Tech Review | Mad Catz R.A.T. PRO S3

What is the true value of a mouse? We use them daily on our PCs for work and leisure, but does the type or quality of the mouse really matter? Is a device like the Mad Catz R.A.T. PRO S3 worth it? For many of us the answer to that second question would be, no the quality doesn’t matter as long as it’s functional. Most gamers don’t even seem care what type of mouse they use. This is especially true for those who made the switch from console to PC, because you can usually find controller support for most PC titles, even the shooters. A good example of that is the fact that in the past few years we’ve only covered one game that didn’t have controller support, and we cover a lot of games.

Now all that exposition aside, the actual fact is that the type of mouse does matter depending on your needs. If you’re just doing office work or are a casual gamer then your type of mouse doesn’t matter. For the gamers who are a bit more hardcore or those seeking to dominate in online shooters, your mouse does matter.

Regular Mouse VS Gaming Mouse

According to its manufacturer, The Mad Catz R.A.T. PRO S3 concentrates on delivering the essentials that many professional gamers demand. It’s Pixart PMW 3330 sensor delivers proven gaming performance, while ultra-reliable OMRON switches have been tested to an impressive 50 million clicks. The palm rest is fully adjustable, tilting plus or minus 15 degrees side-to-side, and extending up to 12mm from the mainframe.

TECHNICAL SPECS

• SENSOR PIXART PMW3330
• DPI RANGE UP TO 7200
• USB REPORT RATE UP TO 2500HZ
• TRACKING SPEED UP TO 3.8M/S / 150”/S
• ACCELERATION 30G
• FRAME RATE 8,000
• LEFT AND RIGHT MOUSE BUTTON UP TO 50M CLICKS
• PROGRAMMABLE BUTTONS 8
• WEIGHT 80G WITHOUT CABLE

MINIMUM SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

WINDOWS®: 7, 8, 8.1, 10
1 X USB 2.0 PORT
INTERNET CONNECTION FOR SOFTWARE DOWNLOAD.

Bla Bla Bla tech speech, bla bla.

What everyone really wants to know is:

Should YOU get this gaming mouse?

The most important aspect of a good mouse may not be what you expect. It’s not the dpi, hz, or any of that other techno babble. What really matters for a mouse is its comfort and design. Traditional mice have a very familiar oval shape with two buttons, and a scroll wheel. The shape of a tradition mouse also serves a very practical purpose. It allows for ambidextrous use. Gaming focus mice like the Mad Catz R.A.T. PRO S3 tend to forgo this design to add more functionality, and thus loose some of their broader appeal due to most carrying a right handed implementation. This means most left handed users are left in the dirt. If you’re a lefty then you’re out of luck with this and most other gaming mice.

No love for the Lefties

As a new honorary lefty, none of the many configurations possible with this mouse really felt comfortable in left handed use. The Mad Catz R.A.T. PRO S3 has some adjustable components like the palm rest at the base of the mouse, but there’s not much the end user can do to rectify it’s design exclusivity.

Other than it being a mouse exclusively for right handed user there’s not much else that’s wrong with the hardware. It’s got good weight, looks very aesthetically pleasing, and for the most part functions wonderfully.

Though the mouse is made of mostly plastic components, it does have a nice weight to it. This is good because usually when you think plastic you think cheap. Which is something you’d be hard pressed to call this device. It sits in a nice middle ground between premium and slightly above average, making it the perfect mouse for the budget gamer. The buttons are also very clicky in a satisfying way, and they’re all programmable, every one of them.

Only as good as the software

Programming the buttons requires the use of software which can be acquired on the manufacturers website. The software allows for full customization of each button and scroll of the mouse wheel. It’s even possible to create profiles for different applications.
For example: you can have a profile for Photoshop that includes your most used shortcuts, while at the same time having one for gaming that lowers and raises your dpi with the push of a button for more precise aiming when you need it. The hardware can only store up to 4 profiles at once, however you’re able to make as many profiles as you may need in the software and swap them at your own convenience. The 4 profiles stored on the mouse can then be changed by pressing a button below the mouse. The button in question is small and situated in an inauspicious position that requires the user to turn the mouse over when changing profiles. It would have been more appropriate to have it somewhere on the top of the mouse so that profiles could be switched much more easily when using multiple programs with different profile simultaneously.

Light, Lights, Lights!!!

The Mad Catz R.A.T. PRO S3 is primarily a gaming mouse so the previous complaint can easily be chalked off by most users since its not likely anyone will need to swap back and forth between profiles during a gaming session. As a gaming mouse what you expect is great dpi options, RGB lights and comfort. These are all things that the mouse excels at. It’s more comfortable than a regular mouse, has customizable dpi as mentioned before, and the icing on the cake, it has fully customizable RGB lights. The lights have a few configurations ranging from pulsing effects to colour changing. The colours in use are totally up the the user, and the rate at which it performs the desired effect is also fully customizable. The lights can also be set differently for each profile so that it’s possible to know which profile you’re using without needing to refer to the Mad Catz software.

Software isn’t perfect

There were some issues when programming the mouse. It lost profiles when saving them to the device on numerous occasions, but thankfully there are steps to avoid that:

First make sure you create all your profiles first. Program every setting or light combination you want, then select the profiles one by one and apply them to the mouse. If you need to change them after then make sure you highlight the profile first before making changes to the settings, and you shouldn’t have any problems.

Final Verdict

Should you get this mouse? Well I honestly don’t know if you can. Yes I’d recommend it to gamers because of its capabilities, and ascetic design, but I don’t know if you can find it to make the purchase. While working on the review I searched for the mouse on most popular online retailer sites and found only the previous models. My assumption was that we had an early batch since we got it from the manufacturer, but it’s been a couple months since we received our review unit.

So allow me to offer this disclaimer: If you can find this mouse available for purchase at a sub $100 USD price tag and you also happen to be a right handed games seeking a new mouse then get it.

The Mad Catz R.A.T. PRO S3 used for this review was provided to us by its manufacturer, Mad Catz.