Last year, Corsair created Corsair Gaming, a new division dedicated to gamers with an objective to push the boundaries of gaming peripherals. Since then, they have been using the new logo and Corsair Gaming brand name on their gaming gears.

Corsair Gaming Sabre Laser RGB gaming mouse follows the footstep of RGB backlighting technology, which was first introduced by their RGB edition of K series keyboards. The main difference which distinguishes between this laser variant of Sabre RGB mouse and its optical sibling is that the former features laser sensor technology up to 8,200 DPI. In comparison, the optical Sabre only comes with optical sensor technology up to 6,400 DPI.

Recently our friends at Cudo Technologies (M) Sdn. Bhd. (http://www.cudo.com.my/) were kind enough to send us a review sample of the Corsair Gaming Sabre Laser RGB mouse. Let’s take a closer look at what this mouse has to offer.

Product Link: http://gaming.corsair.com/en/corsair-gaming-sabre-laser-rgb-gaming-mouse-eu

Suggested Retail Price: RM 252

 

 

Specifications

 

Special Features

• Ultra-light weight and superior accuracy for fast gameplay

Ultra-light weight at just 100g, the Corsair Gaming Sabre Laser RGB 8,200 DPI gaming mouse offers easy comfort and fluid reach balanced by consistently accurate tracking, 1,000 Hz refresh rate, eight configurable buttons, and super-responsive switches. Four-zone 16.8M color backlighting creates a beautiful, personalized look that matches your style.

• Four-zone 16.8 million color backlighting

It’s yours, so make it your own. Use the Corsair Utility Engine (CUE) software to define your hue and brightness level for each zone. Fly your colors with a unique four-color pattern, or use CUE to set up automatic color cycling with your choice of speed and palettes.

• 8,200 DPI laser sensor and multi-color DPI indicator

The high-resolution sensor gives you serious flexibility and headroom for picking the exact DPI to meet the task, and with the on-board DPI indicator, you’ll know at a glance if you’re set up to strafe or do some long-range damage. You can even set up your own customized DPI indicator color palette.

• One weapon for any battle

With advanced ergonomics that comfortably support your entire hand, you can wield the Sabre in a variety of grip styles. The adaptability in grip gives you the adaptability you need to compete in a wide variety of game types from FPS to RTS and MOBA. The 8 programmable buttons can be customized with ease to fine tune your play.

• Ultra-light weight for faster play

Sabre is perfect if you prefer a lighter weight mouse. Each component has been screened for weight reduction without sacrificing performance, and the result is a mouse that weighs in at just 100g.

If you like playing at lower DPIs and taking advantage of a larger mouse mat, you’ll be able to react quicker and you’ll have less fatigue over long gaming sessions.

 

Unboxing

The Corsair Gaming Sabre Laser RGB mouse is packed in a black retail box with yellow stripes and white accents. At the front of the box you can see there is a picture of the mouse glows in red and blue lightings, with the product name below it alongside some information regarding its special features. On the top of the box we have the Corsair Gaming logo, as well as a pair of badges indicating that the mouse is equipped with up to 8,200 DPI laser sensitivity and three-zone 16.8 million color backlighting. However a check through Corsair Gaming’s website showed that it has four zones of 16.8 million of color backlighting instead of just three.

 

Turning over to the back side of the retail packaging, you will be greeted by three pictures of the Sabre Laser mouse in different angles with functionalities of each of the buttons are explained briefly.

 

On the left side of the box, again, Corsair explains more details about the special features of the mouse.

 

The right side depicts the package contents and system requirements of the mouse as well as the product name in various languages.

 

On the top of the box, we have a barcode sticker indicating the mouse’s country of origin which is China.

 

Opening the box’s flap you will see there’s a transparent layer of blister that allows you to have a glimpse at the mouse and you could put your hand on it before deciding to purchase the mouse. On the left side, you can see some pictures of the mouse in different angles and here Corsair showcases more details regarding the multi-colour backlighting feature of the mouse.

