Build Quality

Overall build quality is mostly solid. When shaking the mouse, a rattle comes from the left main button, which disappears when keeping said button pressed. When applying lateral pressure, slight creaking of the shell can be observed, mostly from the left side. Lastly, when slamming the mouse down, accidental clicks do occur.

Buttons

Main buttons on the Dark Core RGB Pro are good. Both pre and post-travel are very low, resulting in a snappy click response. The left one doesn't sit as tightly (lateral button movement), though, and the right one lacks tactility. Both buttons are separated from the main body. Button stiffness is light. Omron D2FC-F-K (50M) (China) switches are used for these.


Side buttons are very good. Both pre and post-travel are very low, resulting in a snappy and tactile click response. The pressure point is even across the entire button, too. This goes for both the actual side buttons and the two buttons right next to the left main button. Button size and placement is quite good as actuation is possible rather easily by rolling one's thumb over these. The two buttons next to the left main button are operated by very small tactile switches. Kailh switches (black plunger) are used for the side buttons themselves.

At the top of the mouse is a button for cycling through the three set hardware profiles. Its click feel is decent. A very small Kailh switch (blue plunger) is used for this one. The slider on the bottom of the mouse switches between wireless (2.4 GHz), Bluetooth, and off mode. It feels solid.

Scroll Wheel

The scroll wheel is excellent. It's quiet when scrolling either up or down, and the clearly separated steps result in great tactility. Actuating the middle (scroll wheel) click requires above average force. The encoder comes from Kailh. Another tactile switch is used for the middle (scroll wheel) click.

Coating

While the main buttons and the right side are made out of regular ABS plastic, the left side and the back are made out of some sort of hardened rubber-like material, which is soft to the touch and very grippy. Neither material attracts fingerprints, dirt, or the likes too much. Additionally, both are easy to clean, and there are no signs of wear left after doing so.

Button Sound Test

Disassembly

Disassembling the Dark Core RGB Pro is for advanced users only. First, the back cover needs to be taken off. Then, the two main-button top covers need to be removed. This can be quite difficult without breaking something in the process (in my case, the left cover piece broke at the bottom). Third, remove the bottom mouse foot (below the wireless/off slider) and remove the two screws beneath it. They're Torx T6, so you better have a suitable screwdriver (T6 or TR6) ready. Now, back to the top shell, where you need to remove two additional (Philips) screws. Finally, the top shell comes off, exposing the internals.


The design is incredibly complex. Let's break it down step by step. We got the side-button PCB to the left, which has all the side-button switches, connected to the main PCB (in green) through a ribbon cable. The smaller PCB towards the back only holds the back LED and is connected to another smaller PCB next to the scroll wheel, which holds another LED and the switch for the top button. This PCB is connected to another PCB below, which holds the scroll wheel encoder, wheel switch, and the left main-button switch. The right main-button switch, however, sits on the main PCB below, just to keep things interesting. Still following? The main PCB holds the sensor and the MCU. The main PCB and the front-button PCB aren't connected through cables but by a pin socket. I might have forgotten a PCB here or there, but this should cover the bulk of it. All of the PCBs vary in thickness, but they're mostly on the thicker side of things. The production date on most of them is the thirty-sixth week of 2019.

As for the soldering and general quality of the PCB, I'm unable to find any noteworthy flaws.