A
small, ambidextrous gaming mouse
We haven’t seen a new mouse from Ozone
in a little while, but those we’ve seen in the past have been plump, hand-filling
beasts. The Neon, then, is a departure, as its slim ambidextrous frame
certainly isn’t what you’d call hand-filling. In fact, it’s one of the smallest
gaming mice we’ve seen. It’s an interesting tack, which could potentially make
the Neon especially attractive to any gamers with smaller hands, who are often
neglected in the gaming mouse world, as well as left- handed folks.
Ozone Neon
In terms of shape, the Neon’s sleek,
humpback lines bear an alarmingly stark similarity to SteelSeries’ range of
ambidextrous mice, most notably the $99.77 Sensei and the $63.19 Kana. This
isn’t necessarily bad – those mice have a good shape – but it’s also a style
that SteelSeries already does very well, and the Ozone doesn’t appear to
iterate on the design.
Also, the Neon was marginally less
pleasing to use when we tested it side by side with the Kana, primarily due to
the difference in size – the Neon just feels a little insubstantial in the
hand. This doesn’t mean it’s poorly made or flimsy (it isn’t), but it doesn’t
have a comforting size that you’re holding $83.14 worth of gaming peripheral in
your hand.
The two primary button have a
sastifyingly crunchy action
Functionally, the Neon is certainly
competent. The two primary buttons have a satisfyingly crunchy action and the scroll
wheel, while a little on the small side, has firmly defined stages to its roll;
we didn’t over or under roll when switching between weapons in our games
testing.
As an ambidextrous mouse, the Neon
also boasts a pair of buttons on either side of its body, and these are
positioned well. We didn’t find ourselves clicking the buttons on the far side
of the mouse with our ring finer or little finger by mistake.
It has on-the-fly resolution switching
too – as you’d expect – and the Neon also has the benefit of a 6,400dpi laser
sensor over the Kana’s optical sensor. However, dpi settings above 4,000dpi
require high levels of small movement control on the user’s part, rendering
them largely useless for the majority of gamers – only snipers with
ridiculously sized mouse pads could possibly benefit.
Ozone Neon
There’s a downloadable software suite
too, which is well designed, if unremarkable. Sadly, though, there’s little
more to say about the Neon, which is frustrating given its $83.14 price tag. It
all smacks of a lack of ambition, which is disappointing from a company we know
can do better.
Conclusion
The Ozone Neon is a solid, well-built
ambidextrous mouse, with decent buttons. However, it lacks the satisfying size
in your hand that you’d expect from a $83.14 mouse, and its basic physical
design doesn’t offer anything new or unique over established ambidextrous mice,
such as the SteelSeries Kana. If you have smaller than average hands, and find
other ambidextrous mice too big, then the Neon is a good gaming mouse, but its
small size will limit its appeal for anyone else. If you’re in the market for
an ambidextrous mouse, and you aren’t bothered about the size, the SteelSeries
Kana is cheaper, better looking and just as good for most gamers.
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Specifications:
·
Connection:
Wired, USB ·
Cable:
Braided ·
Material:
Plastic ·
Extras:
None
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