Cougar DeathFire Gaming Combo Review

👤by Tony Le Bourne Comments 📅03-07-16
Conclusion

The DeathFire combo is another keyboard/mouse set that presents great value and quality for entry-level gaming. The keyboard feels well made and the 'mechanical feel' keys are tight and responsive, this makes typing and gaming a joy. Aesthetically, the imitation brushed aluminium does look attractive and is accentuated by the RGB lighting effects.



Despite how much I enjoyed using the keyboard, the mouse is rather disappointing. The clicks are squishy, clearly using cheaper OMRON switches, and it is missing some side buttons (that I rather enjoy). It also has a fair bit of jitter caused by a pre-set level of angle snapping which you can't change because the DeathFire combo is driverless. With these cost saving measures in place, I wonder if they could have afforded to maybe implement the ADNS-3050 or 3090 sensor over the 5050, which is not a gaming grade sensor. Though on the positive side, the mouse is responsive (1ms refresh), tracks well on various surfaces and isn't outright terrible.

So we reach a similar conclusion as we did with the slightly more expensive CHALLANGER set from Tt eSPORTS; that is, it seems much of the value is in the keyboard rather than the mouse, and so a more competitive gamer looking for absolute value and performance may be better off looking around for a good deal on a quality gaming mouse like the SteelSeries Rival 100 along with a cheap keyboard. There are some other things to consider also, such as the lack of macros (as found on the Challenger combo), and that the backlighting doesn't actually light up the keys and so is there purely for visual effect. Though, you could argue that this comparison is a little out of context given that the Challenger Prime combo costs 25% more.

Overall we enjoyed our gaming sessions using the DeathFire combo and it does offer a good balance of performance and quality for the price. Though the reliability of knowing that you are getting a baseline standard for gaming in a single convenient package is its strongest factor and therein lies its true calling.

The Cougar DeathFire combo presents a good quality keyboard along with a well equipped optical mouse, ideal for low-cost gaming.

Pros.
+ Solid keyboard w/ attractive lighting
+ Anti-ghosting keys 26-KRO
+ Smooth hybrid mechanical switches (rated for 20m presses)
+ 1ms refresh on mouse
+ Price

Cons.
- Mouse could be better
- Backlighting doesn't light up the keys
- No macros


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