Let’s get this out of the way right from the start; I am not professional gamer, nor am I part of a professional gaming community. So please keep that in mind as you proceed. Why do I feel compelled to point that out? Well, the Mad Catz R.A.T.TE (Tournament Edition) mouse is designed for the professional and competitive gaming community. It’s not meant for your more casual PC gamer. It’s probably not meant for me either but we don’t have any professional gamers on staff and my current mouse is getting kind of ‘ratty’ (see what I did there). So naturally I put up my hand when the opportunity presented itself to review Mad Catz’s latest mouse.
On Amazon the R.A.T.TE will cost you around $49.99 (at time of writing). The price point is not bad at all compared to some of Mad Catz other gaming mice which will cost you more than double to that of the R.A.T.TE. So right off the hop, I was impressed.
It’s a fancy looking mouse as well. The blue and black colours along with some of the Mad Catz branding is sharp. Granted my wife felt the mouse was a little tacky looking but I on the other hand feel the R.A.T.TE looks slick.
Out of the box, the R.A.T.TE is light. The TE weighs in at just 9og (without cable) which is considerably lighter than the more expensive R.A.T.7. This makes for a mouse that feels almost effortless when moving around and swiping. Granted the R.A.T.TE isn’t metal and doesn’t feel expensive like some of Mad Catz other offerings but the ergonomic design and plastic body makes for a nimble mouse that is easy to move about and just feels great. The fact it isn’t wireless is a bit of a letdown; however, the cord is a decent length and good quality.
The R.A.T.TE features a Phillips Doppler-laser sensor and provides reference quality tracking with speeds up to 8200 DPI. This will be a big deal for the eSports professional gamer out there as precision and speedy movements are kind of a big deal. For me, it is not so much of an issue. What I will say however is the mouse is precise and is incredibly responsive. I also found it to be deadly accurate as well. I can’t possibly imagine anyone being unhappy with the responsiveness and precision of the R.A.T.TE.
There are also customizable attributes as well. For instance, if you gently squeeze the retaining clip, you can slide the mouse shell backwards and forwards. There are three different length setting (5 mm, 10 mm and 15 mm) to match your hand and grip. So anyone with big or tiny mitts can comfortably use this mouse. It also locks into place so you don’t have to worry when playing some of those shooters.
In addition to the adjustable palm rest, the R.A.T.TE has 9 programmable functions, and its 3 mode software profile allows gamers to assign three different custom gaming commands to each of those functions. Another cool feature is how you can adjust the power consumption. Gaming on the go can absolutely kill the power on your laptop. In response to this R.A.T.TE has different options that alter the sleep states and responsiveness of the sensor. Low power is ideal for gaming when you have limited battery life or for use in browsing or work scenarios. Full power is ideal for tournament gaming performance where you want to unleash the full capabilities of the sensor.
The R.A.T.TE is about as good as it gets when it comes to a gaming mouse that excels in the mobility, performance and precision departments. This slick looking light weight mouse won’t break your budget either and has all the customizations you need to stay competitive in the battlefield. If you are in the market for a new gaming mouse, Mad Catz has your answer.
