergonomics, then there a lot of other wireless mouse out there that will track on a black desk. You might enjoy the Logitech G602. But for me, the UtechSmart VENUS Pro wins my award for the Best Ergonomic Wireless Productivity Mouse of 2020.

I originally bought this as a replacement for a near-identical Redragon mouse. The software is near identical as well, basically the same but with switched logos. I dont know if these are shell companies with a common owner, or what. However, in both cases, these were great mice that lasted me multiple years. Im here writing this review nearly 3 years after the fact, because I was checking if this product still existed. My mouse wheels button clicks, but isnt registering M3 inputs. Not the end of the world, since I have M3 on one of the side buttons, but annoying nonetheless. I think I may buy a replacement soon and send this one off to the secondary PC. Ive used this mouse for MMOs, Shooters, RTS games, web browsing, and everything else. When you really learn how to make good keybinding setups, its hard to go back to a normal mouse.