A mouse is a mouse, right? Well there have been a few mice that have come out that have had me excited, but lets be honest for the most part it has felt like everyone is just updating to the latest “in” sensor, adding RGB lighting where they can, and taking on things that can be mentioned on the box or in an online listing as a big feature. A little balance in adding just a few cool features and things are okay. But some mice get a little crazy and they end up huge and extremely heavy. Now if you were following the trends in mice you might run into people on Reddit drilling holes in their mice and doing everything they can to make their mouse lighter. Well, a few companies have been leading the lightweight market including Logitech on the wireless side, but it is finally hitting the mainstream companies including Razer which just recently brought out something. Well the mouse a lot of people have been waiting for is from Cooler Master with their MM710. They have been following the enthusiast market on the keyboard side for years so it isn’t a huge shocker that they would also do the same with their mice. The MM710 packs all of the features people are modding into their mice including the holes. Today I’m going to check out their new mouse and find out what all the excitement is about.
Product Name: Cooler Master MM710
Review Sample Provided by: Cooler Master
Written by: Wes Compton
Pictures by: Wes Compton
Amazon Affiliate Link: HERE
Packaging
Cooler Master managed to do something interesting with the packaging of the MM710. The box is noticeably smaller than most other mice come in. This is a bit of a clue to the overall size of the mouse, but also when you pick up the box it almost feels like it is empty. The box is decked out in Cooler Masters signature purple with a picture of the mouse taking up most of the front which I love. Beyond that, the model name is easy to read with a short description under it. Then in the top right there are three circles with key features. They highlight the 53-gram weight, 20m click switches, and then the 16k DPI. That last one is your standard marketing choice even though most people don’t care about DPI anywhere near that high.
Around on the back Cooler Master has a smaller photo of the MM710 but this time from the bottom which does a great job of showing off two big things. The holes in the shell are also on the bottom and you can see completely through the mouse. You can also see the PTFE mouse feet. They have that photo surrounded with more features. These are the real features, talking about the honeycomb shell, the shape, the PTFE mouse feet, the ultraweave cable, and the 20 million click switches. They do touch on the sensor again, which talking about the sensor isn’t a bad thing but mentioning the actual sensor name would be a lot better to me than just pointing out the 16K DPI again. Each feature has a short description under it and then they have the feature list repeated down at the bottom over and over again in 8 other languages.
Inside the box, Cooler Master kept it as simple as possible. There is a cardboard divider inside that kept the mouse in place. Beyond that, there is just a paper manual and then an extra set of mouse feet. Extra feet is great to see and not something you see most other mice including.
Photos and Features
Well, here it is, in all of its swiss cheese glory. So the MM710 comes in at 116.6mm long 62.6mm wide, and 38.3mm tall. For some perspective, the G502 which is a very popular mouse is 132mm long, 75mm wide, and 40mm tall. The height is similar but the MM710 is 15mm shorter and 12mm skinnier. The MM710 is nearly spec for spec the same size as the G305 for perspective. It has an ambidextrous shape but it is still optimized for right-hand uses. In other words, the buttons are only on the left side but otherwise, it will work well for lefties. Adding buttons to both sides would increase the weight and everything about this mouse is very careful to not do that. A few notes about the design. The honeycomb design for the holes covers all of the palm area but also runs up on both triggers and it also on the sides and bottom which I will show later. The holes are all in the Cooler Master logo shape which is interesting and speaking of the logo they did keep their logo right in its normal spot in the palm area but there isn’t any backlighting. The logo is actually their new style more subtle look which just uses the outline of their logo without the text in the middle which I love. You can see it is a Cooler Master device but they aren’t shoving their brand in your face. The top-down look at the MM710 helps show that ambidextrous shape where both sides match. You can see a wide gap between the triggers and the shell which has been a trend over the last few years and unlike the G305 the triggers don’t get skinny, they actually flair out to be the widest part of the mouse. The actual mouse shape is that of the older MasterMouse S and the MasterMouse Lite S both of which I haven’t actually had the chance to checkout. They are and the MM710 is a claw shape which is how it gets away with the shorter length.
