THIS MOUSE IS A REVIEW UNIT!
Specifications:
- Size: 119×62×38mm
- Weight: 40-42g
- Sensor: AIMNINJA 2 (Custom)
- Switches: Custom Mechanical (SPDT Switches)
Shape:
The shape of the Sora V3, in my opinion, is amazing for claw. My hands are around 18x9cm and it genuinely fits like a glove.
It goes from a slightly wide rear into a nearly straight side profile all the way to the front, with no noticeable front flare, which a lot of mouse shapes suffer from. There's also a rear hump, but it's not overly noticeable like on something like the Pulsar X2N mini. The main clicks sit low too, which just helps the mouse feel more natural. I personally don't like a high click height, it feels awkward to me, like I'm pressing air.
If I had to compare it to a similar shape, it's like a slightly larger Lamzu Atlantis Mini, or even a 1:1 of the MCHOSE L7 Ultra+, which if you didn't know is basically a clone of the Sora shape.
I think anyone with medium sized hands could comfortably claw the Sora V3, and if you've got larger hands, say 21cm+, it could even be viable with a fingertip grip just because of those straight sides.
All in all, the shape is great. For me it's up there with the OP1, a well thought out claw centric shape.
Weight:
The mouse is advertised at 40 grams, but weighing it on my scale with 5 dot skates it came out to 41g, and around 42g with full sized skates, so slightly higher than advertised. Maybe the white version is lighter than the black.
As for weight balance, it's great too. It genuinely feels perfectly central, as all mice should.
Build quality:
In the past I've heard about pretty dodgy build quality from Ninjutso, a lot of QC issues, but I'd like to say my copy (a reviewer unit) has practically no issues. No creaking, no rattling, no shell flex to mention.
Sensor & battery life:
I haven't extensively tested this in terms of hard numbers yet, but Ninjutso claim around a 53% increase in power efficiency over the PAW3950.
What does that mean for us as customers? A more power efficient sensor means better battery life, which means we can actually run higher polling rates without suffering a 1 day battery life. They claim about a week of usage at 8K polling, whereas with any other mouse I own, 8K lasts around 2-3 days with a few hours of gaming.
I tested this a bit with 8K polling on, SPDT enabled, and the optical engine on burst with competitive mode, and honestly the battery has held up well. My personal sweet spot is still around 2K polling though, since I don't have the system to make full use of 8K in terms of monitor refresh rate.
I've also seen people talk about firmware issues in the past. I haven't run into or been able to replicate any myself.
Switches & buttons:
The main switches are custom mechanical switches, which they call the SPDT HyperSwitch. The only thing I'm not a fan of with the SPDT here is that you currently can't enable it for just your left or right click individually, which can cause the odd miss-click on the right button. For anyone who doesn't know what SPDT switches are, they're basically more responsive switches with exceptionally low click latency.
As for feel, the main buttons are crisp, very tactile, and quite loud, don't expect something quiet or soft feeling. There's a moderate amount of pre-travel and a low amount of post-travel. Overall they feel pretty decent.
The side buttons are also crisp and tactile but not as loud, and they're placed well, my thumb naturally sits between them so both the front and back one are easy to reach.
The scroll wheel has well defined steps, is easily spammable, and light to press down.
Skates:
The stock skates are solid, though I didn't use them for as long as I probably should have since I wanted to swap to dots to use on glass. In terms of speed and glide they're well balanced and smooth.
Coating:
The coating feels great. I've never once thought this mouse could be grippier. Apparently it's also slightly improved over the V2, but I haven't tried that one myself, no complaints from me either way.
Performance in game:
This mouse feels exceptional to me in game. A few things come together to make that happen, but the two biggest factors are the shape, which I already covered, and the sensor position. When you grip the mouse, the sensor sits ever so slightly behind your thumb and pinkie, which makes micro adjustments feel more natural.
Every sensor position has its own tradeoffs, but for TAC FPS titles, which is mainly what I play, a central or slightly rear sensor position feels better to me these days.
Value:
The mouse costs $119.99. You might ask why get this over the L7 Ultra+, which is half the price. Fair enough, that's a great mouse in its own right. But you have to factor in R&D, the custom sensor, the custom switches, and so on, it all adds up. For me, it does everything a bit better, whether that's battery life, coating, or the SPDT switches.
I think it justifies it's price, of course if you end up rolling a bad QC copy, I can understand why you would feel otherwise.
