We spent a brief but concentrated week with the SABRE RGB PRO WIRELESS as our daily mouse for work and gaming, a little less than its wired sibling as we were already more than acclimated to the SABRE shape. There were still a few idiosyncrasies to deal with, particularly the installation and set-up process, but that was still plenty of time to be confident in our final conclusions.

In the SABRE RGB PRO review we remarked on the dissonance between the design’s large shape and its low weight. The wireless model is a practically identical shape, but being 10g heavier feels closer to expectations built up over years of using gaming mice of wildly differing shapes and sizes. And yet, it’s still surprisingly lightweight for a wireless mouse with integrated battery.

First impressions were somewhat mixed. Initial setup with the latest iCUE software went well but (as noted earlier) pairing it in Multipoint mode alongside CORSAIR’s HS80 headset proved to be a little tricky, requiring at least one restart before iCUE would happily detect both in wired mode and pair to a single receiver. Reverting back to separate receivers was easy however, and once set up transmission was flawless throughout.

Once again we were struck by the responsiveness of the QUICKSTRIKE LMB and RMB, both of which are pre-tensioned such that the button is sitting flush with its OMRON switch. This time however neither button developed the wobble present with the wired SABRE; it’s our hope that this bodes well for long-term durability in these two critical buttons, but time will tell on that score.

The side buttons are just as good as the wired SABRE RGB PRO, and a huge step up over the KATAR PRO and PRO XT. They’re large and responsive with clear separation between ‘front’ and ‘back’, and remained relatively crisp after some punishing hours of play in World of Warcraft. Their design might be best for gamers who have difficulty differentiating between the two side buttons, particularly those who are relatively new to PC gaming but want to play at a high proficiency level over time.

Its mouse wheel by contrast is unfortunately a step back. The wheel of the wired model wasn’t the best, but if anything its wireless counterpart feels even more like it’s slipping into place rather than rotating evenly with notches at regular intervals. That said, the middle mouse button itself has a satisfying click and the wheel doesn’t seem to be unstable when pressed.

In SLIPSTREAM mode with lighting enabled the battery life is adequate but unexceptional. Charging overnight every other day seemed like the sweet spot; pushing deep into a third day (>20hrs use) kicked in the warning lights, coaxing us to put it into wired mode anyway. If used exclusively for evening gaming sessions you can probably get away with a once a week charge cycle, particularly if you hold off on the LED lighting.

Sensor tracking and wireless signal stability was exceptionally good throughout our time with the mouse, and a far cry from the early issues present with the wired SABRE RGB PRO and RAZER's Orochi more recently. There was no skipping or stuttering, nor evidence of angle snapping, just smooth and reliable mousing.

Finally, expect some drag when using this mouse on fabric mouse mats. It’s lightweight but has a very large footprint that even a fully Teflon underbody wouldn’t be able to overcome, so temper your expectations accordingly.

Gaming

Some high-octane DOOM Eternal action was once again on the menu to test out the SABRE RGB PRO WIRELESS, but we complemented it with another fist-full of hours with GGG’s Path of Exile and a briefer period in World of Warcraft: Shadowlands[.

Initially, we set up the SABRE in Slipstream Multipoint mode to test for interference in either device when used for extended periods. We later switched to dedicated wireless modes for each, and set the SABRE PRO WIRELESS up at a USB polling rate of 2000Hz - not quite the 4000Hz or even 8000Hz its wired sibling is capable of, but still faster than the 1000Hz norm.

PoE and DOOM Eternal gameplay tested the quality and response of the main mouse buttons in particular, and we were pleased to note that the response was uniform throughout and sharp in the moment. A strong push-back on the QUICKSTRIKE buttons makes it hard to accidentally actuate when resting your finger on either, which is a definite plus given how tight to the switch each are held. Repeated quick clicks are registered effectively, while holding down either button doesn't encourage your finger into a rocking motion or slide it off the switch to prematurely disengage.

The DPI Stage switching button is very difficult to use rapidly in a regular palm grip as you’re reaching too far back, but is slightly easier in claw and fingertip grips. Judging the active DPI Stage by indicator LED colour took some getting used to but it's easier than the three bar solution used by the wired SABRE RGB PRO; it would just be nice to have a combination of the two - a single coloured indicator LED located towards the LMB's leading edge.

Just like the wired SABRE, lifting the mouse when necessary was a little more laborious than we would like. It needs to be gripped harder than the low weight would suggest due to a right side that angles away rather than inward; the glossy band running under the buttons and around the back of the mouse helps somewhat, but not in a way that we were comfortable relying on.

A few long sessions with WoW tests the effectiveness of the wider buffet of the buttons used with greater frequency or in regular rotations similar to MOBA gameplay, particularly the side and middle mouse buttons. In this instance they were very good, exactly as responsive as necessary with a strong return force. Forward felt slightly different from backward but the back button rollover we detected with the SABRE RGB PRO appeared to be absent. The DPI Cycle button was more recessed into the mouse than we would like for regular usage with remapped functionality, and probably shouldn't be relied upon as your '6th button' for MMO and MOBA gameplay.

The middle button also offers a stable, crisp click during gameplay, but the wheel was the opposite. Over time it developed an irregular feel in one or two notches across the wheel, and consistently seemed to be slipping into place during gaming sessions lasting more than 45mins. Rarely it would report a two-notch movement rather than one, which was a issue with weapon switching in FPS multiplayer.

So performance wise the SABRE RGB PRO WIRELESS left us feeling more confident than the wired version despite a slightly higher weight, and that's high praise indeed for wireless gaming, but some reservations remain.