As the Tt eSPORTS Saphira gaming mouse hasn't yet been reviewed on Team Liquid, I thought I'd post it up as it's the only mouse I know of that's been designed by a SC2 pro You can read the review below, or with its original formatting here.
This mouse is marked out from its bretheren on the Tt eSPORTS website through its designer – the StarCraft player White-Ra. White-Ra is a well known figure in the StarCraft II gaming community – the Ukranian Protoss is overwhelming well mannered towards friends, opponents and fans alike and his gramatically deviant sayings set him apart. The two most famous are ‘We make expand then defense it’ and ‘special tactics!’ This mouse takes inspiration from the latter phrase, but will it be able to become as well loved as its designer? Let’s find out.
Physical Features
The Saphira is of moderate size, bigger than a Razer Krait but smaller than a Corsair Vengeance M90.
The surface of the mouse is smooth, with oversized buttons that flow into the rest of the chassis rather than being distinct entities. The buttons are divided by a 1 mm gap, and widen to accomodate the scroll wheel. The scroll wheel has a unique textured grip, with the more common straight lines replaced with curvy lines. The lowest part of the top frame includes a white Tt eSPORTS dragon that will no doubt be illuminated later.
The left hand side of the mouse includes the forward and back buttons. Both are integrated above the left-side grippy material, following the curve of the mouse. The back button is small and nearer the front, while the forward button is larger and towards the back. The other point of interest on the left side is the LED panel, which contains four diamond-shaped LEDs that reflect the current DPI settings.
The right hand side of the mouse is unadorned, with a matching piece of grippy material as on the left hand side.
Turning the mouse over, we see a two wide and long feet that travel around the periphery of the device. Inset from this we have the 3500 DPI optical sensor and four buttons that control the profile, DPI setting, polling rate and function lock, respectively. It’s these buttons that allow the Saphira to enjoy a relatively clear appearance on the top, although obviously these buttons are harder to hit in-game.
There’s a compartment near the bottom of the mouse which can hold the removable weights. There are five weights here, each measuring 4.5g for 22.5g in total. They are ensconced in a rubber trapezoidal configuration which should hold them securely without allowing them to rattle around too much.
Finally, we’ll have a look at the USB cable. It’s braided for increased durability and reduced tangles, and also includes a velcro strap for tidying up the cable when travelling. It concludes in a gold-plated USB cable.
Software
The software for this mouse is relatively full featured, allowing for the toggling of mouse wheel and dragon logo lighting, the recording of macros to be assigned to keys, and switching between the five available profiles. Here is the main screen.
This is the screen that allows you to record macros – as you can see there are quite a few options available.
Finally, the performance screen. This allows you to set the DPI and polling rate, as well as activating a scrolling mode for ‘one screen at a time’.
With the software installed, you’ll find that changing settings or going back or forward adds a large red notification to the bottom middle of the screen. I intensely dislike this feature, but I’ve found no way to disable it.
Testing
Methodology
There are few synthetic benchmarks for testing a mouse, so I prefer to just give them a go in the real world. I happened to receive the mouse before a five day LAN event in the south west of England, so I brought the Saphira there and used it as my go-to mouse for the entire event as well as my daily driver for about a week afterward. The following games were played with the mouse:
StarCraft II DotA II CounterStrike: Source Pirates, Vikings, Knights II Ghost Recon Online Call of Duty 4 Hockey? Team Fortress 2
As well as RTS and FPS performance, I’ll be looking at the Saphira’s durability and comfort.
Results
RTS
As the mouse was designed by a StarCraft II pro-gamer, it makes sense to test it in StarCraft II and other RTS games primarily.
Overall, my impression of it was quite strong – the Saphira’s wide shape, relatively light weight (with the removable weights removed) and comfortable grip made it a quick and responsive mouse that could be used for extended periods without problems.
Out of the box the DPI setting is quite low, but when adjusted to 3500 and the highest polling rate I found it more than sufficient. I found that is was certainly accurate enough to work well in StarCraft II and other RTS titles.
I prefer it to the more weighty K90, which includes many more buttons and consequently has a much more complex design despite having a higher DPI laser sensor.
FPS
In FPS titles, it’s often speed that trumps accuracy – it’s about bringing your gun to bear and reacting before your opponent. For this purpose, the 3500 DPI sensor isn’t quite as suited for the task. While it still offers a much more accurate sensor than a standard desktop optical mouse, it is some way behind the most recent FPS-focused mice which offer 5000 DPI or more.
Overall I wouldn’t say this is a dealbreaker for FPS players – you can still use and enjoy the Saphira as your go-to FPS mouse, but know that there are slightly better options on the market if FPS is your speciality and you use a very twitchy playstyle.
