Introduction

Your are in need of a light, portable, wireless and cool looking mouse that fits in any hand? The ROCCAT Pyra might be for you and comes with batteries included, a carry pouch and software with lots of options to make the deal even more interesting.



I want to thank ROCCAT for making this review of the Pyra Wireless Mouse possible.

About ROCCAT

“ROCCAT™ is the snow storm to the gaming industry. Everything called gaming before needs to be redefined. You will enter a world in which three attributes will keep you on the right path: alliance, independence and truth.



"DO IT YOUR OWN WAY AND DON'T TALK SHIT"
– this is the statement ROCCAT follows.

The ROCCATEERS can be found all over the world. And it was a revelation which led them together to energize the crucial benefit. The lake Inari long kept the secret our ROCCAT scientists call "Aimo". With every ROCCAT tool you will more and more internalize its Energy. Become part of our alliance.”

Features:



Specifications:



Further information:

Packaging:

The wireless version of the Pyra mouse from ROCCAT comes in a nice looking transparent plastic box, with lots of artwork inside; on the frontal part, we can see some of the main product features, the fact that it is fully compatible with Windows 7 and we can also take a look how the mouse and wireless adapter look like, even without opening up the box:



On one of the box sides, we can observe some explanations regarding the ROCCAT EasyShift[+] feature, with an example; on the bottom part, we can see the impressions of a gaming champion regarding the product:



The opposite side shows us some more photos of the product, the list of what the package contains, technical specifications along with the system requirements:



On the back part of the box, we can see the product features listed, along with the translations in 9 other different languages:



The box is sealed on both ends with a transparent plastic film:



Inside, we can find a little bag with accessories, the mouse itself, the charging cable and the USB WiFi adapter:



When removing the mouse from the package, we can see inside a saying: “Every great adventure starts with a strike of inspiration”



In the transparent plastic bag we can find a black envelope with the ROCCAT logo on it, the rechargeable batteries and a little transport bag which we can use to put the mouse in and the cable while we are on the road:

A Closer Look

On one side of the transport bag, we can see a little blue ROCCAT logo:



The black envelope has on the back side the ROCCAT website address listed:



Also on the back side of the envelope, we can see the direction in which we have to pull to open it:



Here we can find an installation CD, the ROCCAT membership card and the Quick Installation Guide:



The little CD which is supplied contains the necessary drivers, the manual in PDF format, but also some ROCCAT extras like wallpapers and so on:



The Quick Installation Guide explains us in detail with drawings and text how to operate the mouse from installing the batteries to shutting it down and preparing it for transport while we travel:



The supplied batteries are 2xGP Industrial AAA NiMH 700mAh; these rechargeable batteries do not have a memory effect, so we won’t have to discharge them fully before recharging. They will gain, though, full capacity after some charge/discharge cycles. These batteries are easy to replace and can be found in many stores, from a lot of brands and are not that expensive either:



The USB wireless adapter has the product name logo on it; it is so little that we can plug it into a spare USB port on our laptop and leave it there, even when we are on the go:



On the back of the adapter, we get to see on what frequency it operates:



The charging cable has on one side the stylish shaped ROCCAT connector:



On the other side, we can see the miniUSB port, which plugs into the mouse, also shaped very interestingly:



The mouse itself is fully black, except the central line in which we can find a blue LED; its shape reminds us a little of the ROCCAT Kova, which is a little bigger and has more LEDs:

On the right side of the mouse, we can find the ROCCAT logo, embossed, a little button which can have the EasyShift[+] feature and some rubber material, to enhance the movement precision (ROCCAT calls these GRIPTECH); the EasyShift[+] function allows us to set second level functions to the mouse buttons and the scroll wheel. In this way, we can virtually double the number of functions that can be used at any time:



On the frontal part, we can find the black rubber scroll wheel, which can be used also as a 3rd button, but also the USB port to charge the batteries inside:



The left side of the mouse is similar to the right side, but this time without the ROCCAT logo:



