The Phantom Laser Mouse, one of Armageddon’s best-selling gaming mice is a great combination of design, ease of use, efficiency and affordability. This powerhouse boasts of many neat features, although most of them are also found in other competing products, it still managed to impress me when I tried it hands-on.
I’m not a hardcore gamer like others, but as a heavy computer user, utilizing a mouse’s capabilities has been like water for me when it comes to work and multi-tasking. I’ve used the Phantom mostly for work, creating articles, managing content and gaming (of course), and luckily, this product was able to meet most of my expectations. Here’s my thoughts on it, after almost two weeks of continuous use.
PRODUCT SPECIFICATIONS:
- Macro-able™ Laser Class Gaming Mouse with 256KB on-board memory
- 7-level CPI adjustment on-the-fly [Default 600/1200/2000/3000/4800/6400/8200CPI]
- Adjustable light effects and up to 24 colour options indicate profile selected
- 6 Buttons + 4-Way Click scroll [Save Up to 11 Macros (6+5) in each profile]
- Assign button of choice for switching between 5 different profiles
- CPI toggle switch for both increasing and decreasing CPI on-the-fly
- Adjustable polling rate: 250Hz-4ms/500Hz-2ms/1000Hz-1ms
- High performance tracking speed: up to 150 inches per second
- 6-level adjustable weight management system
- AVAGO Laser sensor: AVAGO 9800
- Ultra durable 1.8m nylon cord
- High quality Teflon foot pad
- Frame rate: 12,000fps
DESIGN AND FEATURES
At first look, the Phantom looked like a living creature to me. The moment I plugged it in, the light indicator at the bottom right glowed as if it’s breathing! The design’s not overly intimidating, rather, it gave me a feel like it’s ready, waiting for my palm to rest on it for several hours, and I took the bait.
Cover
The Phantom was designed with a rubberized coating for a premium look, something I look for in gaming mice; it also feels more natural than having a shiny plastic mouse coating. It’s also neater, since prolonged usage usually leaves palm and finger marks on the mouse cover– it could look quite dirty after some time. The sides are also rubberized so it provides more traction and control.
Light Indicators
Another very notable thing about the Phantom is its light indicators. The bigger one at the lower area can be easily customized to indicate your current profile, while the other one near where your index finger is supposed to be tells the user its current CPI level (by using the CPI switch just below the mouse wheel, you can easily change the CPI setting). You can also choose the color, light intensity and even pulsation from the mouse’s options. I couldn’t get a full grasp of this feature though, as I tried changing the light settings for one profile, and it didn’t make any change after clicking Apply and OK. If anyone’s willing to teach me more on this, that’d be great.
Buttons
In addition, there’s a huge range of available mouse buttons: the usual left and right buttons, a 4-way click scroll (mouse wheel), a left side button, and three reachable buttons near the thumb area. All of these are macro-able through the mouse’s settings, and profiles can be easily saved, imported and exported across supportable devices. The scroll left and right click were completely new to me, and sadly, I was not able to make use of them. Other than that, everything else felt native.
CPI and Weight Management
Precision and movement are also highly prioritized with the Phantom, thanks to its state-of-the-art AVAGO 9800 sensor (with control options between 600-8200cpi) and 6-level weight management system. Inserting metal bullets in the mouse pocket at the bottom area gave me options between speed and precision. The combination of these two had been a saving grace for me, especially when dealing a variety of things, from gaming (I was able to aim targets easier in MMOs and FPS games) up to the most minute details in design (cropping and vectoring images, for the most part).
USAGE
Size
First off, the size was too big for my hand, although the sample given to me was the second largest they have available. With that said, my finger couldn’t reach the mouse button at the left side. This though, shouldn’t be much of an issue if I used the correct mouse size for me. Ironically, despite it being large, it was not uncomfortable for me to use, and was able to deal with my tasks without much difficulty.
Durability
I couldn’t get the chance to make a drop test out of this (oh wait, this isn’t “that show”), but all I can say is that this mouse is definitely for heavy usage. Again, the rubberized coating and tractions took a big role here, and the nylon cord, almost extending up to 2m, looked durable enough to last a couple of months, even years. Unfortunately, I only have a couple of weeks to test this, so I can’t completely guarantee how this will fare in the long run. Even so, I’m putting my hopes on the better end of the stick.
Movement
It works well even on glass, though smoother, precision is not as accurate as compared to using it with a mouse pad. There were moments when the pointer shoots a few inches away where it should be. Also, I felt no delay with the mouse movement and clicks, if ever there is, it’s really unnoticeable.
Gaming
Gaming-wise, the macros were definitely a big help. I was able to equip a ton of button controls for my game. For instance, for a MMO game, I used the two mouse buttons at the upper thumb area for casting heal skills, while I assigned the lower button for switching between hotbars. In a different game, I assigned the leftmost button to instantly select units and the thumb buttons to carry out different commands across units, buildings and heroes. Changing the profiles were not a big hassle for me, I could switch between one game to another without worrying about using the wrong buttons in battle.
Work
The Phantom is also very handy for my daily tasks at work. The default profile was pretty straightforward, as it has the basic shortcuts assigned already. I did a few tweaks for it at one point too, for copy-pasting purposes, thus, saving yet another profile. It would have been a great addition if the lighting options were utilized; at one I forgot which profile I was using and ended up undoing a recent change instead of adding new content. Nothing trivial, but worth mentioning nonetheless.
IMAGES AND SCREENSHOTS
OVERALL
To sum it up, Armageddon’s Phantom Laser Mouse is capable enough to compete with other major brands in the market. It has control, flexibility, durability and comfort all packaged into one for interested hardcore gamers and heavy users out there. The product is readily available on their website, but if you’re living in one of these areas, you can try getting one at the store nearest you.
You can inquire about Phantom Laser Mouse or any Armageddon product through their sales hotline (6547-1611) or email (fellowship@armageddon.net).
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