Speedlink Kudos RS Gaming Mouse
Feature
Impressive and stylish gaming mouse for an affordable price.
Speedlink Kudos RS Gaming Mouse
Speedlink recently came to the gamers’ attention with their excellent Xeox Pro gamepads that were as good as the Xbox originals, but more affordable. Their new gaming mice offer similar competition to all the high-end gaming mice on the market. The first one of their new mice under our magnification glass is the Kudos RS gaming mouse, which Speedlink was kind enough to provide for us.
Overall, it is a very attractive-looking mouse, with its metallic red and black coating. Also, with minimal lighting effects, it gives off a very professional air. In short, it looks more expensive than it is.
Specs
The Speedlink Kudos RS gaming mouse hosts an impressive laser sensor that provides up to 5700 DPI and a polling rate of up to 1000Hz. What’s more surprising at this price point is that the mouse also includes the all-too-rare 4-way mouse wheel and a set of 6g weights that can be used to increase the heft of the mouse by at most 36 grams.
0000
Max. DPI: 5700
Buttons: 7
Form factor: right-handed
Size in mm (lxwxh): 124 x 74 x n/a mm
Weight min/max: n/a g
Price: c. 50.00€
Ergonomics
In our review system, ergonomics denote the comfortability of the mouse when used, including its weight. The Speedlink Kudos RS is clearly designed for right-handed use with features such as the left side of the mouse being a bit higher than the right and the existence of a very pronounced thumb rest. It is relatively large, but not very wide. Personally, as a large-handed individual, I would have preferred the thumb rest to be less shallow, so that my grip could have been wider. As it is, I ended up holding the tip of my thumb (I control the mouse with my fingertips, rather than full-palm contact) at the bottom of the left side where it brushed against the mouse mat. This allowed for a satisfyingly wide grip, but also took my thumb further away from the two side buttons.
Aside from the size issues, the ergonomics leave little to be desired – the buttons are very nicely positioned and easily found. Likewise, the non-slip rubber coating on the sides and top of the mouse feels very comfortable. Overall, I get the feeling that this would be the perfect design for those gamers who are blessed with mid-sized hands, or those with large hands who prefer full-palm contact on their mouse.
Buttons and wheel
The Speedlink Kudos RS has 7 programmable buttons (including the left and right directions on the wheel), all of which are easy to reach. The only problematic buttons in this regard are the extra dpi switch and rapid fire button. The thumb buttons are perhaps a little too high up on the mouse body, requiring you to move your thumb away and up from the thumb rest when you want to use them. The main buttons are very sensitive, perhaps even too much so for some preferences, and give only a very soft sound when depressed. The thumb buttons and the wheel offer more satisfying tactile feedback.
I was very impressed by the wheel, which is wide and rubber-coated. Using the sideways motion was very easy and offered good tactile feedback, similarly the usual scrolling motion was soft with just the right amount of tactile feedback of steps as you moved it back and forth. The click was somewhat sensitive, but not so sensitive as to make you click on the wheel by mistake.
Customisability and drivers
The Speedlink Kudos RS gaming mouse is accompanied by a handy driver interface that allows you to customise all the functions of the mouse buttons and the wheel. In addition, you can set up five separate profiles that each hold different button settings and four interchangeable DPI settings. The subtle but very convenient lights on the mouse light up according to the selected profile and the DPI settings can be quickly checked by looking at the number of bars lit up on the mouse.
The drivers lacked the possibility to check and change the OS specific mouse settings, which forces you to use two interfaces to perfect your mouse settings. Granted, you usually only need to do this once, but it would still be convenient to have all the settings in one place.
A further convenience is the customisable weight of the mouse: you can easily insert and take out small 6 gram weights to adjust the heft of the mouse to your liking. I ended up inserting all weights into their compartments, but low-precision gamers who often lift the mouse off the mat will appreciate the lighter weight options.
Rating
The following ratings are naturally affected by personal preference. My hands are large and I use fingertip-control (aka claw grip), so the Kudos RS was not quite as wide as I would have liked. Someone with smaller hands or people using a different grip on their mice may easily give the mouse a better score on ergonomics.
Ergonomics 8.0
Buttons 8.5
Wheel 9.5
Customisability 9.0
Drivers 8.0
Total 8.5
The Speedlink Kudos RS is definitely a great mouse for the price. It offers many of the features that we have learned to expect only from the high end gaming mice and it looks very stylish as well. No excessive blinking LED lights here. Overall, this was one of the best gaming mice I have had the pleasure of testing in a long while.