Build Quality

Overall build quality is solid. There is no rattle when shaking the mouse. When applying lateral pressure, minor creaking but no flexing of the shell can be observed. Activating the side buttons by squeezing the sides is possible for the back button, but requires excessive force. Lastly, accidental clicks do not occur when slamming down the mouse, unless the debounce time is set to 0 or 1 ms.

Buttons

Main buttons on the Dragonfly F1 Pro Max are very good. There is some pre-travel, but post-travel is low on either button, and button response firm and snappy. While the buttons are visually separated from the shell, lateral button movement is minimal even when provoked. Button stiffness is medium. A pair of Kailh GM 8.0 (80 M) switches switches are used.


Side buttons are very good. Whereas the forward button has low pre and moderate post-travel, the back button has moderate pre and low post-travel, leading to a mushier response by comparison, though still quite snappy nonetheless. The pressure point is even across the entirety of these. Button size and placement are good, as actuation is possible rather easily by rolling one's thumb across. A set of Huano switches (white plunger) is used for these.

At the bottom of the mouse is a single button for cycling through the set CPI steps, which feels fine. A seemingly unbranded tactile switch is used for this one. In addition, a simple on/off-switch is present, which works fine.

Scroll Wheel

The scroll wheel is good. Noise levels are elevated, but tactility is fairly good, providing decently separated steps and controlled scrolling. The encoder comes from Kailh (GE 2.0, blue) and has a height of 11 mm. The middle (scroll wheel) click requires high force for actuation. A seemingly unbranded tactile switch (cyan plunger) is used for this one.

Surface

The Dragonfly F1 Pro Max has a smooth matte surface all over. Grip is fine, and it doesn't attract fingerprints or dirt too much. It is easy to clean, and there are no signs of wear left after doing so. All in all, excellent materials.

Button Sound Test

Disassembly

Disassembling the Dragonfly F1 Pro Max is reasonably easy. First, the top and bottom skates along with the screws beneath them need to be removed. The sides are additionally locked in with clips, needing to be dislodged which is most easily done by wedging a credit card in. However, when doing so, make sure not to rip the cable connecting the PCBs.

The internal design is very efficient. The side buttons sit on their own, largely perforated PCB screwed into the top shell and are connected through a ribbon cable to the main PCB. The battery sits on a plastic assembly partially erected above the main PCB and screwed in with three screws. Everything else sits on the thin and compact main PCB, which is affixed to the bottom by two of the screws used for the battery holder and a single additional screw. The MCU is a Nordic nRF52840, whose datasheet is found here. The Bluetooth capability of the chip remains unused. Production date for the side-button PCB is the 16th week of 2023.


As for the soldering and general quality of the PCB, I'm unable to find any noteworthy flaws.