The end result of Gigabyte’s Make It Real mouse design competition (a Taiwan-only affair, just in case you’re wondering what happened to your entry form), the Force M63 is the brainchild of three amateur gamers that’s been made into a real product.
Aimed squarely at right-handed claw and finger-grip FPS gamers, the mouse is a strange-looking beast, thanks to its bulbous, flared-out rear and contrasting, skinny, low-slung nose. Indeed, at its slimmest point (which is roughly where the mouse wheel lies), it’s only 50mm wide, making the whole mouse feel rather small.
Despite its unusual looks, the shape works well with the grip styles for which it’s designed. The compact dimensions make it feel nimble, and it reacts quickly too, even when held with a delicate finger grip. The light weight also plays its part here – weighing only 87g out of the box, it’s one of the lightest mice we’ve seen. However, you can also increase the weight to up to 110g using the extra weight cartridges supplied.
As you’d expect from such a featherweight mouse, the M63’s chassis is made from plastic. Thick rubber pads are situated at strategic points on the sides and top of the chassis to aid with grip, though, and there are deep grooves running through them, which ensure they never get overly sticky or sweaty.
The main two buttons use Omron switches, which are guaranteed to sustain 10 million clicks and have a satisfyingly crisp action to them. Conversely, though, the mediocre mouse wheel is quite skinny and has very lightly defined steps, which doesn’t inspire confidence if you use it for switching weapons in games.
Six other buttons are scattered around the M63, which can all be remapped using the overdesigned, but functional, Ghost software suite. The two buttons positioned above the thumb area (the forward and back buttons by default) are well located, and the distinct gap between them makes it easy to know which you’re pressing by touch alone.
The other two side-mounted buttons are less well placed. On the thumb side, the sniper button (used for dropping the resolution when sniping) sits too far forwards, so reaching for it doesn’t feel natural. The profile-switching button on the other side of the mouse, which allows you to flick between the five onboard profiles, is situated exactly where your ring finger rests. As such, we occasionally pressed it by mistake when gaming, to the point where we ended up disabling the button in the M63’s software.
As well as button mapping, the Ghost software also allows adjustment of the polling rate, lighting and the four DPI stages, which you can flick through using the two buttons behind the scroll wheel. However, there aren’t any macro features or lift-off distance adjustment, which are common features on other software suites.
The compact size and unusual shape of the Force M63 mean it isn’t for everyone – if you favour a palm grip or have large hands, it’s not the mouse for you. For gamers with smaller hands, though, it’s a more compelling proposition, especially if you favour a finger grip. It’s keenly priced, and the inclusion of adjustable weights with a mouse just about make up for the questionable position of the sniper and profile-switching buttons. PAUL GOODHEAD
An affordable but small mouse that’s good for finger or claw grips, although some of its buttons could be better positioned.
