Tt eSports Level 10 M Mouse Review

1. Introduction2. Tt eSports Level 10 M Mouse (1)3. Tt eSports Level 10 M Mouse (2)4. Tt eSports Level 10 M Mouse (3)5. Tt eSports Level 10 M Mouse (Super High Res Gallery)6. Software and Performance7. Closing Thoughts8. View All Pages

Thermaltake enjoyed plenty of success with their Level 10 computer chassis and it was only a matter of time before they expanded this range into other categories. The partnership with BMW Group DesignworksUSA has produced a new product – the luxurious, eye catching Level 10 M Mouse.

There is no doubt that the Level 10 chassis divided opinion. A portion of the enthusiast audience loved the radical, unique design ethic while others vehemently protested that the cases were not built that well and didn't actually bring anything new to the table. Whatever camp you happen to reside in, we would imagine the Level 10 M mouse will be interesting, at the very least.

Thermaltake have endeavored to release at least one mouse colour to suit every enthusiast. The Level 10 M Mouse is available in Diamond Black, Iron White, Military Green and Blazing Red. I specifically like the red version.

We received the black unit for review today which I would imagine will target the widest audience.

The mouse is uniquely designed with an ‘open structure' in between the top and base segments. It is height adjustable with a supplied tool and can also be angled via the ‘steering axis'. This design principle is said to improve user comfort

The Level 10 M is a programmable gaming mouse which uses proprietary software for fine tuning and adjustment. The polling rate can be adjusted, along with 7 lighting effect colours for those people who like to completely colour coordinate their system build.

Technically, the Level 10 M doesn't seem to make compromises with a software tweakable 8,200 dpi sensor onboard.

The Tt eSports Level 10 M mouse arrives in an attractive black box with a vertical side view of the mouse on the left side.

The rear of the box is stylishly designed with six key focus points such as the aluminum base, ‘air through' ventilation system and laser sensor.

The outer protective cover can be removed easily enough and underneath is the main box for the mouse itself.

We would recommend you remove this sticker by hand, and not slice down the middle with a long Stanley knife or thin blade. The top of the mouse is directly underneath this area and it would be easy to inflict damage.

The bundle is extensive. Tt eSports include a driver CD and a metal tool which is used to make adjustments. There is also a handy little transportation bag and driver/software disc as well as some flyers to highlight different colour schemes of the same mouse.

We recommend you ignore the software on the supplied optic disc and snag the latest versions direct from the Tt eSports website.

It is important that a protective cover is removed before using the mouse, this covers the optical sensor. Don't poke this with a sharp tool, use your fingers to carefully remove as you could damage the sensor.

Thermaltake are using aluminum in various sections of the mouse, an expensive material which is both durable and lightweight. There are Teflon feet underneath to improve movement on a quality mouse mat.

The Level 10 M mouse is elegantly designed, and curves nicely at the front. It measures 147 mm x 67.5 mm x 38.8 mm and weighs 185g.

The engineering quality is fantastic and all of the edges are smoothed so as not to cut skin. The top of the mouse doesn't feel quite as robust but they are using a different non slip coating material to improve grip.

First impressions of the mouse are certainly positive, there is no doubt that the engineering standards are excellent and it feels weighty in the hand. The only concern we could mention would be that it is a heavy mouse and it may prove tiring for smaller, weaker gamers to use for extended periods of time.

The aluminum base is curved to accommodate several buttons on either side, more on these buttons shortly.

I passed the mouse to a local clan team and most of them liked the claw and fingertip grip style. Several of the clan gamers felt that the mouse was a little heavy, which verified my initial feelings.

The mouse is around the same size as the excellent Razer Star Wars the Old Republic mouse, although it is slightly longer and will suit people with medium to large hand sizes.

The supplied tool can be used to increase and decrease the height of the mouse by 5mm. This means that a variety of hand shapes and sizes can be easily accommodated.

The tool can also be used on the side of the mouse, to tilt the upper surface right and left. There is a moderate amount of shift offered which can also be useful to cater to a specific hand shape and size.

There are a total of five buttons on the sides of the mouse. which can be adjusted via the software. The Z button can be used to adjust sensitivity and onboard lighting, on the fly. If the side buttons are an annoyance, the software can completely disable them. Just in case you find yourself accidentally pressing them more often than you like.

The top of the mouse has a left and right button, and a scroll wheel in the middle. This is textured for improved grip and one of the best scrollwheels we have used on a mouse. Various sections light up when the mouse is powered on. The DPI sensor is visible on the right mouse button in 1/2/3/4 settings.

The Level 10 M Mouse offers various colour schemes, if the default red colour isn't appealing.

