Cherry MW8 Advanced Wireless Mouse Review

Conclusion

We review a huge amount of mice here at OC3D and the majority of them are fairly similar. It is one of the downsides – albeit a very minor one – of the market moving wholesale in a particular direction.

Almost every new mouse that appears is all black, with a seriously high DPI sensor, and RGB lighting. That’s what everyone seems to buy, and thus that’s what the manufacturers produce. If you are someone who wants something which isn’t a right-handed, black plastic, RGB lighting, needs a software package to customise type mouse then your choices are extremely slim. In fact any choice you do have usually comes at the bottom end of the price spectrum and thus you’re either forced to compromise the quality of the product you buy, or any personal preference you have.

The Cherry MW8 Advanced was a breath of fresh air when it arrived on our desk for review. It steps completely away from the de facto mouse design standard and harks back to the old days when all the major brands had a laptop mouse in their range. By which we mean a mouse which is much more rounded and has a greatly reduced footprint, thus being significantly more portable than its rivals. But, and this we feel is where Cherry have knocked it out of the park, it isn’t compromising anything on the altar of “different to the main brands”.

The first thing you notice is how premium it feels. It’s a heavy mouse. Not heavy to the point of being detrimental to your gaming prowess, but heavy enough that it feels solid in the hand. There are no wobbly bits, no creaky plastics, no unexpected clicks and groans. It’s extremely robust. It almost feels like it’s been hewn from a single piece. Beefy build quality wouldn’t be such a huge plus if the materials felt cheap, but here too Cherry have really pushed the boat out with high quality plastics textured surfaces abounding. What really separates the MW8 Advanced from its contemporaries is the use of a brushed metal top and side buttons. The cool feel of these is like stroking an expensive piece of HiFi equipment and makes the whole thing feel significantly luxurious whilst also making it look gorgeous when just sitting on your surface of choice.

The sensor might not win any awards for high DPIs, but it is more than enough for the average person, sitting in the sweet spot of usability without needing to spend the afternoon in a software package fine tuning it, yet also not being so dim-witted that it blunts your gaming edge. Finally the battery life is insane. We can’t be the only people who love the freedom that wireless peripherals bring, but hate how often they need charging because of the eternal quest for light – and thus tiny capacity – batteries. We tested the MW8 Advanced for four solid days without needing to plug it in once, which is more than we can say for any of the other wireless devices we have on hand.

The Cherry MW8 Advanced brings an old school design philosophy – small portable mouse – and brings it screaming into the 21st century with a very accurate sensor and extremely good battery life, coupled to robust build quality, excellent wireless performance and one of the most premium feeling mice we’ve tested. We know that it might not be for everyone, but if you’ve been gnashing your teeth at the lack of variety in the rodent market then it will scratch that itch perfectly.

  

Discuss the Cherry MW8 Advanced in our OC3D Forums.