CM Storm Xornet Review

Testing and Conclusion

To say that the Xornet is a pleasant surprise would be a huge understatement.

If you just look at the specifications it’s easy to be underwhelmed. It has no lighting or customisation. The sensor is definitely at the bottom end of what can still be considered a gaming mouse. It’s only available in black and is quite plastic-y to say the least. Finally that price tag of under £20, and from a company with a lot of brand identity, tends to ring alarm bells.

However the moment you start using it all those things melt away and it’s impossible not to love the Xornet.

The design is amazingly comfortable. That bit of extra room out on the right really helps keep the compact little mouse under control and although a lot of the case is made out of that hard shiny plastic it has soft grippy rubber in all the right places. It doesn’t even feel cheap. Sure it’s really light as there are no weights in it, nor any frippery to increase the standard weight but it’s not flimsy.

When thinking of the Xornet the word that springs to mind is chunky. Because of the reduced length and increased width, along with a decent height, even my rather large mitts could hold it comfortably. The buttons have a lovely reassuring click to them and the scroll wheel, often a stumbling block on affordable rodents, is precise but quiet.

Of course the sensor, at 2000DPI, is by no means up there with the mega sensors we’ve seen on some really high end mice, but for the average person this isn’t an issue at all. 2000DPI is plenty responsive enough for nearly every application without being so fast that daily tasks require endless profile switching.

At the higher end of the price spectrum designers often feel they need to justify the price with strange angles and features. The Xornet is the polar opposite of this. It’s like beans on toast. Cheap, but flawless. It has a refreshing simplicity to it that works so well you find yourself questioning if you really do need all those extra bit of frippery we normally demand.

For under £20 it’s impossible not to fall in love with it. It’s amazing value for money, comfortable, and does all that you require a mouse to do. Sure it wont cause anyone who passes to drop their jaw in wonderment but for a plug and forget solution to your pointer needs it’s a gloriously honest, blue-collar product.

All the production cost and design focus has been spent in all the right areas, leaving you with a product that makes its low price tag seem like the bargain of the year. Worthy of our Gold Award and our Value for Money. Brilliant.

       

Thanks to CM Storm for supplying the Xornet for review. Discuss in our forums.