Hello everyone, I am here bringing you the first of two mouse reviews in fairly quick succession.
Fnatic have been around a few years now and acquired Func to get their hands on some pretty decent mouse tech. As time goes on Fnatic continue to redesign and improve these along with offering a range of other peripherals.
The Flick 2 is one of their latest releases and follows some familiar design trends, which is no bad thing. Before delving into some pictures let’s grab a list of specs.
Specifications
- Gear : Flick2
- Size : 131×70.2x40mm
- Weight : 93g
- 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
Some good components in that spec list, lets get a look at it shall we?
Closer Look
I shall make no apologies for starting where I normally do with a packaging shot, here we have the front of the box or top if you like. The design is not too fussy, nicely understated considering we are dealing with an RGB product, the rainbows must have leaked out during transit. The box gives us the name of the mouse and a nice side on picture, which does emphasise the shape which is important as this mouse is part of a product range with similar specs but small ergonomic differences. You can also just see on the side that Quackniix one of Fnatic’s team members grants an endorsement to the Flick 2, or is that flick squared?
The back or bottom of the box offers a little Fnatic history, an introduction to the mouse along with key features such as the high level of customisation on offer. Interestingly the last comment states that it’s built to be almost rage proof. I would lend it to a streamer friend who had a ‘U’ shaped keyboard but I think I would like to keep this one intact.
Unboxing is a pleasant experience and presentation is quite neat, the mouse nestled into some fairly dense foam with the cable tucked away underneath, and a cardboard wallet inviting me to open it’s secrets. Can I get an oooooh?
Delving further into the packaging we are supplied with a cabled up Flick 2, a quick guide and those all important stickers, I always like stickers, it shows some pride in a product from the manufacturer.
Right lets get closer into the mouse, here we have a front shot, the shell features an all in one piece so the smooth plastic casing is flexible enough to have integrated mouse buttons, in the middle there is a profile switcher, then a ridged mouse wheel with a rubbery grip. The cable exits the mouse in the middle of the front, I am generally fine with any area at the front having the cable mount as long as it doesn’t drag, but that’s what bungees are for anyway.
The rear of the mouse is quite plain, no lights here just a printed on Fnatic logo. The shape of the mouse is quite symmetrical so a left handed user would get the same grip aside from the forward and back buttons only being on one side.
The right hand side of the mouse offers as mentioned no buttons, we do get a smooth yet slightly rubbery grip material covering the right hand section with the Flick name printed at the front.
So around to the left hand side of the mouse and we are again greeted with the spotty smooth rubbery grip. The forward and back buttons are present on this side and are well placed, I am finding that manufacturers have more or less worked out where buttons need to go on the side of mice these days to free users from learning how to be a contortionist. At the front of this side panel we have another Fnatic logo which is actually a back lit section, RGB goodness can flow from here.
Underneath the mouse we are met with lots of orange, quite a striking departure from the understated look of the topside. A lozenge of black houses the sensor equipment and we get another set of branding. Saving the best till last here, look at the size of those teflon glide pads, I am really liking the glide coverage on this mouse.
You may have noticed that the underside of the mouse lacked a serial number and regulatory information, this is added as a label on the cable which is a little different. The USB plug is a bit of a snazzy design, the USB insert is yellow as is the end of the cable that oddly goes into one side at the back of the plug, the plastic here must be a little different to the underside of the mouse as the colour is not quite the same. The USB plug branding is quite cute and I did giggle a little at the symbols to stop you putting it in the wrong way round.
Following the in-depth guide on the plug I managed to connect the Flick 2 to my pc and get it powered on. Immediately the scroll wheel and logo light up changing colour to show the RGB capabilities. We also have three lights just above the forward and back buttons to show which profile is in use which I find quite handy. There is quite a glow from the LED’s in a default configuration.
Software
The software for Fnatic products is still in development and is named Fnatic OP. The installation after download was very quick and straight forward, the software lives in your AppData folder and has a fairly small <200Mb footprint. On launching the software you are met with a welcome screen showing four supported devices, hovering over them offers you either ‘discover device’, meaning plug one in or a ‘customise’ button for configuring the device you have. This software so far is seeming much more polished than the early access statement would indicate and I am more impressed with this than some of the competitors’ products.
Selecting the Flick 2 you are presented with the main screen offering three options of Performance, Lighting and Key Bindings along with a profile selector.
Picking an option causes a slide with settings options to appear, so in Performance you get a side panel with lots of customisation options, the side menus are scrollable to get to the many configuration settings that are available. First option is the CPI, these step up in 100’s starting at a crazy low 100 CPI right up to 12000 CPI, one neat trick is that you can set the CPI independently of x and y axis by de-selecting the chain link in the middle. Next we have Angle Snap which just has an on/off setting for some mouse smoothing, I personally wouldn’t use that in games. Lift off distance is measured and has a medium 2mm and high 3mm setting. The next collection of settings are global and affect all three profiles. Polling rate has 125, 250, 500 and 1000Hz, the last panel before saving settings is a link to the windows mouse settings which handle left/right handed use amongst other things.
