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The real question of course, is how does this mouse perform when put under pressure in our battery of tests? To make sure the Corsair Gaming Sabre RGB is up to scratch, it was used for a week for extended periods of gaming in various genres that put different requirements on the player (and the peripheral). It was also used for general office tasks, as well as photo editing.
So how does it stack up? Thanks to the high-end and popular optical sensor (the same one found in such classic mice as the Razer DeathAdder), you will find gaming with the Sabre to be accurate and fast – whether you like high DPI or not. It is perfectly viable as a gaming rodent in competitive shooters, as it is in a slow-paced puzzler or RPG.
Lighting options are massive and varied, though not as well represented by few LEDs
However, unlike keyboards where branded switches can give a pretty comparable experience regardless of manufacturer, mice are a little different since they are moved around and offer a measure of support for the hand. This is where Corsair Gaming has a chance to differentiate itself from the competition and it does so, for the most part, very well.
The Sabre is not only accurate and speedy, but very comfortable too and can be used for hours at a time without problems. I did have one issue with the shape however and that was that the ergonomics do not really account for your little finger. There is a small ledge for supporting your ring finger, but the little one tends to trail on the mouse mat. That is not particularly uncomfortable, but even after a week of use, I found myself wishing for just a little nub to rest it on near the front of the mouse.
On the opposite side, the thumb grip is excellent, requiring no specialised rubber pad as the stock surface material is more than grippy enough to do the job.
Personally, I did not like the placement of the DPI switches, as I found when pressing them that the required-sideways motion of my index finger was somewhat uncomfortable to perform. Of course those functions can be remapped to the side buttons if you prefer, but since the central switch behind the scroll wheel, is just a single button, you cannot give it that function instead.
Macro recording is detailed and settings tweaks can provide added mouse functionality
One of the big selling points of this mouse, like its keyboard counterpart, the K70 RGB, is the back-end software, which offers a lot of lighting and macro options. While those are not as pronounced or as useful as they are for a keyboard it is still nice to see them made available for use with the Sabre.
While I covered it quite extensively in my K70 review, the lighting features offered by Corsair's products are really quite exemplary. There are near unlimited options for colours (though some are far more well presented than others) and you can achieve all sorts of fancy effects, from ripples, to waves to gradient fades. It is all customisable which will appeal to the audience who like to colour coordinate.
It is a shame then, that the lighting back-end does not seem to work properly all of the time. Setting it within the lighting tab sometimes tells you it is not possible and yet it works fine when input via the actions tab, for example.
Macro functions and recording however, are still incredibly detailed, meaning those that like a heavily customised rodent will have a field day with all the options.
It is all still pretty convoluted though, with some menus seeming a little redundant when the same task can be completed elsewhere. As fully featured as the back-end system, is, I would like to see Corsair make it a little more intuitive and stream lined in future versions.
