Sensor and Performance

The Ducky Feather is equipped with the PixArt PMW3389. According to specifications, the 3389 is capable of up to 16,000 CPI, as well as a maximum tracking speed of 400 IPS, which equals 10.16 m/s. Out of the box, seven pre-defined CPI steps are available: 400, 800, 1600, 3200, 6400, 12,000, and 16,000.

CPI Accuracy

"CPI" (short for counts per inch) describes the number of counts registered by the mouse if it is moved exactly an inch. There are several factors (firmware, mounting height of the sensor not meeting specifications, mouse feet thickness, mousing surface, among others) which may contribute to nominal CPI not matching actual CPI. It is impossible to always achieve a perfect match, but ideally, nominal and actual CPI should differ as little as possible. In this test, I'm determining whether this is the case or not. However, please keep in mind that said variance will still differ from unit to unit, so your mileage may vary.


I've restricted my testing to the four most common CPI steps, which are 400, 800, 1600, and 3200. As you can see, there is no deviation at all, which is a perfect result.

Motion Delay

"Motion delay" encompasses all kinds of sensor lag. Any further sources of input delay will not be recorded in this test. The main thing I'll be looking for in this test is sensor smoothing, which describes an averaging of motion data across several capture frames in order to reduce jitter at higher CPI values, increasing motion delay along with it. The goal here is to have as little smoothing as possible. As there is no way to accurately measure motion delay absolutely, it can only be done by comparison with a control subject that has been determined to have the lowest possible motion delay. In this case, the control subject is a G403, whose 3366 has no visible smoothing across the entire CPI range. Note that the G403 is moved first and thus receives a slight head start.


First, I'm looking at two xCounts plots—generated at 1600 and 16,000 CPI—to quickly gauge whether there is any smoothing, which would be indicated by any visible "kinks." Typically, the 16,000 CPI plot would show such "kinks" given the 3389 usually has 128 frames of smoothing at that step. But as you can see, tracking is messy to where it becomes difficult to tell anything. I'm not entirely sure what causes this, but as shown below, it appears to be related to polling becoming unstable at higher speeds:


For whatever reason, the issue is less pronounced the higher the chosen CPI step.


In order to determine motion delay, I'm looking at xSum plots generated at 1600 and 16,000 CPI. The line further to the left denotes the sensor with less motion delay. At 1600 CPI, there is no difference in motion delay. At 16,000 CPI, a motion delay differential of roughly 13 ms can be seen. This is in line with what to expect from a 3389, which has 32 frames of smoothing at and above 1900 CPI that is then doubled at 6000 CPI and 11,300 CPI.

Speed-related Accuracy Variance (SRAV)

What people typically mean when they talk about "acceleration" is speed-related accuracy variance (or short SRAV). It's not about the mouse having a set amount of inherent positive or negative acceleration, but about the cursor not traveling the same distance if the mouse is moved the same physical distance at different speeds. The easiest way to test this is by comparison with a control subject that is known to have very low SRAV, which in this case is the G403. As you can see from the plot, no displacement between the two cursor paths can be observed, which confirms that SRAV is very low.

Perfect Control Speed

Perfect Control Speed (or PCS for short) is the maximum speed up to which the mouse and its sensor can be moved without the sensor malfunctioning in any way. The tested speed was around 4.5 m/s, but it is difficult to tell due to the messy tracking. Either way, no signs of the sensor malfunctioning are in sight.

Polling Rate Stability

All three available polling rates (125 Hz, 500 Hz, and 1000 Hz) show periodic drops. These are present irrespective of the set RGB lighting setting.

Paint Test

This test is used to indicate any potential issues with angle snapping (non-native straightening of linear motion) and jitter, along with any sensor lens rattle. As you can see, no issues with angle snapping can be observed. No jitter is visible at 1600 CPI. 6400 CPI shows minor jitter, which is amplified at 16,000 CPI, though still fairly well-controlled owing to the massive smoothing at that step. Lastly, there is no sensor lens movement.

Lift-off Distance

The Feather allows for choosing between three pre-defined LOD levels. At the "L" (low) setting, the sensor does not track at a height of 1 DVD. Using the "D" (default) setting, the sensor does track at a height of 1 DVD, but not at a height of 2 DVDs (1.2<x<2.4 mm; x=LOD height). Using the "H" (High) setting, the sensor tracks only intermittently at a height of 2 DVDs. When using the "L" setting, I've noticed the sensor losing track when moving the mouse upwards in select in-game situations. It's entirely possible I inadvertently lifted the mouse during tense moments, resulting in tracking cutting off. Keep in mind that LOD may vary slightly depending on the mousing surface (pad) it is being used on.

Click Latency

Since mechanical switches are being used for the buttons in most computer mice, debouncing is required in order to avoid unintended double clicks. Debouncing typically adds a delay (along with any potential processing delay), which shall be referred to as click latency. As there is no way to measure said delay directly, it has to be done by comparing it to a control subject, which in this case is the Logitech G203. Click latency has been measured to be roughly +9.2 ms when compared to the SteelSeries Ikari, which is considered as the baseline with 0 ms, with standard deviation being 1.57 ms. Please keep in mind that the measured value is not the absolute click latency. Comparison data comes from this thread as well as my own testing, using qsxcv's program.