Arctic Gear Review Pt 3: M571 Laser Gaming Mouse

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Image courtesy of Arctic

For the third and final installment of my Arctic Products review we will be looking at the M571 Gaming mouse. The past 2 reviews we looked at some gaming headsets, but this time it’s all about control. The K381 is a white and silver full size mouse that offers some great gaming features without breaking the bank while doing so. This mouse is an enhanced version of the earlier M551 and is targeted at the gaming community. The mouse I tested this against is my trusty Logitech G9 gaming mouse. I have been using the G9 for quite a while and absolutely love it. When I bought the Logitech it cost me about 3X the MSRP of the M571, and has not failed me in over a year of gaming with countless hours of battles and world domination. Let’s see how this budget-friendly gamer holds up to my high-priced G9 mouse.

Quick Specs:

  • Limited Warranty: 2 years
  • Connector: USB 2.0
  • Cable (m): 1.8
  • Sensitivity (dpi): 800 / 1600 / 2400
  • Tracking Engine: Laser
  • Buttons: 5 + 1 auto

The M571 is a full-sized mouse that is ergonomically shaped to fit your entire hand. My hands are not all that big but I can put my entire four fingers in the curves of the mouse and still keep my pinky from dragging on the surface next to it. This is welcome because when you’re putting in some serious gaming hours you can’t afford to have any type of hand-fatigue that may cause you unnecessary “respawns”. The surface of the mouse is smooth and feels plasticky” (read: “cheap”), but there is still enough grip to keep your hand comfortably in place while gaming.

All the buttons are easily accessible and don’t require much finger movement to press them. Some of the gaming  mice I have used in the past had plenty of buttons on the top and sides, but there was no way I could actually use them without repositioning my hand or picking up from the mouse a little. On this mouse even the center-placed dpi adjustment button can easily be pressed with the inside of your pointer finger. That will illuminate different colors depending on what dpi setting you are using.

I found the teflon-coated bottom feet of the mouse to be extremely smooth on my S & S Steel mousepad. Out of the box the weight is adjustable with 4 6.5g weights, but can easily be upgraded and made heavier by sticking some other material in the foam inserts on the bottom. Overall the feel of the mouse is good. It is a little light for my taste but that is an issue of personal preference more than anything else.

The right-handed mouse offers 2 side buttons, center clicking scroll wheel, an auto fire button, a dpi adjustment button, and a trap door on the bottom to swap out your weight selection. The buttons don’t quite feel as precise when pressed as they do on my G9 mouse, but after using the M571 for a while I got used to the “clicky” sounds and the slightly longer press that is required by it as compared to the mouse I’m used to using.

Actual Use-

The first few rounds of Black Ops that I played using this mouse took some getting used to. I found that during gameplay that the mouse glided over my mousepad without any snags and moving around the screen with it felt comfortable after the first few games. Activating the buttons is definitely a different experience compared to what I am used to but after some time in the field with the M571 I wasn’t really bothered by the adjustments I had to make.  I also tried out the “auto” button which allows you to tap once for a double shot, and hold for continuous shooting and found it to be pretty cool. It is great if you want to fire your semi-automatic weapon as fast as possible without actually tapping your finger each time. Most of the time I forgot to use it out of habit but on some games it could prove quite “handy”. 🙂

After spending some time with the M571 mouse I came to this conclusion. It a good fit for someone looking to replace their beat up old mouse or looking for a decent entry-level gaming mouse. I would not give up my G9 for the M571, but for the price you simply cannot beat the M571. All the extra buttons come in handy for shooters, and the weights allow you to customize the feel of the mouse to your liking. The shape and ergonomics of the M571 fit your whole hand. The cord has a thick plastic coating on it and did not snag on anything while using it.

Installation was a breeze since there were no drivers to install and there was nothing to set up. The dpi adjustment is simple enough that, with the click of the center button, you can select 3 levels of adjustment. I found the 800 and 1600 dpi enough for normal gaming. When I set it to 2400dpi it was too fast and I found myself losing accuracy. The only lights on the mouse come on when you select 1600 or 2400 dpi. The LED is off for 800, green for 1600, and red for 2400. You CAN change this setting but is a nice feature, especially at this price point.

The M571 Laser Gaming Mouse is available in black or white and can be purchased at many online stores or directly from Arctic for just $26.46.

I can absolutely recommend this mouse to anyone looking for a budget gaming mouse that has all the features you will find on higher end models. In fact, I can’t imagine another mouse at this price that can compare to quality of the M571.

What I Like: Full size mouse, fits your hand well; Adjustable weights; 5 buttons, plus dpi and auto button; No software to install; Teflon feet on the bottom makes for very smooth and precision movement

What Needs Improvement: Buttons have a lot of travel when pressed; Could use a little more weight

*Special Thanks to Arctic for sending out all these great products for us to review

Via Arctic Cooling

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