As we expand our coverage from core computer products to peripherals (and in the end everything else) we are moving into gaming first. We have already tested out more than a few mechanical gaming keyboards (and have more to come). Now we are moving into gaming mice with an emphasis on mice that allow for more than just high-resolution lasers for optics. For our second product in this genre we are going to take a deep look at Thermaltake’s Tt eSports Saphira Gaming mouse. This mouse was designed by a professional Starcraft 2 gamer and packs in a solid list of features. Let’s check it out shall we?
Performance -
To test the performance of the Tt eSports Saphira I stacked it up against my G5 laser gaming mouse the original Sentinel and my Spawn. I played through several levels of Batman Arkham Asylum, Modern Warfare 3, and Call of Duty Black Ops and Mass Effect 3. I played each of these for one hour using each mouse to gauge hand and wrist fatigue and also accuracy and ease of use. I then sat down for some detailed Photoshop CS5 editing. These tests would be using the eraser tool and the cloning tool to edit and clean up small details in images. Unfortunately as these tests are all subjective I can only offer you my experience with it at this time.
Gaming -
During our gaming tests the first thing I noticed was that the Spahira is very smooth. We have both a Steel Series 5L mousing surface and a CMStorm Speed-RX L to try things out on. On both of these surfaces the Saphira simply slid across without any resistance. It was like it was floating across. On the other hand even at 3500 DPI the mouse seemed a little slow. I upped the acceleration quite a bit to get it to feel a little more responsive that it was a default. The rubberized coating held up very well and even after 5 hours of gaming the grip felt solid. The size of the Saphira was a bit of an issue though. I have a large palm and because of this to get comfortable on the Saphira I had to push my hand forward quite a bit so my fingertips extended off the front. This became uncomfortable after a while so I adjusted my grip backwards. In this position my hand began to feel awkward quickly and my movements were jerky. Another issue with the gems we tested with was the adjustment buttons on the bottom of the mouse. As I mentioned there are some games that I want to drop down the DPI to keep things more stable during game play (like sniping) I had to pause the game, make my adjustment and then restart the game. I feel that having this button along with the polling rate and the profile button on the top side of the mouse would have been a better decision for a gaming mouse. Overall while the Saphira was accurate and could be made quick and responsive it was awkward and uncomfortable during extended gaming.
Photoshop Editing -
Here the slow and steady accuracy was a big benefit as was the macro options. We programed in a few key strokes to the macros (Alt, Ctrl etc) these helps with editing images quite nicely. There was still the issue with comfort, but again that is the size of my hand that was the problem there.
Comfort -
We have already covered comfort in both the gaming and Photoshop sections. Now we want to highlight a few things here. For some reason the Saphira felt like the hump was in the wrong place for my hand. No matter how I held the Saphira it felt awkward. This showed in my in game movements after a while and I did end up with a cramp after 6 hours of gaming. This is a concern for us as the mouse fells like it might have been designed for much smaller hands than we have.
