Introduction
Gigabyte is one of the biggest names in the computer industry. They’ve won countless awards for their motherboards, graphics cards and more; they’ve even won quite a few of those awards from us here at eTeknix. Peripherals may not be the biggest market for Gigabyte, but we’ve seen before that they have what it takes to make some seriously cool headsets, mice and keyboards.
Today we’ll be taking a look at their Aire M93 ICE, a fairly common wireless mouse that promises versatile performance. Wireless technology isn’t always ideal for gaming, but this isn’t really a gaming mouse; the Aire M93 has been tailored towards use with notebooks, in the office and other work environments.
The Aire M93 promises to work on a wide range of surfaces, which is great news for those who travel. One day you could be working at your swanky office desk, the next you may need to use the arm of a hotel room chair as your mouse mat. A versatile sensor is a vital tool for these scenarios and it also means you shouldn’t have to pack a mouse mat in your already heavy work bag.
Everything you need is included in the box; the mouse, the USB dongle, a rechargeable battery and the USB to microUSB charging cable.
The USB dongle is tiny. The small size is great for those using it with a laptop, as it’s not going to stick out and get in the way of mouse operations.
The mouse is nicely designed, with a curved design that should be comfortable for palm rest grips.
There’s the usual two switches on the left side, as well as an ergonomic bump that will provide a good resting position for your thumb. The left side of the mouse is lightly textured to provide extra grip.
There’s a slight ergonomic bump on the right side, which again helps you get a better grip on the mouse; the right side panel also features a grip texture.
Both mouse buttons have a deep curve to them that promotes a comfortable finger resting position. The mouse wheel is quite large and has a soft rubber grip with a bit of metal trim around it. You’ll also notice the two arrows around the wheel, the mouse wheel can be jogged left and right to give you extra navigation controls.
Behind the scroll wheel are two control buttons, one for the DPI toggle and the other for Free-scroll, which allows you to easily move webpages and folders around.
The underside has the cover for the battery compartment, a master power button and the sensor.
Behind the battery cover you will obviously find the battle slot, but also a nice little recess for the USB dongle. This means you won’t have to fish around in your bag for that tiny little USB connector; very handy!
The mouse can be used while charging and the cable connects to the front of the mouse easy enough. The cable is lightweight and
I think I like it but why do they have to place those two side buttons so far forward? unless it’s a smaller mouse they aren’t within comfortable reach for those of us with smaller hands and use a claw grip and I should know, I always have had problems with full sized mice with the button placement so far forward.
As a guy with hands like giant trapdoor spiders, I have the complete opposite issue as you, even on my Steelseries Rival the buttons are too far back to be pressed comfortably. I wouldn’t mind seeing a mouse with a single side button large enough for all hand sizes, to eliminate this ergonomic quandary.