The side views of the MM710 show how the back half of both sides has a pyramid of Cooler Master shaped holes that you can see all the way through the other side. Only the left side of the mouse has the two side buttons. So while ambidextrous, left-handed use won’t get thumb buttons. Then the front half where you will put your ring finger and part of your thumb is a little more solid without the holes. The mouse itself is all black and Cooler Master didn’t do anything special for grips. In fact, the entire mouse isn’t painted or coated in anything so you won’t have to worry about the rubber finish turning nasty years later or the paint wearing off. There are no side grips to get greasy or to wear as well. The left side buttons are glossy, however.
The back view of the MM710 really shows that ambidextrous shape. Sadly this view doesn’t also show that on both sides the MM710 does have a slight coke bottle shape where you would put your thumb and fingers. This is especially important without any extra grip for those who lift the mouse like I do.
Down on the end, I like that the two triggers have a large gap between them and between the triggers and the rest of the mouse to hopefully avoid any contact like some other mice have run into when trying to go ultra-lightweight. The cord has a solid connection in the center with a cord protector coming out about ¾ of an inch. The scroll wheel has an interesting angled rubber grip to it and I was surprised the wheel itself is solid where Logitech went with a unique hollowed-out design. The scroll wheel has the normal down click but no side to side action and you will notice again no RGB lighting or any other extra feature that isn’t needed. Behind the scroll wheel is a single black button that lets you flip between the DPIs. You can adjust your own DPI settings in the software but if you are like me and want just one you have to click through the 7 available which is a bummer. You basically have to program all seven profiles as the same DPI, you can't delete any of them. Here is the breakdown of the stock settings if you don't want to bust the software out to change them 400-800-1200(default)-1600-3200-6400-16000. Up under the triggers, Cooler Master went with OMRON 20 million click switches which have been really popular for their solid/loud click and durability. I’m happy to not see the newer 50 million click switches which have had some durability issues.
Normally on the bottom of a mouse, I’m just talking about the sensor and a short run through on the gliders. The MM710 is a little different, there is actually a lot going on down here. Real quick we do have the normal sticker with all of the information on it. That includes required certification and disposal logos, the model name is there as well as the serial number and a bar code for it as well. The big change on the bottom, of course, are all of the cooler master logo shaped holes cut in the bottom. They go all the way around the sensor to both sides and to the back. So much so that you can see through the mouse and you can see the entire sensor as well. If you look close you can also see a Cooler Master logo as well on a PCB. Speaking of the sensor, Cooler Master kept it simple and went with the PixArt PMW 3389 which is based on the 3360. The 3389 also has great tracking speed at 400ips. The other big feature under here are the new gliders. You will notice they are white, not the normal black. The MM710 comes with PTFE gliders which is an upgrade again that the enthusiasts like to do to their mice, so offering it right out of the box is really nice. I should note that you do need to peel the protective plastic layer off before you use the MM710 or you won’t get the full effect. The glider shape is very similar to the MasterMouse S. The wide glider on the left is exactly the same but on the right the small wings on the smaller gliders are a small change.
I think the most underrated feature on the MM710 is actually its cord. Enthusiasts are going to really love this because they won’t have to resleeve the cord themselves. So basically sleeved cables for the most part in the past have been added to protect the cord and to give a more premium feel. A lot of those sleeved cables end up being stiff and have a texture to them. That texture catches on things on your desk like your mousepad, or even your desk itself. That can cause problems when using the mouse causing you to miss a shot in a game or misclick in a program. Beyond that, the cord also will eventually fray and can even cause wear to whatever it is catching on. Cooler Master calls this their UltraWeave cable but basically it is a soft paracord sleeving. Under that the cord itself is thin and extremely flexible. The end result is a lightweight cord that isn’t stiff at all and glides around without catching on things. At the end, it does have a Cooler Master specific connection with the purple inside the plug as well as an indicator.
Performance
For testing of the MM710, I swapped it out with my regular mouse and have been using it while gaming and working daily. This has mostly consisted of playing Control, photoshopping, writing, and, web browsing. This has allowed me to get a feel for the new mouse including its tracking, comfort, and other aspects.