Comfort
The Saphira is one of the most comfortable mice I’ve used in a long time. I’ve got fairly large hands, and the Saphira still felt expansive enough for me. The side grips and simple, unblemished design made this mouse a treat to use.
Durability
One area in which the Saphira is perhaps lacking is durability. Even with a protective bag, during my first trip with the mouse I found that the back button had partially come out of the mouse, blocking the left mouse button from being used. Thankfully it was easily pushed back into position again and full functionality was restored, but it isn’t a brilliant sign. If durability is a factor for you, then a mouse with a metal chassis such as the Vengeance M60 or M90 may be preferable.
Conclusion
The Saphira is an excellent mouse for RTS players and is one of the most comfortable high-grade gaming mice that I’ve ever used. While durability, the software and a relatively low 3500 DPI optical sensor may be an issue for some, I’d suggest that they’re relatively minor issues that do little to detract from this top quality mouse – a worthy recipient, then, of White-Ra’s endorsement.
Pros
Nice, simple top design Sensitive and accurate, well suited for RTS Comfortable and sits well in larger hands
Cons
FPS games would benefit from a higher DPI Not the most durable design
Score
9 / 10
Thanks for reading the review - please leave feedback and let me know how I can improve in the future. Also let me know if you have any questions and I'll be happy to answer them if I can <3
On August 15 2012 01:23 apm66 wrote: Corsair K90 is a keyboard. M90 is what you're looking for
Fixed, thank you :D
On August 15 2012 01:48 tschecko wrote: interesting
Thanks
On August 15 2012 01:52 MisterFred wrote: I'm not a huge fan of the shape, but I am in favor of more higher-end optical mice.
That said, as for your review: who the hell plays SC2 at 3500 DPI? Holy Carpal Tunnel, Batman!
I found the shape quite nice; very comfortable as I've got largish hands.
As I raised the response rate in the settings the mouse felt slower, so playing on the highest DPI setting seems fine - even a bit too slow for me. I'm not sure if this is intended or not.
In FPS titles, it’s often speed that trumps accuracy – it’s about bringing your gun to bear and reacting before your opponent. For this purpose, the 3500 DPI sensor isn’t quite as suited for the task. While it still offers a much more accurate sensor than a standard desktop optical mouse, it is some way behind the most recent FPS-focused mice which offer 5000 DPI or more.
Are you serious? the vast majority of pro FPS players use 400dpi if not 800.
On August 15 2012 01:52 MisterFred wrote: I'm not a huge fan of the shape, but I am in favor of more higher-end optical mice.
That said, as for your review: who the hell plays SC2 at 3500 DPI? Holy Carpal Tunnel, Batman!
I found the shape quite nice; very comfortable as I've got largish hands.
As I raised the response rate in the settings the mouse felt slower, so playing on the highest DPI setting seems fine - even a bit too slow for me. I'm not sure if this is intended or not.
"response rate" setting? If you mean polling rate, that has zero effect on DPI, it only affects prediction.
Seriously though, be careful of carpal tunnel. The small micro-motions that high of a DPI demand of your hand are one of the leading causes of repetitive stress injuries. A lower DPI prompts larger, arm-sweeping motions, which are safe & healthy. When in doubt, move your whole arm, not just your fingers.
I play at 1600 DPI, and I think that's pretty darn high, I recommend people try and get used to 800 or 1200 DPI for optimum RTS settings.
^ as MisterFred said 3500dpi is EXTREMELY high for even RTS. With 1:1 mouse sens in windows and no acceleration (using only DPI as mouse "sensitivity") as you should be doing it is far too high to actuly do anything. I use ~600 and would consider anything significantly higher than 1k to be a major handicap, though im a little lower than average, 3.5k is a complete joke unless you are using settings that are not even close to correct in windows or drivers or there is a major problem with the mouse sensor that prevents it from consistently delivering that DPI
On August 15 2012 01:23 apm66 wrote: Corsair K90 is a keyboard. M90 is what you're looking for
Fixed, thank you :D
On August 15 2012 01:48 tschecko wrote: interesting
Thanks
On August 15 2012 01:52 MisterFred wrote: I'm not a huge fan of the shape, but I am in favor of more higher-end optical mice.
That said, as for your review: who the hell plays SC2 at 3500 DPI? Holy Carpal Tunnel, Batman!
I found the shape quite nice; very comfortable as I've got largish hands.
As I raised the response rate in the settings the mouse felt slower, so playing on the highest DPI setting seems fine - even a bit too slow for me. I'm not sure if this is intended or not.