 

Emptying the box reveals the Corsair Gaming Sabre Laser RGB mouse in all its glory. You will also get a set of documentation inside the box. However you won’t find any CD or DVD containing software or driver included in the retail packaging. So you will have to download the software right from Corsair’s official website.

 

The documentation package includes the Quick Start Guide, two warranty guides as well as a material safety information sheet (in Chinese language only). If you think that the documentation package is not enough and you want to explore more on the features of Corsair Utility Engine (CUE) software, you can download the 147-page user’s manual from Corsair Gaming’s official website.

 

Let’s take a closer look at the Sabre Laser RGB mouse itself. At first glance the mouse looks very stylish with its ergonomic design. The entire mouse’s top body is coated with black rubberized layer, which should provide enhanced grips during heavy gaming and prevent your fingers from being slipped in the middle of gaming session.  It’s a medium-size mouse, which measures 124 mm X 80 mm X 38 mm in dimensions and weighs just 100 grams without the USB cable. The mouse is equipped with a braided cord which measures 1.8 meters in length, so that you can glide the mouse comfortably even on your extra-large mouse pad.

 

One of the things that has caught our attention is that the mouse comes with a USB connector doesn’t look like a regular connector. Corsair Gaming has decided to design it with a unique appearance, in which it can help users in searching for the correct USB connector and even orientation while plugging in the mouse to the black of your PC case. The mouse features 1,000 Hz USB refresh rate to provide a high level of precision during gaming.

 

You can see a tag label on the braided cable near the USB connector indicating the product name, part number, serial number and manufacturing number of the mouse, as well as its current input rating.

Viewing from the top of the Sabre Laser RGB mouse, you can see a total of eight programmable buttons. These buttons are the left-click button, right-click button, scroll wheel which also serves as middle-click button, a pair of DPI selector buttons and a pair of thumb buttons. These buttons are fully customizable through the CUE software. The primary left- and right-click buttons are equipped with high-quality Omron switches which are rated for 20 million clicks.

On the left side of the mouse near the front you can see there is a pair of on-the-fly DPI switches so that you can adjust the DPI right on your fingertips, without needing to minimize your game screen and launch the software. Here, Corsair Gaming allows you to adjust the laser sensor tracking speeds ranging from 50 to 8,200 DPI. On the middle near the thumb rest area there are two thumb buttons which are defaulted to serve as the forward and backward page functions.

 

There’s nothing on the right side of the mouse’s body but just a curve to rest your fingers. With that being said, it is suggested that the mouse is suitable for right-handed gamers. The mouse features a claw-grip design to provide gamers with high level of comforts.

 

The front of the mouse looks very simple. You can see the USB cord coming out from the opening gap between the left and the right body of the mouse. The scroll wheel on the middle is rubberized while the plastic section can glow up to four zones of RGB backlighting.

 

Moving backward near the wrist position you will find Corsair’s Gaming new logo that can glow with various modes of lighting. Here you can see the curves provided on each side of the mouse to rest your thumb and fingers and eventually provide extra comfort especially during long gaming sessions.

 

Corsair Gaming has designed the Sabre Laser RGB mouse with laser tracking sensor. This laser sensor tracking technology is capable of tracking mouse movements with the highest laser sensitivity. Under the mouse you can see there’s a big Corsair Gaming wording alongside four extra-large PTFE mouse feet which should provide smoother glide and longer lifespan. However, we are looking forward to seeing Corsair Gaming includes a set of replacement mouse feet in the package, so that you can change them in case if yours are worn out.

The illuminating sections of the Corsar Gaming Sabre Laser RGB mouse are located at the Corsair Gaming logo, the scroll wheel, front side of left-click button and the DPI multi-colour indicator below the DPI switches. You can customize the DPI selector indicator on-the-fly with the DPI switches themselves. The rest of the glowing sections can be configured through the Corsair Utility Engine (CUE) software. You can choose from up to 16.8 million colours of lighting and create lighting effects based on your likings. You can also switch off the backlighting if you want.

