Even though the MM731 was riddled with performance issues at launch, it eventually matured into a genuinely good mouse. Unfortunately, history repeated itself with the MM712, which initially suffered from significant wireless motion delay in the range of 4 ms. Thankfully, Cooler Master has been able to correct this through a recent firmware update, bringing wireless motion delay down to 2 ms and in line with the MM731. While 2 ms isn't amazing, it isn't any worse than what the Pulsar X2 with MotionSync enabled or the Fantech Aria XD7 are able to muster. General performance likewise continues to be good: CPI deviation is nonexistent, general tracking fine for the most part, and polling stable throughout. Much like on the MM731, a wireless extender is included with the MM712, which not all mice in this price range have and thus deserves praise.

When it comes to click latency, the MM712 too manages to be competitive. When set to the lowest debounce time of 1 ms, click latency in wireless (2.4 GHz) operation sits at 3.3 ms, which is very good. There is an issue related to this, however. When using the 1 and 2 ms debounce time settings, so-called slam clicking happens quite frequently. That is, when dropping the mouse from some height, the main buttons will register a click without being actuated. This can even happen when repositioning the mouse, which is frequently done when playing and thus not a desirable behavior. To avoid this, a debounce time of 3 ms would have to be chosen, which in turns renders the click latency less competitive. The real question, however, is why any of this would be necessary, as optical switches such as the ones used by the MM712 don't require debouncing at all. It seems as though Cooler Master has opted for defer-type debouncing to get rid of slam-clicks at higher values, but this is a poor solution as it also increases latency for regular click (button-down) events. Competitors likewise utilizing optical switches such as Razer or ROCCAT solve this by implementing lift-off detection, which triggers higher debounce to prevent slam-clicking without delaying clicks when not lifted. I hope Cooler Master will follow suit if they plan to continue using optical switches.

Such minor technical deficiencies aside, the MM712 gets a lot of things right. At 57 g, the MM712 is seriously lightweight, and achieves this without resorting to externally visible holes or compromising build quality. My sample doesn't exhibit any rattle, creaking, or flexing of the shell, and the side buttons cannot be activated by squeezing the sides, either. The shell also doesn't feel hollow or flimsy, which is a testament to the quality of the structural design. Another noteworthy trait of the MM712 is the sensor position. Much like on the MM731, the sensor is placed as far towards the front as physically possible. This is a noteworthy departure from earlier revisions of this shape, which had the sensor more towards the back. Typically, a more front-oriented sensor allows for a wider wrist motion arc and thus may be better suited for those predominantly employing wrist movements. Ultimately, this is a matter of preference.

The main buttons are very good as well, as their response is firm and quite snappy, aside from some mushiness present on the left button, and most impressively, they don't have any lateral movement even if forced. The side buttons are a mixed bag: While the forward button has fairly low pre and post-travel and feels fine, the back button has significant pre-travel, and post-travel is pronounced to where the button can be pressed in until it disappears in the shell. Granted, some extra force is needed to do this, but a good design should prevent this from being possible in the first place. The scroll wheel is visually similar to that of the MM731, but a different encoder is used, which isn't quite as tactile but continues to elicit pleasantly low noise levels. Furthermore, the MM712 still has the same design the MM731 had, where the outer rubber ring sometimes moved independently of the rest of the wheel, resulting in the scroll wheel effectively not moving at all. While I never experienced this issue myself, this is an issue brought up by some MM731 users, and it's unfortunate that it remains largely unaddressed on the MM712. The feet are of the same type as on the MM731, and while not 100% pure PTFE, glide is just fine. Additionally, for those struggling with grip, a set of grip tape is once again included.

The wireless experience on the MM712 is pleasing. Charging is decently fast, the charging cable highly flexible, and while the battery life indicator doesn't allow me to gauge anything, I consider the battery life numbers given by Cooler Master to be within the realm of possibility at least, especially when keeping in mind that Cooler Master opted for a rather large 500 mAh battery. Speaking of the battery life indicator, the software gave me no trouble in terms of functionality, and the number of processes spawned by it too is under control. Resource-usage, however, is substantial, so it is probably best not to leave it running all the time.

Overall, the MM712 is not without flaws, but given the price point, the minor issues it has can easily be forgiven. This becomes even more apparent when looking at the competition. The SteelSeries Aerox 3 Wireless weighs more despite having holes, has worse performance, similarly good buttons, and poor battery life with RGB lighting enabled, for $99.99. The Xtrfy M42 Wireless likewise weighs more while featuring holes, has an adjustable back cover, similar performance, similarly good buttons, and no need for software, for $99.00. The Pulsar X2 and X2 Mini have a similar weight despite not featuring any RGB lighting or much of a bottom plate, have similar performance, and similarly good buttons, but struggle with quality control, for $94.95. Accordingly, the MM712 earns our Recommended and Budget awards.