Mionix Naos 5000 Gaming Mouse Review

Mionix Naos 5000 Gaming Mouse Review

Manufacturer: Mionix
UK price (as reviewed): £59.99 (inc VAT)
US price (as reviewed): NA

Specifications

Connection 1.9m wired (braided)
Material plastic
Buttons 7, scroll wheel
Sensitivity 90-5,040dpi
Extras 8 x 5g weights

Mionix might sound like he should live over the road from Asterix and Obelix, but it’s actually the name of a Swedish gaming peripheral manufacturer. The Naos 5000 is named after a blue super giant that’s noted for its high rotational speed (some 100 times faster than our Sun). The mouse doesn’t suffer the same affliction, instead it’s a highly moulded gaming mouse with plenty of tricks to give you an accurate pointer for pwning your friends.


The Naos has scoops on the right-hand side for your ring- and little-finger; another scoop on the left hugs your thumb, and the result is a very comfortable mouse for lying your palm on. The two thumb buttons are well placed for most people, though anyone with a short thumb will struggle to hit the front-most button easily. Underneath the scroll wheel (which clicks, but doesn’t rock) are two easy to reach buttons to shift the sensitivity up or down through three steps. The velvety coating of the mouse gives it a luxurious feel and the scroll wheel has plenty of grip and works well, while the 1.9m cable is braided to avoid snagging.

As with all contemporary gaming mice, the Naos has more bells and whistles than a home game at Fratton Park (thank you, John Portsmouth Football Club Westwood). Underneath the Naos you’ll find four large pad-like slippery feet, and two bays to either side of the sensor for the eight 5g weights. The bays are tricky to get into, but are somehow reminiscent of the smuggler compartments of the Millennium Falcon, and are therefore hard to criticise. Mionix supplies a neat little box for storing unused weights.


The sensor itself is capable of anywhere between 90 and 5,040dpi sensitivities, and you set the three levels of sensitivity to any level via the configuration tool. This needs to be downloaded from the Mionix site (the software requires a restart, despite not prompting you). The usual configuration options are present – setting sensitivity in the X or Y axis independently, and setting the USB polling rate to 1KHz (which does make the cursor more solid as it moves). You can adjust the lift distance of the mouse to prevent it tracking when you lift it, what colour the lights are, which of these are on and even record up to 30 10-command macros, all of which can be saved to the 128KB of memory.

SQUAT is the most unique inclusion though, standing for Surface Quality Analyser Tool. By using SQUAT, you can judge the appropriateness of the surface you’re using the mouse on – just hit the Analyse Surface button and mouse around a lot as the software works, and it’ll give you a rating. Our desk was deemed ‘acceptable’ but then a Roccat Taito mouse mat was also deemed merely acceptable. On either surface, the mouse tracked well.

Conclusion

While it’s hard to justify spending £60 on the SteelSeries Xai, the benefits of the Mionix Naos 5000 are more tangible. The moulded body and velvety coating feel great in the hand, and the buttons are well placed. The mouse feels sturdy, and the configuration software is intuitive and offers the essentials of customisation. While £60 is quite a bit of cash, this is a quality mouse in appearance, feel and use.

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• 9/10

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• 9/10

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• 7/10

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• 8/10

Score Guide