Tesoro Gungnir H5 Review

• Brand: Tesoro
• Model: Gungnir H5 Optical Gaming Mouse
• Website:  http://www.tesorotec.com/gaming-mice/tesoro-gungnir-h5-optical-gaming-mouse.html
• RRP: £30 (At time of review)

Tesoro Technology USA, or Tesoro for short, were formed in 2011 by a team of gaming enthusiasts.  With the aim of producing and designing products aimed at arming gamers with tools, their main focus is PC gaming.  With quite a few different models in their range currently available; not just mice but keyboards and headsets also, they have the market covered. The main question is, are they competitive against the other big gaming brands such as QPAD, CM Storm and SteelSeries to name a few?  Or do they have a lot to learn?  We shall see as only time will tell. Today I will be taking a look at their Gungnir Gaming Mouse which is an optical mouse designed for FPS games, is it any good? Well let’s find out, starting with the specifications…

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION • DPI Setting: 450/900/1800/3500 • 6400 Frames Per Second • 60 Inches Per Second • 20 G Acceleration • 2mm Lift Distance • 7 Buttons • 1.8M Cable Length • Up to1000Hz Polling Rate

DIMENSIONS & WEIGHT 12.46(L) x 7.51(W) x 4.2(H) cm / 4.91(L) x 2.96(W) x 1.65(H) inch Net weight: 100 gram

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS Windows® XP / Vista / 7 / 8 50MB available hard disk space Available USB port

COMPLIANCE This product is FCC, CE and RoHS compliant. For more information please contact us.

WARRANTY INFORMATION Warranty for Tesoro products only covers defects caused by manufacturing. The warranty does not cover defects caused by any kind of usage that is not attributable to the manufacturing process. All of our products come with one year warranty. For more information please read our warranty or contact your local vendor.

The front of the box has a really nice stone like effect on it, with the Gungnir pictured in the centre.  The Gungnir lettering has a spear of Odin through the middle, which gives the impression that this mouse is a monster, but we will find that out later on in the review.

On the rear, we have the same purple etched stone like effect as there is on the front, but with added information from Tesoro.  There is small section dedicated to the specifications of the Gungnir.

After opening the flap, which is held together with Velcro tabs, we are presented with the Gungnir itself.  On the top section of the flap, there is an illumination guide which shows which colours are available on the Gungnirs LEDs, also more about the spear of Odin moniker which Tesoro have given this mouse.

Bundled with the Gungnir, there is a quick start guide with a registration code, which you can enter on the Tesoro website, a utility CD and warranty information. The registration code allows you to keep track of warranty and also allows you to keep up to date with the latest news regarding Tesoro.

The main colour of the Gungnir is purple, which could be considered like marmite to some people (you either love it or you hate it). The Tesoro logo in the centre illuminates as well as the strips on either side.

At the side you can see the 2 thumb buttons which make great knife keys in FPS games.  Also on the side you can see the LED strip which illuminates when the mouse is powered, and depending on how you set it via the software, there is different colours to choose from.

Looking down on the mouse, you can clearly see the DPI switch buttons and the mouse wheel.  The advantage of on the fly DPI switching is very much dependant on the type of game you are playing, such as FPS games for the added versatility of sensitive aim, all the way to the frantic high DPI of benchmarking on PCMark 05 etc.

On the flip side of the Gungnir, we have the optical sensor of the mouse. The sensor in question is the AVAGO 3090 optical sensor, which is considered the best.  Other information includes the model number, serial number and we are informed that the Gungnir is made in china.

To showcase the mouse, I have taken shots at a variety of different angles and demonstrated a couple of the LED colour choices so you can get a better idea of the Gungnirs aesthetics.

The Tesoro Gungnir comes prepared with an installation disc inside the box, so I thought it would be a good idea to show you and explain some of the basic features of the Gungnir software. Here we have the main screen of the software, which I want to add is the only screen.  This allows you to change the assignments of each button to what you want.  The list is pretty extensive and enables you to select many different combinations.

To give you an idea of what kind of options you have in terms of button mapping, you can see here that there are 10 main categories, each with plenty of options available.

