Software

The XM2w 4K comes with its own lightweight software, which does not require installation.

All settings are distributed across five pages. The first page has CPI adjustment for up to four steps at a range of 50 to 26,000 CPI, either by dragging the slider or inputting values manually, in the latter case of which any non-native values are truncated to native ones. If desired, defining x and y-values independently is also possible. In addition, settings for angle snapping (on/off), ripple control (on/off), lift-off distance (1 or 2 mm), and disabling the LED on lift-off are present as well. The second page includes polling rate adjustment (1000, 2000, or 4000 Hz in wireless operation). Upon being enabled, "MotionSync" synchronizes SPI reads with USB polls, albeit at the cost of up to an entire interval of added motion delay. "Motion Jitter Filter" is a newly introduced setting, whose purpose isn't entirely clear, though apparently it isn't CPI downshift, contrary to what one may expect. Furthermore, there are multiple settings relating to the buttons. The slam-click filter can be enabled to prevent accidental button actuation upon resetting the mouse. The multi-click filter can be adjusted for each button separately, and this determines the minimum click duration as part of the debouncing algorithm. Lower values will result in multiple clicks being detected upon a single actuation due to switch bouncing, which is why sticking to the default value of 8 is recommended. Finally, one can determine the setting of the SPDT (main button) switches, either to off, GX Safe Mode, or GX Speed Mode. GX Speed Mode changes how switch actuation works: instead of waiting for the spring leaf to hit the bottom contact, an actuation is registered upon the spring leaf no longer having contact with the top contact, reducing physical latency in the process. Both the GX Safe Mode and off settings retain the typical way the switch is actuated by waiting for the bottom contact to close, but GX Safe Mode acts as a hardware debounce by waiting for the leaf spring no longer having contact with the top contact along with the bottom contact being closed. The third page allows for button remapping—which is possible for all buttons but the left main button—to mouse, keyboard, or media functions, though the main buttons can be swapped by enabling left-handed mode. The fourth page has power-saving settings for both rest mode and deep sleep, which may be defined at a range of 1 to 120 minutes. Lastly, the fifth page includes a dongle pairing utility.

All settings changes can be saved to the on-board memory, so the software does not need to be running all the time. On my system, the software had a RAM footprint of 2 MB on average when running in the foreground, which does not change when minimized to the taskbar or system tray.

Battery Life

Endgame Gear cites up to 30 hours of battery life at 4000 Hz. The software includes a percentage-based battery level indicator based on increments of 5%, which is reasonably accurate and reliable. For every 1.5 hours of continuous use at 4000 Hz with GX Speed Mode enabled, the indicator went down by 5%. Hence, assuming linear consumption, around 30 hours of battery life indeed can be expected. Since the XM2w 4K utilizes the corded sensor run mode at all times, lower polling rates provide only marginally better battery life.

Sleep mode is entered after one minute of inactivity by default, but can be adjusted within the software.

Using the included USB Type-A to Type-C charging cable, I measured the charging speed during the constant current stage, which sits at 0.435 A. Curiously, the current starts at a lower level, and a different one for lifted and non-lifted, but continually increases until meeting the indicated maximum. The battery has a capacity of 335 mAh (3.7 V) and utilizes a 3-pin JST connector.