
The lightweight gaming mouse sector is a fiercely competitive one. Nearly every brand claims their mouse is the pinnacle of wireless mouse development and everyone else is trying to better and beat their competitor.
Whether it be by shaving off grams of weight, adding in sensors capable of uncontrollable DPI levels, or switches that can sense your need to click before you do ( that sounds like cheating to me). Everyone is trying to one-up the competition.
We got our hands on the ASUS TUF Gaming M4 wireless mouse to see how it holds up in an extremely competitive genre.
Design, build, and Performance
The ASUS TUF Gaming M4 Wireless mouse does not try to redesign what we think a wireless gaming mouse should be. Instead, it takes a tried and tested formula of a shape that most would expect from a lightweight mouse and tweaking it. The is an ambidextrous mouse but only has thumb buttons if it is used as a right-handed mouse. the design and shape are rather standard but comparing it to the Logitech GPro, the ASUS TUF Gaming M4 Wireless feels like the weight sits more towards the back and the rear does bulge slightly more allowing your palm to sit very comfortably on the mouse. The lack of flares and textured plastics does mean at times, gripping it might be a struggle for some.

The ASUS TUF Gaming M4 Wireless has six buttons, the left and right clicks feel strong and sturdy and the switches are rather clicky but provide a confident click and feel. The left and right click buttons are slightly textured allowing for just the right amount of grip. The two thumb buttons are of a good size and protrude just enough from the chassis to be easily reachable while not getting in the way. Unlike some other brands which allow their scroll wheels to be changed from free-spin to a notched spin, ASUS went with a notched only, which for gaming, is the preferred method. The scroll wheel provides just enough resistance to not easily be bumped causing you to change weapon at the most inopportune moment. The last button to be found on top of the ASUS TUF Gaming M4 Wireless is the DPI button. Flipping over the ASUS TUF Gaming M4 Wireless you are met with an on-off switch that can be flicked to Bluetooth or wireless depending on the connection type you are using. The ASUS TUF Gaming M4 Wireless also has four skates, a large one at the bottom a small ring around the sensor, and two smaller ones at the front.

The ASUS TUF Gaming M4 Wireless is capable of a max DPI of 12 000, which I have said before, I think is unnecessary as I can’t imagine anyone except those who like to torture themselves, would use a DPI of higher than 1600 at most. Out of the box, the ASUS TUF Gaming M4 Wireless has four pre-defined steps, 400, 800 1600, and 3200. The polling rate can be changed between 125, 250, 500, and 1000 Hz.
My daily mouse is the Logitech G Pro which is considered by many as one of the best lightweight wireless mice and is used by many of the esport pro players. The ASUS TUF Gaming M4 Wireless feels very familiar in hand and in terms of weight, they are very similar as well. I think I could seamlessly switch over to the ASUS TUF Gaming M4 Wireless without skipping a beat. The only difference would be the fact that the ASUS TUF Gaming M4 Wireless uses a battery that can be removed and replaced compared to the Logitech which has an internal battery with a cable and receiver that can be moved closer for better latency as well as be used while charging.

Software and Battery
The ASUS TUF Gaming M4 Wireless, like most ASUS products, uses the Armoury Crate. Armoury Crate is a good program but it is not without its own little kinks. The ASUS TUF Gaming M4 Wireless features and settings are spread across a few tabs. Button remapping is on the first tab allowing you to program any of the buttons to do different features. The second tab is for DPI settings, polling rate, and angle snapping. The third page will give you access to power options and ways of preserving power. Fortunately for battery life, the ASUS TUF Gaming M4 Wireless has no RGB so battery life is very good. Using a AA battery, using Bluetooth, ASUS states that you should get around 232 hours, and with 2.4GHz wireless, 134 hours. Using a AAA battery will lessen these hours.

Verdict
The ASUS TUF Gaming M4 Wireless is a good competitor in the wireless gaming mouse section. Having a removable battery makes it compete with the likes of the SteelSeries Rival 3 wireless, Logitech G305, and Razer Orochi V2. From what I have experienced with using the ASUS TUF Gaming M4 Wireless it is a good competitor, it does not beat every single one of its competitors in every aspect but it does make for a good package.
At this price point, it is really a tough choice between any of the rival mice. coming in at nearly the same price a lot of it will boil down to preference of brand. But the ASUS TUF Gaming M4 Wireless makes a strong claim in the wireless mouse market!
Build: 4/5
Performance: 5/5
Features: 3.5/5

thanks to ASUS South Africa for the reviewed product
