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With so many lightweight gaming mouse options on the market, it’s becoming increasingly more difficult to find one that sticks out from the crowd and lives up to the hype. Razer has pulled ahead recently with its Razer Ultimate wireless, but the Pwnage Ultra Custom is here to take a run at the crown. 

Logitech proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that wireless mice have a place in competitive gaming with the Logitech G Pro Wireless mouse. Razer upped the ante by taking their heralded lightweight Viper design and giving it the wireless treatment but also packed on a few grams in the process. While these mice are two of our favorites, the Pwnage Ultra Custom undercuts both options on weight and has some baked-in value the other two mice lack. 

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Starting with the name, users will be happy to know that this mouse is one of the most customizable mice we’ve ever seen. One of the big draws of the Ultra Custom is that the mouse comes with several different shells, mouse buttons, and DPI buttons in the box. In most instances, users looking to customize their mouse would have to buy parts from a third-party site and do some at-home modding that may or may not void the warranty. With the Ultra Custom, it’s easy and encouraged to customize your mouse within the manufacturer’s guidelines. 

There are four different options listed on the Indiegogo page that are available at the time of writing. Backers can choose a black or white base mouse that comes with both black and white customization shells. While the extra mouse button covers are solid, the body cover shells are both honeycomb and solid, which is a huge plus for users who aren’t looking for another honeycomb mouse. Sidewalls will always be honeycomb, though.

The other two options listed on Indiegogo are the black and white base mice that come with three extra colored shells. These colors include red, green, white, and orange. 

We normally don’t talk this early about pricing in a review, but it’s key to understand why this mouse has so much hype surrounding it. The base kits that include only white and black shells will run buyers $89 on Indiegogo, which is allegedly a deal compared to the seemingly suggested retail price of $149 that has a line through it. Four color kits run buyers $129. 

Going with the $89 kit provides users with arguably more value than both the Logitech G Pro Wireless and the Viper Ultimate. Not only does the Ultra Custom undercut both mice in weight, but the level of customization is a big win for users looking for just a bit more value. Combine the lightweight design and level of customization with the fact that the Ultra Custom is wireless and this mouse is a clear winner in the value department—for now, that is. As with most Indiegogo or Kickstarter projects, pricing models change frequently.

The Ultra Custom’s stock weigh-in sits at 66 grams. The word stock is important here. Changing out the shells or removing them obviously has an effect on the weight of the mouse. One of the features Pwnage seems to be keen on selling users on is the ability to mod the Ultra Custom into a fully wired mouse by removing the battery and using the included USB Type-C cable to connect to the host.

This feature is interesting because there are options out there that undercut the Ultra Custom’s price by a very wide margin. Just going onto Glorious PC Gaming Race’s site will prove that lightweight doesn’t need to have an overpriced premium slapped on it. Going fully wired to get the weight of the Ultra Custom down to below 58 grams is neat but a bit moot when considering other more competitively priced options geared towards enthusiasts. 

The shape here is an extremely comfortable ergonomic shape that is just a bit smaller in length than the Glorious Model D. Our reviewer’s hands sit at 19.5cm/7.7inches in length from the tip of the middle finger to the base of the palm and 10.4 cm/4.1 inches wide from thumb knuckle to the edge of the palm. The mouse lends itself quite well to a palm grip with larger hands and even felt comfortable while claw-and-fingertip gripping as well. 

Pwnage uses a pmw3335 optical sensor in the Ultra Custom and it’s a solid performer. These days, it feels like a sensor has to be particularly awful to really notice a massive difference. No self-respecting manufacturer is going to use a sensor that feels noticeably sub-par. Everything feels right on time with the Ultra Custom. Flicks in Rainbow Six Siege feel responsive and smooth, while lining up longshots in Call of Duty: Warzone track with glide and accuracy. 

The company has also placed an emphasis on the battery life of the Ultra custom and it shows. Manufacturer specs clock the battery at 66 hours for general office work and about 44 hours for gaming. It’s impressive how long wireless mice can last these days. Plug in this mouse after a couple of days of use and you’ll find it will need to charge in a matter of minutes. The same can be said for other wireless mice, but it’s always worth mentioning when a smaller company achieves the same result. We kept the mouse plugged in for a bit to test out the wired mode and the included cable felt decent but not quite as good as Glorious’ Ascended cable. 

Mouse feet here feel fantastic when combined with the wireless nature of the Ultra Custom. Pwnage uses 100 percent PTFE mouse feet to ensure the best glide possible, and it really does show. There are four mouse feet on the edges of the mouse and one surrounding the sensor. While the sensor is of great importance, the feel of a mouse can often be ruined with sub-par mouse feet, so it’s always a plus when manufacturers get it right. 

One feature that is pretty unnecessary to have on the Ultra Custom is the RGB lighting on the back end of the mouse. When using the honeycomb shell, users will be able to see the Pwnage logo light up when the mouse is not in use. There is also a visible strip of light on the back end that is barely visible most times of the day and during use. The RGB also cuts out when the mouse is moved, which seems to be a power-saving feature.

Perhaps the only useful implementation of RGB lighting on the Ultra Custom is on the scroll wheel, which indicates DPI steps. RGB lighting seems to only be included here to appease RGB fans, but it doesn’t quite nail it in terms of execution. The RGB lighting itself is very pretty but not visible at any point during use, so it just seems like it’s included for the sake of inclusion. 

The buttons on the Ultra Custom are solid performers. Clicks are fairly crisp and require very little force to actuate. These buttons feel a bit similar to the Glorious side buttons in that they feel almost cheap because they’re so light. That’s not to say that they are cheap, just that they’ll take some getting used to if you’re coming from a beefier, more tactile-feeling mouse. The mouse one and two buttons feel subjectively good, but other users may not enjoy the ever-so slight wiggle in them. We chalked this up to being a side effect of being able to replace the button covers. It wasn’t a deal-breaker, but it is something to think about if you’re a fan of very stiff and tactile clicks. 

Overall, we’re pumped about the Pwnage Ultra Custom. There’s a lot of value to be had right now in the level of customization found with this mouse. The $89 Indiegogo pricing is a steal for the base model of this wireless lightweight ultra customizable mouse. Given that it is an Indiegogo project, the pricing may change in the future and will definitely affect where the Ultra Custom is positioned among the other wireless gaming mice giants like Razer and Logitech. A solid sensor and great wireless performance paired with the lightweight ergonomic design make the Pwnage Ultra Custom an early front-runner for one of the best gaming mice of 2020. 

Pros 

Cons

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