If it’s been a while since you last upgraded your PC, you may have missed out on a relatively new weight-saving innovation in the mouse-making sector. That new innovation? Holes. Mice with holes in them like the HyperX Pulsefire Haste, also known as ultra-light mice, perforated mice, or hex-shell mice – the concept is new, so people haven’t quite settled on a term for them yet – can help reduce the repetitive strain of lifting your pointing device thousands of times a day.
While you probably don’t think of getting reps with your mouse as contributing to your gainz, there is something to be said for reducing the weight of your mouse. Bear in mind that many of the movements you make in fast-paced games like Call of Duty require moving the mouse from a standstill position or ask you to rapidly move the mouse in one direction and then stop on a dime and snap back in the other direction. Shaving off a little bit of weight can have a big multiplicative effect over the course of a long day of Warzone gaming.
The beneficial effects of trimming the weight of your mouse aren’t only health-related. An ultra-lightweight mouse can be a boon for PC gamers, especially if you’re primarily an FPS gamer. Here are a few reasons why perforated mice might just be the “holey grail” when it comes to the best Call of Duty gaming gear and upping your game in first-person shooters.
Why mice with holes are good for FPS gamers
When your team’s not doing so great, you’ve got enough weight to be carrying without worrying about the weight of your mouse. The subtle lift-off distance of a mouse during quick movements required for aiming in games like Modern Warfare III, CS2, and Valorant is enough to cause fatigue over long periods if you’re dragging more weight than you need.
The weight of a mouse is just another extremely subjective part of choosing the right mouse for your hand. When we’re talking about buttons, the right number to have is “as many as you need to make your life easier”, and the right DPI setting for you “is the one that gets you the best results.” Things like which mouse shape and weight are best for you are simply going to come down to what feels most comfortable in your mouse hand.
That being said, if you can reduce the weight of the mouse that your mouse-hand is handling over long periods, it will be beneficial for you. Weight is certainly a contributing factor for repetitive strain injuries such as carpal tunnel.
If you feel comfortable with an ultra-light mouse, the benefits from cutting weight aren’t simply about wrist fatigue and warding off joint pain. As we all learned in school, force = mass * acceleration. Rejigger the variables a bit, and you get acceleration = force / mass. When you reduce mass, it means that you can get better acceleration, even though you’re putting in the same amount of force. That should be music to any FPS player’s ears. In games with low time-to-kill, those reclaimed fractions of a second can mean the difference between heading to respawn and looting your downed foe.
Other benefits of mice with holes in them
So, that’s how ultra-light mice with holes in them, like the HyperX Pulsefire Haste, can reduce the strain on your wrist and arm, and give you a potential edge when compared to the heavier members of their species. The Pulsefire Haste clocks in at just 59 grams. Most non-perforated mice will weigh in closer to 100 grams. Even amongst the Pulsefire family, the Haste is considerably lighter. The next lightest mouse currently in the HyperX Pulsefire line of mice is the Pulsefire Core at 87 grams.
Hate the drag of a wire slowing your flick-shots down? Pick up the Pulsefire Haste Wireless instead. It features the same perforated shell design and weighs in no heavier than the wired version. But here you'll never suffer an untimely death from snagging that pesky cable on any items on your desk. There's no need to worry about battery life either – the Haste Wireless has you covered for up to 100 hours on a single charge. Whichever you're running wired or wireless though, just make sure you also know how to clean a mouse with holes.
Of course, if you’re hoping to take serious steps to avoid injuries caused by repetitive strain, you’d also do well to look into other improvements you can make to your gaming setup to ensure it is as ergonomic as possible. Aside from reducing the strain on your wrist, an ultra-light mouse with holes in it can also reduce the strain on your back. If you’re heading out to a LAN or just like to use an external mouse with your laptop at the coffee shop, at just 59g all-in, you’ll probably barely even notice the addition to your backpack’s everyday carry weight.
You can go even further and reduce the total weight of your setup to make it LAN-friendly and portable by going for a 60% or tenkeyless (TKL) keyboard. Reclaim some more of your desktop surface so you can make those big swooping flickshots with your mousehand. And if you are looking to boost your Modern Warfare III win rate? Check out more Call of Duty gaming gear here.
