Cougar Revenger RGB Gaming Mouse Review

Introduction & Specifications

We interrupt my gaming to bring you a mouse review, a gaming mouse review, a gaming mouse review with lots of features, a gaming mouse review with features and RGB!

Cougar has been around quite a while, they have lots of experience making peripherals but also cases and power supplies, in my encounters with cougar over the years, they have always offered pretty good quality products at fair prices.

Its the Cougar Revenger Gaming Mouse a mid-range beast vying for your attention and hard-earned cash. Aimed at the gaming market a mouse like this should not be overlooked for productivity either, being able to alter the DPI can have lots of applicable uses for image editing or splicing audio just as a couple of examples.

Here we have its specification table to see what goodies Cougar have brought to the table.

A good sensor and well-known switches in that table should give us a competitive deal with the Revenger, right time to grab my camera.

Closer Look

Cougar’s peripheral packaging follows a nice set theme, so as seen before in some previous reviews the box is functioning with nice rendered images of the product along with some specification, an RGB ring and a little nod to the unified software that Cougar use UIX. But more about that later, on to the back.

Lots of information available on the back of the box, more pictures, a few different languages there too, very well laid out considering the space available.

A quick zip around the side to grab a nice shot of some highlighted features, 1000Hz and 1ms, if only it were a monitor.

The sound of ripping velcro greets us as we pry open the box door to see the Cougar Revenger itself on show behind a plastic bubble. Luckily this is not blister packaging but two plastic layers sandwiched together to hold everything in place. Looking quite attractive this mouse is and high time to do away with the packaging.

There isn’t a whole lot of stuff in the box, you get the mouse of course along with its gold plated connector, a fold out manual and warranty booklet and some snazzy little stickers, which is a nice touch if you like to show off your branding or need to cover up blemishes on some equipment.

A handsome devil isn’t he? Using a familiar tried and tested shape offering a versatile platform that could be ambidextrous except for a little right handed bias on the shape and only having those extra buttons on the left hand side will affect ease of use by left-handers. On top you can see the DPI selector switch (which can also be reassigned) this is slightly odd to me as you drag it back rather than pressing down, although I would say that will be a preventative design measure for accidentally changing DPI while using the mouse.

Looking in detail at the left hand side you can see those two extra configurable buttons which are pretty well placed for use. The three indented bits at the front are the RGB DPI lights which will show which DPI setting has been selected in the current profile, it’s a nice little indicator for a visual aid should you be in-game. The textured component is a nice grippy rubberised material, ideal for those heated gaming sessions.

As mentioned the right-hand side of the Cougar Revenger does not include any extra buttons, just the textured rubbery material to aid grip.

Looking at the Revenger from the front, you can see the cable is ported out from the left-hand side. The Omron switched buttons extending right to the end of the casing. The mouse wheel sort of looks like a motorcycle racing wheel rather than a steady smooth or notched affair.

Back at the rear end of the mouse, we have the transparent Cougar logo and another lighting strip sat back from the edge. This is an RGB mouse so expect these lights to show off the various configurable effects quite well.

Underneath we are met with a nice clean design, plenty of slide pad area, some information such as the serial number and of course the Pixart PMW3360 Sensor.

Plugging the Cougar Revenger in we get to see the illumination capabilities. I quickly went into the software to change the lighting configuration to show that the DPI indicator and rear lighting are independent offering a little more choice when customising the look.

Software

Speaking of software, Cougar have gone for a sort of unified platform for their configurable peripherals, which is called UIX. The Cougar Download page offers different UIX drivers for different products, I did not get to test whether the devices listed under one heading or if they created an application for each device, that will be something to test if I see any more configurable peripherals from Cougar.

Opening up the Cougar Revenger UIX main screen we are presented with a very clean look, it is very easy to read and navigate. Now I have seen Pixart sensors before and the configuration options available to them, the 3360 here does not disappoint with individual X and Y axis DPI configuration with 3 settings per profile giving a possible total of 9 different DPI setups, polling rates and other mouse movement and button speed tweaking options available.

Moving down to the Key Assignment page, we get to see just how configurable the buttons on this mouse are, you can click on the icons to change button assignment in the current profile so 3 profiles for buttons there. In the advanced tab there are further default functions available, setting DPI Switch, Sniper, Mode Switch, Ins. Mode Switch, Launch Program and Media Function setups. There is also a Macro tab enabling you to not just record macros, but create macro groups, as well as importing and exporting existing macros for other Revenger mice.

Finally we have the Lighting Control screen, here you can set up the two different lighting areas of the Cougar Revenger with a multitude of colour and colour cycling options, such as breathe. The lighting can also be switched off in this section just in case you want to use the mouse in a more professional setting while taking advantage of the excellent features. Again 3 profiles are still in effect so you can individually tailor the lighting depending on profile.

Performance & Testing

I popped the Cougar Revenger mouse onto my main rig for the past two weeks to give it a proper test run with all the stuff I get up to in the computing world. Comfort wise the mouse is pretty good, it’s a teeny bit long for my hand, so a certain President need not apply. As with any peripheral that you handle or wear, trying one is the best way to determine how it feels to you. The Omron switched main buttons are nice and quick with no issues bashing away to get my PC to do my bidding. The side buttons are easy to locate without looking and don’t require too much movement, again it would have been nice to duplicate these buttons on the right hand side for all those left handed mouse users out there, you know you can do it Cougar.

I tried lots of DPI variations but in the end settle on my favourites 600, 1800 and for testing purposes 12000 the maximum DPI available on the Revenger. 1800 For normal browsing lent itself well to moving around my 4k screen, even when using a bungee, so top marks for desktop performance. The software offers much more than I normally use playing with button configurations is a breeze, I set one of the side buttons on sniping duty which drops the DPI when pressed for those tense zoning in shots. Macros are easy to program following the steps in the software and fine tuning right down to Lift Height or independent X and Y DPI axis settings should suit anybody’s needs.

Editing photos I can switch DPI settings on the fly with the switch above the scroll wheel, this enabled fine cropping and a steady experience moving things around.

Going through my week I found myself in some of my favourite games, Overwatch, Counter Strike Global Offensive and Pool Nation.

Tweaking my play-style in CS:GO I have been playing with a DPI of 600, the Cougar Revenger had no problems providing me with excellent tracking and some enjoyable competitive rounds, switching weapons using the mouse wheel while accurate felt strange as the grooves in the wheel did not match up with the notches.

Overwatch is played at my desktop DPI, slapped it back up to 1800 and was running around the accuracy of some more expensive mice, this I found very pleasing as Cougar are competitively priced and it is very nice to see them holding their own against the big names.

Finally, in Pool Nation, the accuracy of the sensor is tested again, behaving exactly how a Pixart should, making this a mouse very much worth considering.

Conclusion

So we have a solid offering from Cougar with the Revenger, highly configurable, performing very well in games and applications with the help of the adjustable DPI going all the way to 12000, add in a variable polling rate and 1ms response and it should have most users needs covered. The shape could do with easing off on it’s length by a couple of millimeters and considering left-handers would be a massive plus, maybe they could do a reverse shell.  As with any mouse try the fit before you buy if you can.

All in all the Cougar Revenger gaming mouse with its quality Pixart 3360 sensor, excellent Omron switches, solid build quality, intuitive UIX software system and competitive price tag, it makes me feel all fuzzy inside awarding a Play3r Gold award along with a five star Value award.  The Cougar Revenger is worth considering when on the hunt for your next mouse.

The Cougar Revenger is available for £44.99 from Overclockers Here.