INTRODUCTION

   I've always enjoyed playing strategy games (ever since the original Warcraft and Command & Conquer RTS back in the mid 90's) and that goes double for space ones (like Homeworld, Haegemonia and Sins Of a Solar Empire) so since lately we've been on the receiving end of several such titles (including Polaris Sector, Fleets Of Sol, Nomad Fleet and more importantly Ashes Of The Singularity and Battlefeet Gothic Armada) once again i decided to spend extra time testing gaming peripherals like keyboards, mice, headsets and even a few mouse pads. Now as many of you know it's been quite a while since i had anything by QPAD on my desk so we got quite a few things from them to test with the mentioned titles including the brand new DX-20 Pro Gaming Optical Mouse.

   QPAD built its success on a grassroots commitment to the gaming community. Like you, we thrive in the madness of competition and embrace the free spirit of gaming. Our sponsorship of the Q Tour, King of Nordic, events, communities, cups, tournaments, teams and LAN parties reflects this commitment. The knowledge we've gained has fed into our development of high quality products that deliver great performance and given many a winning edge.

   If you've been around for as long as i and some of the guys here have then you should remember the ergonomic Intellimouse 1.1 mouse by Microsoft released back in early 2000. Microsoft gained a serious following because of that particular line (that's also why they updated it a few times) so it was really just a matter of time before that specific design (overall) would also be used by several other brands in the market including SteelSeries (Sensei), Zowie (FK1) and others. The design of the DX-20 Pro Gaming Optical Mouse is also based on that of the Intellimouse 1.1 but everything inside reflects the best of what the industry has to offer today. So under the hood we find an Pixart/Avago PMW-3320 optical sensor (3500CPI/80IPS/20G/3.6MPS/5300FPS), ARM Cortex M3 32-bit processor, 128kb of onboard memory (used to store profiles) and OMRON switches for the primary buttons (rated for up to 10 million clicks). The DX-20 Pro Gaming Optical Mouse also features a thin layer of rubber coating (for improved grip), total of 7 fully programmable buttons and RGB (16.7 million colors) illumination system. The specifications sheet sounds promising so let's not waste more time in introductions.

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

Typically the mouse arrived inside a rather small box that has a product picture at the front along with the main product features and the company logo.

The specifications and features of the DX-20 Pro are printed at the rear in 6 languages.

Once the cover of the box is removed we see a message from QPAD.

A congratulations note by the founder of QPAD (and friend) Krister Kornback is printed on the interior.

The mouse is wrapped inside a plastic bag and placed inside a piece of soft foam (the rest of the bundle is placed in a cardboard section next to it).

QPAD ships the DX-20 Pro along with a soft carrying pouch and 4 replacement feet.

THE DX-20 PRO

Unlike some other gaming mice by QPAD (like the 8k) the DX-20 Pro is actually quite small and measures just 127mm in length, 65mm in width and 40mm in height while weighing roughly 98g.

Two programmable buttons are placed on the left side of the DX-20 Pro.

The company logo is placed at the rear end (as usual).

Two DPI selection buttons are placed just right over the scroll wheel.

Since this is an ambidextrous gaming mouse the right side is almost identical to the left (minus the two buttons).

The clickable scroll wheel is one of the quietest ones we've encountered to date.

At the base of the DX-20 Pro we see four large PTFE feet and the Pixart/Avago PMW-3320 optical sensor.

QPAD has also used a 2 meter long braided cable and a gold plated USB plug with the DX-20 Pro.

CONTROL SOFTWARE

The DX-20 Pro can be used without the control panel (basic functions) but i do recommend downloading it from the official QPAD support page as seen above.

The control panel features a special design so it has 7 colored boxes which represent various screens/tabs.

There's also a system settings tab from where you can check for new software and firmware updates.

From the buttons box you can program all 7 available buttons and from the basic settings box you can adjust the cursor/scroll/double click speed, set the desired sensor acceleration (off/low/medium/high) and enable/disable pointer trails (you can also have the cursor shown when you press the CTRL key).

Via the advanced settings box you can choose the number of available DPI presets (1/2/3), adjust the DPI speed for each preset, enable/disable and configure angle snapping and liftoff distance and you can also set the polling rate and perform a surface calibration.

You can also record macros via the macro rec box and set/adjust the RGB illumination color, strength and effects for all 3 available zones.

Here we're showcasing several of the available colors and also the ability to use different ones for each zone.

CONCLUSION

   It goes without saying but when you test as many products as people such as i do then you rarely ever really get excited over one but the DX-20 Pro Gaming Optical Mouse by QPAD did exactly that. Sure it doesn't have the plethora of buttons some other models do nor does it have an adjustable weight system and swappable parts but it's one of the most comfortable gaming mice I’ve gotten my hands on to date. Honestly when i first took it out of the box i thought it was way too small for my hands so right then i said to myself that QPAD would probably be disappointed by my review (and that wouldn’t be a good start after all these years) since I doubt I’d be able to properly use it. Well to my surprise my hand felt right at home when using it and although i don't know if it was because of its ambidextrous design, PTFE feet or the Pixart/Avago PMW-3320 optical sensor used (or all of the above) but the DX-20 Pro performed even better than some of my favorite (and similarly designed) gaming mice out there including the Sensei and the FK1. I do still believe that people with large hands may have a problem with the size of the DX-20 Pro but at least for small and medium sized hands it’s very comfortable.

   QPAD is considered to be among the “premium” gaming peripheral manufacturers in the world so naturally their products are not low-cost and with a current price tag set at 65Euros inside the EU (Amazon.co.uk) the DX-20 Pro Gaming Optical Mouse certainly does not come cheap (unfortunately we were unable to locate it inside the USA). Still we do believe that it’s worth every single penny not only because of its very comfortable design but also because of its quality components and amazing tracking ability which is also why it gets our Platinum Award.

PROS

- Build Quality
- Excellent Grip
- Very Accurate & Fast (Pixart PMW-3320 Optical Sensor)
- Ambidextrous Design
- 3 Available DPI Presets
- RGB Illumination With 3 Zones
- Control Software
 

CONS

- Price (For Some)
- USA Availability