Final words and conclusion

Final words and conclusion

Everything Wireless is becoming a trend, we've already seen a similar release from Logitech that you probably cannot afford. As such the first implementation of the Dark Core RGB SE and the MM1000 is a pretty good one. Albeit MUCH cheaper compared to the competition, this still is a mouse that costs anywhere from 85 to 99 bucks, the wireless pad also is in that 80~90 bucks range. Quite a bit of money. be on the lookout for the combo deal though, both products at a slightly reduced price might simply draw you in. Everything and anything on the mouse itself works great and feels good. Perhaps I would have liked a weight system though as my one quirk was that it felt really light sliding over that fairly hard mousepad surface. What the SE and MM1000 are all about though is the innovation of Qi charging. I like it, really. And I cannot wait until there will be mousepads with multiple Qi zones so that your mouse will actually charge during gameplay. That said, the MM1000 comes with a quirk .. you can really only use it when your PC is powered on, and when powered on you'll likely be using that mouse, right? Once you power down or when the PC goes into sleep mode, a normal configured PC will drop power from USB, ergo your mouse will not be charging. Which kind of blows, really. There is a workaround for this though, most PCs in the BIOS will allow power only USB mode, disable the EuP functions and it's very likely that some USB ports will remain to get power with that CP sleeping or powered down. That does come at the cost of a few watt of power, all the time 365 / 24 /7. For future releases, I would recommend Corsair to perhaps look into a small power adapter for the mouse mat, albeit that increases costs and adds a wire, of course.

Choosing your mouse is something very personal. Some need fast action, others snipe and need slow action, aesthetics, lefties, righties, weight, LEDs, macros and yeah the list goes on and on. It's actually quite difficult to find just the right mouse. Take the brilliant SCIMITAR series, for example, everybody likes it, but very few would get used to all the thumb buttons. This one was more of a versatile mouse in the sense that it'll be liked and can be used by many people. This Dar Core Se sits a  bit in-between the both, high configurability with 9 programmable buttons and some RGB lovin as well. Much like any mouse, you'll need to get used to it.  Corsair did a nice job here as this thing is massively precise. 16K DPI, well that remains a topic of discussion, some feel it is important, others are fine with even a 6000 DPI mouse. We can tell you though that the PMW3367 optical sensor used is very impressive.

 How good is it?

The overall feel of the mouse is good as well as it is comfortable, I also feel that people with slightly above average large hands will like the mouse really well. As mentioned in the review, it feels a little light, that is something I noticed a couple of times. The hardware of the mouse is excellent, the design of the mouse is good and comfortable, and you get a mouse with good software options, enough buttons that are programmable, it has cool looks and even has an adjustable weight system. We did not experience lag or input issues. The mouse can be used both wireless and connected with one braided USB cable, that is roughly a 2m cord. The mouse does not feel cheap and is simply downright comfortable to use. The buttons have a good feedback when pressed and also offer a very good response. I also wanted to make a note on the CUE (Corsair Utility Engine) software. I have seen it evolve from average to really good, the state of the software as it is now.

Concluding

I think Corsair released a nice first in the Qi generation of mice and mousepads. There is room for improvement though, while I feel the mouse is good, I had some reservation about the hard surface of the mousepad. Sliding your mouse over it can actually be heard with a swooshing sound. Next to that, but that is a personal thing, I like soft mousepads. Precision wise I have nothing to complain. The Qi functionality does what it needs to do, it does take getting used to precisely position the mouse on the correct area for it to charge, but you'll learn fast enough. The downside, you need to solve the powered down issue as all PCs are configured to not leak power to USB when powered off.  Most PCs can get this adjusted in the BIOS though. The Dark Core RGB SE is really good, a bit light maybe. A 16K DPI sensor might not seem that important, but it does feel fantastic when gaming as you can assign tremendous DPI modes. I did find the mouse to have a lot of buttons, and the thumb buttons are a bit difficult to navigate. Of course, you have a fully configurable RGB LED mouse as well. The fun part here is that if you purchase a matching keyboard or headset, you can control it all from the one software suite. Which is very handy. The CUE software itself has become an application that works in a rather respectable fashion.  The mouse is responsive and accurate. Selection of the DPI levels works nicely overall and is based on two buttons (up/down). You need to select the buttons with your index finger though, and that somehow seems to be a hard task to accomplish as these buttons sit at the middle position on your index finger, and not the top side. No biggy, but again something I noticed (yeah I know, I tend to nitpick a lot). Right, I and one commenting on quirks with the mouse.

The Dark Core RGB (SE) and MM1000 are part of Corsairs 'unplug and play' range, and I have a feeling it is just the beginning. You already have been able to read up on the lovely Corsair K63 Wireless Bluetooth keyboard and lapboard in this review, both part of that range, as well as the Wireless headset, Corsair VOID PRO RGB in this review. It is very clear which direction Corsair is going or at the least is pioneering, fewer cables equal more freedom to move with the precision and quality you may expect from a wired device. Overall the mouse performs excellent and comes recommended, though I do hope to see prices come down a bit. Remember if Qi charging is not your thing, the non-SE model is ten bucks cheaper.

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