The mouse cable is long and high quality braided. The USB plug is gold plated and has a cover which is attached to the cable, so it can't get lost if you travel regularly.

On this page we present some super high resolution images of the product taken with the 24.5MP Nikon D3X camera and 24-70mm ED lens. These will take much longer to open due to the dimensions, especially on slower connections. If you use these pictures on another site or publication, please credit Kitguru.net as the owner/source. You can right click and ‘save as’ to your computer to view later.

Thermaltake offer dedicated software and a firmware updater on their support site and our review sample was updated to the latest firmware version, which took only a couple of minutes.

The software can certainly not be said to be understated. It is glossy, high tech and very bright. I have to admit I don't really like the overly flashy interface, but it does the job well. There are separate panels for Lighting, macro settings, performance and profile management. The keys can be assigned in a panel on the right side.

The ‘Battle Mode' ties the LED lighting to your clicking activity. The faster you click the more active the lights on the mouse become.

The Light Option panels hardly needs an explanation and they can also be turned off if you don't like them.

The Macro Key Setting panel is useful for gamers, especially if you play more complex games which require access to key combinations on a regular basis, such as MMORPG's and RPG titles.

The performance panel offers a wealth of adjustments to the mouse, including fine control over dpi settings, double click speed, cursor speed and scroll speed. Lift off adjustment can be tweaked here, as well as the polling rate – up to 1000hz.

The X and Y sensitivity can be configured independently if this is important to you.

The DPI can be adjusted up to 8,200 dpi, which is extremely sensitive and way beyond what I would find useful in an everyday situation. Four different settings can be adjusted and saved to the mouse for immediate recall later. The Z button on the mouse can be pushed ‘forward' and backwards' on the axis to switch up and down settings without a need to load the software.

Gaming with the Level 10 M mouse was an enjoyable experience and while the open structure of the mouse may seem like a gimmick, we found that the temperature of the hand remained lower than that when paired with a general gaming mouse. The aluminum body also helps to disperse body/hand heat quicker than a standard plastic design so there are some real world benefits from this design.

A setting around 3,200 dpi worked well for me when gaming and when using a three 30 inch screen Windows work system. Any higher than 3,200 dpi seemed a little twitchy to me, but everyone will have a different view on sensitivity settings.

Lowering the resolution to around 2,400 dpi proved very useful in Photoshop and Illustrator when lower sensitivity is desirable, especially when creating Bezier curves for some projects. I configured the mouse for 800 dpi, 1,600 dpi, 2,400 dpi and 3,200 dpi settings. First Person shooter clan gamers may opt for higher settings.

All in all I was impressed with this mouse, it offers many adjustable settings and extremely high sensitivity settings for those split second online reaction games.

The Tt eSports Level 10 M Mouse is an attractively designed mouse, built with high grade metals and engineered to the highest standards.

The build quality is easily as good as the market leading mice from SteelSeries and Razer. If you like companies to use more metal and less plastic with your products, then the Level 10 M mouse will tick all the right boxes.

I used the mouse myself for the last week in various situations, and passed it over to a local clan team to feed back their findings. While they all commented on the build quality and heavy duty construction a few members said that the mouse was just too heavy and didn't prove ideal for ‘palm grip' gamers either. This is strictly a claw and fingertip grip style.

It is worth pointing out again that a 185g mouse is very heavy and it may prove tiring for some people.

The unusual design can help reduce sweating over long, intense gaming sessions and while it won't omit it completely, the use of aluminum seems to help transfer heat more rapidly than one incorporating predominately plastic materials.

If you need a very sensitive mouse, then look no further – with a maximum 8,200 dpi setting we are getting into the realms of ‘fantasy figures' now. I see no need for this kind of sensitivity but I am sure that some gamers will argue against my views. Even 5,000 dpi seems overly sensitive to me. I found myself using 2,400 dpi and 3,200 dpi settings most often with this mouse, across a three screen setup and when gaming.

If you want to buy the Tt eSports Level 10 M Mouse in the United Kingdom then be prepared to pay. Overclockers UK are stocking various colours for £89.99 inc vat. It is certainly expensive, but there are several mice from Razer and Steelseries in a similar price zone. The fact the Level 10 M mouse is made from aluminum to the highest engineering standards means that it is worth the money.

Just be aware that if you prefer a ‘palm' grip style and like a lighter mouse, then you need to look at other products. However, if you want something to catch the attention of friends and family then this definitely needs serious consideration.

Pros:

• Built to the highest standards.
• very sensitive.
• cool to the hand.
• height and tilt adjustable.
• excellent bundle.

Cons:

• Expensive.
• Heavy.
• not for palm grip gamers.

Kitguru says: A high quality product and worthy of the high asking price. Just be aware of the weight and grip style.

Become a Patron!