Hey everyone, I’m back again much quicker than usual with another mouse review.
Fnatic provide gaming peripherals and other team branded merchandise and are solidifying their mouse offerings with two very similar products.
The Fnatic Clutch 2 gaming mouse is almost a twin of the recently reviewed Flick 2, I promise to resist the urge to copy paste my review. There are however subtle differences so lets get into the specs.
Specifications
- Gear : Clutch2
- Size : 131×66.2x43mm
- Weight : 97g
- Sensor : Pixart 3360
- Resolution : 12000 CPI
- Increments : 100 CPI/step
- Acceleration : 50G
- Frame rate : Up to 12000 fps
- Cord length : 1.8m
- Polling rate : 1000Hz
- Response / Speed : 1ms / 250ips
- Processor / Memory : NXP / 8mb
- Switches : Omron D2FC-F-7N (50M)
- Warranty : 2 years
- Additional Features : Adjustable LOD On board profile Sections
A familiar spec sheet, we had better take a look at what we’ve got here.
Closer Look
Presented with an almost minimalist top of box, we have the name, a picture of the mouse and the Fnatic brand logo. Down the side you can see that Rekkles is adding his endorsement to this mouse.
Flipping the box over we have the Fnatic Story, an introduction to the Clutch 2 mentioning a right handed shape to this mouse. Further features are listed including hyping up the sensor and indicating that this mouse is virtually indestructible.
Unboxing is a pleasant experience, the mouse is presented tucked into some solid foam and a cardboard wallet enticing me in.
Verily enticed I unpack everything… We have a rather understated mouse attached to a 1.8m normal style cable, a Clutch 2 Quick Guide, and some Fnatic Stickers to be placed where they can be appreciated by fellow fans, most likely on a computer case.
Moving in for a closer inspection of the mouse itself we have an all in one top shell which incorporates the main mouse buttons, very smooth plastic with some nice flexibility at the ends for button pressing. It is quite a subtle shaping leaning to the left in the picture, which makes this mouse almost strictly a right handed device unlike the almost ambidextrous Flick 2. Top middle we have the profile selector, under that a stepped and rubberised mouse wheel with a very pleasant clicky stepping to it.
The left hand side gives us a rubberised grip area, two well placed forward and back buttons and a Fnatic logo which has an opaque filling for RGB illumination.
Looking at the mouse from the back, the curvature bias is much more prevalent, this mouse feels very odd when held in the left had. Fnatic have a rather pleasant habit of keeping things mostly understated in the design, not too many crazy colours unless they are electrical and you can turn them off. We do get a printed Fnatic logo right at the back end.
The right hand side has no extra buttons, we have the grippy rubbery material again and the Clutch logo is printed at the front, the tilt of the curve towards us showing the left hand side is higher up. Ergonomics are the biggest difference between the two mice in the current Fnatic Gear range.
Did I say understated? Well the underneath of the mouse has Fnatic’s signature orange which they pair with black most of the time. The centre housing the sensor equipment is a long lozenge shape with Fnatic branding printed on it. We have two exquisitely large Teflon glide pads making for a great surface area contact with your mousepad.
The USB end of the cable is quite a different design to what we normally see, it has Fnatic branding and for some reason directions on which end is the cable and which end is the connector, superfluous icons there I think as the cable is not modular as far as I can tell. Another departure from the norm is the label featuring serial numbers and regulatory logos, this is normally printed on the mouse itself, possibly a warranty issue if the label comes off during in the 2 years of cover which is included.
Its plugged in, it’s lit up and the software detected it straight away. I think the Clutch 2 is quite a good looker and being mostly quite neutral in colouring would fit in with the majority of setups. Here you can also see the Profile LED’s lit up indicating the currently selected profile which is quickly changed via the middle top button.
Software
Fnatic have produced some pretty slick software for their gaming peripherals. OP is still in early access but already seems quite polished. The install comes in at under 200Mb which I think is pretty good considering some software accompanying products can grab a fair bit of disk sometimes. The main screen offers links to the four supported devices, when not connected a discover box appears, when plugged in you can go in to edit options.
After selecting the Clutch 2 the main page for configuration appears. Here you can switch Profiles of which there are three, Performance menu, Lighting menu and Key Bindings menu are available along the top. You get a nice picture of the current mouse being configured with a device info button in case you have multiples. On the left at the top we have a home button and underneath device quick selectors without going to the main menu, I have two mice plugged in and can switch between them to configure them quickly.
Selecting the Performance menu, which slides the options in from the right, you can then scroll up and down the options presented. At the top we have CPI settings, these can be independently set for the X and Y axis if desired by de-selecting the Chain icon in the middle. CPI steps up from 100 to 12000 in 100CPI stages, so plenty of room to tweak. Angle snap is available to assist with drawing and dragging in straight lines. Next we have the lift off height which can be set at either 2mm or 3mm. Global settings follow that will set all profiles starting with the Polling Rate which can be set at 125, 250, 500 and 1000Hz. Finally there is an Edit Windows Settings button which takes you to the standard Windows Control Panel for mice.
