PC & Console Peripherals

Absolute freedom – Mad Catz R.A.T. Air gaming mouse in test

“And died again…that stupid cable is always getting stuck somewhere!” – Have you ever been this upset about your mouse cable? Well, I have. Constantly stuck on something, but what’s the alternative? Constantly changing batteries so I can use a wireless mouse? No, that’s not the real deal either. But there are other options. For example, Mad Catz shows how it works without cables and without batteries with their R.A.T. Air.

Design and workmanship

Before we get into the technical background, however, let’s unpack the mouse for a closer look. As you are already used to from other Mad Catz mice, the R.A.T. Air presents itself in a very angular and open design. It looks very technical, high-quality and complex. The design is somewhat reminiscent of Transformers, so the mouse is a real eye-catcher. The Mad Catz logo can be found on the thumb rest as well as on the back of the mouse, and the name of the mouse has also been integrated on the back of the mouse. Among other things, this is part of the integrated RGB lighting, which can be adjusted via the software. Even though most parts are made of plastic, everything is very high quality workmanship. No unwanted corners, edges or the like are to be discovered. Everything has its place and stays there. As long as you don’t make use of the additional feature. But more about that later.

The accompanying mouse pad follows the design of the mouse. The angular design of the frame flattens out nicely towards the sides and also features RGB lighting. The area around the cable connector is slightly raised and stands out twice due to the angular appearance. In addition, the Mad Catz logo is also found here. Another logo has been hidden a bit. It is namely under the reversible actual mouse pad.

€ 18.90
Auf Lager; Lieferzeit: 2 Werktage
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€ 19.95
auf Lager, Lieferzeit 1-3 Tage
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Lieferung in 1-3 Werktagen
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Technical Specifications

Before we take a detailed look at the technology, here’s an overview of the technical data.

Product name R.A.T. Air
The Mouse
Sensor PixArt PWM3360
Sensor type Optical
Max DPI 12000
Number of keys 11
Ergonomics Right-handed
RGB 16.8 million RGB colors
Dimensions (L x W x H) 11 x 88 x 38 mm
Weight 96g
The mouse pad
Connection 1.8m USB 3.0 Type-A
RGB lighting Yes, 16.8 million colors
Dimensions (L x W x H) 357 x 284 x 15 mm
Weight 590 g
Total price € 144.00 *

Features and Technology

Let’s first take a look at the mouse’s technology. At the heart of the R.A.T. Air is the PixArt PMW 3360 optical sensor which operates at up to 12,000 DPI and can sense 250 inches per second. With a sampling rate of up to 1000 Hz, it thus offers everything that is needed to play at the top. With a weight of 96 grams, the R.A.T. Air isn’t one of the lightest mice, but it is in the lower half, especially when you consider that so many buttons and functions are on board. Because the total of 11 buttons provide for versatile freedom of occupation. There are enough buttons to use all actions directly from the mouse and all buttons are more or less directly accessible. However, not everyone will like the sniper button. This is really located directly on the normal lying position of the thumb. This makes it very easy to reach, but it does get in the way a bit during normal use.

So far, we’ve only touched on the fact that the mouse is meant for wireless use. We’ll now take a closer look at that. Although there is no battery installed, the mouse is wireless. However, a special mouse pad is needed for this to be possible. The included mouse pad uses the latest Electro Magnetic Resonance technology to ensure a continuous power supply even without a cable. We’ll take a look at how this works in practice later, because the mouse pad also offers a few additional features. Firstly, the aforementioned RGB lighting, which almost completely surrounds the mouse pad. It can be adjusted in different effects and can also be turned off completely if desired. Furthermore, the surface of the rather medium-sized mouse pad can be changed. You only have to take out the bordered pad and turn it around. You can then use the softer fabric cover instead of the smooth, hard surface. Thus, Mad Catz has nothing to complain about in terms of customizability, even when it comes to the mouse pad. However, as good as the theory may sound, it also has to convince in practice.

Ergonomics and practice

As for ergonomics, of course everyone has a different feeling and usually uses different grips. For my part, I prefer to use the palm grip and like to rest my entire hand on the mouse. Due to the open design of the R.A.T Air, this feels a bit strange, although you can of course get used to it. Especially the shifting of the palm rest by about 1 cm via a rail system offers a special advantage here. The mouse fits very well in the hand when adjusted, only the sniper button, which is placed centrally on the thumb side, is a bit annoying when it is not used. It is a bit of a shame that the Mad Catz R.A.T. Air already has so many settings options, as there would certainly have been a bit more, especially in view of other Mad Catz mice.

