At first we would like to thank Cooler Master for sending a sample of their MasterMouse S Gaming Mouse for testing and reviewing.

 

 

About Cooler Master:

"Cooler Master was founded with the mission of providing the industry's best thermal solutions. Since its establishment two decades ago, the company has remained faithful to this mission, emerging as a world leader in products and services for companies dealing with devices where heat issues must be resolved.

 

In pursuing this mission, Cooler Master is absolutely committed to delivering solutions that precisely meet customer requirements for features, performance, and quality. Moreover, we strive to be a reliable long-term partner for our customers that they can truly depend on. It aims to be the first and foremost name that comes to mind for companies around the world seeking thermal solutions, and seeks to build such a reputation through outstanding technology, sophisticated design, and superior service.

 

Cooler Master's current business encompasses a comprehensive lineup of thermal solutions for a full range of applications. Its products range from heat sinks and fans to component housing, chassis, and ducting for computers, industrial machinery, telecommunications equipment, and many other devices.

 

A critical component of Cooler Master's ability to successfully pursue its mission is an unstinting commitment to quality, as demonstrated by the ISO 9001 certification granted to its main manufacturing plant in Taiwan. It has also enforced ISO guidelines and is in the process of applying for ISO 9002 certification at its second and third plants, located in China. Cooler Master has also implemented a number of analytical and testing protocols to ensure top quality, including at subcontractors, to further ensure thorough quality control. Moreover, Cooler Master's dedication to quality extends beyond manufacturing to every aspect of its operation, including service."

 

More Colors than You can Count

 

Full RGB Spectrum Illumination

No limits in selecting your preferred color. MasterMouse S allows you 16.7 million color options to be chosen and changed at will.

 

Programmable Illumination Zones

Intuitive software that comes standard with the mouse lets you program two independent illumination zones – one along the rim of the mouse wheel and one at the back-bottom edge. Save your presets into different profiles and switch between them at your leisure.

 

A Sensor You Can Trust

PixArt PMW3330 optical sensor truly delivers up to 7200 DPI. No interpolation, no acceleration. MasterMouse S doesn’t estimate your moves. It tracks them in real time.

 

Choose Your Weapon

Switch between four customizable DPI profiles! Preprogram DPI values for each profile with anything from 400 to 7200 DPI in 100 DPI steps. Fine tune your mouse and face each battle with a weapon you can depend on.

 

How Many Buttons Do You Need?

The MasterMouse S offers 5 programmable buttons (6 physical buttons) that can be easily expanded thanks to the Storm Tactix function. When Storm Tactix is activated, all other buttons trigger an alternative function. In this mode, the number of buttons on MasterMouse S is almost doubled (9+1 switch button). Assign the Storm Tactix button based on your preference and press it to enter a new dimension.

 

Built to Last

 

Brains on Board

Nearly every inch of the MasterMouse S's body is covered in a matte UV coating. This coating is highly durable and won't peel, wear, or tarnish. Both of the main buttons are equipped with Omron switches guaranteed to last 20 million clicks. The cable strain relief has been built extra strong to endure even the wildest actions.

The power of a 32-bit ARM processor allows you to save and play back complex macros, as well as save all of your DPI settings, lift off distance, and LED settings for use on any computer without software. The 512KB on-board memory lets you take your macros and settings wherever you go.

 

Easy to use Software

Customize DPI levels, illumination, button functions and advanced sensor settings (lift of distance, angle snapping, angle turnability, sensitivity). Experiment and discover what setup fits you best.

 

 

For pleasing the less pretentious mainstream crowd, but still maintain a high performance level and good quality components, Cooler Master has released a follow-up to their successful MasterMouse Pro L which is baptized MasterMouse S. This particular model does come with smaller dimensions of 117 x 63.5 x 38 (mm) and is suitable for both palm and claw grips (depending on the size of the hand), while packing a PWM3330 optical sensor from Pixart.

 

MasterMouse S is shipped inside a small cardboard enclosure and right from the top area the manufacturer does list the main highlights such as the fact that its shape is ambidextrous and features 16.7 million colors for its RGB illumination in two different areas:

 

 

 

On one of the box sides, Cooler Master has written a very short product description, in many different languages:

 

 

 

A lateral view of the mouse in operation is present on the opposite side:

 

 

 

If we would like to take a look on the back side, we will discover a more comprehensive list of product features, also in Multilanguage:

 

 

 

The top cover of the packaging opens up like a book, in order to reveal the mouse, along with some more technical specifications:

 

 

 

 

By removing the seals, we are able to check the inside contents; the manufacturer has included a documentation leaflet, while the mouse does sit fixed inside a two-piece plastic enclosure:

 

 

 

The leaflet informs us on the main product interfaces, but also the product features:

 

 

 

 

As we have seen before with the Cooler Master MasterMouse Pro L, the S variant does feature a Gun Black color scheme and is accompanied by a 1.8m cable:

 

 

 

The smaller footprint of the MasterMouse S is clearly visible versus the high-end offering, while near the scroll wheel we can spot a programmable button; the matte UV coating does offer a better grip overall. This is one of the features we do really enjoy with a mouse, since the rubber-coated mice do usually show signs of wear in the left-right button zones and also in the back after a short usage period. The buttons do come with Omron switches that pack a lifespan of 20 million clicks:

 

 

 

The curved back mouse area does come with a printed Cooler Master logo, which is very subtle:

 

 

 

There is also a band of LEDs in the lower area, so the lighting will reflect on the surface you will sit it on and it will not be distracting during gaming sessions:

 

 

 

On the left side panel of the MasterMouse S we will be able to see the thumb rest along with two programmable buttons:

 

 

 

Since we are talking about an ambidextrous mouse, the right side is identical to the left, but no extra buttons are to be found here:

 

 

 

Cooler Master has chosen not to include LED lighting in the frontal area of the mouse, as we have seen with models from other brands:

 

 

 

The scroll wheel is coated with rubber for a better grip and comes with RGB LED lighting:

 

 

 

On the bottom layer of the mouse, we will get to see the central PixArt PMW3330 optical sensor lens, PTFE feet in the corners but also a sticker with the product code name and serial number:

 

 

 

Unlike most gaming peripheral manufacturers that go with braided cables, Cooler Master has chosen to include a patterned PVC cable, which is more rigid and can be considered anti-tangle:

 

 

 

The other end of the cable comes with a custom nickel-plated USB connector:

 

 

 

After plugging in the mouse to a spare USB port, the LED show will begin:

 

 

 

 

 

Back Area

 

 

 

 

 

 

Scroll Wheel

 

 

 

 

 

MasterMouse S does feature a 32-bit ARM processor that also packs 512KB of memory for storing profiles, so after you have finished with the programming with the provided application, you can simply switch PCs without reinstalling the utility.

Speaking of the software, we can simply download it from the dedicated Cooler Master web page; this utility does also take care of keeping the firmware of the mouse updated to its latest version. The Main Control menu we can see on the left does come with several sub-sections:

 

Key Assignment

Storm TX

LED

Sensor

OS Sensitivity

 

In the Key Assignment area, we can set different functions to the six buttons:

 

 

 

A drop-down menu will open when we do select a specific button for programming:

Mouse

Keyboard

Multimedia

 

Rapid Fire

Profile Selector

DPI Selector

 

Given the large number of functions we can assign, some might say that this particular mouse does not come with too many programmable buttons; well, for this Cooler Master comes in our help with the Storm TX function, which can double the number of buttons we can program (this remembers us of the ROCCAT EasyShift[+] function):

 

 

 

From the LED menu area, we can work with the pre-defined effects, adjust colors for both areas and more:

 

 

 

The DPI levels can be customized for each step from the Sensor menu, along with the USB Polling Rate, Angle Snapping option but also can configure the Lift-Off Distance. A surface calibration is also present in the same area if we do not already own a CM Storm branded pad:

 

 

 

The OS Sensitivity area does allow the user to configure some OS-specific options too:

 

 

 

From the Macro menu, we can record specific macros for later assignment to a button:

 

 

 

Finally, we do have the Library area, which is the place to go for working with the profiles:

 

 

 

In this section we have taken two separate videos: one which shows how the mouse really feels in the hand (we have used a claw grip), while the other does display some of the LED lighting effects we can obtain with the two segments.

 

 

 

 

We have spent some time with the MasterMouse S while testing it in productivity work but also games, which did include Black Desert Online, Mafia III, Kritika Online and Secret World Legends. The mouse did feel very comfortable during use but regarding the grip modes Cooler Master is mentioning (Palm & Claw), we have only seen the Claw grip usable given the size of the mouse. The Palm grip should only work if you have small hands, but in most cases, it is out of the question. The cable solution coming with this particular model is very sturdy but this fact also implies that it is a little bit rigid so we needed some time to get accustomed with it.

 

The left-right click buttons need a medium amount of force to be actuated, while the RGB scroll wheel is quite silent when operated. Regarding the mouse sensor, even if it does not come with a top DPI tracking value of 12000 as we have seen with other high-end offerings, it tracked perfectly on our aluminum pad, our cloth pad but also on the bare desk.

 

The software application is really easy to use, but uploading the settings to the mouse takes a while, even when modifying the LED setup. This is really a non-issue after saving the settings to the mouse and cycling between the preferred profiles, because in this case we do not need to use the software anymore.

 

Given the low selling price of just about 30.7 Euros, we can really say that we have a mainstream segment winner on our hand!

 

Cooler Master MasterMouse S Gaming Mouse is Recommended for:

 

 

We would like to thank again to Cooler Master for making this review possible!