Mionix’s peripherals have picked up lots of Custom PC awards in the past, and its mice in particular have rarely failed to impress us. They generally offer excellent comfort and ergonomics, plenty of features and reasonable prices, and the new Castor looks set to continue these trends. At £60 inc VAT, it isn’t bad value for money, although the Logitech G402 is a fair bit cheaper at around £40 inc VAT.
The Castor is noticeably smaller than many of the company’s other mice, such as those in the Naos range, but it still offers a soft-touch coating that keeps your hand feeling dry. It’s a good couple of centimetres shorter than the G402 as well and, as a result, palm-grip users with longer than average fingers may find their fingers resting on the edge of the buttons, whereas the G402 is more spacious. Its small size means it weighs around 10g less than the G402, though, so if you’re a claw or fingertip gripper that likes lightweight mice, the Castor is ideal.
There’s a single dpi toggle switch located behind the mouse wheel that can flit between three configurable settings, ranging all the way from 50 to 10,000dpi in 50dpi increments. Sadly, though, the switch simply cycles through the settings and there’s no visual clue as to which setting you’re using. By contrast, the G402’s dpi adjustment has two dedicated buttons within easier reach that can go up or down between a selectable number of presets, plus you get a visual aid.
Meanwhile, the Mionix software is relatively in-depth and clear, and allows you to set the lift distance, X and Y axis sensitivity (separately), USB poll rate, angle and lift off distance adjustment. All the buttons are programmable, with six in total available, including the near-silent scroll wheel plus two thumb buttons that are very well-placed above a textured thumb rest. You can also record (but not run) macros, while there are five profiles to save your settings – again, though, there are no visual clues as to which profile you’re currently using, despite the Castor sporting customisable RGB LEDs with lighting effects, and the ability to assign a button to cycle through profiles.
Then there’s the PMW-3310 optical sensor, which is wonderfully precise and we noticed no lag or acceleration, although the latter can also be programmed in software if needed. In fact, we were able to use the Castor fluently in games in just a few minutes. The finger buttons feel sturdy as well, and the mouse as a whole feels more solid than the G402.
Conclusion
The Castor feels fantastic both on the desktop and in games, but we’d expect nothing less from a Mionix mouse. It’s refined, well built and has enough customisable settings to please most people, but we do have an issue with the price. At nearly £60 inc VAT, it costs considerably more than the Logitech G402, yet the latter has greater customisation and much more control over on-the-fly dpi adjustment. The Castor is better made and slightly more comfortable, especially for claw and fingertip-grip types, but for the avid gamer, the G402 offers better value for money. ANTONY LEATHER
VERDICT
Excellent comfort and build quality, but the cheaper competition offers more features for dpi adjustment and profiles.
SPECIFICATIONS
Sensor 10,000dpi optical
Connection Wired, USB
Cable 2m, braided
Materials Plastic
Extras Mionix stickers