For the longest time, Chinese gaming mouse manufacturers have struggled to garner much attention outside of their domestic markets, as quality and performance were often lacking. Recently, however, Chinese brands have been catching up big time, and VGN is one of these brands. The Dragonfly series is actually VGN's first foray into gaming mice altogether, yet manages to nail pretty much everything.

A unique property of the Dragonfly series is the capability to have true 4000 Hz wireless polling. This applies to all "Pro" models, and requires the $12.99 4K Smart Speed Wireless dongle as a separate purchase first. In principle, this works similarly to Razer's HyperPolling Wireless Dongle, although at less than half the price: After pairing the 4K dongle with the mouse, polling rates of 2000 and 4000 Hz become available in wireless operation. Compared to Razer, two inconveniences are notable: Whereas the regular dongle the Viper V2 Pro, DeathAdder V3 Pro, or Basilisk V3 Pro ship with are hard-paired to the mouse and will continue to work even after soft-pairing the mouse to the HyperPolling Wireless Dongle, the Dragonfly F1 Pro Max can only ever be paired to one dongle at a time, so after pairing it with the 4K dongle, the 1K dongle will no longer work until re-paired, and vice versa. Hence, easily using the same mouse on two different devices isn't possible. In addition, the pairing process is exclusively done by using a software called VGN Hub, which is entirely in Chinese. That said, the process is essentially self-explanatory and very convenient, so I wouldn't rate this as an actual negative.

Even in its regular (non-4K) state, the Dragonfly F1 Pro Max performs formidably. Equipped with PixArt's PAW3395 sensor and a Nordic nRF52840 MCU running a firmware from CompX, the Dragonfly F1 Pro Max performs very similarly to other mice using a CX52850 solution, some minor differences notwithstanding. CPI deviation is nonexistent, tracking great regardless of whether MotionSync is enabled or not, and polling is perfectly stable in wired mode. In wireless mode, much like on CX52850 mice, polling rates below 1000 Hz show instability, and to a greater degree even. Motion delay, on the other hand, is on an excellent level: Without MotionSync, a motion delay differential of roughly 0.75 ms to the G403 can be measured, which is increased by 0.5 ms upon enabling MotionSync. Click latency is improved over CX52850 solutions as well, mainly due to the fact that a debounce time setting of 0 ms now is actually 0 instead of 1 ms. As such, when using a debounce time setting of 0 ms, click latency in wireless mode sits at 2.4 ms, which brings the Dragonfly F1 Pro Max close to competitors such as the Finalmouse Starlight or G-Wolves Hati-S Plus ACE. That said, I did experience minor slam-clicking (i.e., inadvertent clicks upon "slamming" the mouse onto the desk, which can happen during regular play) at the 0 and 1 ms settings, so higher settings may be needed to prevent this, increasing click latency along with it. I'm also happy to report that unlike on CX52850 solutions, click latency is no longer increased or extended for the first click if buttons and sensor have been idle for 5 seconds.

Once 4000 Hz enters the equation, performance receives an unequivocal boost. Even at 1000 Hz, motion delay is lowered by 0.75 ms, achieving parity with the G403 if MotionSync is disabled. 2000 and 4000 Hz lower this even further, by 0.6 ms and 0.9 ms, respectively, and tracking stays on an excellent level throughout. In my testing, 2000 and 4000 Hz are stable, although I did encounter the odd outliers, which appear to be related to the occasional dropped packet. Unfortunately, polling stability at 1000 Hz and below leaves something to be desired when using the 4K dongle, as periodic off-period polls can be observed throughout, and at times, the instability reaches critical levels for unknown reasons. Hence, in conjunction with the 4K dongle, 2000 and 4000 Hz should indeed be used preferentially. Said instability at 1000 Hz and below affects click events as well, as 1000 Hz exhibits above average standard deviation, resulting in click latency varying from 1.8 to 2.3 ms with 0 ms debounce time. At 2000 and 4000 Hz, the variance is much lower, and click latency at 0 ms debounce time sits at 1.3 ms, which isn't quite on the level as the numbers Razer or G-Wolves mice are mustering at 4K, but a decent uplift over the regular 1K dongle nonetheless.