"response rate" setting? If you mean polling rate, that has zero effect on DPI, it only affects prediction.
Seriously though, be careful of carpal tunnel. The small micro-motions that high of a DPI demand of your hand are one of the leading causes of repetitive stress injuries. A lower DPI prompts larger, arm-sweeping motions, which are safe & healthy. When in doubt, move your whole arm, not just your fingers.
I play at 1600 DPI, and I think that's pretty darn high, I recommend people try and get used to 800 or 1200 DPI for optimum RTS settings.
Agreed. Also as someone already pointed out, a lot of pro fps players even prefer dropping the dpi to 400 for increased accuracy.
On August 15 2012 01:59 Neurosis wrote: "In FPS titles, it’s often speed that trumps accuracy – it’s about bringing your gun to bear and reacting before your opponent"
"it is some way behind the most recent FPS-focused mice which offer 5000 DPI or more"
wut. I'm just picturing trying to play cs go with 5k dpi. Well shit, someone sneezed downstairs looks like I missed my shot.
Yeah I was under the impression they had really low dpi and used there whole arm in mouse movements? may be misinformed
On August 15 2012 01:59 Neurosis wrote: "In FPS titles, it’s often speed that trumps accuracy – it’s about bringing your gun to bear and reacting before your opponent"
"it is some way behind the most recent FPS-focused mice which offer 5000 DPI or more"
wut. I'm just picturing trying to play cs go with 5k dpi. Well shit, someone sneezed downstairs looks like I missed my shot.
Yeah I was under the impression they had really low dpi and used there whole arm in mouse movements? may be misinformed
It would be strange to see somebody not using those sensitivities. Its not really a comfort thing as much as simply better, lower sensitivity = higher accuracy and precision without many drawbacks
I recommend people try and get used to 800 or 1200 DPI for optimum RTS settings.
Wth not true at all. You should increase your DPI to as fast as you can while maintaining accuracy. I use 3500 DPI perfectly fine without any accuracy issues. I increased it gradually over time. I have always used it that high for SC2 and I'm masters league.
Its also much better for your wrist if you minimize the amount you have to move it.
I have been looking into getting a new mouse for a while. This is a mouse that very much interests me because of two main things. One, it is really comfortable and also of a very customisable inside special games (which I assume they will add more) and the software on your machine you can use :D.
I recommend people try and get used to 800 or 1200 DPI for optimum RTS settings.
Wth not true at all. You should increase your DPI to as fast as you can while maintaining accuracy. I use 3500 DPI perfectly fine without any accuracy issues. I increased it gradually over time. I have always used it that high for SC2 and I'm masters league.
Its also much better for your wrist if you minimize the amount you have to move it.
You can NEVER "maintain accuracy", you will lose either precision or take longer at higher sensitivities, especially at levels like that, did you try clicking on a ling running on creep, clicking on it, not boxing? That will ALWAYS be easier at lower sensitivity levels when you are comparing "high" as 2k+ DPI
Are you using 51+% sens in game? 6/11+ in Windows? No acceleration, negative or positive? Maybe your mouse sensor has some? You gave very few details but the idea of playing at 3500DPI in sc2 and trying to micro seems like hell to me, if its even possible to a good level
I bought one of these not long ago, and found it impossible to work with. If you lift the mouse up off the mouse pad slightly and set it down (not unreasonable if you are one to adjust your mouse while you play) it takes about a half second to reinitialize during which it doesn't work. A quick search on their support forums let me realize this wasn't an isolated issue and LOTS of people have the same problem ( http://forum.thermaltake.com/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=9036&sid=352877721c78885ee9a06befb114dab6 ). ThermalTake was very understanding and let me return it no problem, as there was (and to my knowledge still isn't) a solution to this issue.
I love WhiteRa and ThermalTake (have the Level 10 GT case liquid cooled) so was excited to have a matching mouse (and bought the white Keyboard too with MX Black keys), and also the White-Ra mousepad. Since I couldn't use the mouse, I returned the Keyboard and Mouse (but kept the mousepad, because come on, it's WhiteRa!).
I'm back to using my Razer BlackWidow Ultimate (I like MX Blue keys more anyway) and Razer Imperator Mouse.
I recommend people try and get used to 800 or 1200 DPI for optimum RTS settings.
Wth not true at all. You should increase your DPI to as fast as you can while maintaining accuracy. I use 3500 DPI perfectly fine without any accuracy issues. I increased it gradually over time. I have always used it that high for SC2 and I'm masters league.
Its also much better for your wrist if you minimize the amount you have to move it.
THIS is not true . i got arm problems after holding my mouse tight @ 3200 dpi for 2 years . dont listen to this guy . and your accuracy suck i got 50% accuracy improve after 1 month with 800 dpi down from 3200.
