Sensor

PixArt PAW3327—a sensor I've tested in two mice before, and it still amazes me. It's based on Logitech's AM010 that became the PMW3320 before the PMW3325, and we are at the PAW3327 right now—I guess only PixArt knows what comes next. It's a cheap sensor I would even recommend for the highest levels of online (and offline) competition. It's raw and snappy without any added delay, filtering, or acceleration. Of course, it needs good firmware to behave like that.

The nominal maximum tracking speed and acceleration values are 220 IPS and 30G. Resolution can be set from 200 to 6,200 CPI in steps of 100 CPI. As for the polling rate, it's set to 1000 Hz (which translates to a response time of 1 ms) with no option to change it in the software for some reason. Lift-off distance is a tad high at about 2 mm (it tracked from a DVD in height, but didn't from a stack of two). Unfortunately, there's no option to lower it either because of the sensor's capabilities, so it's not a software mishap.

Paint Test

There is no jitter on the reasonable CPI steps, and I couldn't detect any sensor rattle or angle snapping either.

CPI Divergence

CPI divergence on the Pulsefire Core is quite funky to say at least. The measured values start off higher than the nominal ones, but this changes by the 1,600 CPI step as the divergence goes into the negative. I don't recall ever seeing such behavior and guess it can be fixed by a firmware update later on. It doesn't impact performance, however, as you can simply adjust your in-game sensitivity accordingly, and the reasonable CPI levels are still relatively accurate.

Perfect Control Speed

The nominal perfect control speed is 220 IPS, which translates to about 5.6 m/s, and this value seems accurate based on my swipes. I absolutely couldn't reach the sensor's PCS, which means I couldn't make it spin out in-game. Previously, one of the main issues with low and mid-range sensors was the low PCS, but the PAW3327 proves that high performance can come cheap.

Speed Related Accuracy Variance

This test shows the sensor's accuracy at different speeds. You can see me doing a fast swipe to the right before I slowly slide the mouse back to its original position. There is no measurable acceleration or deceleration.

Polling Rate

The polling rate is nice and stable and doesn't seem to have any periodic drops or strange outliers. As mentioned before, there's no option to change the polling rate as it's locked to 1000 Hz.

Input Lag & Smoothing

There is no measurable smoothing or any kind of input lag on the reasonable CPI steps, but it increases to about +1–2 ms on the highest settings—I would naturally advise against using the mouse on such a high sensitivity anyways.

Click Latency

Click latency is roughly +10.9 ms when compared to the SteelSeries Ikari, which is considered as the baseline with 0 ms. The data comes from this thread and my own testings. Testing was done with a Logitech G102 and the Core, using qsxcv's program. This value is a tad higher than average.