NZXT Avatar S "White w. Black Trim" Laser Gaming USB Wired 1600 DPI Mouse

Pros: Aesthetically, the mouse is great in picture or package**.

While there's no universal preference for ergonomics, I personally prefer the flat, slim designs. In that regard it's quite comfortable.

Weight, balance, friction and responsiveness are suitable for gaming.

Cons: Numerous design flaws. First off, the mouse started to die after a few weeks use, where it would completely lock up and power off mid use and the only solution is to physically disconnect/reconnect it. This became an increasingly frequent problem until it would no longer power on. As it turns out many people are having the exact same problem and it's likely a design flaw in the USB mini-HID implementation or even an electrical design flaw.

Secondly, (**) the mouse does not wear gracefully. The surface of the mouse is covered in a cheap rubberized grip compound that wears off surprisingly quickly. The grip compound also takes to dust and oil resulting in rapid discoloration. I do know this kind grip coating is common among gaming mice, but I really wish manufacturers would wise up to the fact that it always degrades the aesthetic lifespan. Finally, the plastic itself underneath could stand to be hardened against stains. After a month of competitive use it looked pretty ugly.

Other Thoughts: I've been building systems for over 20 years and I could literally fill books with stories of awful manufacturer support. That said, NZXT is probably the most incompetent company I've ever dealt with.

It took 2 months, a dozen phone calls, multiple e-mail exchanges, 3 online support sessions, an incorrect product replacement, being lied to, being completely jerked around and having NZXT not follow through on shipping promises -- just to receive a single product replacement. And that's the heavily abridged version.

It's worth noting that the actual shipping time between locations was exactly 2 days in all cases.

Additionally, the NZXT staff refused to answer as to whether or not the product failure issue had been resolved in the replacement I received, so I'm cautiously hopeful that I'll get a little more life out of this one, however I'm not going to waste another moment on another RMA should this one fail.

There are better, more reliable mice out there. Keep looking.

Manufacturer Response:

First of all, We want to thank you for being a customer of NZXT.

We also want to apologize for the defective mouse and service issue. Please contact us directly at 626.228.1150 to better serve you. We appreciate your feedback and will continue to strive to make our products better.

Once again, thank you for taking the time to let us know how you feel. We appreciate your business and truly want to make your experience as enjoyable as possible.

Pros: Accurate
Feels Great
Light (weight)
Lights (the bright things)

Cons: Gets dirty easily, but thats cuz its white... Its easy enough to wipe off

Manufacturer Response:

We want to thank you for being a customer of NZXT and we appreciate you taking the time to send your feedback and will continue to strive to make our products better.

Pros: Long, for those with big hands.
Crisp buttons and clicks.

Cons: Only 3 DPI settings, Needs to be more varied.

Other Thoughts: It's a great mouse. I read reviews of people saying this mouse was too light, and i have to disagree. I'm a palm gripper and my fingers are just long enough to reach the tip of the mouse, it's a perfect weight to glide across a mouse pad with ease.

Pros: its nice tell it starts messing up

Cons: The lazer on this mouse will stop working and NZXT still has not got to be about this problem. i got another cuz i like the feel of it.. but same thing again.. 2 for 2 same problem. the only way to fix it is to unplug it and plug it back in, it happens EVER time i put in my headset or turn or or off my speakers

Other Thoughts: Just go with something else as i will be very soon!!

Manufacturer Response:

I just wanted to thank you for being a customer of NZXT.

I also wanted to apologize about your experience with the Avatar mouse, give us a call and we'll replace it for you. We appreciate your feedback and will continue to strive to make our products better. Feel free to contact us if you have any other questions about our products. You can email our support center at service@nzxt.com or contact us directly at 626.228.1150.

Once again, thank you for taking the time to let us know how you feel. We appreciate your business and truly want to make your experience as enjoyable as possible.

Pros: Great control and goes really well with my Phantom case.

Cons: The mouse wheel keeps creaking! Also a little too light for its size, It would operate smoother if it was a bit better. The plastic feels cheap.

Other Thoughts: That creaking!!!! Its not a big problem but it does annoy me. I dont know if this warrants a return of the item or not but i thought i should mention it.

Pros: The mouse is comfortable, but the customer service was terrible and the original mouse had an common double click problem/failure.

Cons: They stated on their website that customers could return the broken first edition NZXT Avatar mouse to get a new one because it had a very common problem. The mouse would double click randomly and there was no way to fix it.

However, after many emails and phone calls they stopped communication and basically blew me off even though their product had a known problem and they said on the website they they could replace it was a working unit.

This new mouse probably fixed the double click problem, but the company handled the situation very poorly and basically lied on their website. Now I have a useless first edition NZXT Avatar mouse.

Stay away from this company.

Manufacturer Response:

Thank you for choosing NZXT. We apologize to hear of your inconvenience and we would like to take your matter in our responsibility. If you can kindly contact our support center at service@nzxt.com or call us at 626.228.1150. We hope to hear back from you very soon.

Pros: - Can change the NZXT logo LED to Red, Pink or Blue.
- Has two programmable buttons.
- Can adjust the mouse sensitivity.
- Is visually well designed, and fits comfortably in hand.
- A great mouse for the price.

Cons: - Is too light for my personal tastes. (Everyone has different preferences)
- Cannot change the blue LED under the mouse buttons. (but can turn it off)
- The LED will sometimes change to pink by itself. (You can turn it back to your color choice with the NZXT software)

Other Thoughts: I love NZXT products and own this Avatar S Mouse, a Phantom case and a Bunker USB device. The company makes quality products and I stand buy them. The only reason this mouse received a 4/5 from me is the LED changing to pink issue. it happened twice and seems to be a hardware issue.

Pros: - The mouse fits in your hand comfortably.
- Can change the LED to Red, Blue or Pink.
- Can use the NZXT software to customize your sensitivity.
- Visually nice looking mouse design.

Cons: - The LED will occationally change color to pink. (Easily fixed by going back into the software and changing it back)
- The mouse is too light for my tastes, though everyone has different preferances on weight.
- You cannot change the lights that are under the buttons, which are blue. (You can turn them on/off with their software)

Other Thoughts: I stand buy NZXT products and own an NZXT Phantom, NZXT Avatar and a NZXT Bunker.

Pros: This mouse is really nice, i am hapy i got it, a extra i did not know about is that the trim just under the bottons lights up for easy night finding, also was reading you can turn it off but not going to myself.

Cons: none.

Other Thoughts: cuz it is white you need to wash your hands before useing it too keep it clean.

Pros: Everyone still gives it an odd look, which is something that I wanted. The "Wings" specifically are a nice touch and lets the mouse be held farther back which yields greater pression.

The top strip is made of this comfortable grippy surface and the wheel well is easy to find.

Rather smooth glide on most surfaces.

Feels light with good weight distribution.

Cons: After about 3 days, the true nature of this mouse came out.

It's confused. The cool blue lights on the NZXT logo turned into a hot pink. While this looks cute all in all, it does bring to question the quality of the internal components.

Also the side button you end up having to press with your ring finger takes quiet a bit of effort and correct placement in order to press, so consider it really a four button mouse.

Other Thoughts: The DPI switch was a bit hard to find, had to consult the manual for this one (what, what is that?) but it was rather intelligently put in place using one of the buttons and the scroll wheel.

One other note though, the sides are not glossy and rather bumpy (I'm assuming for grip purposes), knowing this, you are committed to cleaning this mouse a lot more than you normally would. Specially if you do long gaming sessions.