The Lighting menu gives us control over the LED’s, various lighting modes are available such as Pulse and Fade along with settings to alter the animation and colours used. We also have a static Colour Editor to change the lights via an RGB colour wheel with RGB numbering an option to specify exact colours.
The final menu is for Key Bindings, while there is not real macro programming available for the mouse at this time, you can program mouse buttons on the profiles to perform different functions. The Keyboard Macro option takes you to a message saying that a compatible keyboard is needed, so that would be one of the Fnatic range. Remap Button is available to change the function of a button: Launch Application launches a selected app, Open File button opens a file from your system and finally Open Link will go to the desired webpage.
Performance and Testing
Well that was a decent bunch of pictures, the mouse really is quite an attractive device, but that can only carry a product so far, lets see how it performs.
General Use
The Clutch 2 is a very responsive mouse, the Pixart 3360 sensor really is a great option for any mouse. Setting CPI to 1600 for my day to day mousing around Windows to Profile 3, I had no problems getting on with browsing, paint or any other general tasks, the buttons from Omron do as expected, I have used them before and found them very reliable, the positioning of buttons over the mouse is also very user friendly to me. Gliding around on my mousepad the large Teflon pads do a fantastic job of a silky smooth feel. Over prolonged use I found the mouse to remain comfortable the slight angle is actually quite good at keeping any fatigue from setting in with my wrist and arm.
Gaming
Of course the real important performance for a Fnatic branded mouse will be in games. I have two sensor settings for FPS games that I normally use 1200 for games like Battlefield and PUBG any any RTS games, then down to 600 for CS:GO. I did find that I needed to up the CPI to 700 for CS:GO for the mouse to respond as I expected (just like with the Flick 2), other experiences may vary of course as everyone is different. The other CPI settings were however spot on and after a short while I gave no concern to the mouse as it performed admirably. The sturdy shell taking frantic gameplay quite easily.
Conclusion
This mouse is aimed strictly at right handed users, offering a tilted shape for better ergonomics. Fnatic are working hard to create a stable, reliable and attractive range of products.
Hardware
The build quality of the mouse is excellent, no creaking of flexing in the shell, buttons pressing without catching any rough edges, showing a smooth and high quality finish. The Pixart 3360 sensor is a solid choice offering configuration options that should suit just about anyone. The cable isn’t braided but as I have taken to using bungees, which I highly recommend, there was no cable dragging to worry about from the standard plastic one supplied. Large Teflon glide pads finish the functionality off quite nicely, then we have the RGB lighting which can be useful or if you don’t care for that sort of thing, switched off.
Software
What can I say, I am very impressed with Fnatic’s OP software, even in its Early Access stage. It is very stable, I have run it on two different rigs without any issues whatsoever. The installed size is less than 200Mb which is impressive these days. The menus are clear and concise, I have no difficulty getting to and configuring any options. I am excited to see where this software goes as more new products that it supports come online. I would say the only downside so far is the lack of macro availability for the mouse, but that could change with future releases.
Design
Built for right handed users, I do wonder if it wouldn’t be a good idea to create a left handed version. Other manufacturers do produce units that are at least ambidextrous. If we are looking at the ergonomics of this mouse though we would have to have a totally separate unit. The slightly tilted shell moves the hand around to a better ergonomic position than just the plain curve such as with the Flick 2, this also means that it’s more suited to palm use rather than claw style control. The design is quite understated and can be kept that way if you tone down the RGB, the very bright LED’s used can create some spectacular effects. Materials wise Fnatic have just about got it spot on, plastic top and rubbery sides keep grip and smoothness combined for a pleasant mousing experience and the quality feels good.
Value
Price wise the Clutch 2 sits side by side with it’s sister mouse the Flick 2, available at the time of writing as low as £49.99. Gaming mice with good sensors are rarely seen much below this price, the main competitors are priced around the same making the Clutch 2 a solid choice for consideration. Expect this to do well against the Steelseries Rival 310 and Sensei 310.
Final Thoughts
I am again impressed by Fnatic’s progress with mice since acquiring the technology from Func. Having previously reviewed the original Clutch there have been many improvements and with great materials, build quality and performance the Clutch 2 holds its own. Excellent sensor and funky lighting options make this mouse one to try. The shape is the biggest consideration here, if possible try both the Clutch 2 and the Flick 2 to see which suits your hand and grip style the best. The only downside here is again the lack of left handed support which I do hope Fnatic will consider in the future, while I am a right handed mouse user myself I know plenty of people who would love to see these supporting left handed gamers. I am very pleased to give the Clutch 2 the Play3r Gold Award for an excellent mouse with an added Design Award for their most excellent OP software which I feel will only get better with time. Please consider the Flick 2 review linked below and a huge thank you to Fnatic for sending out these mice.
Very nicely written review