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We all get asked for technology buying advice from time to time – and KitGuru readers probably get asked more than most people. When a friend bought their kid a laptop for Xmas, the lucky child immediately asked its parents (nicely) for a ‘Gaming Mouse’. After doing their research, they opted for a GameMax Tornado – which cost less than £7.50 with free shipping from Amazon.
We were intrigued and asked if we could intercept the gift for a review before ‘Junior’ got her hands on it. No ‘Golden reviewer' sample with us for sure and with a price point just 50p above that of a Microsoft Basic Optical Mouse, we wanted to ask just one question: Is this mouse any good at all?
Shimmy up to your local peripherals dealer and slap £7.50 unto his desk. He’ll smile and hand you the Microsoft optical default mouse. If you go onto the sites of some major high-end peripheral companies and hit the ‘low to high’ pricing option for RGB mice, you will struggle to find anything under £30.
Enter GameMax.
Features
- Comfort ergonomic design
- Anti-sweat skin
- Coloured LED backlight, cycles through 7 colours
- Pro gaming sensor, 4 dpi profiles ranging from 800-2000
- Compact optical mouse with 6 buttons and noiseless scroll wheel
Specifications
- USB connectivity
- 1.5M cable length
- 6 buttons
- Resolution: 800, 1200, 1600, 2000 selectable dpi
- LED colour: cyan, blue, magenta, white, red, green, yellow
- Mouse colour: black
- Working voltage: < 5V
- Working current: < 250Ma
- Button mean time before failure: > 5 million keystrokes
- Dimensions: 120 x 80 x 42mm
- Net weight: 0.095Kg + 10g
Given the experience we had in the KitGuru Labs when we first got hands-on with the GameMax chassis, I'm not sure how surprised to be that this company can delivery very affordable peripherals. Let's get the packaging open and see what's inside.
GameMax ships the Tornado in a standard box with a foil metallic model name. The front reveals a blister-pack that shows the physical mouse, while the back has a small picture of the mouse, along with a basic feature + specification list.
Once you remove the mouse from the box you get a better look at its wide span and curvy design. It’s an ergonomic grip mouse for right-hand users. We didn't see any left-handed options online, so that could be a market GameMax considered in the future. The mouse itself is hard plastic with a rubberised coating. This sweat-resistant coating will assist with grip, but we know from experience that it will become scratched easily.
It only has a thumb groove down the left side so no love for the left-handed gamers. I have pretty large hands, so the bulky shape and broad span was perfect for me. There are two buttons on the left of the mouse that allow you to go backwards and forwards between pages on browsers, but appear to have no function in-game. The central button appears to have CPI embossed on the surface, but it actually lets you vary the DPI.
Certain parts of the exterior design have a smoky white colour. Those areas are where the RGB goodness will be emitted once the Tornado is plugged in.
The grippy shape of the mouse is just superb. The weight (or complete lack of it), tells you where the corners were cut, but you can't fault the exterior lines.
On the underside of the mouse we can get a nice look at what GameMax describes as a ‘Pro Gaming Sensor’. It is capable of tracking at up to 2000 DPI. As I've mentioned, you change the sampling rate by pressing the ‘CPI’ button, which could mean ‘Counts' per inch, instead of the traditional ‘Dots'.
The Tornado comes with a 1.5m long plain black cable. It's hardly fair to compare this with the soft, braided cables that most of us prefer, given the price. The cable looks cheap and feels cheap, but it worked during testing – and was so lightweight that it didn't interfere with tracking etc.
To summarise this mouse in a couple of sentences, we'd say that it has a simple design with a basic optical sensor that maxes out at 2,000 DPI and it's only designed for right handed gamers. We could also throw in that there is no manual as such, no software and the additional buttons are not programmable in the traditional sense. Even the RGB lighting pattern is fixed and there are zero macro/extra buttons.
Serious gamers cannot consider this mouse at all, but how many of the challenges we raised would be deal-breakers when it comes to the everyday user? Sure, gamers may struggle to win matches with a 2,000 DPI limit on tracking, but casual gamers may feel more comfortable with speeds closer to 1,200 – so the limited DPI could be less of a draw back than you might imagine.
This is a ‘no thrills' mouse, make no mistake. So, with that in mind, we set about testing its suitability for both gaming and general use.
The GameMax Tornado is really comfortable to hold and took no time for us to get used to it. It fills the hand quite nicely, whether palm or claw style, and there was decent click-feedback across all areas of the two main buttons.
Once the games began, we immediately noticed an issue. Our standard mat was ‘too hard' for the GameMax Tornado. It was also awkward to game on a solid table top and required a harder grip than we're used to using. However, when we switched to a large, soft mouse mat, the experience really improved and our grip-pressure returned to normal.
