Corsair Katar Elite Wireless Gaming Mouse Review

A Closer Look & Performance

The Corsair Katar Elite Wireless looks very similar to the old Katar Pro XT Ultra, but there have certainly been a few improvements if you look very closely. For starters, the old one has the front buttons finished with point sharp corners, whereas the new model has been smoothed and rounded making it look sleeker, and more comfortable too, those pointy corners won’t catch your fingertips now.

Down the side, the Katar has two navigation buttons, as well as a hard moulded textured finish to help with overall grip. However, it also adds to the overall aesthetic too, it just looks cool.

At the back, the Katas is nicely rounded with a really smooth finish, so it fits very comfortably in the palm of your hand with no hot spots. Even the RGB logo is etched in, keeping it very smooth indeed.

The LMB and RMB have undergone some tweaks. As I said, the front edges and corners have been rounded and smoothed, and it looks much better for it. The panel is a little thicker looking too, so the mouse retains the same feel in your hand, but the switches have zero gapping from the top panels. This gives the mouse a very tight and instant click response.

The scroll wheel looks great too, with a nice fat rubber grip coating and it’s nicely recessed, but still easy enough to click should you need that extra button.

On the underside, there are two large PTFE feet, as well as a small oval one in the middle around the sensor. The mouse is already very lightweight but combined with the low friction pads, it glides like it’s on ice.

There’s a switch on the underside, allowing you to turn the mouse off completely, but also to choose the pairing method, so you can easily toggle from USB mode to 2.4 GHz mode.

If you’re using the 2.4 GHz mode, you’ll want to use this handy Corsair Slipstream dongle, which can be neatly stored in the bottom of the mouse while not in use. Oh, and if you already have another Slipstream dongle for other Corsair peripherals, you’ll only need one of the dongles.

I totally told Corsair that this mouse mat would fit, and I was mostly telling the truth. The width is not an issue, but I thought my desk was a little deeper than it actually is. However, there’s no doubt that it looks stunning, it’s silky smooth and gives me plenty of room for all my peripherals.

As you can see, it kicks up a little at the back, but I don’t mind, by the time I put my controller stands, monitors, speakers and all that jazz back, I can’t actually see the back bit anyway.

Of course, it has Corsair iCUE RGB built into the edge. You can use the button on the mouse pad to change the colour, or the downloadable software to sync it with other Corsair hardware.

The Katar has RGB built-in too, but it’s kept to a minimum, with just an RGB logo on the back. This is great for a little customisation, but its practical use is better, as I can see what profile or DPI level I have by assigning colours to each mode.

The ultralight design is great, if you’re a fast-paced gamer that likes to make small and lightening fast movements, this will get the job done. That being said, it’s just less effort to move this mouse in general, and gliding it around a huge mouse mat while using low DPI really shows you how smooth and accurate this new sensor is.

The wireless and wired performance are both flawless, as has been the case for Corsair peripherals for years now. Really, it feels a lot like the old Katar did, but that’s no bad thing. The real improvement is the much higher and more responsive switch mounting. For firing off high APM in games, it just feels more responsive. It being a little lighter and wireless on top of that are certainly welcome bonuses though.