 

Software

Corsair Utility Engine (CUE) software can be downloaded through Corsair’s official website. It is the same software used by Corsair RGB keyboards therefore some actions can also be applied to their RGB keyboards as well. Immediately after launching the CUE software, you will see four main menus on top of the screen which are Profiles, Actions, Lighting and Settings menus.

The Profiles page is divided into three submenus which are the Assignment, Lighting and Performance & DPI menus. The Assignment submenu allows you to customize the functionality of each button. As mentioned earlier, Corsair Gaming offers a total of eight programmable buttons, so that you can fully customize these buttons according to your likings. For instance, you can assign the thumb buttons to serve as the forward and backward page functions or scroll page up and down functions.

The Lighting submenu allows users to adjust the backlight colour and effects with up to 16.8 million colours of choices. Besides that, you can also customize your Sabre Laser RGB mouse with backlight effects such as the Solid and Gradient effect.

 

However, the multi-colour DPI indicator is unfortunately not customizable via the CUE software, but that’s understandable due to the fact that this indicator is exclusively controllable by the on-the-fly DPI selector switches.

 

In the Performance & DPI submenu, you can configure the DPI level of each profile ranging from 50 to 8,200 DPI and customize the Sniper DPI, the regular mouse pointer speed, enabling Angle Snapping and you can even select the type of Lift Height.

 

The next main menu is the Actions menu. Here we have the Actions Editor which is also known as the Macro Editor. You can record macros, text macros, keystroke, shortcut to your favourite applications or even the mouse button command individually or in group.

 

The Lighting main menu allows you to create lighting effects such as the Solid and Gradient effects.

 

Last but not least we have the Settings main menu and it is broken down into three submenus which are the Device, Program and Support. In the Device submenu, you can choose to switch off the mouse lighting and set the polling rate. You can also see versions of the firmware and bootloader being used as well as status of the Sabre Laser RGB gaming mouse. There’s also a button which allows you to update the mouse’s firmware.

 

In the Program submenu, you can set behavior of the CUE software such as command it to launch automatically on every system boot, colour and transparency of the screen, macro recording options, and priority of the media players on your system.

 

The Support submenu is as expected, allows user to submit online and technical supports in the event of hardware failure or if you have any technical question regarding the Sabre Laser RGB gaming mouse.

 

Performance

The Corsair Gaming Sabre Laser RGB gaming mouse performs very well during my testing. The rubberized top body provides an excellent grip of the mouse during heavy gaming session. My fingers didn’t slip off at all even though my hands are sweaty. The medium size of the mouse fits nicely below my palm and I can feel that it’s very light which weighs 100 grams only. The braided cable prevents the mouse from any mouse drag issue on the desk and it is long enough to glide on my extra-large Roccat Taito mousepad.

I’ve tested the Sabre Laser RGB gaming mouse on Battlefield 4 and I’d say I’m impressed with the performance that it delivered. It is very comfortable to use and very easy to control. The left and right-click buttons are so soft to press. Furthermore, these buttons helped me taking multiple headshots so accurately and precisely on every enemy that I approached in the battlefield. Movement and aiming are so smooth with this mouse thanks to its great sensitivity.

 

Thoughts & Verdicts

Corsair Gaming has once again done well with their latest flagship Sabre Laser RGB gaming mouse. Designed with gaming in mind, the Sabre is certainly the perfect gaming mouse for ambitious gamers who are looking to have more controls on their fingertips. Seriously, there are so many goodnesses to talk about this gaming mouse.

Starting with build quality, the ultra-light and ergonomic design of the mouse is very helpful in gaming, especially fast-paced FPS games. It also features the most advanced laser tracking sensor technology which can track up to 8,200 DPI. The high-grade Omron switches equipped on the left- and right- click buttons feel so soft when clicking and the sound it makes is very nice and not loud at all. The rubberized top body will ensure that the mouse grip is enhanced so that gamers’ hands don’t slip off from the mouse during heavy gaming battle. Besides that, those who had mouse drag issue on desk can finally say farewell to this, because the Sabre Laser RGB gaming mouse comes with a braided USB cord. It is 1.8 meters in length which is long enough so that you can glide smoothly on your favourite mouse pad. It also supports a whopping 1,000 Hz USB refresh rate for lag-free performance.