Once you’ve gotten used to the mouse and want to get going, there’s almost nothing standing in your way. The mouse pad isn’t one of the biggest, but it still offers enough space for quick turns. However, it could be a bit problematic if you play with a very low DPI, but that should only apply to the fewest. During the entire test phase, it was a luxury not to get stuck anywhere with a cable and to be able to use the complete freedom of movement. In addition, we couldn’t determine any connection interruptions. Even when you remove the mouse from the pad, it remains active for a little while before the power supply completely collapses, so this also ensures no short interruptions. We tried it out anyway, of course, and reconnecting after the mouse is back on the mouse pad also works smoothly and quickly. Especially in terms of practical use, the Mad Catz R.A.T Air is convincing across the board.

Software

With the appropriate software from the website, various customizations can now be implemented. For example, each of the 11 keys can be reassigned. It can also be assigned the left mouse button with a different function. The software even points out that another key has to be defined as “left click” first. Otherwise, nothing stands in the way of the assignment.

Under the “Settings” tab, the height adjustment can be adjusted between 2 and 3 millimeters under general settings. At the same time, there is a direct link to the Windows mouse settings, so that you can quickly reach them from the software. Among other things, the general DPI settings can be set under the profiled settings, as well as the DPI when the sniper function is activated. The button for DPI switching can be defined cyclically or by switching up and down. In addition, the appropriate button is also directly displayed here. Another feature, which probably not everyone will use, but which is still practical, is the line straightening, which can also be set there. Here, slight fluctuations in the mouse movement are filtered out so that really straight lines can be drawn. However, this is usually not desired by pro gamers.

In the last menu item, the RGB lighting can be configured. By clicking on mouse or mouse pad, you select which lighting you want to change and you get some lighting effects to choose from. In addition, you can define the brightness and, depending on the effect, the duration or speed of the color changes. Even though you can’t turn off the RGB lighting with one click, you can for example select the color black (#000000) and as an effect you select “no effect” and all LEDs will stay dark.

Summary of Mad Catz R.A.T. Air mouse review

With the Mad Catz R.A.T Air, you get a mouse with the usual unfamiliar design, as you would expect from the manufacturer. Almost cyborg-like, it does offer more average components, with the variety of buttons clearly standing above others. The adjustment option of the palm rest also provides additional plus points, whereby we are also used to more from Mad Catz. Compared to other manufacturers, this is still a plus point. The actual highlight, the wireless and battery-free use, brings absolute freedom in combination with no fears that the batteries will run out right away. In practice, there was nothing to complain about and you could fully exploit the freedoms.

A lot is also offered in terms of software customization. From the completely flexible setting of each button to links to Windows settings and features like line straightening, everything is simply on board and quite clearly. Only the RGB lighting turns out to be a bit meager with only four effects, but that doesn’t bother us at all! The most important effects and the quite free color selection are simply top! So if you always torture yourself with a cable and have been deterred by batteries so far, you should take a closer look at the Mad Catz R.A.T Air, because it definitely gets the Platinum Award from us!

Mad Catz R.A.T. Air

Workmanship
Features
Ergonomics
Software
Value for money

95/100

The cordless and battery-free mouse from Mad Catz is manufactured to a high standard and equipped with good technology. It fits well in the hand and offers all the freedom you could wish for in a mouse.

€ 18.90
Auf Lager; Lieferzeit: 2 Werktage
Buy now* alza.de
€ 19.95
auf Lager, Lieferzeit 1-3 Tage
Buy now* netgames.de
€ 25.00
Lieferung in 1-3 Werktagen
Buy now* Mediamarkt.de

Simon Lüthje

I am co-founder of this blog and am very interested in everything that has to do with technology, but I also like to play games. I was born in Hamburg, but now I live in Bad Segeberg.

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„And died again…that stupid cable is always getting stuck somewhere!“ – Have you ever been this upset about your mouse cable? Well, I have. Constantly stuck on something, but what’s the alternative? Constantly changing batteries so I can use a wireless mouse? No, that’s not the real deal either. But there are other options. For … (Weiterlesen...)

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