CM Storm Octane Review

The Mouse

The mouse is quite long so favours palm grips that prefer to be supported although the high arched back also lends itself to claw grips. It's a relatively comfortable mouse to hold but there are a few rough edges that are noticeable in either of the aforementioned grip styles. It also lacks a braided cable. Other than this, there's little to complain about comfort-wise and on a decent mouse mat, the Octane mouse feels light and responsive.


Much of the external aesthetics have been cut to emphasise the onboard lighting. Two bright illuminated sections below the central buttons can be cycled through several colours and set to a pulsing mode but as the scroll wheel is also illuminated in a fixed white, these are a little overzealous. Thankfully you can also switch them off, although the scroll wheel is fixed to on.


There are four DPI settings, which are fixed, between 500 and 3,500, toggleable using the button behind the scroll wheel, with the button behind that controlling the lighting. Sadly, there's no software included so you're unable to change the DPI settings. Other buttons include the usual duo of thumb buttons and the scroll wheel can be depressed too.


One issue we did find, albeit a minor one, is that the buttons require more force than usual to actuate - it reminded us a little of old Microsoft and Logitech mice with clunky left and right buttons, except the Octane mouse is a little more refined.

Conclusion

There are few features and nothing to speak of software-wise but given the super-low price tag, we didn't expect much more to be honest. The keyboard portion of the Octane bundle is somewhat typical of a £20-30 membrane keyboard; it has effective backlighting and media controls although we'd have to say you'd likely be disappointed in the feel of the keys coming from a good membrane keyboard. Again, something like a Saitek Cyborg V5 will cost as much as the entire Octane bundle, if not more.


The mouse is equally cheap but cheerful and like the keyboard, there's enough here to please most newbie or budget gamers. This raises the most important question; is the Octane worth it or should you go for a separate mouse and keyboard? The simple answer is, you won't find any combination of mouse and keyboard from one of the well known gaming brands for this price. iRocks is perhaps the closest competitor - its K10 keyboard features plunger keys, which are more pleasant to use but lacks full backlighting, while the M09 mouse lacks top side DPI control (located underneath) but is again a more pleasant mouse to use than the Octane bundled one.

If £40 is your limit for a gaming keyboard and mouse and you want full backlighting on the keyboard, the Octane bundle is undoubtedly worth the cash and at this price, we can't make too much of the sacrifices that have been made. Yes, we'd recommend spending at least £30 on a gaming mouse and £50 and above for a decent mechanical gaming keyboard as a minimum but that's twice the price of the Octane bundle already. In that light, if you're new to the scene and/or have a strict price limit, the Octane is probably worth a look.