The first thing I noticed about the HyperX Pulsefire Haste 2 is its visual simplicity. And then I realized that's because it is a simple six-button mouse. For a gaming mouse, it feels weird not to have more than just two extra side buttons. It's a fairly standard layout, and the buttons are definitely placed appropriately, but the mouse could benefit from another set below them. A symmetrical mouse with a distinctive honeycomb design, the HyperX Pulsefire Haste Wireless measures 38.2 x 66.8mm so it’s relatively compact, fitting nicely under your palm. There are several things the HyperX Pulsefire Haste 2 Wireless does better than the competition, and design-wise, those include the lit-up scroll wheel, which also doubles as an indicator light (it turns red when it’s running low on juice), and the USB receiver garage located at the base. As someone who is constantly losing those pesky things, the latter is certainly much appreciated.

The Razer Deathadder V2 is one of T3’s favourite gaming mice ever. While it is a lot heavier than the HyperX Pulsefire Haste Wireless, and it does rely on a wired connection, it’s also a lot cheaper than this which makes it very convincing. It also boasts 20K DPI and 30G acceleration. My everyday mouse pad is an Asus ROG Scabbard II, an extended, oil and water-resistant mat that is exceptionally durable since, between work and gaming with friends, I practically live at my desk. And while the Pulsefire Mat does allow you to get super-twitchy with your mouse, it's not quite as smooth as the Scabbard II. But I chalk that up to the Scabbard II having a special fabric treatment for repelling water and oil, which contributes to the surface of the mat feeling almost satin-like, and works very nicely with the virgin-grade PTFE skates. For what it's meant to be---a multi-function wireless gaming mouse compatible with an entire video game ecosystem---the Pulsefire Haste 2 delivers at an agreeable price tag. A Mouse for Comfort, Not FeaturesThe Pulsefire Mat comes in four different sizes (medium, large, XL, and 2XL), which is great for gamers who either want an extended mat they can use with both their mouse and keyboard or a traditional mouse pad. Though I do wish they had a smaller option available for folks who may not have large desks or game spaces, as the large version that I was sent measures almost 18 x 16 inches. I have a fairly large, L-shaped desk, and I still had to do some rearranging to get the Pulsefire Mat to fit in with everything. The medium version measures about 14 x 12 inches, which is much more reasonably sized, but still may be a bit big for laptop users or anyone who has a desk that's on the smaller side.

When I first took it out of the box, the first thing I noticed was, at just under 60g, the HyperX Pulsefire Haste Wireless feels incredibly lightweight and it’s only 2g heavier than the wired option. HyperX has used the honeycomb structure to keep the weight down so it's littered with large hexagonal holes. The internal mechanics are more exposed which might make you worry that it could be affected by dirt and dust in the long term, but HyperX has resolved that by making the mouse IP55 dust and water-resistant. This mouse feels well built despite being made entirely from plastic. Anyone who wants a simple wireless gaming mouse with plenty of battery life should consider the HyperX Pulsefire Haste Wireless. Comfortable and accurate, it's a pleasure to use, and the fact that it weighs less than 60g is a massive selling point too. It may feel a little bare-bones compared to apps like Razer's Synapse 3 or MSI's Dragon Center, but I much prefer the clean and simple configuration; Ngenuity doesn't feel nearly as clunky and obtuse as some other controller apps out there, which makes enabling changes to keymapping and lighting effects is much faster and intuitive. I also appreciate that Ngenuity doesn't double as a marketing tool for HyperX. You won't have to worry about pop-up ads for hardware or peripherals or pushy updates for news blogs you don't read. One thing I do wish Ngenuity would integrate better is tech support and troubleshooting. One of the best wireless gaming mice in the world right now is the Razer Viper V2 Pro. Granted, it’s a lot more expensive than the HyperX Pulsefire Haste Wireless but it’s slightly lighter, has 70G of acceleration and can reach up to 30K DPI. HyperX claims that the Haste 2 has around 100 hours of battery life. I've been using it as my primary gaming mouse for just over a week for work and play and I've drained down to about 65 percent of the battery so far. Chances are I could eke more time had I opted to turn off the RGB lighting on the mouse wheel. However, that doesn't affect the battery much, unlike the Glorious O 2 wireless which completely wiped out the battery after two days when the RGB was turned on. To be fair, that mouse has more RGB zones, whereas the Haste 2 just has RGB LEDs on the wheel.

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A feature that I appreciate is that the RGB lighting in the scroll wheel automatically turns off after about a minute of the mouse being idle. Not only does this help extend your battery life, but it also reduces potential distractions in shared spaces.

I found the switches on this mouse have a little more resistance to them than the ones on my Razer ones, but not to the point where they’re a little more fatiguing. In fact, most of the time, I don’t even notice that resistance. But, it is noticeable some of the time, especially when you’re gaming. To control the mouse's settings the HyperX NGENUITY desktop software is very straightforward to use. It lets you customise all sorts including the DPI, the RGB lighting, button assignments and you can record macros. One downside worth mentioning is that you can only set up one profile, which might be frustrating if you like to have different settings for different games. We've converted this review to Test Bench 1.5. This update adds a new Main Button test group, which provides button actuation data and switch information. We've also made minor changes to how we calculate the Office usage score. For more details, you can see our full changelog here.Setting up the HyperX Pulsefire Haste Wireless couldn't be easier - you just need to remove the USB wireless receiver from its garage on the underside of the mouse, plug it into your PC, switch it on and away you go. Having somewhere to keep the receiver when you aren't using it is a fantastic feature because it makes it easier to take with you in your laptop bag. We've converted this review to Test Bench 1.4. This update modifies our Hand Size Recommendation test, adding a more granular hand size recommendation chart. We've moved several minor tests into different test groups, removed the Travel usage, and added a new Raw Performance usage. For more details, you can see our full changelog here.