Mad Catz M.O.U.S. 9

• Pros

  Flexible design. Comfortable.

• Cons Expensive. Sensor isn't quite as gaming-oriented as other Mad Catz mice.
• Bottom Line

  The Mad Catz M.O.U.S. 9 looks and feels like a flexible, albeit pricey, wireless gaming mouse, even if Mad Catz tries to promote it as a mouse for non-gamers.

By Will Greenwald

Mad Catz made a very strange choice when it made the M.O.U.S. 9 wireless mouse. It pitched the mouse as a powerful, everyday, non-gaming mouse. Despite its name being M.O.U.S. 9, its design coming from Mad Catz' R.A.T. gaming mice series, and its $129.99 (direct) price and wireless-mouse-with-nano-dongle-and-carrying-pouch status matching the company's R.A.T. M gaming mouse. Indeed, if you were to compare the two mice at a glance, you'd be hard pressed to see the difference. The M.O.U.S. 9 is more focused on its software-powered productivity features and Mad Catz is hesitant to describe its specific sensitivity compared to the R.A.T. M (but the M.O.U.S. 9 does use a laser sensor that can function on glass and most other surfaces), but as a gaming mouse it fares very well. More importantly, it's simply more comfortable than the R.A.T. M, with a larger design you won't notice packed in your bag but you will notice under your hand. The mouse is available in red, white, and matte and glossy black versions, and while Mad Catz doesn't promote it as a gaming mouse, it gets the job done very well.

Design
The M.O.U.S. 9 is a full-sized Mad Catz mouse, dwarfing the company's similarly equipped R.A.T. M mouse by a few comfortable fractions of an inch. Its palm rest can extend by pressing a button under it, letting you adjust the mouse to fit the size of your hand. It also locks in to place once you stop pressing the button, making it much more secure than the R.A.T. M's palm rest. It's very angular and tech-themed, like other Mad Catz R.A.T. mice, with stark, geometric edges interrupting the smooth mouse's lines. Besides the two main buttons and the mouse wheel, the M.O.U.S. 9 has an additional button to the left of the index finger, a large thumb button and two smaller forward/backward buttons on the thumb rest, a thumb wheel below the left mouse button, and a sensitivity toggle below the mouse wheel. All of these buttons can be configured and programmed with Mad Catz's free PC and Mac software.

The underside of the mouse holds the laser sensor next to a small power switch. A small USB receiver sits in a spring-loaded hole when not in use, and since it's a GameSmart Bluetooth mouse it can be used by any computer or tablet that can accept a Bluetooth pointing device without the adapter. A cylinder under the palm rest hides a compartment for one AA battery, which Mad Catz claims can run the M.O.U.S. 9 for a year. The mouse can fit in a drawstring bag that comes included, giving it extra protection if you toss it in your bag.

Comfort
I found the M.O.U.S. 9 comfortable to use even under my large hand, which felt cramped when using the R.A.T.M. While it lacks the four-way hat switch under the thumb found on the R.A.T.M, the larger thumb button and the thumb wheel are more functional and feel more solid; the hat switch felt slightly fiddle, and it was hard to use it in a given direction instead of pushing it straight down.

While both of Mad Catz's wireless mobile gaming mice offerings are a tad on the expensive side, the M.O.U.S. 9 stands as the superior model, with a larger, more functional design and a palm rest that locks into place. $130 is a lot to pay for a wireless mouse with no cradle, cable, or rechargeable battery, but it performs very well and works as a very convenient package for mice on the go. If you want a full-featured gaming mouse for your notebook and don't want to carry around a sack of cables and accessories, the Mad Catz M.O.U.S. 9 is an excellent choice. If you don't mind a cable, the Logitech G700s is a great, rechargeable wireless gaming mouse available for $30 less and our Editors' Choice for gaming mice.

By Will Greenwald Analyst, Consumer Electronics

Will Greenwald has been covering consumer technology for more than six years, and has served on the editorial staffs of CNET.com, Sound & Vision, and Maximum PC. Since graduating from Syracuse University in 2005, Will has...

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