The Corsair Scimitar Elite Wireless ($129.99) is a gaming mouse focused on the needs of MMO fans. Like many MMO mice before it, the Scimitar Elite has a small keypad on its left side to which you can assign macros or other inputs for your favorite games. The Scimitar Elite also offers a high DPI maximum, three different connectivity options, and a comfortable grip thanks to an ergonomic design. While the Razer Naga V2 Pro remains our Editor’s Choice pick for MMO mice, the Scimitar Elite Wireless fits in as a worthy alternative.
Design: No Shortcut Is Beyond Your Grasp
As previously mentioned, the Scimitar Elite is a gaming mouse designed specifically for MMO games, thanks to a numeric keypad on its left side. With MMOs, not to mention city-builders and strategy games, you can assign most, if not all, of the shortcuts you'd otherwise assign to your keyboard to the keypad on the mouse's side instead. Even MOBAs, with their many hotkeys, pair well with one of these devices. Depending on the game, you can offload all your inputs onto your mouse, and play in one-handed fashion.
The box includes the mouse itself, a braided USB-C cable for charging the internal battery, a warranty card, and a small Allen key used to adjust the keypad's position. Since the keypad is on the left side, this makes the Scimitar Elite a right-handed mouse, with no left-handed version available.
(Credit: Molly Flores)The keypad has 12 buttons arranged in four columns of three, each labeled with a number. Number 1 is at the bottom of the first column, and the count goes up from there. With MMO mice, there's no hard and fast rule for which button order is best. The important thing is that its logic reflects your preferences.
Each button is easily accessible by an average-size thumb. The mouse has some heft to it, at 4 ounces, but the weight is less of a concern with this category of mice, since MMO players don’t need to whip the cursor around the screen as often as a first-person shooter (FPS) player does.
(Credit: Molly Flores)At first glance, we attributed a slight wiggle on the keypad to a quality control issue, but it's actually a side effect of a feature that moves the keypad along the side of the mouse to better fit your grip. While not as extensive a feature as the swappable buttons on the Razer Naga V2 Pro, the fact that Corsair is accounting for multiple hand sizes is a definite plus.
Along with the 12 buttons are the standard left- and right-click buttons above the mouse where your index and middle finger would naturally rest. In between these fingers is a rubberized scroll wheel that doubles as a middle-click button. Below the scroll wheel is a DPI selector which swaps among five different DPI levels. By default those settings are 400dpi, 800dpi, 1,200dpi, 1,600dpi, and 3,200dpi, although you can add more or adjust existing ones through software (more on that later).
(Credit: Molly Flores)The mouse fits comfortably in the average-size hand. It sits a tad wider than the Logitech G502 X Plus, but the extra width allows a stronger grip to press the keys on the keypad. The textured right side has a small divot that your ring finger will naturally rest in, and it doesn’t take long to find the most comfortable holding position.
Underneath the mouse is the cutout for the Corsair Marksman sensor, which has a DPI maximum of 26,000dpi, just shy of the V2 Pro’s 30,000dpi. A button next to the sensor will swap among three mouse profiles, and more can be added through the Corsair iCUE software for a five-profile maximum. On the lower portion is a toggle switch for 2.4GHz wireless, USB wired, and Bluetooth options.
Corsair doesn’t list a wattage for the lithium polymer battery inside the Elite Wireless, but claims 150 hours of continuous use and a 90-minute average charge time. While the mouse defaults to a 1,000Hz polling rate (the competitive minimum) it can be bumped to 2,000Hz at the cost of increased battery drain.
(Credit: Molly Flores)The Scimitar Elite has dedicated storage for the 2.4GHz wireless dongle in a lidded compartment on the underside. While secure enough that we didn't see it accidentally falling off in testing, the plastic retaining clip is a bit difficult to get purchase on without using your fingernails. There’s a legitimate fear of accidentally breaking off the clip with too much pressure, but if you prefer a wired or Bluetooth connection, this won’t be a major concern.
To the right of the sensor is a small hole into which you insert the included Allen key. This hole is actually a screw to free the keypad. As previously mentioned, the keypad can slide along the side of the mouse once the screw is loosened to better fit differently sized hands. There’s a small amount of wiggle because of this feature, but it isn’t enough to distract from the benefit of fine-tuning the keypad placement. To further help grip the mouse, the second and fourth rows of keys are textured, and the surfacing also help you find keys by feel.
What Does This Button Do? iCUE Tells You
Most of Corsair’s peripherals can be configured through iCUE, and the Scimitar Elite is no exception. Through the iCUE software you can create or modify existing DPI levels, change the polling rate, or adjust lighting effects, among other options. The RGB lighting on the Corsair logo and the keypad can be changed independently of each other. The software offers preset effects, or you can create your own.
(Credit: Corsair)Of course, as an MMO mouse, the Scimitar Elite's most important customization feature is arguably its keypad. In the key assignments menu of iCUE, you can select any of the keys on the keypad and assign media controls or keyboard commands, or choose specific programs to launch with a key press. If you’re interested in game streaming, there are additional options for controlling Elgato streaming software. Finally, you can also disable the buttons entirely.
Verdict: Not Quite Elite, But Close
The Corsair Scimitar Elite Wireless is nearly everything we expect an MMO mouse to be. This is the kind of design you want in a mouse if you’ve grown tired of the smaller lightweight mice dominating the esports scene. The wide frame makes it easily palm-able, and the adjustable keypad makes sure your thumb can always reach the commands you need.
Still, as nifty as the adjustable keypad is, the modularity of the Razer Naga V2 Pro means it remains our Editors' Choice pick in this category, as its swappable side panels make it ideal for a wider variety of games.
