Any old mouse will do when you're playing a game like Thimbleweed Park, but for first-person shooters and esports titles, specs matter. Well, to an extent. Depending on how much emphasis you put on rated specs, Endgame Gear's new XM1 might be the best gaming mouse around. Or not.
Endgame Gear describes the XM1 as an "ultra-lightweight mouse that's tailor made for FPS gaming, packing the world's fastest response time at less than 1ms." It achieves this with a "patented analog switch contact algorithm," paired with a Pixart PMW 3389 optical sensor with a 50-16,000 cpi range.
Incidentally, Endgame Gear posted a short promotional video that shows the XM1 checking in at exactly 1ms, versus 8ms for the "average gaming mouse." Normally talking about 1ms versus under 1ms would be splitting hairs, but that's the name of the game here, so it's worth pointing out.
Anyway, as for that fancy algorithm that makes the 1ms or sub-1ms response time possible, Overclock.net asked Endgame Gear how it works, and posted the answer in a sponsored review.
"Analog Key Sensing Technology does not debounce at all. Debounce is something from the digital world. The switch itself however is still the same switch, causing the same bouncing as before, but the Analog Key Sensing takes sample snapshots at an incredibly high speed (very much like a scope) and the bouncing of the switch is summed into this analog sampling signal and therefore the bouncing is transformed into a mathematical function rather than a digital bounce (0/1), thus eliminating the need to debounce altogether," Endgame Gear said.
"This works similar to how different brightness levels are achieved for LEDs traditionally. LEDs are pulsed to achieve that, being always driven at their max brightness for small periods of time. The more times that happens the brighter the LED is perceived. Analog Key Sensing is the reverse of this and using true analog to actually see the ‘brightness’, i.e. the key level," Endgame Gear added.
Response time aside, the XM1 has been outfitted with "pre-selected" Omron switches. It has a total of five buttons (counting the mouse wheel with two-way scrolling), and is ergonomically shaped for right-handed users. Endgame Gear says its suitable for claw, palm, and finger grip styles.
The XM1 is available now £53.99 on OverclockersUK, and $55.92 on Max Gaming.