Corsair Gaming offers a total of eight programmable buttons to allow gamers to have flexibility of command according to their likings. In addition, the gaming mouse features customizable multi-colour backlight which make it looked more attractive. Moreover, gamers who like to kill enemy in a dark environment will definitively appreciate this awesome backlight features. On software aspect, you get a feature-rich Corsair Utility Engine (CUE) software, which is the most advanced software for mouse that we’ve ever seem thus far. With this software, you can freely configure functionalities of each of the eight programmable buttons, customize the backlight colours and effects, create macro functions and so on. There are bunch of interesting settings can be done through the software.

In terms of in-game performance, the Sabre Laser RGB gaming mouse very comfortable to use and very easy to control. The left and right-click buttons feel so soft to press thanks to its high-quality Omron switches. Besides that, the mouse which features ultra-high laser tracking sensor provides high level of accuracy and precision. Movement and aiming are so smooth with this mouse thanks to its enhanced sensitivity.

Despite having numerous advantages, the Corsair Gaming Sabre Laser RGB gaming mouse also have some drawbacks. One of them is that the rubberized body tends to attract dusts from the environment so easily. The other disadvantage is that the Corsair Utility Engine (CUE) is somehow a little bit of tricky to use. For some reason I’m quite confused with the two different Lighting menus provided. It could have been made simpler and more user friendly like those that we’ve found on the CM Storm’s and Armaggeddon’s gaming gears. Perhaps it was just me or maybe I’m just not used to it but that’s my impression of the software during my 7-day testing. Nevertheless, users are strongly advised to download and read the 147-page user’s manual from Corsair Gaming’s website to explore further on the CUE software.

In the end, the Corsair Gaming Sabre Laser RGB is one of the best gaming mice ever created for gaming enthusiasts. Retailing at RM 252, the mouse certainly sits in the competitive price bracket among other laser mice in the market. Comes with good build quality, light-weight and ergonomic design, decent aesthetic look, excellent performance and comforts, these ingredients will surely make the mouse your perfect choice for gaming build. Best of all, it is backed by 2-year Corsair Gaming’s warranty.

Side note: In addition to the laser tracking sensor, Corsair Sabre RGB mouse is also available in optical version, which carries an official price tag of RM 238.

Performance: 5/5
Materials: 4/5
Specifications: 5/5
Appearance: 5/5
Performance/Price Value: 5/5

Pros:
+ Decent performance, high accuracy and precision
+ Solid build quality
+ Light-weight and ergonomic design provides best comforts during gaming
+ Omron switches on primary left- and right- buttons provide soft clicks
+ Eight programmable buttons
+ On-the-fly 4-level DPI adjustment via onboard DPI selector button
+ Macroable buttons
+ Super-grip rubberized top body
+ Customizable backlight colours and effects
+ Feature-rich CUE software
+ Extra-large PTFE mouse feet are highly durable and provide smooth glides
+ Comes with 1.8-meter flex-braided cable to prevent mouse drag issue
+ Unique USB connector design for easier plugging and unplugging

Cons:
- Suitable for right-handed gamers only
- Rubberized top body is dust magnet
- CUE software and user’s manual must be downloaded through Corsair Gaming’s website
- CUE software is a little bit of complicated and not that user friendly
- DPI indicator colour might not be matching with the rest of backlighting zones

 

Corsair Gaming Sabre Laser RGB Gaming Mouse received Gold Award from OCDrift.com

Disclaimer: OCDrift.com gives out our own award based on the Hardware Performance, OverClocking Ability, Innovation, and Value as determined by the reviewer