HyperX Pulsefire Raid

A great sensor, 11 buttons, and a reasonable price, so what’s the catch?

- DAVE ALCOCK

HYPERX IS NO STRANGER to the peripheral scene. Its Cloud range made a huge impact in the headset sector, and its keyboards have been solid too. Most recently, however, mice have become the company's focus.

The Pulsefire Raid is the latest mouse from HyperX. It has a mighty 11 buttons, nine of which are fully programmable, while the LMB and RMB can only be swapped between themselves. There are five thumb buttons, four of which are in the usual place above where your thumb naturally rests, and one further forward towards the end of your thumb, seemingly in Narnia for smaller handed users. The scroll wheel has movement to the left and right, as well as being able to click down, and a button directly behind the wheel defaults as a CPI adjustment button. While using any grip, the size of your hands (particularly your thumbs) will determine if you are able to reach the furthest forward of the five thumb buttons. This button is set to mute audio by default, and it is a really clever way of making the otherwise useless button something we came to like really quickly. Sure, it’s pointless in-game, but a quick mute button on your mouse is not to be sniffed at, especially when there are 10 other buttons to use.

Despite the out-of-reach button, the Raid is a comfortable mouse to hold. Your thumb rests nicely on soft textured rubber, as does your ring finger and little finger. The back of the mouse has a rather aggressive slope but it still works well with palm and claw grips. The shape of this mouse is a little strange. There is no lip around the top of the mouse–as you would find on most mice—to help reposition the mouse at low CPI. Usually, your fingers are in a groove, but with the