GIGABYTE Aivia Krypton Review

👤by Tim Harmer Comments 📅03-02-13
Conclusion

After the high water mark that was the Osmium mechanical keyboard, Krypton mouse had a lot to live up to. Whilst having plenty of excellent ideas, it unfortunately came up a little short to that benchmark.

We can certainly praise the mouse for its ambidextrous design. Too often gaming mice are either subtly or heavily biased towards right-handedness, leaving left-handed gamers out in the cold. Even going to the extent of mirroring the profile switching buttons is great, and allowing quick-switching between left and right hand layouts is an intriguing addition in gaming households where a mouse is shared.

Perhaps it is in attempting to be the best of both worlds that the side buttons were overlooked. Although fully functional, the mechanical operation of the buttons is poor due to a long travel distance before actuation and springy rather than solid feel. In this, we also worry about long-term reliability, though poor experiences in this regard with this button style have been restricted to other manufacturers.

In a similar vein, the DPI switch at the crest of the mouse doesn't quite feel as sturdy as it might: forward and back movement is fine, but the impression that you can press the switch down doesn't always make you confident in switching. It would also be slightly more responsive if DPI changed upon actuation rather than release; a very minor concern to most by important to some high-end gaming where response time is crucial.

With that out the way, lets talk about the positives. Visual indicators of profile and DPI level for the Krypton are excellent, better than many other mice we've tested. The mouse wheel is also very good, both in a very good scrolling movement and just enough resistance and size to make using it as a button viable. It doesn't have tilt functionality, but in most non-MMO cases the functionality is overblown.



Weight customisation is also some of the most comprehensive we have seen, especially with regards to adjusting centre of gravity to suit left or right-handed preferences. Equally, allowing the choice between Teflon or ceramic casters is extremely rare, and will be a pretty large boon to those who flit between game genres.

We have fewer reservations about the GHOST software for the Krypton than the Osmium. It's serviceable if not quite top tier, and does suit the Krypton slightly more than its keyboard cousin. The macro engine itself is powerful, as is the ability to bind all four shoulder buttons and mouse wheel actions independantly, but it doesn't feature all the tweaking options we have seen on other driver suites.

Finally, we come to the Krypton Mousemat. Having approached it with a level of trepidation, we must say that we were pleasantly surprised by this dual-sided effort. It's ideally suited to pairing it with the Krypton mouse, and the speed which you can zip around the mat when combined with ceramic casters is exceptional; we can see the benefit many will find in twitch gaming. Those seeking a pristinely clean work area may be a little frustrated by how easily it picks up dust and grime, and how difficult cleaning the rubber turns out to be.



The GIGABYTE Krypton Gaming Mouse is a key innovating product for gaming, featuring a choice of casters to suit different gaming styles. Augmented by an ambidextrous design and weight customisation, it's a powerful tool for both left and right-handed gamers. Detracting points are the thumb buttons, which are too springy for optimum precision and response time, and slightly less powerful software suite compared to competitors. Some great ideas make it worthy of the Vortez Creative Award and a creditable Bronze Award.

Pros

+ Ambidextrous
+ Ceramic or Teflon casters
+ 5 Gaming Profiles
+ Clear at-a-glance profile and DPI indicators
+ Weight Customisation
+ One-touch left/right hand button remapping

Cons

- Weak shoulder buttons
- Price
- Software improvements needed to bring it to top tier

Tips

= Pair with a Krypton Mousemat or other dual-sided mousing surface to make the most of mouse features





Click here for an explanation of our awards at Vortez.net.




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