Keychron M3 review: This wireless gaming mouse does just about everything

Price When Reviewed

$49

Best Prices Today: Keychron M3

In their quest to make gaming mice as distinctive as potential, firms are developing with some fancy designs. But having an uncommon design doesn’t all the time translate into higher efficiency. I imply, who actually wants a mouse that appears like a Klingon mom ship, anyway?

Keychron, by comparability, has added simple, however fashionable gadgets to its most up-to-date peripherals lineup, championing practicality over flamboyancy and it’s good news for avid gamers. In truth, by homing in on the timeless fundamentals, these undeniably profitable options that make each gamer carry out higher, Keychron’s gear is de facto flaming-hot proper now.

Take the Keychron M3, for instance: It dispenses with a schmancy design, as a substitute displaying off a streamlined, light-weight, and cozy physique, stellar finger grips, and fast and responsive buttons—issues I really care about. It additionally sports activities a flawless 26, 000 DPI optical sensor, thereby including a really respectable degree of energy—and all for simply $49.

Keychron M3: Design

Wireless gaming mice can endure “heavy-mouse prejudice,” since all that helpful wi-fi gadgetry can weigh them down considerably over their wired counterparts—and each aggressive gamer is aware of it.

In truth, some avid gamers will keep away from them altogether, equating any further weight to worse efficiency—particularly for FPS video games the place pace is of the utmost significance. The Keycron M3, nevertheless, smashes that stereotype with its 79 grams feeling disarmingly gentle and fast—particularly given it has the total gamut of connectivity choices: 2.4GHz low-latency Wi-Fi connectivity in addition to Bluetooth 5.1 and wired connectivity by way of its USB cable.

Keychron

This one issue alone makes this mouse value shopping for, however should you want different causes, there are loads. The M3’s proportions are one other massive one, being simply good for any form of precision motion you care to do. It measures a well-proportioned 4.9 x 2.7 x 1.6 inches. While this gained’t imply a lot until you may have your ruler useful, try how properly it suits my hand within the picture beneath…

Dominic Bayley / IDG

I discovered there was no overhang on the entrance, so I by no means felt too squashed or cramped. Up prime, too, my digits weren’t too spaced aside that I misplaced any of my mechanical leverage or set off pace. Additionally, all six buttons on the highest have been all the time inside my attain, together with the 2 left-side buttons that may be awkwardly positioned in some mice.

The prime is noticeably tall, which is simply excellent if you wish to get down and tango in firefights with foes at lengthy vary. It nestled properly into the palm of my hand, giving me actually high quality management of motion down the centerline quite than from my wrist—so concentrating on was very correct and there was additionally little likelihood of me creating any painful RSI.

Then there are the grips and the customizable RGB lighting, each of which deserve reward. The RGB varieties a hoop across the base and contained in the mouse wheel including a pleasant contact of aptitude, whereas the grips are among the top, I’ve used. They appear to stay your fingers like glue, actually heightening your sense of management. Plus, I’m not going to lie, placing by myself grips out of the field may be as fiddly as hell, so it was an actual aid figuring out they got here molded into the gadget, proper out of the field.

Keychron M3: The buttons

Apart from the 2 left-side buttons, on prime you get two most important clicks, a sturdy mouse wheel, and an RGB button for switching RGB profiles simply behind it. It’s a well-recognized setup that may do properly for many of your gaming wants.

If I might change one factor, I might have switched the location of the RGB toggle button with the DPI toggle button on the mouse’s underside. Both are nice to have, however having the ability to swap DPI settings with out lifting the mouse is much extra useful than altering up how your mouse seems to be, when efficiency relies on it.

Still, thanks to those two buttons and an extra polling and connectivity mode buttons beneath, you’ll be able to change nearly all of the settings you want with out having to enter the Keychron Engine companion software program app—which suggests you’ll be able to keep gaming for longer.

Dominic Bayley / IDG

That stated, Engine M3 is nice little app that allows you to assign the entire M3’s buttons and make modifications to extra specialised settings like your mouse’s carry off distance—so it’s properly value a go to between video games, if you do really feel like taking a breather. A Windows 10/11 model of the software program is at present out there; nevertheless, Mac customers must sit tight for a Mac model to reach, which Keychron says will possible be in June 2023.

Keychron M3: Performance

The M3 boasts a PAW3395, a flawless PixArt-branded sensor that you just’ll generally discover mentioned on Reddit, and in different corners of gaming boards, as one the most effective round. A fast glimpse of its specs reveals why. I’ve bought to confess, I used to be tremendous wanting to attempt it out.

To summarize, it has a most decision of 26,000 DPI and a monitoring pace of 650 IPS (inches per second). A top-level acceleration of 50g, polling fee of 1,000ms, and adjustable lift-off distance of 1 to 2mm spherical out the drool-worthy attributes that avid gamers will love.

All issues thought of, I discovered it to be a killer performer, smoother and fewer labored than sensors just like the PixArt PAW3370 and PAW3335. It’s certainly going to make your precision gaming even tighter should you delight your self on hitting small targets. From spinning round to catch foes behind my place, to zipping my cursor as much as catch snipers dug into the peskiest tenting spots, it dealt with nearly each motion I attempted on it with no trace of lag.

Dominic Bayley / IDG

In truth, it’s so fast it looks like your crosshairs arrive lengthy earlier than your mind has time to register what the heck you’re doing, which suggests there’s loads of scope to enhance your responsiveness—particularly in video games like Fortnite and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II, the place microseconds could make an enormous distinction to your play.

The buttons, too, really feel very gentle and frighteningly quick. They’ll equally problem your reflexes for pace, seemingly solely restricted by how briskly you’ll be able to set off them. They characteristic Kailh G Master 8.0 Micro Switches, that are rated as much as a most of 80 million clicks—right here’s a mouse that may final you a really very long time, regardless of how a lot gaming you do per day.

Should I purchase the Keychron M3?

At simply $49 the Keychron M3 already appears astronomically low cost for a 79 gram, RGB gaming mouse with a 26,000 DPI sensor and twin wi-fi / wired connectivity. But what you get within the field ought to seal the deal should you’re nonetheless teetering getting ready to deciding.

While some gaming mice provide only a single dongle or wired USB cable with adapter, with the M3 you additionally get an additional dongle thrown in—so that you get each USB-C and USB-A dongles, plus a USB-C cable with a USB-A adapter and extension adapter. For $49 that is improbable worth and one more reason the Keychron M3 will undoubtedly simply zoom off retailers’ cabinets this yr, so it could be value snapping one up earlier than they do.