Fast as RGB lightning — HyperX Pulsefire Haste Review

I have never picked up a real gaming mouse. I mean, I bought a little $20 wireless mouse with some blue RGB lighting from Amazon because it looked neat and I wanted something other than a stock one. The point is, I have no experience with the high-end mouse market. That changed significantly when I checked out HyperX’s Pulsefire Haste.

I admittedly was a bit disappointed out of the box with it being wired. I’ve always preferred wireless options because a cable generally causes you to pull and tug depending on the game or program you’re using to get the best length of cable for your movement. Even then, the cable eventually falls back into place and you’re left fighting with it again. That isn’t close to an issue here. HyperX uses their own HyperFlex cable for this mouse, and I’m really impressed with it. It honestly feels like a piece of cloth that maneuvers easily as you move the mouse to and fro. I would have hardly known it was a cable, and it certainly doesn’t inhibit me at all when using the Haste.

The Pulsefire Haste is also light as a feather and weighs only 59 grams by itself, and 80 grams with the cable. It’s a noticeable difference from my other mouse, and I found myself zipping it around easily once I got a feel for it. There are only a few buttons on the Haste, but what you need is there, left and right click triggers, forwards and back buttons on the left hand side, and a button under the mouse wheel to quickly adjust your DPI. It also has RGB built in, but only the mouse wheel takes advantage of it sadly. I was also happy to find grip tape in the box. While it’s completely optional, I gave the right/left click trigger grip tape a try and it actually improves the experience. They are also pretty easy to remove and don’t seem to leave nasty residue.

Overall the mouse is comfortable, even with my using it for video editing for several hours. Not every mouse is pleasant to grip for that long, but the shape of the Haste contours well with my hand. The clicks of the triggers also feel responsive, yet effortless at the same time.

So the real question, how quick is the HyperX Pulsefire Haste? To me, it’s like a bolt of lightning. There are four initial different DPI settings you can use, and all are accessible right out of the box via the DPI button or the nGenuity software (more on that in a moment). I believe I started on the third highest setting (1600 DPI) from plugging it in, and I had to hold back on moving it around because the cursor flew around my dual screen setup.

The Pixart 3335 Sensor is pretty spot on, even if I suck at hitting shots with Widowmaker in Overwatch. I feel like if I take the time, I can learn the precision the Haste offers. The best part is being able to switch DPI settings on the fly with the DPI button. If I’m struggling with a game on a higher setting I can modify it quickly, even in the middle of a multiplayer game. I’m sure this is a common feature with gaming mice, but it’s an important one. You can also add custom levels to the button, although I nearly got sick trying to jump to the max 16000. Seriously, those of you who can take advantage of that level are champs.

Using the Ngenuity software you can also remap the mouse, which is a pretty awesome feature. I usually stick with whatever is preset, but the key here is options for all players. Here are also your RGB and sensor options available within seconds. It’s well put together and simple, so no matter what level you’re at you should be able to customize your mouse pretty easily.

I honestly haven’t run into any issues with the mouse. The only thing I might say is it advertises RGB and is pretty lacking in that department. But something has to be sacrificed for speed and weight, so if it must go, it must go. I just would have preferred it be more of a happy little extra feature I found than promoted on the front of the box.

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