Feedback: Corsair Scimitar & Issues

I've been using the scimitar for several months, now. I want to say it's been at least 4 months. As the time approaches for me to need a replacement, I feel I should provide some feedback as to why I'm replacing this mouse, so that my experiences with it, and the money I spent on it, aren't altogether wasted.

 

I want to begin by saying that I love many things about Corsair's products, especially their durability and general sturdiness. For me, buying gaming peripherals has always been a battle between three companies, and in accordance to forum rules, I will not mention the names of those two other companies, but it shouldn't be too hard to guess what they are. When one company begins to fall short, I stop buying from them and pick another. Very cautiously. I have to say very cautiously because of issues that products tend to have, such as the issues that I've encountered with the Scimitar, which, honestly, has diminished my trust in Corsair substantially.

 

The biggest issue that I have with the Corsair Scimitar is its software. After using products made by competitors and using their gaming softwares to customize lighting and keybindings, using the Corsair Utility Engine is downright painful. If memory serves, I audibly screamed at least 3 times in frustration at how tedious and senselessly complicated it was to even try to bind my keys correctly, and even then, I wasn't sure if I'd had it right. Changing them is even worse. I could give detailed feedback here, but it would take so incredibly long. The Corsair Utility Engine is so extremely user-unfriendly that any consideration of changing my bindings or having to buy a new corsair product and go through this agonizing process again makes me want my old non-corsair hardware back. I wish I could provide screenshots and comparisons between the Corsair Utility Engine and other competing programs to show just what I mean; I may make a youtube video about it in the future. Trying to describe it purely in text is almost as much of a headache as actually using it; it's way too overcomplicated.

 

The second biggest issue that I have with the Corsair Scimitar is its physical design. The weight distribution and curvatures of the mouse make it awkward to hold. Using the mouse in the way that feels most natural, I experience the following issues:

• Pinky and ring finger feel too close together, and my pinky scrapes across the mouse mat. The space to the right side of the mouse generally feels very cramped.
  
• The thumb buttons are poorly spaced from eachother and their proximity to the bottom of the mouse causes my thumb to rub across the mouse mat. (This generally didn't bother me, but nonetheless is a problem, and certainly would begin to bother me in the future as I began to notice it more. It would also make the mouse unusable if I happened to cut the tip of my thumb, slightly to the left.)
  
• The sliding thumb buttons do not lock in place firmly, even after the bolt has been tightened. They inevitably become very, very slightly loose again, and over weeks of use, start sliding a millimeter or two out of place. This isn't severe, but it leads to consistency issues, where the mouse feels different 4 weeks from now and I only notice it when it's too late. To be absolutely honest, the whole feature of "setting your thumb free" and adding an unreliable, compact/cramped sliding thumb panel to a mouse seems a bit gimmicky and I've never really seen much of a point for it when several other companies are having great success with their standardized and consistent and well-spaced thumb panels already.
  
• The entire shape of the mouse causes it to fit very awkwardly in my hand, as shown in the following picture (apologies for quality):
  http://i.imgur.com/kfwWiCb.png
   
  The mouse to the right is my old Logitech G600 that I used for years and inevitably replaced, with the Corsair Scimitar. I slid each mouse around on my mouse mat until it felt totally natural and normal, like I was using them as usual. I then left them in their exact orientation and scooted them beside eachother. The Corsair Scimitar is facing several degrees to the left. This is because the curvature of the rear body of the mouse fits very directly between the muscles of my hand and causes the mouse to align incorrectly. Even switching to a claw grip, the strange weight distribution and curvatures (most prominently on the right side of the mouse) cause it to feel unnatural except when it is facing a few degrees to the left. I got the mouse for my girlfriend as a gift some months ago and she reports to me that she experiences the same orientation issues during normal use. Honestly, this seems like a pretty huge oversight. The issue, and many previously mentioned issues, could very easily be solved by raising the height of the mouse curves on the right and rear sides.
  
• The seemingly useless aluminum strip along the bottom of the mouse catches a LOT of dust and fuzz and debris, especially near the sensor. This debris has, on very numerous occasions, blocked my sensor and caused it to freak out and work very incorrectly, sending my cursor wherever or stopping it completely. I then have to turn the mouse over and attempt to rub the debris out of the sensor hole (harshly enough for the motion to dislodge it from being caught between the aluminum and the plastic), or use some sort of small pointed object to pick it out, which I do not like doing to my mice.
  

 

 

That pretty much sums up my feedback. Aside from those issues, the mouse has been sturdy, reliable, and pretty great. The RGB lighting is especially good on this mouse, and the colors translate generally very well from the individual RGB values in the Corsair Utility Engine to the actual colors of visible light produced on the mouse, which is more than I can say for some competitors. So there's that.

 

Unfortunately that's not enough to fix the other issues I've been experiencing.

 

Also, it might be a good idea to work on the internal designs for the 12-button side panel buttons. As with so many other MMO mice in the past, the keys (especially #2, which I use most) become squeaky and "squishy" for lack of a better term. They feel less and less crisp over time, and even begin to wobble more. If someone managed to pioneer mechanical keys small enough for a mouse, I'd pay a lot of money for one :biggrin:

TLDR but I agree, that this mouse has to be more ergonomic, and should cradle the fingers not push them off of the mouse. The design looks good but doesn't feel good. I am forced to hold the mouse sideways, it's the only way I can use this mouse. I think they should just make the ring/pinky finger rest modular and removable. and expose the front of the scroll wheel so that I can have my middle finger wrap around it if I want to...