In the past few months, many mice have released with the trusty combination of PixArt's PAW3370 sensor and the CompX CX52850 MCU: Pulsar Xlite Wireless, Fantech Helios Go XD5 and XD3 V2, Xtrfy M4 Wireless, and others. The SPC Gear LIX Plus Wireless joins this club, and while overall performance is very similar, some minor differences can be observed nonetheless. Much like the others, CPI deviation is appreciably low, general tracking fine, and polling entirely stable in wired mode, whereas in wireless mode, only 1000 Hz is fully stable, while all polling rates below 1000 Hz exhibit periodic off-period polls. Unlike the mice mentioned earlier, the LIX Plus Wireless lacks a wireless extender, which has a measurable impact on latency. Wireless motion delay sits at around 1.5 ms instead of 1 ms, and click latency in wireless mode is increased by 0.3 ms. Furthermore, due to a bug the 0/1 ms debounce time setting behaves the same as the 2 ms one, leading to click latency being 1 ms higher than it could be. While these differences are measurable, they are not necessarily noticeable by the average user. In practice, the lack of a wireless extender is more of a nuisance, as plugging the wireless dongle directly into a USB 3.x port may result in issues with wireless interference, which is definitely noticeable.

The LIX Plus Wireless comes with a 300 mAh battery. Depending on factors such as polling rate, RGB lighting, type of usage, and others, SPC Gear cites an expected battery life in the range of 40 hours. Since the battery charge indicator within the software isn't of much help due to being inaccurate and unreliable, I can neither confirm nor deny this figure. The battery charges somewhat slowly, which is relevant in that the cable isn't particularly flexible, making charging while playing a less desirable experience. Speaking of the software: Using this one is pretty much a necessity, since the default settings (500 Hz polling, 12 ms debounce time, 2 mm lift-off distance) are far from ideal and seriously hamper performance. Luckily, all the important options are there, RAM footprint is low, and the only bug I've found relates to the sensor smoothing toggle, which is not functional.

As a result of the added battery, the LIX Plus Wireless ends up weighing 9 g more than the wired LIX Plus. At 68 g, the LIX Plus Wireless is largely in line with the competition from Glorious, aside from having to rely on holes on the sides, which aren't everyone's cup of tea. The build quality is a bit better than on SPC Gear's last release reviewed here on TechPowerUp, the GEM Plus: The scroll wheel barely moves when shaking the mouse, and activating the side buttons by squeezing the sides is impossible. The shell is quite sturdy in general, despite the generous use of holes for weight-saving. Kailh GM 8.0 switches are used for the main buttons, which provide the expected firm and satisfying button response. Lateral button movement is kept to a minimum, and, unlike on the GEM Plus, the buttons don't creak when holding them down, either. The side buttons are pretty good, too, although the back button suffers from high pre-travel on my copy. While the scroll wheel provides good tactility and fairly low noise levels, it does feel somewhat flimsy. Lastly, the feet are of the generic black-dyed variety: not bad, but not particularly good, either. Thankfully, a set of replacement feet is included at least.

Overall, the SPC Gear LIX Plus Wireless doesn't have many weaknesses, and those there are can be excused by referring to the price. At $59.99, the LIX Plus Wireless is easily among the most affordable wireless mice of its class. In fact, only the Fantech Helios Go XD5 and Helios XD3 V2 can compete, whereas contenders such as the Glorious Model O/O- Wireless don't perform much different or better, yet go for $20 more. As such, the LIX Plus Wireless easily deserves our Recommended and Budget awards.

When looking at the competition, there are quite a few alternatives. For $99.00, the Gamesense MVP Wireless has fairly low weight yet no holes, great performance despite the lack of a wireless extender, and comes almost exclusively with unusually high-quality switches, but charging is quite slow. The $89.99 Fnatic BOLT scores with excellent performance, low weight yet no holes, and better mouse feet, but the side buttons aren't all that good and the software is plain horrible. The AQIRYS T.G.A. Alpha too goes for $89.99, has excellent performance, low weight, and a ridiculous amount of additional shell pieces for aesthetic and functional customization included, but the charging cable likewise is rather stiff. The $79.99 Glorious Model O Wireless scores in the click latency, weight, buttons, and charging cable department, but wireless motion delay is below par, and the software is a resource hog. Lastly, the already mentioned Fantech Helios XD3 V2 comes with excellent performance owing to its included wireless extender, good main buttons and mouse feet, but the side buttons are quite poor and the charging cable lacking in the flexibility department, for $59.95.