Corsair Sabre RGB Gaming Mouse Review

The Corsair Sabre RGB laser optical gaming mouse, with its unassuming look that belies its feature set, does better than the typical esports mouse. It’s smaller than it is, has good hand support, and allows you to change the DPI settings with a fast button combination. Facing concerns about the feasibility of 8000Hz hype rolling, the Sabre RGB Pro’s innovative concepts and sturdy fundamentals render it a notable esports mouse.

Corsair Sabre RGB Gaming Mouse Review

Design and Buttons

The Sabre RGB Pro is a normal, wired, 6-button gaming mouse in the grand scheme of things. Its nondescript, matte black, plastic chassis and two RGB lighting features appear downright boring, measuring a marginally shorter 1.38 by 2.72 by 5.03 inches (HWD). The Sabre RGB Pro has a standard button layout, with a scroll wheel, two press panels, and a DPI cycle in the middle column. It also has two large, boxy side keys.

You’ll see flourishes that indicate the Sabre RGB Pro is more than just an esports mouse when you look closely. For starters, it has Corsair’s three-hash indicator light scheme, which shows the current DPI configuration. The indicator light is also compatible with the Sabre RGB Pro’s real-time DPI correction. It allows you to adjust the mouse’s tracking by 50 DPI, which is a comparatively small number, by keeping the DPI period button and clicking the back or forward button.

There’s even a DPI reset button that restores the cursor to its original DPI setting. If you’re a gamer who regularly changes the pace of the cursor, this function may come in handy.

Then there’s the shape. The Sabre RGB Pro’s chassis bears little resemblance to an esports mouse. It isn’t too thin, and it isn’t a phony-ambidextrous form with insufficient hand help. On the other hand, Saber RGB Pro is a pleasure to possess for extended periods of time. Despite this, it just weighs 2.43 ounces. To achieve the low weight, several manufactures make their mice extra tiny or actually forge ergonomic designs.

The Sabre RGB Pro is powered by a powerful Pixart PMW3392 sensor that can monitor up to 18,000 DPI and is sensitive to 450 inches per second. That isn’t a significant improvement over a normal gaming mouse, but it’s more than I’d predict from an input system in its general, not-quite-budget price range.

Hyperpolling

It even seeks other opportunities to be witty. The Sabre RGB Pro supports up to 8000Hz “hype rolling,” which records mouse motions per 0.125 milliseconds. That’s eight times quicker than the average game mouse. Utilizing the maximum report rate feasible reduces imperceptibly tiny lag instances and results in faster, smoother cursor travel.

The disparity in polling speed between a standard mouse’s 1000Hz and the Sabre RGB Pro’s 8000Hz is so slight that it’s impossible to notice an increase. Hyperpolling, like the Razer Viper 8K, the only other mouse I’ve tried with 8000Hz polling, seems to allow cursor motions to feel significantly smoother. It’s difficult to determine. I haven’t seen a single instance where I think the 8000Hz update made a big change.

Meanwhile, there are several caveats about increased documentation. Since 8000Hz reporting on the Sabre RGB Pro needs more computing power than normal 1000Hz reporting, the feature has attainable, though not negligible, device specifications to function properly.

To use 8000Hz polling, Corsair suggests combining the Sabre RGB Pro with an AMD Ryzen 7 2700-Series or Intel Core i7 9700-Series CPU. To use 4000Hz polling, the organization also suggests an AMD Ryzen 5 2500-Series or an Intel Core i5 9400-Series CPU. To be sure, the mouse works on either system; however, using hype rolling with a less efficient processor can affect the overall output of your PC.

With those conditions, it may come as no surprise that hype rolling, also at frequencies of up to 2000Hz, does not operate on Mac. That’s unfortunate because Corsair is one of the only big gaming peripheral manufacturers that completely supports Macs, including MacOS-facing setup applications.

Though Corsair does not prescribe any other specifications, the standards go beyond the CPU. You’re more likely to see and experience the effects of hype rolling in high-frame-rate PC sports, which implies you’ll need a PC with a new GPU and a high-refresh-rate gaming display. While most PC gamers have rigs that suit that description, a ton goes into utilizing hype rolling. And, since the results aren’t observable or even guaranteed, I’m not persuaded it’s worth the trouble.

Software: iCue

Corsair introduced a visually reimagined variant of its iCue setup program alongside its Champion Series peripherals. The latest iCue, which was always one of the strongest PC peripheral setup applications, looks and sounds much better thanks to a bold presentation that includes a bigger mouse-map visualization. The workflow on the bottom third of the screen is transparent and intuitive, allowing you to generate unique inputs to allocate to the Sabre RGB Pro’s buttons. Long-time Corsair users may require a moment to adapt to the new app, but it shouldn’t be too difficult.

My only complaint about iCue, especially the Sabre RGB Pro, relates to the hype rolling device specifications. When you choose 8000Hz polling, iCue notes that you should have a “higher-end system” [sic], but no further specifics are given. When I approached Corsair, they presented me with the relevant suggested specifications.

Corsair stated that the notification would be changed and pop-ups would be added for the 2000Hz and 4000Hz settings, but that the updated versions will not contain detailed device guidelines. If these settings really necessitate more power—which, based on my conversations with Corsair for this review and Razer about the Viper 8K, it seems that they do—manufacturers must be completely clear about necessary and suggested requirements for their functionality.

Conclusion

The Sabre RGB Pro Champion Series can seem easy, but it includes valuable, esports-friendly functionality. Sabre RGB Pro costs $59.99, which is a little more than the average esports mouse, but it shines thanks to its powerful sensor, comfortable form, and innovative DPI-tweaking function. And if you’re not interested in hype rolling, it’s worth a look.

If you’re hunting for a less expensive esports mouse, consider the excellent HyperX Pulsefire Haste. This Editors’ Choice selection has a fantastic senor and a chic honeycomb look.