In a sense, the Dragonfly F1 Pro Max is specifically conceived for 4000 Hz polling, as the larger battery over the non-Max models allows it to reach good enough battery life even at 4000 Hz, which essentially quadruples power consumption over 1000 Hz. The battery charge indicator within the software isn't too accurate or reliable, but using some crude arithmetic, I'd estimate battery life to be around 30-35 hours when using 4000 Hz, and around 120 hours when using 1000 Hz. Keep in mind that the latter value only applies when using the included dongle, as when using the 4K dongle, the sensor is automatically set to the highest possible run mode (corded mode), which draws significantly higher current even at 1000 Hz. The battery has a capacity of 500 mAh, but charging is quite speedy, and the charging cable is decently flexible, so charging while playing without feeling overly hindered is perfectly possible. As a result of the larger battery, the Max weighs a decent bit more than the non-Max, although at 55 g, the Dragonfly F1 Pro Max still is among the lighter mice of its class, especially when considering that holes aren't used anywhere, and, unlike on the Pulsar X2/Mini or LAMZU Atlantis/Mini, a full bottom plate is present as well. In terms of build quality, my sample is also in a good spot: No rattle when shaking, minor creaking but no flexing when applying lateral pressure, and while the back side button can be actuated by pressing below it, doing so requires excessive force. That said, I did notice some imperfections on my copy: The fitting between top and bottom shell isn't flush in one spot, and the rubber ring on the scroll wheel is frayed on one side.

In terms of buttons, VGN has opted for Kailh GM 8.0 main button switches for this model, and Huano (blue shell, pink plunger) switches on the MOBA version. The button design is competent, as lateral movement is kept to a minimum despite a split-button design being used, and both pre and post-travel are kept under control, resulting in a firm and snappy button response. For the side buttons, Huano switches are used, and some post-travel on the back button notwithstanding, they are in a good spot as well, as actuation is even across the entirety of these, and actuation pleasing. The scroll wheel encoder comes from Kailh (GE 2.0) and provides fairly tactile scrolling, although noise levels are a bit higher than I'd want them to be. Lastly, the feet are made of pure PTFE and of good quality, and a set of replacement feet is included, albeit of a different size and shape.

Anyone who has used a CX52850 mouse such as the Pulsar X2/Mini, LAMZU Atlantis/Mini, or Fantech Aria XD7 before will be familiar with the software, which is the usual lightweight package from CompX. Bug-free, very light on resources, convenient to use, and including all relevant settings, the software is virtually perfect. Alternatively, the aforementioned VGN Hub could be used instead, but being in Chinese, resource-heavier, and identical in feature set, there isn't much reason to do so. The only exception are firmware updates, which are only available through VGN Hub. Accordingly, installing the VGN Hub at least once to get the latest firmware is recommended, though the original launch firmware isn't much worse (and better in some aspects actually), which is why doing so isn't absolutely necessary.

The Dragonfly F1 Pro Max is priced at $56.99 on Mechkeys.com, which is already substantially more affordable than the competition from Pulsar (X2, $94.95) or LAMZU (Atlantis, $89.99), and only receives competition from the Darmoshark M3, which goes for $49.99 and is roughly on the same level in terms of performance and quality. An investment of an additional $12.99 gets one the 4K dongle, which brings the feature set in terms of polling rate on par with the Razer Viper V2 Pro with its 4K dongle, while costing less than half, although performance isn't as good, either. G-Wolves's 4K offerings likewise aren't reached in terms of performance, but at less than half the price, an argument for the Dragonfly F1 Pro Max is easily made. Hence, in terms of value for money, the Dragonfly F1 Pro Max is virtually unmatched, to where the fact that support will be limited can be considered negligible. Accordingly, the Dragonfly F1 Pro Max gets our Editor's Choice and Budget awards.