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Corsair Katar Elite wireless review: The new ambidextrous king?

The Corsair Katar Elite takes a stab at the big boys

Updated: Oct 19, 2023 10:51 am
Corsair Katar Elite wireless review: The new ambidextrous king?

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Historically speaking, Corsair hasn’t always done that well with their mice, but the Corsair Katar Elite seems like it might change that, so, let’s find out in our Corsair Katar Elite review.

Don’t get us wrong, Corsair doesn’t make bad gaming mice, but they never managed to compete against the big hitters like the Logitech G Pro X Superlight and Razer Deathadder V3 Pro, mostly because the price-to-performance ratio was always slightly off.

However, the Corsair Katar Elite Wireless retails for a very reasonable $79.99/£69.99/€79.99. If the Katar Elite can hold up to our testing, it might win a spot on the best gaming mouse page.

Corsair Katar Elite specs

Highly Recommended

Corsair Katar Elite Wireless gaming mouse

Corsair Katar Elite Wireless gaming mouse

Sensor

Corsair Marksman

Max DPI

26,000

Weight

69g (nice)/2.4lbs

Buttons

6

Switches

OMRON mechanical

Pros
  • Excellent comfort for fingertip grip users
  • Lightweight
  • Accurate and reliable sensor
Cons
  • Uncomfortable for palm or claw grip users
  • Scroll wheel isn’t tactile enough and the texture is slippery
Tech Specs

Sensor

Corsair Marksman

Max DPI

26,000

Weight

69g (nice)/2.4lbs

Buttons

6

Switches

OMRON mechanical

Handedness

Ambidextrous, right hand only thumb buttons

Battery Life

60 hours (lighting on), 110 hours, lighting off

Skates

100% PTFE

Max IPS

650

Connectivity

2.4GHz/USB Type-C/Bluetooth 4.2

What’s in the box & setup

  • Corsair Katar Elite wireless gaming mouse
  • 2.4 GHz USB dongle
  • USB Type-A to Type-C cable
  • Warranty guide
  • Safety information

For the last couple of gaming mouse reviews, we’ve grown tired of the same unboxing experience as brands like Razer and Logitech have settled into an identical design, which was so secure and utilitarian that we’ve been consistently and painfully bored.

So, we were overcome with ironic delight when we received the Corsair Katar Elite because it was packaged really quite badly, finally giving us something new to talk about.

In contrast to the foam-padded, fully-immobilized packaging we’re used to, the Corsair Katar Elite comes in a thin box, kept still in a sort of origami-esque cardboard insert.

Still, by the way, is a strong word as you can feel and hear the mouse rattling around when the box is shaken, however, ours arrived in perfect condition, but it’s worth mentioning regardless.

This all sounds pretty negative, but to our understanding, the quality of the packaging can have a significant effect on the end cost of a product, which the consumer will have to shoulder.

So, Corsair has put the money where it counts? Allocating the budget to the product itself instead of mostly superficial presentation? Spoiler Alert: They have. Mostly.

The setup process was identical to all the other wireless mice for the last couple of years: Plug the dongle in, turn the mouse on, and download annoying peripheral software if you want.

Design

Coming up with a unique design has always been tricky when it comes to gaming mice, mostly because you can only get so creative while retaining a comfortable shape.

This unfortunately and inevitably means that there are only a handful of successful mouse shapes, copied from brand to brand with just enough differences to make sure no one gets their ass litigated.

This means that the shape of the Corsair Katar Elite is something we’ve seen many times before, with an ambidextrous sort of diamond/egg-shaped profile.

571A0136 Edit
Nice weight. Note that we occasionally got readings ± 2g, however, this is probably due to the scale and not the short half-life of a mouse

The most popular example of this shape is probably the Logitech G305, followed by the Razer Orochi, and of course, the Katar Elite’s predecessor, the Corsair Katar Pro.

Despite the aforementioned limitation, Corsair has done very well, implementing just enough little flairs here and there to keep the design fresh, most of these are all well and good, but one of them actually results in the primary downfall of this mouse.

