CDR King BLACK USB Gaming Mouse Review: Mad Catz Styling with 10 Customizable Buttons!

CDR King BLACK Gaming Mouse

Back when I did a hands-on post for the CDR King BLACK USB Gaming Mouse, I wasn’t expecting that I’d be getting my hands on it again. I’d been itching for a new mouse though and a lot of readers were asking for a review. Eventually I caved into the pressure, not to mention my own curiosity. I’ve been using it for the past three weeks now, both for work and play. Is it worth its higher than usual price tag for a CDR King mouse? Find out in my full review!

Build Quality and Design

Right Side

Anyway, as mentioned in my first hands-on post, the CDR King BLACK Gaming Mouse is built like a brick thanks to a healthy amount of metal used in its construction. It’s about the size of the average gaming mouse and there’s a satisfying heft to it. It’s nothing gamers haven’t encountered yet already though.

Front

The design is pretty aggressive. A few workmates commented on it, thinking it was some sort of transformer toy. Alas, it isn’t. The Mad Catz-inspired design doesn’t go so far as to allow ergonomic customization. It’s still pretty cool though, and probably would have been cooler if it really did come in Black as its name suggests.

Back

Speaking of which, the ironically named BLACK USB Gaming Mouse only comes in white, which is a shame considering the OEM version being peddled by brands like YCC Team and Luom as the G10 also comes in black. Between the two, the black version looks better in my opinion as the white paint job gives it a cluttered look with the rest of the design accents.

CDR King BLACK

The button switches are a bit soft, meaning it doesn’t take a lot of pressure to trigger a mouse-click. I sometimes left-click accidentally just from the resting weight of my index finger engaging the switch. It doesn’t happen a lot — just often enough to notice. The scroll wheel though feels like it sticks a little too often. It’s a little inconsistent in that sometimes it requires more or less force to achieve the same amount of scrolling.

Button Layout, Left Side

As for the button layout, the spacing is good although the placement of some of the buttons could have used some work. For example, the buttons that rest at the base of the left and right finger buttons can be almost impossible to press without altering your grip entirely. Of course, if you’re going to place this many buttons on a mouse, you’re probably not going to get everything right.

Features

DSC_0596

The BLACK Gaming Mouse comes with a grand total of 10 buttons, all of which are actually customizable — that is, if you can find the software. It’s not included in the box so you’ll actually have to do some online detective work to find it. If you don’t, you’ll have to make do with the default functions that have been mapped to each button, which don’t make a lot of sense beyond the left, right, and scroll buttons.

Left Side

For example, you would think two of the buttons on the left side of the mouse would control navigating forward and backward between pages in your browser. That’s actually not the case. The “forward” button is actually the DPI switcher, while the “back” button minimizes all windows to bring you back to the desktop. It’s a weird layout, but to be fair, I did give it a chance and stuck with it for a couple of weeks. Once you get used to it, it’s actually quite usable.

To really maximize the BLACK USB Gaming Mouse though, you’ll still want to get your hands on that software, which you can ping me for on my Facebook page. Installing it on your PC (not available for MAC, sorry!) allows you to re-map the different mouse button functions, choose the different DPI modes you can cycle through. It even lets you fine tune the LED colors and how it behaves.

10th Button

There is a surprising amount of customization available with this mouse. Even the 10th button on the underside of the mouse that turns the LED on/off can be remapped, even if the only other practical function that makes sense for that button is the one that cycles between different DPI modes. My favorite though is being able to go beyond the default red/blue/green/white color options and actually customize the LED using the software’s color picker. Sweet!

So Should You Buy the CDR King BLACK USB Gaming Mouse?

CDR King BLACK USB Gaming Mouse

The Php990 sticker price is enough to scare away most people from the CDR King BLACK Gaming Mouse. Sure, it’s way more affordable than established options from Razer, Mad Catz, and the like. But there are also quite a few good options in the Php1k if you know where to look.

Rear

However, the BLACK achieves a hard to beat combination of great build quality, customization, and affordability. There may be a few mice that are just as durable or customizable at this price range. But to achieve both while keeping the price at just under Php1k? That’s a tall order for any mouse that wants to compete with the CDR King BLACK.

5 thoughts on “CDR King BLACK USB Gaming Mouse Review: Mad Catz Styling with 10 Customizable Buttons!

  1. CDR – KING YAN BIBILI KA NYAN NA 1k? LMAO UNG SAKEN UMIILAW DIN 130 LANG XD TAS IKAW LANG MAG ISA SA BAHAY NYU TAS NATATABUNAN PA NG KAMAY MU UNG MOUSE HABANG GINAGAMET LOLOLOLOL.. JUST BUY THOSE YOU’RE COMFORTABLE WITH.

    EXCUSE ME FOR MY “CAPS”

    1. Tropa wala yan sa ilaw. Mouse ko 7900php. Nailaw din, mas mataas DPI levels Polling rate. Sensitivity, button sensitivity macro. andaming features na hindi mo lang makukuha na comfortable ka

      Razer Mamba

  2. Good but not even close and the light disgust me lol! CDR-KING.. Can you do better than that?

    -Mad Catz RAT 7

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