Cougar 600M Gaming Mouse Review

Today we are going to take a look at one of the latest products from Cougar, the 600M gaming mouse. Cougar are a fairly new player in the gaming peripheral market, first announcing their range at Computex back in 2013. We have tested a number of Cougar's products in the past and have left with positive impressions. The Cougar 600M has been designed to compete with the best gaming mice on the market, featuring a number of premium components such as OMRON switches and an 8200 DPI laser sensor. Specification Sensor: ADNS-9800 Laser gaming sensor Resolution: 8200 DPI Processor: 32-bit ARM Cortex-M0 Polling rate: 1000Hz / 1ms On-board memory: 512KB Software: COUGAR UIX™ SYSTEM Programmable buttons: 8 Switching: OMRON gaming switch LED backlight: 16.8 million colors Frame rate: 12000 FPS Maximum tracking speed: 150 IPS Maximum acceleration: 30G Interface: Golden-plated USB plug Cable length: 1.8m Braided Dimension: 125(L) x 80(W) x 42(H) mm Weight: 90g Cougar supply the 600M in an attractive looking black and orange box which features a large image of the mouse on the front. The front of the box acts as a door which opens and lets you view the mouse within the box. Turning the box over reveals details of the features and specifications of the mouse, alongside an image of the mouse which highlights specific features. Inside the box, the only item included alongside the box is a quick start guide. It is clear from a glance that the Cougar 600M is a gaming mouse. The mouse is finished predominantly in rubberised matte paint which feels great in the hand. There are a few gloss black accents here and there to infuse some excitement into the design. The form of the mouse is quite clearly designed for right-handed gamers, with a large thumb alcove in the left side to facilitate a secure grip. Cougar have chosen to include an extra button in this area angled at 45 degrees to facilitate aiming when playing as a sniper. We are pretty impressed with the build quality of the product. All of the materials feel good quality and the general construction of the mouse feels solid. There are also browser forward and back buttons above the thumb alcove which can be configured within the software package. The left and right mouse buttons are in the usual locations, with a mouse-wheel and DPI rocker between the two. The wheel provides quite a lot of resistance to movement, making it easy to scroll accurately. It does however make it quite difficult to scroll quickly through long lists. Cougar have gone for the 'less is more' approach with the integrated LED lighting - this consists of a simple strip which spans the front and left edge of the left-hand mouse button. The colour of this can be configured using the included software utility to any hue you desire. There are also a series of four led indicators on the left mouse button which highlight which DPI level the mouse is operating at. The DPI rocker between the two mouse buttons can be used to adjust this on the fly. The 600M features a braided cable which is rooted to the front left corner of the mouse. This should prove durable in the long hall and features a quality gold-plated USB connector. Software Cougar instruct us to visit their website to download the software configuration utility for the 600M, named 'Cougar UIX System'. This is around 10 MB and only takes a minute or two to install. The main page of the configuration utility contains all of the performance options, including DPI sliders for the four discrete levels for each profile, the sniper mode DPI setting and polling rate to name a few. Moving on to the next tab, we find the macro configuration options. We are able to choose from a variety of basic functions as well as custom macros for all of the buttons on the mouse. The final tab of the software features the LED lighting control. This lets us choose from a whole palette of colours as well as a breathing effect. Performance Turning the mouse over reveals the 8200 DPI laser sensor - this should be more than enough for all gamers, irrespective of their sensitivity preferences. In our tests this sensor performed flawlessly and accurately tracked every move flawlessly. The construction of the 600M is very lightweight which facilitated its agility around our Roccat SOTA gaming surface. On the underside of the 600M there is a fairly generous area of Teflon feet which let the mouse glide effortlessly around. We found the right-handed ergonomic form factor of the mouse very comfortable during our tests - we would recommend that left-handed users consider ambidextrous alternatives. The rubberised paint finish and the ergonomically crafted flanks of the mouse help to facilitate a secure grip of the mouse during use. Overall we are pretty impressed with what the Cougar 600M gaming mouse has to offer. It is clear that Cougar are serious about competing with the more established players in the gaming peripheral market like Razer and SteelSeries. The aesthetic design of the 600M is fairly distinctive and is sure to appeal to a gaming audience, however we imagine many gamers would favour a model from a better known brand unless there is a reasonable cost saving. Still, the build quality of the mouse is on par with other premium gaming peripheral manufacturers. In terms of sheer performance, the Cougar 600M has a lot to offer. Every aspect of the physical performance of the mouse feels premium and the impressive on-paper specification backs this up nicely. We are also impressed with the software configuration utility that Cougar supply with the mouse. This provides every configuration option we could reasonably ask for through a simple interface - the macro configuration options are particularly impressive. At the time of writing, the Cougar 600M is not available from any major retailers in the UK, however it can be purchased through a number of importers for around £40. At this price it offers very good value for money and is sure to tempt some gamers away from more established gaming peripheral brands in the market. Discuss on our Facebook page, over HERE. Pros: Well judged aesthetics. Solid build quality. Decent performance. Excellent software utility. Good value. Cons: Limited availability in the UK at present. KitGuru says: An excellent mouse for the money which is sure to attract a wide audience among gamers.

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Cougar 600M Gaming Mouse Review

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