Corsair’s top-tier Darkstar Wireless mouse is no copy-and-paste job.
About the Corsair Darkstar Wireless
Credit:
Reviewed / Jonathan Hilburg
The Corsair Darkstar Wireless mouse’s build quality is rock-solid, and the 100 million clicks promised means they should last for years.
- Price: $170
- Connectivity: 2.4GHz Slipstream wireless (USB-A dongle), Bluetooth 5.0, USB A-to-C cable (included)
- Dimensions: 5.08 x 2.67 x 1.72 inches
- Weight: 99 grams (3.49 ounces)
- Sensor: Corsair MARKSMAN 26,000 DPI sensor
- Colors: Black
- Material: Plastic
- Compatibility: PC, macOS
- LED lighting: 7 addressable zones, 16.8 million colors
- Battery life: Up to 80 hours with RGB disabled (Bluetooth)
- Buttons: 15, programmable
- Special features: 2,000Hz polling rate (wired or Slipstream wireless only), 650 IPS max speed, 50G max acceleration, Quickstrike optical switches (rated for 100 million clicks), onboard storage for 5 custom profiles, programmable tilt gestures (six-axis gyro and accelerometer)
The Corsair Darkstar Wireless includes six programmable buttons clustered around where your thumb would rest; two on the left edge of the left click; another two below the scroll wheel, and a middle click, left, and right click on the wheel itself for a total of 15.
Corsair also included programmable tilt gestures, which, along with the RGB and polling rate, can all be assigned via the iCue app.
Typical of Corsair mice, the Darkstar features a pocket on the underside to hold the USB-A dongle when not used, but the Darkstar Wireless does not include a cover.
If you like the “Razer”-sharp stylings of the Basilisk V3 Pro or Logitech G502 X Lightspeed but can’t let go of those side buttons, then Corsair’s Darkstar Wireless has you covered. It boasts 15 programmable buttons (with six around where your thumb rests) but also uses the same 26,000 DPI MARKSMAN sensor found in the company’s first-person-shooter-oriented mice.
In fact, it’s the same sensor in my daily driver, the Corsair Sabre RGB Pro Wireless. Corsair has made a few critical changes to the mouse body, though, that may take some getting used to.
The shape is unmistakably contoured for right-handed gamers and rises to a peak at the center, which caused a day’s worth of mild wrist and finger pain as I got used to the new grip and extra height. The discomfort wasn’t permanent, but, as someone with smaller hands who defaults to a palm grip, it made the Darkstar feel a bit unwieldy.
Gaming with the Darkstar was about what I expected tracking is accurate, and I programmed the same five levels of DPI into the mouse via Corsair’s iCue software that I’m used to and easily scroll between them with the two buttons on the left click.
Although the Darkstar is accurate, I never felt that I could whip it around as quickly as the Sabre RGB Pro, likely because of the additional 20 grams of weight, extra height, and the way the PTFE pads only cover the top and bottom of the mouse’s underside, rather than the sides.
I also found myself mistakenly brushing the DPI buttons on the left click during frantic moments, temporarily throwing my aim off. You can remap them to the middle buttons below the mouse wheel, but the out-of-the-box button mapping seems like an oversight.
Because the six thumb buttons are arranged radially instead of in a grid, I could easily hit them all, though it was a bit hit-or-miss in actual games. I thought it would be fun to play Diablo 4 with all of my skills mapped to the thumb buttons, but the game refused to recognize them as an option. I had the same problem in Fortnite; while I was still able to expertly pull off headshots, I couldn’t map anything to the additional buttons. You can get around this by mapping them to numbers in iCue but it’s an extra layer of complexity.
If you’re a graphic designer or photographer, being able to map different Photoshop tools or macros to each is an exciting opportunity to expand this gaming mouse’s functionality.
While the programmable RGB strip that runs across the middle is impressive in its versatility (you can set solid colors, gradients, or animated patterns), you’ll never see it—or the illuminated Corsair logo—when you’re actually using the mouse. The battery life indicator lights on the side are much more useful.
Speaking of, for a $170 mouse crammed with features, the battery life isn’t great. I disabled the Darkstar’s RGB completely, but it’s still only rated for 65 hours of battery life when connected over 2.4GHz wireless, or four to five days, the same as my Sabre RGB Pro.
That’s unimpressive when the Logitech G502 X Lightspeed is rated for up to 140 hours under similar circumstances, and it’s the same weight.
Should you buy the Corsair Darkstar Wireless?
Yes, but only if it suits your needs
Credit:
Reviewed / Jonathan Hilburg
At $170, the Corsair Darkstar is not cheap, but the build quality, plethora of customizable RGB lighting, and tilt gesture capability go a long way toward justifying the price.
Corsair’s attempt at a top-tier wireless gaming mouse with the same sharp figure as Razer and Logitech’s could have been a copy-and-paste job, but it’s nice to see the Darkstar Wireless has a slew of added features for MMO gamers. While it doesn’t have the typical grid of side buttons found on Razer’s MMO mice, the radial side buttons are easy enough to hit even if you have smaller hands (though the two on the top left are more of a stretch).
The build quality is rock-solid, too, and the 100 million clicks promised means they should last for years. It has a uniquely deep level of customizability built in, and there’s enough lighting to satisfy even the most demanding RGB fan.
But I do have some reservations. Corsair lists it as being for “large hands” on its website, and my testing experience bore that out. The exact same sensor, battery life, and 2000Hz polling rate can also be found in both the $70 Corsair Katar Elite Wireless (one of the best gaming mice you can buy for the money) and the Corsair Sabre RGB Pro Wireless, which I picked up for only $40.
If you really like the form factor, the Logitech G502 X Lightspeed is an excellent $120 option. And if you want side buttons, the Razer Naga X can be had for under $50.
But it’s undeniable the Corsair Darkstar Wireless offers extra functionality that competitors can’t match. If you need a mouse with an army of extra buttons and good enough specs to keep up in competitive shooters, it’s currently one-of-a-kind.
Corsair Darkstar Wireless
The Corsair Darkstar Wireless mouse is loaded with accessible buttons and is good at just about everything.
Meet the tester
Jonathan is an Electronics Editor for Reviewed specializing in gaming gear and has experience with everything from controllers to benchmarking the latest GPUs. He was previously the Web Editor at The Architect’s Newspaper.
Checking our work.
Our team is here for one purpose: to help you buy the best stuff and love what you own. Our writers, editors, and lab technicians obsess over the products we cover to make sure you’re confident and satisfied. Have a different opinion about something we recommend? Email us and we’ll compare notes.
