I've been looking forward to testing HyperX's Pulsefire Gaming Mouse Series since their release earlier this year. It’s the first set that has been released under the HyperX label since the separation from Kingston. The one sitting on my table is the Pulsefire FPS Pro, which is one of four in the series. The others are Core, FPS, and Surge. Each has its own unique style and design as well as price range. So far, HyperX hasn’t disappointed with their past product line as they lean towards what’s important to me - performance. Will the Pulsefire FPS Pro help me bring the thunder?
At first look, the Pulsefire FPS Pro has a no-frills black shell with two accent lights attached by a sturdy braided 6’ cable, which has become standard for most HyperX devices. The shape and configuration of the mouse is a six button ergonomic curved design with textured rubber grips at the thumb and ring finger. The textured grip resembles a diamond plate pattern similar to those of truck floor mats. Two of the six buttons (forward/backward) that sits above the thumb grip are easily accessible but yet not in the way. The DPI button sits on top; this button changes your dots per inch ratio, whereas most gaming mice have a default setting of two, the FPS Pro starts with three: 800 – 1600 – 3200dpi. Later, I found out via using the Ngenuity software that I could change it to 5 levels and going as high as 6400 – 16000dpi. I have a three monitor setup and going up to 6400dpi within just a couple of clicks was very useful. Far behind me are the days of lifting the mouse to readjust. The 16000 dpi for my usage was unnecessary but, I do know a few scenarios where it plays nicely. But for the most part, I found it impractical. About a few hours into my marathon of gaming, I was impressed by how smooth and natural the mouse moved. It felt so comfortable that I almost overlooked the two large sleds at the front and rear of the base. I also learned that the IR sensor reading your movement is a Pixart 3389, a high-end navigation chip that can process 16000 DPI without missing an inch of the mouse pad.
The Pulsefire FPS Pro is plug and play right out of the box. But if you'd like to dip into customizing your mouse further, then the Ngenuity software is needed. This software allows you to make changes on how the mouse maneuvers as well as stepping away from the basic red illumination that you'll find at the wheel and palm rest. The default color patterns: cycle, solid, and trigger can easily be changed on the main screen. But in order to delve further, I had to create a new profile that gave me the ability to link applications (games), add an icon to make it stand out, and save it by name. Once the profile was created it allowed me to customize with three tabs:
Lighting - a drop down box that adds an additional pattern - breathing, which was a slow blink in single or alternating colors. Here you will also find a color wheel and a manual RGB input to create whatever color you like.
Performance - This is where the DPI controls lay; from here I could add/subtract levels 1-5 and adjust each level of DPI could (I wasn’t stuck with cookie cutter levels). The color wheel remains from the previous screen but only to designate the color for each level.
Macros - this is where the magic or spamming happens; here you can assign keys, create macros and store them in a library that can be easily swapped.
While I enjoyed customizing things with the Ngenuity Lighting Tab, I felt that the Pulsefire FPS Pro and the software almost didn’t go together. This mouse was built for speed and accuracy, which I felt the accent lights were a second thought. I do appreciate the option to make changes, but the placement of the lights could have varied a bit more. One light is covered by your hand and the second is on the wheel. I guess it looks nice when I’m not using it, but I could see this feature being more of a hit with the Pulsefire Surge as that device has a larger light display.
For this review, I mainly focused on the performance and said tab as being able to adjust from 5 levels of DPI was new to me. So it did take me some time to find the Goldilocks DPI for each level. I found this especially useful when playing first-person shooters. At first, the purpose of the colors for each DPI level didn’t sink in as I just went with it and gave it random colors. But it helped a lot with not having to read numbers as I was focused on shooting. Just remember what color coding you used and off you go.
Where the mouse strikes gold is in actual gameplay; it may look simple on the outside but I have to stress on how easy it was to get from point A, B, and Z especially after playing for a few hours. The first noticeable difference is palm height. It is a little higher than I'm used to, which makes my hand sit further back, clawing the mouse a little lighter than my usual palm slap. However, this lighter touch combined with the help of the DPI button improved my accuracy and response. I've been trying to catch up on games that I haven’t finished for the PC and my gaming queue was getting pretty long. I finished Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor/War and I started getting back into some FPS with Overwatch being at the top of the list. and I followed up with some StarCraft 2.
Did the HyperX Pulsefire FPS Pro bring the thunder? Yes! It’s fast, responsive, and accurate. If you're in the market for a well-rounded gaming mouse, then this is the one for you as it is well built, well priced and does a much better job than a few gaming mice I’ve used in the past. And even though I’m not a fan of the Ngenuity display software, it in no way hinders the mouse's performance. So, out of TOV 5 stars, I give HyperX Pulsefire FPS Pro Gaming Mouse a perfect 5.
