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The NZXT Avatar S has proven to be a mixed bag. When it comes to appearance the Avatar S is an eye catcher thanks to it's streamlined design and high contrast color scheme. The light weight body is low profile and well suited for users with smaller hands. The ambidextrous design allows the Avatar S to be configured for either right handed or left handed users which could add to it's overall marketability.
We do however have some issues that we would like to see addressed in the future. The position of the right side button for one makes it very difficult to use. We have to use a pinky finger on this button and it feels unnatural.
The next issue is based around changing the mouse DPI settings. The original Avatar used a simple dual button system positioned behind the scroll wheel, which worked fine in our opinion. Having to hold the left side button while moving the scroll wheel forward or backwards to change DPI settings is somewhat frustrating, especially when locked in a heated battle.
Overall the Avatar S is a decent mouse, even with the issues we mentioned. It carries a suggested retail price of $39.99 USD (£30 UK) which is reasonable.
Pro's:
- Eye catching high contrast color scheme.
- Ambidextrous design.
- Polling rate of 1000Hz.
- Teflon coated feet.
Cons:
- Awkward positioning of right side mouse button.
- DPI switching is a pain.
- Mouse body needs more weight.
Kitguru says: We feel that the Avatar S is worth considering if you are looking for a gaming mouse that is competitively priced.
Looks like a fairly average mouse with a pretty shell. They have too much competition from microsoft, razer etc.
These need weight systems. thats all they need to add. maybe make a deluxe version of it…. ?
Looks fantastic, but im happy with my MX518, the best mouse ever IMO
I like the looks a lot and people need to realise that its much cheaper than many of the high end gaming mice.
I mean look at Razer, you could basically buy a CPU for the price of one of their high end mice today
Yeah, Razer mice are a bit expensive, but, trust me – they’re perfect for that amount of $.
if the body had some weight to it I would have liked it more but it’s not a bad mouse for the price
“Mouse body needs more weight.”
Whether this is a con is highly subjective and shouldn’t be included as one in a review striving to be objective. If I could, I would have as light a mouse as materially possible while still being robust. The closest I’ve come to is MS Wheel Mouse Optical 1.1. It’s very light and it’s the best mouse I’ve used so far, despite lack of high polling rate, high DPI and side buttons.
NZXT Avatar S looks like worthy mouse if it is well built and the sensor is reliable. I didn’t notice the review say whether the mouse has any prediction / angle snapping. Angle snapping straightens the direction of the sensor output in fast movements and while it may be useful in photo editing and such, it will decrease the accuracy of your mouse movement in FPS games.
The remaining question, for me, is whether the mouse is comfortable. It looks comfortable as it has vertical sides which make it easy to lift, but I’d still have to test it to know better…
@cruz1ale: Old folk like KitGuru lay awake at night, dreaming back to the days of Microsoft Explorer mice with dirty big balls 🙂