Though there are fewer options available for MMO mice these days, Corsair's Scimitar has always been among the more popular choices, albeit thus far, there have only been wired versions. The Scimitar Elite Wireless fills this gap, and while it isn't without flaws, most of these hardly matter for this type of mouse.

Of course, the most important thing about an MMO are the buttons. In terms of layout, the Scimitar Elite Wireless closely follows its direct predecessor, the Scimitar RGB Elite. Unlike the Razer Naga V2 Pro, which provides added flexibility by virtue of the side panel being swappable, the Scimitar Elite Wireless is restricted to a regular 12-button side panel. The side buttons are of generally good quality, although as is usually the case with these kinds of side panels, not every one of them will feel perfectly firm and stable, and some of them suffer from noticeable post-travel. Telling them apart is easy at least, as every other row has a riffle pattern, and for low illumination environments, the buttons are lit, although not as brightly as the rest of the RGB lighting. Some adjustability is provided by the fact that the entire panel can be moved back and forth, allowing to better adjust the Scimitar Elite Wireless to one's hand size. Somewhat interestingly, the shape of the Scimitar Elite Wireless has received some minor changes over the Scimitar RGB Elite, including the removal of the faux-thumb rest on the left side. At 113 g, the Scimitar Elite Wireless still is a heavyweight, though this isn't unusual among MMO mice, for which functionality always takes priority over being wieldy anyway. In terms of build quality, I have little to complain about on my unit, a rattle coming from an indeterminable source when shaking aside.

For the main buttons, Corsair has opted for optical switches from TTC. The main benefit of optical switches in an MMO mouse is their reliability. Unlike mechanical switches, which eventually start double-clicking due to the contacts bouncing, optical switches do not bounce and therefore do not require debouncing to prevent this. Accordingly, running the Scimitar Elite Wireless without debouncing (which is the default) is perfectly possible, as the only detriment to doing so is slam-clicking, i.e., the unintentional actuation of the main buttons by "slamming" (or gently repositioning) the mouse on the pad, and this isn't really something most people would do while using an MMO mouse, unlike FPS players. Without debouncing enabled, the Scimitar Elite Wireless musters a wireless click latency of 1.5 ms in wireless operation, which is highly competitive, especially for an MMO mouse. Enabling debouncing would increase click latency to 6.1 ms, but since debouncing isn't needed, doing so serves little purpose aside from getting rid of slam-clicking. In terms of click feel, the switches aren't quite as nice, as despite being quite firm and snappy, there also is certain dullness to them, which often is the case with optical switches. Still, actuation is light enough to allow for properly spamming the main buttons, though the "spammability" of a good mechanical switch is never reached.

The scroll wheel utilizes an encoder from TTC, which elicits high noise levels and little in the way of tactility, though this isn't necessarily a negative, as the ability to rapidly scroll is often more important for MMO games than controlled scrolling, unlike with FPS games. A rather curious omission is the ability to tilt the scroll wheel. Granted, previous versions of the Scimitar didn't have this either, but adding this would have been a good opportunity to up the button count, as more are always welcome on an MMO mouse. Another thing to note is the absence of a dedicated shift button, much like the absence of a dedicated shift function in the software. That said, after some fiddling around, I've found that iCUE is powerful enough to practically emulate this functionally through profile switching upon button press, which is decently responsive, although not quite on the level of Razer's shift function. Speaking of iCUE, this is where the Scimitar Elite Wireless can shine. No less than three hardware profiles are present, and since is iCUE is modular now, it no longer is as resource-heavy as it used to be. In particular, much fewer processes are running in the background now, which makes having iCUE running alongside games a less bothersome experience.

Unfortunately, iCUE still falters when it comes to giving accurate and informative battery readings, as all one gets are descriptions such "High," which are as non-descriptive as it gets. If we are to believe the numbers given by Corsair, the Scimitar Elite Wireless musters up to 120 hours in 2.4 GHz wireless operation, albeit without illumination. The battery has a capacity of 875 mAh, so this figure is within the realm of possibility, but given the lack of accurate battery reporting, I can neither confirm nor deny this. Charging is a mixed bag on the Scimitar Elite Wireless. The charging cable is noticeably stiff, to where a mouse as heavy and unwieldy as the Scimitar Elite Wireless feels restricted by it. On the other hand, charging is blazingly fast, topping out at more than 1 A over a USB 3.x port, which is virtually unmatched across other MMO mice (or most wireless mice in general). Given that even USB 2.0 is barely any slower, I'm inclined to believe a USB-PD IC has been used. In any case, while the charging cable being stiff isn't ideal, I would argue that it matters nowhere near as much on an MMO mouse as it would on an FPS mouse. The same can be said about the feet, whose glide is nothing more than decent, though on an MMO mouse, which is barely moved in the first place, this isn't the most important metric.

In terms of performance, the Scimitar Elite Wireless delivers on the usual level expected from Corsair. There is no CPI deviation at all, polling is stable throughout, and general tracking fine. At around 2 ms, wireless motion delay isn't particularly good, but given that the Scimitar Elite Wireless is an MMO mouse, this is less important then it would be on an FPS mouse. A more pressing matter is the omission of a wireless extender. Only the wireless dongle is included in the box, which is why it needs to plugged directly into a USB port. From a performance standpoint, this isn't too much of an issue, but since USB 3.x ports are known to generate noise potentially interfering with 2.4 GHz wireless transmission from devices in their close physical proximity, one would want to plug the dongle into a USB 2.0 port, which isn't even present any longer on many newer mainboards. Hence, the only solution to potential issues with connectivity would consist in buying a third-party hub or extender, and potentially having to do this certainly isn't ideal on a $130 mouse. These days, even $50 wireless mice often have extenders included, so surely, Corsair should be able to do the same. Lastly, as with every single Corsair wireless advertised as such before, 2000 Hz polling isn't real on the Scimitar Elite Wireless, as packets are merely duplicated to fake readings, though even this facade can't be maintained consistently.

Overall, the Scimitar Elite Wireless has its faults, but I feel most of these can be forgiven. Of course, the Scimitar Elite Wireless also looks better simply by virtue of competition not being particularly fierce. The Razer Naga V2 Pro is undoubtedly the better mouse, but is even pricier at $179.99, and those who only want an MMO mouse likely aren't too interested in paying for the extra functionality offered by the Naga V2 Pro. The ROCCAT Kone XP Air likewise is quite a bit pricier at $169.99, and more importantly, riddled with issues that render it an even less appealing option. The SteelSeries Aerox 9 Wireless too suffers from multiple issues, not to mention that the hole aesthetic for weight saving isn't something most people are interested in on an MMO mouse, and at $149.99 too costs more than the Scimitar Elite Wireless. This leaves the Razer Naga V2 Hyperspeed, which only costs $99.99, and indeed is the fiercest competitor of the Scimitar Elite Wireless, especially as it comes with the ability to tilt the scroll wheel, a convenient shift function, and even the option to switch between free-spin and tactile wheel operation. On the other hand, the Naga V2 Hyperspeed too lacks a wireless extender, and for those who like RGB lighting, the Scimitar Elite Wireless wins by default, as the Hyperspeed doesn't have any. All in all, the Scimitar Elite Wireless succeeds as an MMO mouse, and earns our Recommended award.