Cooler Master Masteraccessory MP860 Review

👤by Weston Dakin Comments 📅10-10-18
Performance Testing

Setup & Observations

Getting going with the MP860 is as simple as any other other USB peripheral and just requires a spare USB port as well as space to place it on your desk surface. After that, you’ll likely want to download the software to fully appreciate what the MP860 can do.

In use, the MP860 does take some brief adjustment as it is considerably thicker than a traditional mouse mat. A normal cloth one will be around 3mm to 5mm thick whereas the MP860 is 10mm, this doesn’t sound like much, but in reality, that thickness is noticeable and does feel a bit odd at first. Earlier in the review we also brought up the rubber lip that borders the mat, this can rub against your wrist and cause a bit of irritation. On a more positive note, the lip does its job well and helps keep the mat planted even during some intense gaming.


Another thing we observed when utilising the cloth side was that there was a substantial amount less real estate than the Aluminium side. In our experience, we didn’t notice this interfering with regular or gaming use; though if your gaming style is a touch more vigorous then you could run into the side of it. Luckily it doesn’t bring your mouse to a dead stop, but there is a slight lip that your mouse could potentially run over. We also noted that the lip around the border of the mouse mat can cause some obstruction, especially if you like to use the full space of the surface. Again though, like in our experience this may be a non-issue, but it is worth mentioning. On the plus side though there is no large block, by that we mean the area of plastic which is usually reserved for the electrical components or in some cases a USB pass-through. This feature or should we say lack of feature is good as your mouse cable has nothing to catch against, thus there is nothing to impede its usability.

In regards to design and build the MP860 scores well, the design is subdued as it lets the RGB do the talking. The colour palette is predominantly colour neutral with the exception of the purple logo on the Aluminium side. This is great as it can blend with pretty much any style of gaming setup and not look out of place. In typical Cooler Master fashion, the MP860 is well made as the mat feels rigid and very well put together which is thanks to the materials choice as well as how its constructed. Cooler Master could have easily utilised cheaper materials, but they haven’t, and that does help contribute towards justifying the asking price.

Performance


As there are two sides to cover we’ll be breaking them down into two sections and covering each side individually as the experience they offer is different. First up is the cloth side, and in terms of quality it easily ranks up there with the best feeling we’ve encountered. The surface is smooth, soft and doesn’t have rough spots or other flaws in it. For testing, we used a Logitech G305, and a Hyper X Pulsefire gaming mouse and the result was impressive. The cloth surface has very low levels of friction and as a result is very fast which translates to impressive tracking of quick moving targets; this makes the cloth side ideal for fast-paced games that require you to be on your toes a lot. If you’re a fan of sniping or slower paced games that don’t require as much quick movement, then the cloth side is still usable but may require you to adjust your DPI to counteract the speed. That way you can accurately nail a headshot or carry out a task that needs that extra precision.


The Aluminium side is again smooth yet much more controlled than that of the cloth side. In our experience we noted that the glide offered by this side feels a touch more resistive and not as buttery smooth, this is a good thing though as it enables you to track slower moving targets or hit targets that are at a distance with more accuracy as you can make slight adjustments without overshooting your target. This is due to the characteristics of the surface making slower movements easier to control. For example, if you’ve got a target 500+m away, you can make minute movements to ensure that you get pinpoint accuracy. This can be achieved on the cloth surface, but would likely require you to drop your DPI to do so; whereas with the Aluminium side, you can keep settings the same.

In summary, the cloth is better for freedom of movement and for fast-paced action, whereas the Aluminium surface is all about precision which it offers without the need to adjust your mouse settings. Which side you use would depend on the type of games you play, but that is where the benefit is, you are free to choose without the need for two separate mats with two different surfaces.

Illumination


The RGB illumination on offer with the MP860 is good. Within the software, there are six preset effects to choose from as well as a custom mode where you can add any colour you want. This means you can go all one colour or pick a different one for each of the individual areas.

As for the illumination its solid, the lighting isn’t too bright as Cooler Master has gone for a more ambient glow, this works great as it's not overly distracting. The effects are well done and look very nice when utilised. Colours are vivid and have good levels of saturation as the whites aren’t too warm nor too cool, this means that they don’t have a heavy blue or yellow tinge which results in a white output that quite crisp and clean. The lighting around the border is very nice and full which creates a good amount of light spill across any surface its placed on. There is also the area around the Cooler Master logo which looks nice too as it helps to add a certain bit of flair to the overall effect. There is one issue though, around the area where the cable is located. There is no LED here which leaves a gap in the light fill, this isn't a deal-breaking issue, but it does have a small impact on the overall effect.



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