MSI Clutch GM31 Lightweight Wireless

[pzogel]

Aimed at budget-minded gamers, the $69.99 GM31 Wireless even comes with a dedicated charging dock. Wrapped in a 72 g, right-handed ergonomic package, the GM31 Wireless is also equipped with PixArt's PAW3311 sensor, Omron main button switches, and pure PTFE feet.

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[AnarchoPrimitiv]

Is $70 considered "budget" now?

 

[Chrispy_]

Is $70 considered "budget" now?

Nope.
Roccat Burst Core is $22 and is four grams lighter, despite the cable and it'll never run out of charge mid-session.

Is the Burst Core the best mouse ever? No
But it has

• an equally good sensor
• linear performance at a good range of DPIs
• no-nonsense drivers
• RGBLED
• onboard memory for settings and RGBLED settings without systray apps.

What more do you need from a budget mouse?

 

[KellyNyanbinary]

Why does TechPowerUp think $70 is budget?

 

[Synthwave]

I think it's pretty crappy (albeit usable), if you used truly nice stuff before, but lowering the LoD is easily achieveable with tapefix, meaning by covering the back portion of the lens with a piece of duct tape. It works like a charm; we used this back in the day, when mice didn't have variable LoD settings, and I still have it on my Ninox Auroras and Razer Viper Mini.

Why does TechPowerUp think $70 is budget?

Because in the field of gaming-grade wireless mice, it IS considered as budget. Awesome (high-end) cable-free models generally start at 90-100 bucks, and depending on the manufacturer, you can only go up from there. It's another story, that this MSI peripheral doesn't worth even that 70 in my opinion, because if you invest slightly more money, you can get a considerably better deal in every regard.

Also, have you been looking at prices lately? Not just for tech, but for everything else under the sun as well.

 

[pzogel]

Is $70 considered "budget" now?

Why does TechPowerUp think $70 is budget?

You'll be hard-pressed to find many wireless mice with an internal battery for less. Several offerings from Fantech for $60 come to mind, but those come without a charging dock. In fact, if we look at mice with charging docks in particular, these typically are only available for more than $100 (Razer Viper Ultimate from 2019: $117 on Amazon currently; ROCCAT Kone XP Air for $129.99). As mentioned in the review, Razer is selling a charging dock (without a mouse) for $69.99 currently. Even MSI's own GM41 Wireless with a charging dock debuted for $94.99, and that was two years ago. A very similar mouse being released for $25 less after two years of steep inflation is not a bad deal in my book.

In short, there aren't many mice going for the same (let alone less) without a charging dock, and factually none with one. Also, keep in mind that the Budget award is supposed to indicate great value, not the lowest price one could possibly think of.

 

[Baru68]

Man, sure goes to show how awesome the ergonomics of the Microsoft intelli mouse was from early 2000's. Keeps being reborn lol

 

[Chrispy_]

You'll be hard-pressed to find many wireless mice with an internal battery for less. Several offerings from Fantech for $60 come to mind, but those come without a charging dock. In fact, if we look at mice with charging docks in particular, these typically are only available for more than $100 (Razer Viper Ultimate from 2019: $117 on Amazon currently; ROCCAT Kone XP Air for $129.99). As mentioned in the review, Razer is selling a charging dock (without a mouse) for $69.99 currently. Even MSI's own GM41 Wireless with a charging dock debuted for $94.99, and that was two years ago. A very similar mouse being released for $25 less after two years of steep inflation is not a bad deal in my book.

In short, there aren't many mice going for the same (let alone less) without a charging dock, and factually none with one. Also, keep in mind that the Budget award is supposed to indicate great value, not the lowest price one could possibly think of.

I suspect most people are questioning use of the word "budget" rather than value.

This is a high-end, feature-rich luxury product, being that you pay at least quadruple for the small privilege of having a decent gaming mouse untethered. So yes, it's a great value, low-latency wireless gaming mouse, but that's like saying that the MSI 4080 Ventus is "budget" because it's one of the cheapest RTX 4080 cards. Nothing about any 4080 is "budget" though.

Realistically if you are a gamer on a tight budget and you're looking for wireless, there are $30 options from big names like Steelseries, Corsair etc, and a whole plague of $15 Chinese knockoffs on Amazon.

I agree with the "great value" review award, but I can also see why everyone is taking issue with the opening sentence to your post "Aimed at budget-minded gamers"; It's not aimed at them - it's a high-quality, feature-rich, high-end mouse costing four times more than you need to spend for a good gaming mouse, and at least twice the cost of several inferior (but perfectly decent) wireless mice you've reviewed in the past.

Edit-
Yeah, having a quick look through your list of reviews, the Steelseries Rival 3 and CM MM311 both seem to be "budget" wireless mice at around half the price of this MSI Clutch. I'm sure there are more decent wireless mice you've reviewed that can be found even cheaper than those two. Honestly though, if I was in the market for a new gaming mouse (wireless or tethered) I'd be tempted by this GM31. It's the shape I like, the charging dock eliminates having to remember to charge it, and the price seems reasonable for the performance and weight, even if I'm not limiting my selection to wireless mice only.

 

[Synthwave]

I suspect most people are questioning use of the word "budget" rather than value.

This is a high-end, feature-rich luxury product,

: D

It's really not.

 

[Chrispy_]

: D

It's really not.

It's always relative and subjective. For someone using a 3-button wired office mouse, even most $40 mice are high-end and feature-rich....

I was, obviously in context. phrasing this from those who disagree that $69 is "budget"

 

[Synthwave]

It's always relative and subjective. For someone using a 3-button wired office mouse, even most $40 mice are high-end and feature-rich....

I disagree tho. I mean being high-end and "luxury" are pretty objective terms, because they relate to the whole market, not just to somebody's personal experiences. The fact, that somebody only used literal garbage before, won't make something better than it actually is.