Aaaaah I'm not usually not one to criticize but this review made me cringe as soon as it started talking about DPI. 3500 DPI is already excessive for most uses, but then the reviewer suggests FPS players may want MORE?
There's little mention of tracking either, even though a quick search on OCN indicates that the mouse has angle-snapping enabled by default, for instance. Is it possible to disable it?
I'm sorry but this kind of review is why mouse manufacturers keep giving us mice with ever higher DPI and more pretty lights instead of focusing on what actually matters to serious gamers. This really makes me hope that bst's project is a runaway success.
Again, I hate forum drama but I feel I must voice my discontent here. This is not a serious mouse review.
I have a tte black element mouse. Its a good mouse and it doesnt haven angle snapping and works well on my cloth mousepads. BUT the sensor is quite high up in the mouse. Just something to keep in mind with when you buy the mouse cos it is different.
But one thing many people don't consider and the reason I wouldn't buy it is because of the opening on the optical area. It would make it a nightmare for curly hair getting stuck in it.
I recommend people try and get used to 800 or 1200 DPI for optimum RTS settings.
Wth not true at all. You should increase your DPI to as fast as you can while maintaining accuracy. I use 3500 DPI perfectly fine without any accuracy issues. I increased it gradually over time. I have always used it that high for SC2 and I'm masters league.
Its also much better for your wrist if you minimize the amount you have to move it.
THIS is not true . i got arm problems after holding my mouse tight @ 3200 dpi for 2 years . dont listen to this guy . and your accuracy suck i got 50% accuracy improve after 1 month with 800 dpi down from 3200.
"It's much better for your wrist if you minimize the amount you have to move it" -- extrapolating this idea, it's like saying people are healthier the less they move their bodies. This is obviously not true, since being sedentary will basically make your life shit and kill you faster. Not only is it healthier to create a greater range of motion in whatever parts of your body move to control the computer, it's going to be easier to be precise on the screen the more physical space alotted to each pixel. Think about threading a needle -- the bigger the eye of the needle, the easier it is to thread. This has to be within reason, though, since you need to be able to move your mouse across your entire screen. If a single pixel corresponded to a 1cmX1cm square in physical space, that would mean you'd need a 20 meter by 11 meter mousepad for a 1080p monitor.
People use different grips for mice. I don't understand how anyone uses anything but a fingertip grip since I've been doing it for 15 years, and using that grip I'd encourage people to try and have as much lateral wrist movement as possible -- however, the limitation is usually the Y axis with a fingertip grip in any reasonable range of lateral wrist movement so it doesn't matter.
The DPI you need depends on your resolution. I use 900dpi with 1080p, if I dropped down to a monitor which used 720p I'd obviously need less DPI on my mouse. Trying to be open minded, I think the maximum reasonable dpi anyone could want is about 150-200% of their vertical resolution (so at 1080p, lets call this about 1800dpi). With a fingertip grip I could see someone going as low as 50-60% of the vertical resolution (so lets call this about 600dpi). Outside of this range is pointless.
This of course assumes you are either in windows, SC2, LoL, or some other game where there is a "canvas" you don't move out from. While I understand that many FPS players also prefer rather low dpi, something to keep in mind is that there is no "canvas" in an fps game, you can continue to move your mouse to the right until you've done a complete 360, and then continue to move right still. This makes LoD a factor(lift off distance -- someone lifts his mouse off the mat and replaces it so he can re-center his wrist/hand/arm as well as the mouse on the mousepad) which we wouldn't really have in SC as well as creating different demands for sensitivity.
Regardless, it's pretty reasonable to say that large DPI is a marketing sham. It's a nice feature if you have several dpi jumps in the reasonable range (say if you could choose 400, 500, etc. all the way up to 1800) but honestly I think even the negative effect of interpolating (within reason -- like doubling) is overblown.
1080p resolution, 51% sensitivity, no accel, 2600 DPI here. I find that going to 3000+ makes SC2 more difficult.
There's other factors to consider of course. I use a relatively big mouse (SS Ikari) with a palm grip and on a cloth surface, so there's relatively much pressure on the mouse and much resistance when moving it around. With the Saphira, claw grip and a teflon surface I'd probably drop the DPI further down.
