GIGABYTE Aivia Krypton Review

👤by Tim Harmer Comments 📅03-02-13
A Closer Look



Above is our first top-down look at the Krypton. In construction it is perfectly symmetrical along a vertical axis, enabling an ambidextrous layout suited to both left and right-handed gamers. The main shell is a very dark grey plastic, finished in such a way as to no accumulate sweat. Centrally located is the mouse wheel, which seems to be flatter and slightly larger than is the norm and is therefore more usable as a middle-mouse button.

DPI is adjusted by pulling back or pushing forward the central switch, with LED indicators on either side indicating the current DPI level. DPI level presets are adjusted in the GHOST software suite, utilising discrete values for horizontal and vertical sensitivity. GIGABYTE have eschewed the more common rocker-switch design in favour of a slider that will move with very little force, at the expense of some solidity.

Mouse contours and shape encourages a claw rather than palm grip, but adapting either to the Krypton shouldn't be too much of an issue.



Both left and right sides of the mouse mirror each other exactly in all button placements; thankfully GIGABYTE aren't claiming ambidexterity without also backing it up by treating both sides equally. Located on the shoulders of the mouse are thumb buttons, both of which are large and clearly distinct from one another by feel. Both buttons are springy, with some distance between point of rest and point of resistance where button actuation begins. Below this position is a textured rubber thumb grip, lending aggressive styling and better control over mouse movement.



Forward and towards the bottom of the mouse is an illuminated profile selector switch - pressing once will activate the next available profile. If the profile switch on the left and right side are held together for 3 seconds the mouse will switch from left to right-hand assignment orientations (or visa-versa), otherwise only one profile switch is active at any one time.



The floor of the Krypton is one of its chief innovations: it's entirely removable and can be fitted out to use four ceramic casters rather than the usual low-friction Teflon variety. Under this base is a compartment for weights, and as you would expect the 8200DPI laser sensor is centrally located.



The Krypton utilises a compact USB connector and braided cable, both of which are of good quality. The connector housing is not particularly large, and should not obstruct neighbouring USB ports.

Overall, the mouse looks pretty good. The chassis and shell are of solid construction and there's no feeling of looseness or rattling which may have been a concern given the number of replaceable components. Initial reservations centre around the thumb buttons and DPI selector switch, but they may be fine in operation. We should also note that the construction of the outer layer from a number of surfaces inevitably leads to nooks and crannies, resulting in the accumulation of dirt and some cleaning difficulty without the liberal use of a small brush.


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