Having your fingers slip off your weapon when your enemy is trying to blast you into oblivion, is the last thing you want. GameMax appears to have suitable mats from about £4.50, which would certainly be worth looking at if you decide on the Tornado. To create a comfortable gaming experience, therefore, will cost you just over £10. It's not a lot, but you need to be aware of the additional cost necessary for a comfortable experience.
We also noticed a very slight wobble on a completely smooth surface, as if there's a fraction of a millimetre difference in the height of the pads under the mouse. We checked online and others seemed to have experienced the same issue. We're uncertain if this stability issue is at all related to the improved experience on a soft mouse mat, but the softer surface also made the mouse feel 100% stable.
These shots were taken in the dark, specifically to show off the RGB goodness of the Tornado. Remember, you can't choose a colour, the mouse just endlessly cycles through the possibilities.
.When judging a mouse for extended gaming sessions, I tend to focus on 3 things:-
DPI: Maximum and incremental range
Although the sensor tracking is smooth and functional enough on this model, 2,000 won't be enough for many gamers and the 4 fixed profiles don't offer enough customisation.
Buttons: Reaction rates
If great mice are ‘perfectly built mechanical keyboards with blue switches', then poor mice are the cheap membrane keyboards that ship as standard with office PCs. We were pleasantly surprised with the buttons on the GameMax Tornado. They reacted quickly and reliably. We experienced no issues with the wheel, but this is likely to be a weak point in the long term, especially if you're used to rapidly cycling through weapons while gaming.
Grip: Specifically, the thumb and finger zones along the side
Probably the single biggest difference in feel between a quality mouse and a cheap one. While the ultra thin rubberised coating works well when you first start to use the mouse, including thicker material or textured patters in key areas along the side can massively improve your in-game experience. This is one area where the Tornado could definitely have done better.
Gaming
Destiny 2 was the game where we first realised that a hard mouse mat/table surface would suicide with the GameMax Tornado. Once we switched to a soft mat, everything was fine. As an experienced gamer, I found that running the mouse on a soft pad at 2,000 DPI gave a pleasant enough experience. Target acquisition was good and shifting the point of fire between a multitude of enemies was straightforward. Overall, tracking and movement across the pad were accurate and the kill ratio was satisfying. In an open world Sci-Fi game, enemies will come at you from as far left & right as possible, so you need to be extremely agile, cycling through your moves as fast as possible. You'd be limiting your character's ability to progress if you bought the GameMax Tornado and stuck with it, it will become a limiting factor.
Testing this mouse on one of my point-n-click/hack-n-slash/online favourites, ‘Swordburst 2’, I found that it did the job well. The reason why over 17 million people have hit this free to play game, is because of its focus on action. It's a positive click-fest. The GameMax Tornado handles the environment well and the lower DPI options aren't so much of an issue with most F2P games.
General use
If you buy this mouse more for ‘regular navigation', then you won;t have many complaints. It's no Logitech G500, but by the same token, it's not going to set you back tons of cash. If all you want to do is run apps and add a little RGB magic to your PC experience, then the Tornado functions well. Given the ergonomic design, it's certainly more comfortable to use than the similarly priced Microsoft optical mouse.
Overall, it’s an impressive little gaming mouse, with good tracking at 4 pre-set levels, but with a maximum upper limit of 2,000 DPI. We had no issue with the sensor itself.
Having RGB is cool, but most gamers will want a little control – even is that only extends to being able to ‘fix the colour' to match their set up. Gamers can expect a lot of customisation and we like to be able to change things. RGB customisation would be nice but we need to be realistic and factor in the price point.
Physically, the GameMax Tornado feels like a proper gaming mouse (albeit a very lightweight one). Artistically, the design is good, the finish is adequate and the shape is nice to hold (although it could be grippier overall). The addition of additional grip to the thumb and finger resting points would be nice.
Sure the ‘Features List' is minimal, but the price point of £7.50 means that the alternatives are products like the basic/clunky Microsoft optical mouse.
Search the larger online retailers and you'll find mice with higher DPI and even colour customisation, but those features come at a cost. If you want a gamer look-n-feel, coloured lights and a very low price, then the GameMax Tornado is pretty hard to beat. There was actually a listing for the Tornado at £4.48 on one store, but it was showing ‘out of stock' when we went to press.
Pros
- Optical sensor performs well in battle
- Pleasant RGB effect when gaming
- Surprisingly nice shape
- There is no competition at this price point
Cons
- Grip feels cheap
- RGB is fixed
- DPI is non-programmable/presets are limiting
- Not good on hard mouse pads or table tops
KitGuru says: There are tons of great mice in the world, but when you drop the price-bar down to £7.50, the number of gaming mice left standing is close to zero. If you wanted to buy a stylish looking mouse with RGB lighting – maybe for a noob gamer mate or a child – then you'd struggle to find a better deal than the GameMax Tornado RGB. On that basis alone, it's certainly worth buying.
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