HyperX PulseFire Haste Gaming Mouse Review

A Closer Look & Performance

At just 59 grams, I’m surprised I didn’t have to nail the HyperX Pulsefire Haste down to my desk, as a light breeze may push it along my desk. It feels exceptionally light, with that honeycomb design shedding material from the mouse buttons, top rear and bottom of the mouse.

Despite the lean diet, the Haste still feels very rigid, I’ve squeezed and squashed it from all sides, and there is absolutely no movement in those panels whatsoever. It’s REALLY strong, so it should withstand many abusive gaming sessions without any concern. There are two navigation buttons on this side, with a prominent and responsive click with firm springs that make them feel snappy and return quickly.

At the rear, you can see just how much material is missing from this mouse. I really like the look of it, and it actually feels very comfortable in your hand too, providing a unique texture and feel when used in a palm grip.

There’s a nice ergonomic shape to the mouse too, so long as you’re right-handed. It sweeps under just a touch, providing a good finger resting position and grip point so you can easily lift the mouse. There’s some grip tape in the box, but honestly, I can’t see any need for it. The mouse holds nicely in my hand and I can lift it with just a light fingertip grip on the sides.

There are two main switches up top, each mounted on their own panels, so there’s no feedback from one to the other. The switches are tightly mounted too, with no pre-travel at all, just a snappy and responsive click. There’s a little bit of flex after the click if you push harder, but that just gives them a nice spring and bounce that makes it comfortable to fire off rapid clicks. It’s great for you CPM junkies that like to spam away at the mouse.

The mouse wheel is a good size, but heavily recessed so that it doesn’t get in the way. It’s got a slight bump when turned, and I would have liked a little more texture to that rotation personally, and maybe a stiffer click, but that’s really just preference. Many of you may like the smoother and faster turning for your gameplay. I do like that the mouse buttons are curved too, as it promotes a natural finger position and makes for a better click response.

The weight of this mouse means it’s super nimble, but those “virgin PTFE” pads are like ice, they’re tremendously slippy, even when just rubbing them with your finger it’s super slick. So when it comes to moving this mouse around, it takes such a small amount of force, allowing for easy micro-adjustments at higher DPI settings.

I love the design though, it’s obviously light, but the fact that it’s so open means it’s breathable. If you suffer from sweaty palms while gaming, this can really help alleviate a lot of that.

When it comes to performance, the mouse is really just fantastic to use. I’ve been playing a lot of old school shooters recently, such as Quake 3 Arena, Unreal Tournament and the like, and it just eats up those fast-paced shooters with ease.

The Pixart 3335 sensor isn’t the most advanced in the world, but it’s hardly a handicap either. It’ll track at 450 IPS and 40G, and honestly, I couldn’t throw it off pace it tracks really nicely. The DPI can be set to 400 / 800 / 1600 / 3200, but I found just leaving it at 1600 worked well for me, even on a 4K monitor. You can tinker a bit more in the desktop software, but honestly, I didn’t really find the need to change anything, it worked great out of the box.