Ozone Radon Opto review

Ozone Radon Opto Review

Manufacturer: Ozone
UK price (as reviewed): £33.77 (inc VAT)
US price (as reviewed): $36.96 (ex tax)

Unassuming is the first word we’d use to describe the Ozone Radon Opto, as its matte black exterior is relatively chilled out compared to other gaming mice we’ve seen in the past. There is no brightly coloured lights or any exposed chassis for example, and there are the usual two thumb buttons, rather than the spiders eye nest of nine or more that we’ve become accustomed to seeing on MMO targeted rodents.

That leaves the shape of the mouse as its most noticeable characteristic, and in this regard it is a little unusual. This is because the Opto has a wider, lower, more hand filling shape than we’re used to seeing; it almost looks like Ozone has just taken a Logitech G400 and left it in the oven for ten minutes to melt slightly.

The end result isn’t entirely unpleasant initially, especially if you favour a palm grip and like resting your hand on your mouse rather than arching it up over it, but there are a few niggling little problems that you’ll encounter after using the Opto for a while.


The first of these is the right hand side of the mouse that is meant to support your ring and little finger, as it’s too small for such a low mouse. This means that your little finger is often dragging along the mouse mat as you go. This isn’t a problem when moving the mouse to the left, but move it to the right and it’ll get pinched between the mouse and your mouse pad.

The issue is even exacerbated by the undercut shape of the right hand side of the mouse, which ensures that your little finger wants to lie in exactly the wrong place. It’s a flaw with a frustratingly simple solution too; simply make the right hand side of the mouse wider, like on the Mionix Naos 3200.

We also feel that the two thumb buttons are poorly located, as they’re above the curve in which your thumb rests. This means you’ll need to move your thumb every time you want to find the buttons, which is annoying if you’re used to having them resting under your thumb, ready to be clicked.

If the ergonomic woes don’t worry you particularly, then the Opto is relatively well specced. It’s got the usual compliment of removable weights (22.5g in total) and has on board memory on which you can save information for the three profiles that are flicked through using the rear central button.


In what is actually a kind of retro move these days, Ozone has chosen to equip the Opto with an optical sensor (hence the name). Some may say that these don’t track quite as well as laser sensors on some surfaces, but in truth we never had a problem with the Opto on any of the four mouse pads we tried it on.

On the fly sensitivity switching through the 400 to 3500 dpi range of the sensor is of course present as well, and we quite like the fact that this is done by a rocker switch rather than by two individual buttons, as it means it’s easier to find at a moment’s notice. The Opto also has a natty cable routing feature that allows you to change where the braided cable exits the chassis of the mouse; we imagine most people will leave it exiting from the front, but changing it could be useful if your desk is particularly crowded.

Conclusion

Unfortunately for Ozone, the mouse market is incredibly competitive, so there isn’t any room for error when you release a product into it. This poses a problem for the Radon Opto, as its basic shape is far from perfect, even if it does have a good basic specs sheet. If you’re looking for a hand filling, palm grip style mouse, then the Mionix Naos 3200 is a far better buy, as it has an almost identical feature set and a much better shape that takes care of your pinky and ring finger in a way that that the Opto simply does not.