For a while now, Corsair has been adding clusters of small tessellated triangles on their peripherals, which was most noticeable on the Corsair K70 Pro Mini Wireless gaming keyboard.

Corsair has used these triangles to design the grippy sections on each side of the Katar Elite, which works delightfully well, adding some well-need traction on a crucial contact surface of this mouse.

Unfortunately, they’ve also used triangles to make the texture on the scroll wheel, and this texture isn’t nearly deep enough to provide enough grip, especially if you use the scroll wheel to cycle weapons in FPS games.

Given the obvious competitive FPS players that the Katar Elite is aimed at, making the scroll wheel unideal for switching weapons seem like a design misstep.

571A0054 Edit

Additionally, the scroll increments have very little tactility, which made it woefully easy to scroll too far, again, causing annoyance switching weapons in FPS games.

Moving onto more positive aspects, we find the inevitable ‘// KATAR‘ on the left mouse button, a hallmark of recent Corsair peripheral that we really like. Behind this, on the palm section of the mouse, we find the sails logo, illuminated with glorious RGB colors. Pleasingly, we’ve yet to see the return of Corsair’s tramp tamp logo, thank god.

It’s worth noting here, that while the design is excellent for fingertip grip users and adequate for claw grip types, those with a predilection to palm grip should steer well clear. If you accidentally palm this mouse you’ll notice it digging annoyingly into the center of your palm.

NOW READ: What different mouse grips are there?

As with all egg-shaped gaming mice, the top surface is wider than the footprint of the mouse, meaning that your fingers will have to curve around and under to grip the sides, and this profile is a little more aggressive than the G305 and Orochi. Some could find this too aggressive, but it was plenty comfortable for our testing.

Build quality

The mouse feels great, especially the textured sides, as they feel super premium, and we are confident that they won’t wear away too quickly.

Unfortunately, the top shell doesn’t feel as hard-wearing, and we suspect that it’ll shine quickly, similar to ABS keycaps. Aside from this, all is well in terms of build quality, with no rattles and only the occasional creak, and only when squeezed with the might of Zeus.

Unfortunately, the included USB Type-A to USB Type-C cable feels super bog-standard, with no fanciful braiding, it’s perfectly functional, however, and we think this is another example of Corsair saving money to make this mouse more accessible in price.

The same goes for the dongle itself, which is again, super standard. Additionally, it only protrudes a couple of millimeters from the USB port, making it, and the 69g/2.4lbs Corsair Katar Elite one of the best laptop mice around.

Additionally, like many of the lightest gaming mice, you can store the dongle inside the mouse itself via a little flap on the bottom, situated between the 100% PTFE feet, again improving portability.

Performance

We have no qualms with the performance of the Corsair Katar Elite whatsoever, with the sensor tracking flawlessly at all times. This combines with the 69g/2.4lbs weight to produce a flick shot dream, especially for fingertip grip users.

Additionally, the two extra buttons on the thumb side feel clicky and definitive. So if you’re a fan of binding abilities or grenades to these buttons for quick access, the Katar Elite is great for this too.

Battery life seems to match what Corsair promises too, we aren’t sure of the exact numbers, but it’s more than enough, so you won’t have to plug it in multiple times a day.

This performance is especially impressive when you remember the $79.99 price tag. As long as egg-shaped gaming mice suit you, this can go toe-to-toe with the big boys without issue.

Corsair Katar Elite Wireless mouse review: Final verdict

Corsair has done very well with the Katar Elite wireless, producing a high-performance, low-weight mouse that can perform far above its price tag.

The Corsair Katar Elite is comfortable, reliable, and looks great. While the unboxing experience is certainly on the budget end and the accessories are functional, but unimpressive.

It seems what corsair has done is save money in the right places, to deliver a great FPS gaming mouse that’s uncharacteristically affordable when compared to Corsair’s normal offerings, and we really like it.

Highly Recommended

Corsair Katar Elite Wireless gaming mouse

Sensor
Corsair Marksman
Max DPI
26,000
Weight
69g (nice)/2.4lbs
Buttons
6
Switches
OMRON mechanical


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