I personally use logitech g9x at 3500 dpi, 51% sc2 settings at a high master level.Playing with below 1000 dpi is pretty ridiculous as your movements become way too slow and requires too much hand movement unless you play at like below 100apm
On August 16 2012 07:25 Ohnoes02 wrote: I personally use logitech g9x at 3500 dpi, 51% sc2 settings at a high master level.Playing with below 1000 dpi is pretty ridiculous as your movements become way too slow and requires too much hand movement unless you play at like below 100apm
You are the exception, not the rule. 3.5k is extremely high
On August 16 2012 07:25 Ohnoes02 wrote: I personally use logitech g9x at 3500 dpi, 51% sc2 settings at a high master level.Playing with below 1000 dpi is pretty ridiculous as your movements become way too slow and requires too much hand movement unless you play at like below 100apm
On August 17 2012 05:18 EuSpex wrote: ... I play with 4500 dpi, 51% and feel really good with that ... I cannot imagine how someone plays with 800 ^.^ its just so slow lol
I got one of these mice from Gerrard when I was living in the prime house. I have noticed a few things over the last few months of using it that are can be dealbreakers for some mice owners.
1) if you aren't used to this mice, it can give you hand cramps, and some minor swelling. This is mostly because I was using a Naga before and the mouse design is so different.
2) dirt is hard to get out of the mouse, this isn't a mouse that was meant to be cleaned, Dirt gets into the cracks very easily, and it builds up.
3) the two side buttons are a bit annoying, and if you aren't careful, its quite easy to mistakely press them, this may be in part due to my bigs hands though.
4) The mouse is a tad loud with the clicks, if you like noise, then this isn't a problem, but if you aren't someone who likes noise, this may not be for you. I personally don't mind the noise, so it doesn't bother me much, but when I stream, you can hear the clicks on stream haha
5) if you have a plam grip, this mouse isn't for you, its very easy for the mouse to nick the skin a bit here and there if you have your plam right up agasinst the back of the mouse.
6) the onboard memory works, which is nice, but the driver doesn't tell you if something is saved onto the onboard memory, so often times if you want to take this to a lan, you have to trust the mouse, that it kept your dpi settings. Most of the time I don'ty really notice, but it would be nice if it told me it saved onto the onboard memory or not.
overall its a good mouse, but in my personal opinion, If you can find this mouse easily, then its a solid choice, but its not worth the buy if you have to go out of your way to buy it, because you can find a similar product in the deathadder and its easier to find.
Comparing it to mice in the upper price range isn't worth it because generally they would be far better, so I think this is the 2nd best mouse in the $30-50 price range.
On August 16 2012 07:25 Ohnoes02 wrote: I personally use logitech g9x at 3500 dpi, 51% sc2 settings at a high master level.Playing with below 1000 dpi is pretty ridiculous as your movements become way too slow and requires too much hand movement unless you play at like below 100apm
On August 16 2012 07:25 Ohnoes02 wrote: I personally use logitech g9x at 3500 dpi, 51% sc2 settings at a high master level.Playing with below 1000 dpi is pretty ridiculous as your movements become way too slow and requires too much hand movement unless you play at like below 100apm
IMMVp plays with 800 dpi, nuff said.
Maybe thats why he has carpal tunnel lmao
Stop misinforming people. Tastosis have confirmed it several times during GOMTV broadcasts that MVP doesn't have carpal tunnel, he has a problem with a spine disc nerve, which in return, causes the wrist pain,
If anything, you will get RSI or Carpal from higher dpi because you strain your wrist much more when you are grabbing your mouse very tightly to make accurate clicks instead of moving both your fingers and your hand a bit.
On August 16 2012 07:25 Ohnoes02 wrote: I personally use logitech g9x at 3500 dpi, 51% sc2 settings at a high master level.Playing with below 1000 dpi is pretty ridiculous as your movements become way too slow and requires too much hand movement unless you play at like below 100apm
On August 16 2012 07:25 Ohnoes02 wrote: I personally use logitech g9x at 3500 dpi, 51% sc2 settings at a high master level.Playing with below 1000 dpi is pretty ridiculous as your movements become way too slow and requires too much hand movement unless you play at like below 100apm
Arm movement, not hand movement. Kind of the point.
On August 17 2012 05:18 EuSpex wrote: ... I play with 4500 dpi, 51% and feel really good with that ... I cannot imagine how someone plays with 800 ^.^ its just so slow lol
And you disabled mouse acceleration and have no other variables affecting sensitivity in drivers or OS?
On August 16 2012 07:25 Ohnoes02 wrote: I personally use logitech g9x at 3500 dpi, 51% sc2 settings at a high master level.Playing with below 1000 dpi is pretty ridiculous as your movements become way too slow and requires too much hand movement unless you play at like below 100apm
I think you dont know what u say, Marineking use 800 with his logitech g9x without shell and i think hes pretty good
EPT
You can read the review below, or with its original formatting here.![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/Pg3E4.jpg)
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