At the end of my last HyperX mouse review for the Pulsefire FPS Pro, I said: “The only other thing I could wish for is another couple of buttons to make the FPS Pro a little more MOBA and MMO-friendly, but that’s honestly a minor quibble.” Well, it seems like HyperX heard my plea, since the new Pulsefire Raid is seeking to fix my final quibble with the Pulsefire line of HyperX mice, a line that I’ve seen consistently iterate and grow over the past few years.
To date, there are five HyperX mice, all under the “Pulsefire” line. While they all share a similar starting point, each of these five mice seeks to provide a point of personal preference for gamers who are looking for specific features. For example, the Pulsefire Dart is geared towards the wireless mouse crowd while the Pulsefire Surge appeals to gamers who want a more symmetrical mouse shape and/or a greater LED presence. The Pulsefire Raid is for gamers who want more programmable buttons on their mouse, which is the group I fell into when writing my last Pulsefire mouse review. While all previous Pulsefire mice have had 6 or 7 programmable buttons, the Pulsefire Raid boasts 11.
11 programmable buttons sounds like an awful lot, but most gamers won’t reprogram at least 3 of them (right click, left click, and the tiny DPI button behind the scroll wheel). That leaves 9 buttons: the scroll wheel (down), left on the scroll wheel, right on the scroll wheel, and 5 buttons on the left side of the mouse where the user’s thumb rests. All these buttons are functional, but not quite as ergonomically placed as other MMO-geared mice that I’ve owned in the past. For example, pushing left or right on the mouse wheel feels very strange to me and I wouldn’t feel comfortable using these buttons for games that necessitate high reaction time and accuracy; one of the left side buttons is located in a spot that is further towards the front of the mouse than my hand comfortably reaches in a normal grip; the cluster of 4 buttons on the left side are a bit closer together and more uniform than I’d prefer. These are all very minor nitpicks, however, since I will almost always appreciate more buttons (and corresponding customization for them) than less.
Pulsefire Raid on the left, Pulsefire FPS Pro on the right
The overall shape of the mouse is reminiscent of the Pulsefire FPS Pro with the left front side of the mouse angling inwards a bit more than its predecessor (the FPS Pro kind of had symmetrical “wings” for the left and right buttons). Also, instead of the right and left mouse buttons being solidly attached to the body of the mouse, the Raid has a “split-button” design where each is fully separate pieces of plastic from the curved face of the body. Aesthetically it makes no difference to me, and HyperX claims it makes the buttons more responsive (which would certainly be a perk), but I do wonder if this feature contributes to the slight squeakiness I get on my left mouse click.
Like all currently circulating Pulsefire mice (R.I.P. the original Pulsefire FPS), the Raid supports plug-and-play out of the box, but you’ll need to use the HyperX NGenuity software to take full advantage of all the customization options. NGenuity recently moved to only being supported on Windows 10; however, users are able to customize their HyperX peripherals on a Windows 10 device via NGenuity, sync the changes to the peripheral (where they will be saved onboard), and then use that peripheral on any Windows 7, 8, 8.1, or 10 device.
In NGenuity, users can change settings in three categories for the Raid: Lights, Buttons, or Sensor. In the Light category users can add, layer, and hide effects (Solid, Cycle, Pulse, Breathing, or Trigger), control the speed of those effects, and customize the colors and opacity of the LEDs. The Buttons category houses the assignments for all 11 buttons on the Raid, broken down into seven groups (keyboard function, mouse function, multimedia, macro, Windows shortcut, open a file/program/folder/website, or disabled). Finally, the Sensors category allows users to add or delete DPI levels (supporting up to 5 cyclable levels), and set the color and DPI (from 200 to 16,000) for each level. As I mentioned before, by default the small button behind the scroll wheel cycles between DPI levels and the scroll wheel will briefly turn the color of the level to give the user visual feedback that the DPI level has been changed. The software and its settings are all fairly intuitive and it’s quick and easy to customize the Raid to your own specific preferences.
I was also sent an accompanying mouse pad to review with the Raid: the FURY Ultra RGB. Roughly 14 x 11.5 inches, the FURY Ultra is made of hard plastic with an anti-slip rubber base. It has a 70 inch cord that plugs into a USB port to power on its lighting effects. Just like the Raid mouse, the FURY Ultra uses HyperX NGenuity software to customize its lighting options. Prior to getting this mouse pad, I was using the HyperX Fury S (X-Large). The FURY Ultra is certainly smaller than my previous mouse pad, but definitely large enough for most gamers’ needs. The mouse glides smoothly over the plastic surface and looks stylish without being too garish with its lighting effects. It will also be much easier to clean. The only real potential drawback is that it is a bit louder than my old mouse pad as my mouse drags across it, but not by too much.
Coming back to final thoughts about the Pulsefire Raid, it’s another strong addition to the Pulsefire family. Compared to the Pulsefire FPS Pro, it’s a story of give and take. I like having the extra buttons, but I miss the slightly different shape of the mouse. If you’re a gamer who wants more programmable buttons on your mouse, the Raid is an easy recommendation from me. If you don’t think you’ll use those extra buttons, though, the FPS Pro will suit you just fine for about $15 cheaper (the Raid retails at $60 while the FPS Pro retails at $45). As an ardent fan of the Pulsefire line, I’m super pleased HyperX has introduced this option and look forward to seeing how the line will continue to evolve down the road. As for the FURY Ultra RGB, it’s a sturdy and attractive icing-on-the-cake peripheral. High in form and function, I have no doubts it will hold up over time. $55 is nothing to sneeze at, but if you have some spare cash to put some final touches on your PC gaming setup, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed by what you get for the investment.