The lighting menu also slides in, here you get to change quite a few colour settings, there are two effects plus solid colours, Pulse, Fade and Colour Editor. Pulse is like a breathing effect and the animation speed an be changed by the slider. Fade switches between colours, these can be Randomised Rainbow or Gradient, animation speed can also be changed here. The colour editor just lets you set the colour from an RGB wheel with RGB codes also available.
Finally, Key Bindings lets you change the action of buttons in the current profile, this is really useful if you have an application or game that needs extra controls. The options are Default, Keyboard Macro, which also required a Fnatic Keyboard be present as the macros only work with them at this time, Remap Button, Launch an Application or Open a File. Quite a few options there but no mouse macro.
Performance and Testing
Now to get into the important stuff, how the mouse performs.
General Use
Having three profiles available I have a preference for 1600 CPI for general Windows use. Setting this up on profile no3 was an easy task and the sensor performs as expected at this resolution. Gliding around the desktop using applications feels natural and didn’t require any getting used to as with some mice. The mouse is well built and very comfortable, I am happy to report many hours spent using it without any aches or pains. The shape of the mouse is quite ergonomic and would suit both palm and claw grips without much hassle, in the event that the shape isn’t quite right you can look at the sister mouse the Clutch 2 which is coming up in a future review. The smooth top and rubberised side grips make the mouse pleasant without getting too clammy especially in the heat we have been experiencing in the UK recently. While the mouse is an ambidextrous shape I do note that the lack of mirrored side buttons restricts the left hand market a little which has been addressed by other manufacturers.
Gaming
I have two CPI settings for games 600 and 1200, I generally use these settings on competitors mice so I expect a certain response, in the likes of PUBG and Battlefield I use 1200CPI here I found the Flick 2 to handle that just fine, no problems playing at my usual level. For CS:GO I tend to like 600CPI, for some reason I couldn’t quite gel with the Flick 2 at that setting, increasing it to 700CPI helped and I was back to normal. The Pixart 3360 sensor as with others I have used is great for accuracy and has no problem tracking on a variety of mats that I have. The mouse is comfortable and long gaming sessions are achievable with this design.
Conclusion
So there we have it, another mouse from the Fnatic stable continuing to add value and features while replacing other products which helps make their range less crowded and easy to navigate.
Hardware
The build quality of the Flick 2 is excellent, it feels very sturdy yet comfortable. The buttons click well with the familiar Omron switches doing their job nicely. The cable isn’t braided but that is much less of a concern for me these days as I have taken to using a bungee saving on tangles and dragging. Multiple profiles that remain on the mouse even if the software isn’t installed on a machine is an excellent implementation enabling travel and use on other systems in tournaments etc.
Software
I really love the Fnatic OP software; its clear, uncluttered and performs without any issues despite still being in development. The size of the installed package is very much acceptable at less that 200Mb despite it supporting four of Fnatic’s main products. The menus sliding in and out is great for moving around the options and the software is quite intuitive to use. The mouse does lack Macro programming so bear that in mind if it’s a necessity.
Design
The shape of this mouse is very similar to many others so there is an air of familiarity to it, this is of course down to lots of research from many companies trying to find common ground for the huge differences between various customers. I find the shape to suit both palm and claw styles for my hand size. The materials used feel of a good sturdy quality and are pleasant to use even over prolonged periods. The huge teflon glide pads are a massive bonus, some manufacturers put smaller ones at the front especially which can lead to a bit of dragging after some time. The Styling of the mouse is fairly understated, you can turn off the LED’s which is great if you are not a fan of the whole RGB scene, and aside from a bright orange bottom the mouse has a clean look.
Value
At the time of writing I can find the Flick 2 for £49.99 which is a little cheaper than shown on the Fnatic website. With a good build and great sensor this mouse should be considered against similar competition such as the Steelseries Rival 310 at exactly the same price. Choosing between them is difficult but I think the Fnatic software beats the Steelseries suite in footprint and functionality, it also nags much less.
Final Thoughts
Well, I have spent a good couple of weeks with the Flick 2 and can definitely recommend it. As with all mice, I urge you to try before you buy just to check the fit if nothing else. An excellent build, great components and just about spot on performance combined with one of the best configuration applications I have used to date, we are looking at some high awards. The only things holding this back from perfection are the lack of buttons for left handed users (even with an ambidextrous design shape) and no mouse macros. With that in mind I have great pleasure of awarding the Fnatic Flick 2 a solid Gold Award along with a Design Award especially aimed at the OP software, well done on that one Fnatic. Keep an eye out for the Clutch 2 review coming soon.
Thank you Fnatic for sending the Flick 2 in for review.
not bad