Mionix NAOS 7000 gaming mouse review

Nobody ever wants to feel left out, which is why even though our recently reviewed AVIOR mouse was designed to offer a grip for both palm and claw grip gamers, Mionix didn't release an ambidextrous mouse and tell you to 'get on with it'. No it's also got an ergonomic gaming peripheral up its sleeve called the NAOS. It's very similar to its AVIOR cousin, using the same sensor and soft rubber shell, but this one comes equipped with finger rests and a palm orientated design. Will that ruin our stellar views of the Mionix rodent? That's what we're here to find out. Specifications 32bit ARM processor running at 32Mhz Right handed truly ergonomic design, full palm grip Soft touch rubber coating 7 fully programmable buttons 3 step in-game DPI adjustment 2 integrated RGB LEDs in 2 color zones Up to 16.8 Million LED color options Lighting effects Color shift, Solid, Blinking, Pulsating and Breathing 128 kb built-in memory Polling rate adjustable up to 1000Hz Large PTFE mouse feet Gold Plated, Full speed USB 2.0 connection with Plug and Play Cable 2m long braided cable Sensor Specifications ADNS – 3310 gaming grade IR-LED optical sensor Up to 7000DPI MAX tracking speed of at least 5.45m/sec (215 IPS) No positive or negative hardware acceleration Adjustable Lift Off Distance The packaging for the NAOS, like the AVIOR before it doesn't waste any materials, but still looks good. One downside to small packaging, is you know you are not getting a particularly impressive bunch of accessories. That assumption is proved correct when you slide the box open and find a simple manual and a sticker - not that you necessarily want to be paying for additional bits with your £60 mouse, but it is worth being aware of. As the cousin of the AVIOR, you won't be surprised to see that the NAOS 7000 is very similar looking, with the same shell, button and LED layout and the only real change being the addition of finger rests on the right hand side and the thumb scoop on the left. Other than that, they're basically identical. Even with the addition of side-mounted finger cushions, the whole surface is still covered with a lovely soft rubber. It is a great design and beyond being comfortable under the finger, it doesn't show up grime and dirt anywhere near as much as hard plastic shells. The main buttons utilise mechanical micro-switches so are, just like a mechanical keyboard, good for millions of clicks. According to the Mionix documentation, you should be able left and right click as many as 20 million times before you run into problems. The side finger grooves have space for a little and ring finger and fit my hand pretty snugly. However, I have pretty small hands, so I do wonder if those with larger mitts might struggle to get comfortable. The cable is braided and features a gold plated USB connector. While that doesn't do much for it beyond looking fancy, gold is more durable than the usual nickel plating, so if you are often changing USB port or going back and forth to LANs, you might see some benefit. The underside is identical to the AVIOR, except the NAOS adds another couple of (definitely not Teflon) tracking feet to keep the NAOS moving smoothly. As with all mice, we'd recommend you try them out yourself before you buy them. However, that's not necessarily easy to do, so through diligent testing of multiple games, through hours of general usage and in some complicated, real-world scenarios like photo editing, we'll take into consideration everything from accuracy, to speed and comfort and let you know what we think - it's all important when it comes to buying a new rodent. With gaming, the NAOS performed very well indeed. Its high sensitivity makes it perfect for high speed, twitch based gaming where that shaved millisecond of reaction time can make all the difference. That said, I did find that for my personal tastes, 7,000 dpi was just too sensitive. I would occasionally miss-click or overshoot something, so while it is something I might have gotten used to over time, I spent most of my time with the NAOS using it at a more manageable 5,000 dpi. Fortunately, thanks to the Mionix software, it's very easy to change sensitivity settings, with three possible stages for each of the X and Y axis, which can be fine tuned individually if you like. On top of that there are options for lift distance, pointer speed, simple button remapping, LED lighting options and even a surface analysis tool to calculate how much of your mouse mat (or table top) is being registered by the optical sensor. In this case, the 70 per cent rating pad rating is a bit embarrassing for Mionix, since we are using one of their own mouse mats. Don't mistake my play with the software and drop the DPI as a criticism of the NAOS' accuracy though. I didn't find it any less accurate during FPS gaming, than I did in much slower strategic or puzzle titles, though I did find the palm grip style in general a little less controllable than my usual claw style. Again it might just be a lack of familiarity, but when you've spent your entire life gaming like Jim Carey in Liar Liar, it's very difficult to switch that up, even for the purposes of a review. I did persevere and found the NAOS a very comfortable mouse to use and ultimately, can see that there are certainly benefits to palm gripping, like added wrist support. I still maintain that a claw or finger grip gives you faster, more fine tunable movement than a palm grip, as your hand and fingers are just much more nuanced than your arm - which handles more of the movement in the latter grip type. Personal preferences aside though, the NAOS is a really nice mouse and I've enjoyed using it. If I had to pick out anything that I didn't like, the mouse wheel is something I would complain about. On my version is, for some reason, it is really quite noisy. A few scrolls will have you rolling your eyes at the sound of it rubbing around on its axis. Compare this to the AVIOR and it's a whole different world - near silent. Like the AVIOR, the NAOS 7000 is missing a few features. There is no customising the weight of the mouse and it lacks the ability to scroll horizontally - but unless you are a video editor or like visiting websites from the late 90's, then chances are that isn't a feature that you'll find particularly important. Those minor complaints aside, the NAOS is a very solid mouse. The 7,000 DPI is overkill, especially with the slightly reduced control you get (or at least I do) from a palm grip style mouse, but it is fast, accurate, has plenty of customisation options through the software and it's very comfortable. If you're a palm gripper, you could do a lot worse than the Mionix NAOS 7000. How much? Like its ambidextrous brother, the NAOS is supposed to retail at around the £70 mark, putting it at the upper end of mice price lists, but it's currently available on Amazon for £75.75 - so it is quite expensive. Pros High sensitivity. Remap buttons and tweak a lot of options in the software. Comfortable over long periods. Good build quality. Cons Noisy scroll wheel and no side scroll. Only really compatible with palm grip (claw can be used, but it's not as comfortable). No weighting options. KitGuru Says: Even though this is a great mouse, I would still recommend the AVIOR over it because you can use whatever grip type you want. And its scroll wheel is quieter.

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Mionix NAOS 7000 gaming mouse review

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