Shogun Bros Ballista MK1 8200dpi Pro Gaming mouse review

The mouse is an attractive design, very similar to some Logitech models I have used in the past. Due to the shape, it is not designed for left handed people.

We would class the body size as ‘average' – meaning it will suit a wide audience.

The front of the mouse is home to the company logo/name and product name. They are using an ‘army' style font for the Ballista MK1. As you may have realised already, there is sadly no weighting system incorporated into the chassis.

Shogun Bros haven't opted for a radical new mouse design, the curved shape of the chassis is immediately comfortable and suited both my ‘larger than average' hands and my colleagues ‘smaller than average' hands.

Underneath are several glide strips to ensure light friction on a variety of game surfaces. Shogun Bros are using an incredibly high sensitivity 8,200 dpi laser system in the Ballista MK1 which should suit ‘hair trigger' gamers.

I liked the layout of the buttons although I really don't think there is any need to have text such as ‘WARNING: read instruction before use' plainly visible along the top of the mouse body. Not a huge issue mind you, especially as it can't be felt at all under the finger tip. LED indicators make an appearance close by.

The mouse wheel is very responsive and offers a little tactile feedback or ‘notches' when spinning. The chassis of the mouse is nicely textured, offering grip. I personally prefer the scroll wheel to be a little ‘tighter' in operation, but this is very much personal taste.

Along this side of the mouse are DPI sensitivity buttons and forward and back buttons, often used for navigation. The DPI buttons are just out of normal hand rest position, so you won't accidentally toggle them when gaming, but can easily access them if you want.

The mouse includes two silver/chrome coloured buttons marked ‘alpha' and ‘beta'. These can be configured via the software, which we will look at later in the review. Shogun Bros label these as ‘vacuum electroplating' on the box artwork. There really are just too many buzz words used in the marketing of this product.


The quality of the cable on the Ballista Mk1 is first class. The company call this ‘military fabric', which is another buzz phrase set to attract attention. In reality the cable is top grade. Enough said.

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