At the front of the ARCTIC M551, we can see the two large separate right and left buttons.

The scroll mouse wheel has a rubbery feel. It has notches and lightly clicks with a small tactile feedback. The clicking is very dull and, honestly, it sounds poorly constructed. The sound is soft and not intrusive, however. I like it regardless.


The front of the ARCTIC M551

As it was mentioned earlier, the two thumb buttons are located on the left side of the mouse. There is also a large plastic window that has three different LEDs beneath it. Each LED will indicate the current sensitivity of the mouse. As it will be discussed later, the mouse has three DPI settings: 800, 1600 and 2400.

One thing that you will notice for the picture below is how the left button is depressed compared to the mouse’s overall shape. This allows the second finger to snugly grip the button. You will also notice how there is a raised plastic section between the scroll button and the DPI button. Unfortunately, if your index is not raised enough (and with the current left button design that promotes fingertip or palm grip, your index will probably be flushed with the mouse), your finger will most likely hook this part. It is obstructive and a poor design choice by ARCTIC.


The DPI button and two thumb buttons of the ARCTIC M551. Notice the raised plastic section between the DPI button and the scroll wheel.

The ARCTIC M551 features a long 6 feet or 180 cm USB cord. The connector is not gold-plated, but it does not matter that it isn’t. The cable is your typical plastic coated USB cord.

Instead of opting with the mesh cable design that is popular amongst many gaming mice, the ARCTIC M551 features a “coated cord (that) eliminates line clustering”, according to ARCTIC. I am unsure what this exactly means, because the cord itself feels like your typical USB cord.


The 6 feet/180 cm plastic coated USB cord