So when I hooked up the MM710 there were two things that were extremely noticeable. That ultraweave cord is very soft and flexible. I’ve been working a lot on my test bench and I have had a mouse for that on my desk as well and the cords couldn’t be more different. The Rival 700 has a stiff cord with a rough texture on the sleeving where the MM710 is the opposite. Next to each other you can touch or push on the Rivals cord and it moves the mouse around because there isn’t any flexibility wherewith the MM710 if you grab the cord 5 or 6 inches away you can move it all around and push at the mouse and it doesn’t move the mouse at all. Comparing the M710 and the Rival 700 couldn’t be more to the extremes when it comes to weight as well. But the funny thing is I normally use a Logitech G Pro Wireless or G Pro Wired which are both very lightweight as well but swapping to the M710 is a little jarring, its official weight is 53 grams though our scale showed 56 with some of the cord weight. At this weight you can barely feel the mouse. It is 27 grams less than the GPW and a whopping 83 less than the Rival 700. Its no wonder why swapping between them while testing has been so noticeable lol.
The PixArt PMW 3389 sensor was a good pick. The 3360 which it is based on has been popular for a long time and both are considered to be flawless sensors. One of the big improvements on the 3389 is that it can be adjusted in DPI in 50 DPI increments where the 3360 is in 100 increments. Cooler Master didn't get that detailed in their software, adjustments are done on every 100. But you can change all of the default DPI settings as well as program what the buttons do and anything else you might want like lift off and angle snapping settings.
For me, comfort is paramount and while I don’t normally prefer a claw grip mouse I found the MM710 comfortable and I have larger hands. I was concerned with the side grips not having much texture and only a small coke bottle shape to allow me to grip but as it turns out the back part of my thumb landed on the honeycomb cutouts and they provide a really good grip. The OMRON 20 million click switches were very solid and I had no trouble with them in my testing. Not to mention how much I love the solid click and louder noise they have. The scroll wheel also didn’t give me issues. CM did reach out as some samples had a scroll wheel rattle but I didn’t have that issue. Not to mention rattles are rarely an issue for me anyhow because I don’t pick up my mouse and shake it hard when using it.
Overall and Final Verdict
When Cooler Master announced the MM710 I was excited about it but it is rare for a product that is enthusiast-focused coming from a mainstream company to not end up with some sacrifices. But I’m really not seeing any. They took the great shape of the MasterMouse S and implemented the same weight-saving features that a few mice have used coming in at an impressive 53 grams in total without the cord. That alone is impressive and while I’m not into the whole mouse modding by drilling holes you can really feel the difference in weight when using the MM710 compared to other mice.
The weight is nice, but for me at least it’s the other features that really set the 710 apart. The PTFE feet are amazing and Cooler Master including a replacement set as well is a really nice touch. But the cord, that is the crown jewel. The UltraWeave sleeving is amazing the cord is extremely flexible. My desk is a complete mess day to day when I’m working with everything I’m working on. Just right now as I write this I have an ITX motherboard, two video cards, three memory kits, stacks of SSDs, multiple CPUs, and 6 mice. Not even counting all of the normal stuff I have on the desk or the speakers, two keyboards, and mice needed for my PC and the testbench. I normally stick with a wireless mouse because my cord is always catching on everything and if it gets pinched up under something it jams the whole mouse up. But the MM710’s cord is soft enough that it hardly catches on anything and even when pinched it still has lots of movement. It feels wireless while still being wired, it’s crazy.
My only concern or issue with the MM710 is with the honeycomb holes and I wouldn't consider it to be a huge complaint. This isn’t the first mouse with holes in it so it isn’t exclusive to the MM710, but dust, dirt, and grime buildup is a concern. With cats in the house I already fight with cat hair buildup in the sensor hole of all of my mice and keeping the nastiness out of the scroll wheel is always a battle. So having all of the mouse opened up like this does mean all of that will also build up inside. Would that stop me from using the MM710? Not at all. But I do expect to have to blow dust and dirt out of it from time to time.
With some of the lightweight mice, you would think that pricing went up with the more material that they were able to remove from the mouse. Final Mouse, for example, is charging $120 for their latest mouse. Logitech’s G Pro Wireless is expensive, but it does have wireless. So you could be worried that Cooler Master might go crazy on the pricing. But with competition like the Model O and G-Wolves also in this same market the pricing has started to come down. Razer’s lightweight mouse is even only listed at $79 which isn’t ultra-cheap but not to bad. In the end the MM710 has an MSRP of $49.99 and where it has gone for sale already it has been following that pricing. This is a price point that is actually in range for most gamers and considering how good the MM710 I’m not sure how you could justify spending twice that or more. Cooler Master has put together a great product here, I really hope to see a MasterMouse L version in the future as well.
Live Pricing: HERE
