Packaging

The box is dominated by dark gray and orange colors, which is as you would expect from a Cougar product, of course. It definitely looks nice and sleek and is covered with render pictures and technical specifications. The front has a door that can be swung open and is kept shut by a patch of Velcro. Once opened, you can peek inside the box and check on your newest addition. A small user manual, four stickers, a card showing some other Cougar products, an extra set of mousefeet, and the mouse itself are the contents of the package.

Shape

Shape-wise, the Minos X5 is not very usual. It has an ambidextrous form factor with side buttons on the left side only, so it will mainly suit right-handed users. While the rear of the mouse narrows in and downward, the front side narrows out and upward, and has a quite significant hump in the middle. The result is a pretty unique shape that was surprisingly comfortable for me. Of course, what suits me perfectly might not be quite as comfortable to you since everyone is different and many of us have different preferences. Both main buttons have some very subtle comfort grooves, but it is easier to feel them than to see them.

I would say this shape will mainly suit claw and fingertip users, but again, my previous sentence may prove me otherwise. If you have below average hands, it might appeal to you for a palm grip as well. I am using some kind of a relaxed claw grip by the way.

Cougar's engineers have touched up the shell, making it slightly smaller than the previous iterations of the series. Size-wise, it is on the small end of medium. It is 120 mm (4.72") long, 65 mm (2.55") wide, and 38 mm (1.49") tall. These measurements are of the highest values of each dimension as the actual grip's width is more around 55 mm (2.17").

Comparisons

Here are some shape/size comparisons with other mice:


Cougar Minos X3


Dream Machines DM1 Pro S


Logitech G102


Razer DeathAdder