There was a time when adding “gaming” to a tech product meant it was cheap without being poor quality. Today, a “gaming” peripheral usually carries a markup of $100 or more, which is why so many gaming mice are priced at exorbitant levels.
Except for one.
Cooler Master has always focused on servicing the lower end of the peripherals market, and when I saw the company was getting into the hyperlight mice trend at Computex, I was excited. The surge of mice like the Finalmouse Cape Town, the recent Glorious Model O/ series, the G-Wolves Skoll or non-perforated offerings like the Razer Viper have all helped to push up the general price of gaming mice.
There was a time when you’d pay more for a AAA release at launch than an Intellimouse Optical or a classic Logitech optical mouse. Now, it’s common to see prices comfortably north of $100, even more than $200 if you’re looking at Logitech’s wireless offerings.
Great mice, but super expensive.
Cooler Master’s MM710? It’s $59.
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The MM710 takes a lot of its inspiration from the MasterMouse S, Cooler Master’s ambidextrous entry-level gaming mouse that presented a serviceable option for those who wanted a smaller size mouse for fingertip gripping. The base internals were pretty good, and the chassis was fine, but the mouse was beset with a bad cable, below average mouse feet, and some general quality control issues that users eventually bounced off.
With the MM710, Cooler Master has tried to correct most of the failings from the MasterMouse S. They’ve also reduced the chassis weight with the perforated honeycomb design, with each hole shaped like the Cooler Master logo. It’s a nice touch with a bonus: the larger holes allow for a little more air through, which helps since the MM710 naturally curves into the palm of your hand.
Other mice, like the Finalmouse range and the Glorious Model O (or Model O-, which is most akin to the MM710), have smaller holes. You’d think that would be a benefit, but the reality is any holes, especially the amount that these mice have, are going to expose the internal components regardless. But the large grooves of the MM710 feel better in the hand, and the extra airflow is better for the Australian summer – or if you have particularly sweaty palms after long periods of gaming.
The version of the MM710 I received was an earlier release, and newer builds will have slight adjustments to the mousewheel and the spacing between the buttons. I didn’t have any major issues with mousewheel rattle, the left and right clicks or the MM710’s cord, which is as good as any cord on any gaming mouse I’ve owned, ever. The clicks and mousewheel are enjoyable light as well.
The Cooler Master software didn’t support the MM710 for the majority of my testing, and while it’s not as refined and the UI definitely needs some work, the functionality is useful. You can adjust the button response time, the polling rate, angle snapping and the various sensitivities for the DPI steps. The software wouldn’t let me delete some of the DPI levels though, so even if you only want 3 or 4 DPI settings, you’ll still have to cycle through 7 steps. The Pixart 3389 sensor has been around for yonks, and it’s just as reliable and solid in the MM710.
The lack of quality control is really the only major downside, but how that pans out might be more palatable depending on the issue you get. When my MM710 first arrived, I removed a layer of film from the underside of the mouse and everything seemed all fine and dandy. It wasn’t after a few days of usage that I saw two extra layers of film so tightly attached to the mouse feet (but not on all of them), thanks to some particles that had collected around it. The film was so fine that it was almost a completely perfect covering. Some users could totally forget to remove the film entirely, since it’s not obvious visually that all the plastic has been taken off. Fortunately, it’s a problem that Cooler Master can easily eliminate from the off with some more QA in the production process.
Cooler Master has been active on social media and forums (particularly the r/mousereview hive of lightweight mouse fanatics), offering to replace and RMA more major faults, including the aforementioned rattle affecting the mousewheel and the left/right click buttons, if present. Again, I haven’t had those issues with my unit. But that kind of service for a mouse that’s already close to bargain-bin level prices in the Australian market is, without a doubt, impressive.
And I don’t really have much more flaws to pick beyond that. I’ve only spent as much time on it as I have because the MM710, from top to bottom, is as good as any other mouse I’ve used this year (and I’ve bought and reviewed more than a few). I’m lucky too in the fact that my hand shape and grip style suit the MM710 perfectly, but that wouldn’t change the reality that Cooler Master’s $59 device has a top-grade sensor, one of the best out-of-the-box cords on the market, a well-designed honeycomb chassis, great comfort, and the kind of software functionality that you’d expect from devices twice the price.
$59 is the kind of price that you could happily drop on a mouse and, if it doesn’t work out, you’d probably be OK with it. But $59 for one of the lightest wired mice on the market and one of the best all-rounders, with a decent design, clicks, mousewheel, mouse feet, and comfort? That’s proper value.
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