All in all, the software was very easy to use and had a vast amount of options available, even macro functions. The Gungnir has a very nice piece of software driving it, but how does the hardware do?  Time for the testing…

To keep testing consistent, for every mouse I review I plan to use the same methodology when it comes to game choices etc.  This keeps results fair and means I can express my personal opinions on a comparable level. My games of choice are no other than DOTA 2 – a fantastic MMO style game where 2 teams of 5 champions battle it out in an arena.  The other is Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 for some fast paced FPS action. Starting with DOTA 2, like every mouse with software, my first port of call was mapping out the keys just the way I like them.  This was easy and painless with Tesoro’s software and I had no problems setting the Gungnir up just the way I wanted it.

The thing I noticed first was how the mouse felt, I have to be honest here and say it felt a little cheap in my hand.  This was due to the finish but otherwise this mouse is built very well.  Using the buttons, the mouse clicks were responsive, but were a bit on the loud side.  Obviously those with mechanical keyboards will be used to the clicking and clacking of their boards and a mouse like this wouldn’t bother them, but in saying that the noise could be off putting to some.

Personally it didn’t bother me but I feel it’s best to point these things out.  I had a couple of episodes during my session where the mouse felt a little clunky but overall it was a pretty good mouse and served its purpose well. Moving onto Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, I changed my profile via the software once again and set off to kill some newbies with bouncing betties.  The thumb buttons were a great help but did feel cheap, these felt a little rattily when pressing, but worked perfectly and I have no issues with response time.  In terms of accuracy it took me a little while to get used to the Gungnir but once I did, it performed just as well as any laser mouse in my opinion.

The mouse wheel also feels really solid and with it being made of rubber, is unlikely to cause issues with grip.  Speaking of grip, the Gungnir is quite comfortable and while shooting my way through Nuketown, I had no issues with either comfort or grip. With general tasks such as web browsing, the Gungnir handles them with ease.  The software doesn’t just come packed with gaming options, but for those users who like to use their extra mouse buttons to assign media keys and shortcuts etc there’s the option for this too.  This is a feature I liked and the software even has a full list of different functions you can assign to each button without the need to actually find the majority of them.

One thing that did bug me, was I have large hands and sometimes I accidentally pressed the thumb buttons which moved webpages back, it can be a tedious task if your halfway through a forum post or a purchase and you go back.  That said if you have problems, you can always disable the buttons or assign them to a different task. With that being said, it’s time for the conclusion and my final thoughts on the Gungnir Gaming mouse…

Now it’s time for my thoughts on the Tesoro Gungnir Gaming Mouse, has it done the job?  Is it competitive with the other brands at its price point? Well starting with the design, as previously mentioned, it could be considered marmite.  The purple colour won’t suit everyone, but I have to admit it has grown on me over the past week.  Although the mouse does feel a bit cheap, it isn’t exactly too much of a concern given the amount of features available on this it, and given its price point, I can’t really complain too much.

The buttons are well placed and the build quality is great, but as mentioned in my testing, the clicks felt somewhat loud but again, it’s down to personal preference and with this being a factory sample, these issues could be ironed out with the final retail samples. In terms of performance, the mouse did exactly what I asked of it, which is a good sign of quality.  I tend to be quite heavy handed due to having large hands, but it the Gungnir withstood my punishment without a hitch.

I feel the Gungnirs strong point would be FPS games without a doubt, although with the software, it allows the mouse to be more versatile. In terms of pricing, it is exactly where it should be, a bargain.

For £30 you get everything you would expect in a mouse twice its price, except weights of course which would have given this mouse considerable clout, but who knows what could happen for Tesoros next mouse right? Looking past the purple colour, which I did mention earlier, I like and it grew on me, the Tesoro Gungnir is a really solid mouse and at only £30, you will be hard pushed to find better value for money.

Given that this sample is direct from the factory and isn’t the fully finished article, Tesoro can be proud of what they have achieved in such a short space of time.  If you’re on a budget and need a gaming mouse, you would be foolish not to consider the Gungnir gaming mouse. Thanks to Tesoro for the sample and I look forward to seeing more products in the near future