Performance

The Recon mouse was tested in a variety of games and with normal desktop work. The feel of the mouse is alright. It is a bit on the stubby side, which takes some getting used to, but the thumb/pinky finger groves make it alright to game with after you have acclimatized yourself to the mouse. Interestingly enough, CM Storm opted for a couple primary buttons with a very short travel time. These also take some getting used to, especially because of low actuation pressure and a rebound that is lacking in force. The Scorpion was also tested to see if the cord bungee could, once again, reclaim its spot on the desk.

Mouse

The mouse is based on what is probably the best sensor for gaming at the moment: the Avago ADNS-3090. It runs up to 4000 DPI in this configuration, which is more than enough for any die-hard gamer. Recon's gaming performance is really good, and tracking is impeccable once the Recon has been configured correctly, which is a little hard with CM Storm's software. Its original firmware gives the lowest lift-off distance on black surfaces. The difference between their new and old firmware is only 1 mm, but it does makes a big difference. The lift-off distance is adjustable, but CM Storm throws users a curved ball. Their software gives you the choice of an LOD between one and five. Most people will probably think that an LOD of one will give you the lowest lift-off distance available, but this is, even though it is pretty logical, not the case. Setting the LOD to five gives you the lowest lift-off distance and the best performance on pretty much all available surfaces.

Recon's tracking is perfect at the lower DPI-settings of 400 and 800. It is totally consistent and is, coupled with the low lift-off distance, a pleasure to game with; however, the higher you go, the worse it gets. There is, apperantly, a reason why Zowie chose to cap the DPI to 2300. Above 3000 DPI, it simply felt less precise on all surfaces it was tested on.

The Recon is rock steady with the polling rate set to 500 Hz, and it performs brilliantly with FPS games. A short spin in BF3 and CS:GO is enough to show the potential of this mouse. It is precise, consistent, and it can track very fast movements. That, coupled with a low lift-off distance, makes it a very nice mouse for FPS games. The Recon is probably OK for die-hard RPG gamers, but there are many mice that can do that perfectly for a lot less.

The shape of the Recon is a bit of a hit-and-miss. People who can actually grip it the way it is meant to be gripped will have a great experience, but comfortably using this mouse might prove a bit tricky if you have hands like mine that are larger than average. The Zowie mouse is far superior in this respect, since the way you grip it is not as highly dependent on the shape of the mouse.

Scorpion

The Scorpion is not as hardcore as its name suggests. It is cheaply made and does not offer a performance boost over running your cable along the surface and onto a tidy desk without any obstacles. The whole mouse bungee business is borderline gimmicky. Most bungee designs actually add more resistance to cable movement instead of just letting the cable slide across one's gaming surface, which is the exact opposite of what it should aim to do. It might make sense for someone using a soft surface with a mouse that has a braided cable, but that is only because sleeved, braided cables are a bad choice for mice.


This product only proves useful in very specific situations, and it is not that well designed to begin with. It can really only be recommended to those using a cheap, soft mouse-mat with a mouse that has a braided cable.