QPad follows up the legendary 5K Laser with a new 8K gaming mouse
My experience, for what it's worth, has shown me that a gaming mouse can be either the very best control device, or the absolute worst. It largely depends on who is using it. However, QPad has tried very hard to make its 8K Laser something that most players (right handed ones, at least) will generally adore. Essentially, this is an updated and enhanced version of the excellent 5K model from last year. Qpad has bounced the sensitivity to 8200 counts per inch, so it now registers seismic events caused by moles digging, and given the mouse an uprated ARM processor, 128KB of memory and RGB controllable LEDs.
This this is very much the same mouse, though: it has the same shape, same number and placement of buttons (seven, all programmable), and exactly the same sampling rate of 12,000 FPS. As well as being similar to its 5K Laser stablemate, I also found it remarkably like my favoured old Revoltec Fightmouse Elite. This allowed me to transition between them with almost no adjustment, once I'd tweaked the settings to make the sensitivity feel similar.
The mouse is slightly lighter than I normally like, at just 112g, but it isn't so light that I can't control it easily. Where I do really like this design is the Omron switches they've used on the two main buttons, which require relatively little force and have a lovely positive click on execution. They're rated for 20 million presses, so the 8K shouldn't break after the first heavy gaming session.
The on-board memory serves to local store your sensitivity and colour choices that you can make with the QPad Laser Software, onto the device.
Once there you can transfer the mouse to another PC and, conveniently, will it still operate exactly as it did on yours.
As gaming mice go this is an excellent design, that combines a very natural and comfort-considered shape with lots of sensitivity control and a dash of showmanship. Comparing it to the earlier 5K Laser, the price difference is about £20, which seems a little on the steep side for what enhancements QPad has added, though.
In terms of the competition it's about the same as the Razer Naga Hex and a tenner more than the Corsair M65 RGB. You can buy cheaper gaming mice from Cougar, CoolerMaster and SteelSeries, but they won't offer the same feature level or build quality.
It's only taken four years to find it, but the QPad 8K Laser is actually the first mouse I've tested that I'd consider retiring my old Revoltec for. Consider that very high praise indeed. Mark Pickavance
Excellent precision gaming mouse with RGB LED lighting.