When it released back in 2020, the Makalu 67 was among the lightest right-handed ergonomic wired mice available at the time. Almost three years later, the Makalu Max sets different priorities: Not weight, but rather customizability is the focus. Most prominently, the Makalu Max comes with magnetically attached and thus swappable side panels. In its base configuration, the Makalu Max has the same shape as the Makalu 67, but with the side panels, a thumb rest on the left side or a ring finger rest on the right side, akin to the Mionix Naos, can be added to the mouse. In terms of execution, this works essentially flawlessly, and the ability to 3D-print one's own side panels is an added bonus.

Beyond this not particularly novel, but neatly done modular concept, however, the Makalu Max doesn't have too many things going for it. A selling point on the Makalu 67 still, the Makalu Max already is quite heavy in its base configuration at 107 g, which can be increased further by adding weights to the mouse. As always, I struggle to see the appeal of a weight system on a mouse that already is heavy enough to begin with. The issue with the Makalu Max in particular isn't so much the weight itself, given how competitors such as the Razer Basilisk V3 Pro or ASUS ROG Chakram X weigh even more, but rather how back-heavy the Makalu Max is, which has it feel much heavier in-hand than it actually is. This is no surprise, as a whopping 1000 mAh battery sits in the rear of the Makalu Max. Of course, one could argue that this is a worthwhile trade-off, as a larger battery equals longer battery life, but alas, that isn't the case. While the battery indicator found inside the software for the Makalu Max isn't particularly accurate or reliable, as the percentage given often changes randomly by several digits, it does provide a rough estimate at least, which is sufficient to give a rough estimate on battery life, too. In my case, this estimate amounts to roughly 10 hours of expected battery life with RGB lighting enabled, which is truly pitiful given the battery size. In fact, I have a hard time believing this to be possible, especially since Mountain cites up to 80 hours of battery, though no doubt without illumination. On the other hand, the Makalu Max does employ a dual-MCU design, coupled with two large PCBs, which certainly all contribute to an above average power draw. In any case, even if we were to play devil's advocate and say that the battery reading is just completely wrong, this wouldn't be an accolade for the Makalu Max, either. On the plus side, the Makalu Max charges very fast in relative terms, though due to the battery capacity, it'll still take a while in absolute terms. The charging cable is decently flexible, so playing while charging is possible without feeling too hindered by the cable.

In terms of build quality, the Makalu Max is on a decent level at least. When shaking the mouse, a rattle comes from one of the top buttons, which is quite loose and also has significant pre-travel. There is no creaking or flexing of the shell when squeezing, however, and actuating the side buttons by pressing below them is plain impossible. For the main buttons, Kailh GM 8.0 switches are used, which deliver the usual firm and snappy button response, but the feedback between left and right isn't entirely uniform, and there is some pre-travel, too. Huano switches are used for the side buttons, which are of generally good quality, uneven actuation and noticeable post-travel on the back button notwithstanding. The Makalu Max also comes with a so-called "sniper" button, whose placement is nearly ideal, but the stiff actuation limits its usefulness. An encoder from TTC sees use for the scroll wheel, which scores with low noise levels, but tactility isn't quite up to par, leading to overly light scrolling. I have little to complain about the feet, which are fairly thick and glide very well.

The biggest issues with the Makalu Max can be found in the performance department. While a decent bit of CPI deviation or a base delay of 1 ms in wired operation are hardly optimal, these can be forgiven. The main issue is polling stability. In wired mode, only 1000 Hz is fully stable, whereas all polling rates below 1000 Hz are essentially broken. In wireless mode, polling rates below 1000 Hz continue to be broken, but on top of that, 1000 Hz is a mess, too. This applies regardless of whether illumination is enabled, and even affects general tracking, which likewise is a mess, and even latency suffers. In fact, due to the polling variance wireless motion delay is so inconsistent that I'm not even able to measure it properly, and click latency too shows very high standard deviation. In absolute terms, click latency is on a genuinely good level at least, clocking in at 2.3 ms in wireless operation. There is a catch, though: Within the software, a slider seemingly allowing one to adjust debounce time and therefore click latency can be found, but my testing suggests that this slider isn't functional and stuck to the lowest value. From what I can tell, the Makalu Max is using defer-type debouncing, so by increasing this value, eventual double-clicking could be alleviated at the cost of higher latency. The other possibility is that this slider merely concerns button-up instead of button-down time, or that eager-type debouncing is used, but in any case, it doesn't work quite the way one would expect. Likewise, lift-off adjustment doesn't seem to work either, as the "high" setting is no different from the "low" one. Most people will want the latter anyway, but this does underline that the software has its fair share of bugs, including several instances where settings aren't correctly retained between sessions. In addition, the software is quite resource-hungry, and a couple of processes will run regardless of whether the software is running.

Overall, the Makalu Max is not a bad mouse, and at $89.99, the pricing is quite reasonable, but I simply have a hard time making a case for it. The modularity is a fairly original and nicely executed feature, but the polling instability, weight, and seemingly lackluster battery life make it difficult to give the Makalu Max a recommendation. Fans of the Makalu 67 in particular may be disappointed that the Makalu Max is anything but a Makalu 67 Wireless. Here's hoping that Mountain will eventually deliver on that front.