Here is how the back of the mouse does look like:



The back of the mouse does have an ON/OFF button which can be used when on batteries; the sensor can be found on the right side of the mouse; when the mouse is operating, the surface surrounding the sensor lights up blue. In the center we can find the SYNC button which must be used when synchronizing with the Wireless USB adapter; where we can find the debossed ROCCAT logo there is the battery compartment and near it we can find a spare place to fit the USB adapter when travelling:



On the sides of the back of the mouse, we can find lots of Teflon feet which do not scratch the surface the mouse will stay on and help it slide very smooth:



After the battery compartment cap is removed, we can see a little plastic piece which helps when removing the batteries and has on it the direction in which the batteries must be inserted:



The battery insertion can be done easy if following the instructions:



When turning on the mouse, with the ON/OFF switch, we can see the blue LED near the sensor light up, signaling that everything went OK:



The USB adapter can be inserted really easy inside the mouse body; first, we have to position it in the designated space:



Then, we can press on it until we hear a “click”, and it will stay fixed there:



The top LED shows us the status of the mouse:

pulsating means the battery is charging

slowly pulsating means we are operating on battery

continuously lighted up means the battery is fully charged

pulsating fast means the battery is about to run out

no light means the mouse is turned off or it is in "sleep" mode



The mouse, along with the charging cable fit perfectly inside the carry pouch:

The Software

On my test system, an ASUS X55SV laptop with Windows 7 x64 running on it, the USB Wireless adapter was recognized without installing any extra drivers and the mouse worked right away; to be able to access the rest of the mouse functions, I had to install the provided drivers. Right after running the installation CD, the auto-run popped up:



After clicking on the “Driver Installation” option the Setup program will launch right away:




When the installation is complete, the ROCCAT logo will appear in the tray; after clicking on it, we will be presented with the configuration screen, which maintains the ROCCAT black/blue theme. The application has 3 main tabs: “Main Control”, ”Button Assignment” and “Update/Support”. In the Main Control menu, we can set the sensitivity, vertical scroll speed, horizontal tilt speed, DPI settings, Windows pointer speed, the double click speed and we can also reset everything to default. On the bottom part we can save our settings in a profile:



In the Button Assignment screen, we can set button functions on our mouse; some functions are already set and the EasyShift[+] function is assigned to the “4” button; in this menu we can also set the hand-mode switch or we can create and edit macros:



Each button can have a different function, and can be selected from the list:



Some macros for the well-known games are already pre-programmed and can be selected from the list:



The Macro Manager application allows us to set our own macros and then assign them to a button:



In the Update/Support menu, we can check the current driver/firmware versions and by pressing the Driver Download button, we will go straight on the ROCCAT website to download the latest software; here we also have some ways to contact support in case of a problem:

Conclusive Thoughts:

I really liked working with this mouse from ROCCAT: it is very light (even with the batteries inserted), has a shape that should fit all hand sizes and can be used by both right and left handers. The manual explains thoroughly how to operate and install the mouse so most of us should be able to do it. A copy of the manual is also located on the CD, in case we lose the written instructions.



This mouse was designed especially for people that use laptops frequently or on the go, it does not take a lot of space and the WiFi adapter is very small so we can plug it in a spare USB port and leave it there permanently.

I have tried the mouse in CounterStrike: Source, Singularity and Borderlands; I was not disappointed at all and it was very responsive like the Kova I have tested in the past but without the cable which adds extra comfort (I have put the mouse on the bed and the cursor was not jumping, despite the color changes and irregularities on the surface).

The mouse can be also used while it is charging and has some “sleep” features to save battery life: when we are not using it for a little while, it will turn off by itself and can be activated again by pressing any of the buttons on it.

You can find it online in shops for €60, which makes it luxury product for sure, giving the features and game-oriented design, the asking price can be justified, if you’re looking for a compact, wireless, gaming rodent.

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I would like to thank again to ROCCAT for offering me this product for review!