Nearly everyone who uses a computer also lays their hands on a mouse most of the day. If you have your choice of hand-rodent, then why not get one that is suitable for both gaming and productivity, and has a great ergonomic feel? Many “gaming-grade” mice usually don’t have the great ergonomics of a comfortable office mouse, but Mionix fills the void with their NAOS 3200dpi Laser Gaming Mouse.
The marketing people at Mionix must share the same love for astronomy as myself, as they were inspired to name this mouse after one of the brightest super-giant stars in the Milky Way galaxy. Although it is 1400 light years away and is large enough (100 times larger than our Sun) to create comet tails and huge clouds of auroras visible from Earth.
This is pretty much what’s in the box, and that’s all you need.
I know you people didn’t come to this review to get an astronomy lesson, so we’ll jump right into the features and specifications of the Naos 3200.
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION
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DIMENSIONS & WEIGHT 130.84×84.72×38.67 mm / 5.15×3.33×1.52 in Netto (w/o cable): 99 gr Netto (cable incl.): 152.2 grSENSOR SPECIFICATION
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The box is rather nice, and has magnets embedded in the bottom flap to keep it closed
On the next page we open the box and take the Naos for a test drive…
The Mionix NAOS 3200 Mouse looks very similar to one of my favorite mice, the SteelSeries Ikari Laser mouse. It has the standard features of just about every mouse today; two thumb buttons, a notched scroll wheel, and of course left and right mouse buttons. The major difference in appearance is its ergonomic design. There is a little bit of a thumb rest on the left side of the mouse, and the right side is sloped with large ridges to comfort one’s ring and pinky fingers. This slope on the right side will keep your fingers completely off the desk, which helps reduce drag and is a feature I wish more mice would use.
Left and right sides of the mouse. Note the ridged slope for your extra fingers
The features that really distinguish this mouse are the LED lighting in the scroll wheel and Mionix logo, and the DPI switching buttons just below the scroll wheel. The USB cord is wrapped in a tight nylon mesh, and the USB plug is gold plated with a light ferrite choke near the end.
The underside of the mouse is pretty standard. It has a large base, thanks to the extra finger support, and has four friction pads on the top, right, l, aneft and bottom of the mouse. Right in the center of the mouse is an invisible infrared laser sensor, but isillumenated with a bright red LED. The underside LED does not change color with the rest of the mouse’s lights.
Underside and top of the Mionix Naos
The mouse’s LED switches between three vivid colors: red, green, and blue. The mouse does not feature any profiles, so the light color designates the current DPI resolution. Most people recognize a gauge or other meter to intuitively understand “less” or “more”. For example, if there were 3 LEDs, then 1 LED would indicate the lowest DPI setting, and 3 would show the highest. Most people won’t associate a color to a DPI setting. In addition, there are only 3 DPI modes available, which are outlined in the table below:
| color | resolution |
| red | 800 dpi |
| green | 1600 dpi |
| blue | 3200 dpi |
The mouse wheel is notched and is very comfortable and offers a satisfying transition between each notched segment. The mouse is also extremely light, weighing in at 99 grams (or 3.6 ounces, the same as the Ikari Laser). There is no adjustable weight system on this mouse.
Although the NAOS takes a lot from the design of the Ikari, it doesn’t include one of my favorite features. In lieu of a single DPI toggle switch below the scroll wheel are two buttons, which are by default programmed to toggle through three steps of DPI resolution. Many FPS gamers need to instantly switch between “run for your life” mode and “sniper” mode, which translates into high DPI for movement and low DPI to hone in on an opponent’s head. The time it takes you to hunt for the right button and then toggle through a few modes could cost you your virtual life.
The major problem with the NAOS as a programmable mouse is that there are aren’t enough buttons for any customization to be useful. Most games today understand the thumb buttons and middle click, which leaves the DPI up and down buttons as the reprogrammable candidates. If you are a FPS gamer, then you really need these. You can use the “Dpi roll” function on one of these middle buttons, which leaves only one useful programmable button.
On the next page we show you the customization options of the Naos…
No software CD is included in the box, and honestly you really don’t need one. If you want to tweak the settings of your new mouse then you must download the software from Mionix’s website. There are four sections: Mouse Settings, Custom Settings, Macro Settings, and Support.
The Mouse Settings screen allows you to change the assignment of the seven mouse buttons, but for all intents and purposes you should really leave things at default. You can also change the features that you would otherwise have to use the Control Panel for, such as double click speed, scroll speed, and pointer acceleration.
The default Mouse Settings screen
All of the buttons are programmable, but there are only a few options available for each. The commands available are:
- Default Commands (Left Click, right click, scroll click, forward, back, dpi up, dpi down, dpi roll)
- Scroll Up
- Scroll Down
- Single key assign…
- Assign recorded macro
- Disable button
Many people that use a programmable mouse really only need to replicate a single keystroke rather than using a full-blown macro. For this, Mionix has a “single key assign” feature. When you assign this function to a mouse button, a sub-window pops up asking you to press the key you would like.
The Custom Settings screen allows you to change the mouse’s polling rate (from 125Hz to 1000Hz), turn off the LEDs, change the pointer speed, and assign DPI settings to a particular color. There are only three colors available, and only 3 DPI settings. As mentioned previously, I don’t see the usability benefit in this setup, and there really isn’t any customization you can do unless you want to change the colors. “No, red always means 3200dpi, not 800!” I hear you shout.
Most users will get away with assigning a single keystroke to one of their mouse buttons (if they program them at all), but for those of you who do want a macro, then you can do so at the Macro Settings screen.
A sample macro on the Macro Settings screen
You can create any macro key combination you would like, but you cannot specify any time delays, and you are limited to ten events (five seperate keystrokes in practice). This will be fine for most users, but some people may have some scripts that don’t work right, as the keystrokes are executed as quickly as possible. Most of the games that benefit from timed macros are MMOs and RTSes, and this mouse is clearly targeting the FPS gamer. There are a few situations where a time delay would be benefitial for FPS games, such as automatically executing a double jump. Since no time delay can be recorded, this maneuver cannot be executed.
Seems like a pretty standard gaming mouse. Is it worth it? Read on to the next page…
Most people interested in a high DPI gaming mouse like this are FPS gamers, and these people will use the default settings of the mouse, and for that it works great. The mouse is smooth and fluid, and the sensor tracks on just about anything, except for obvious no-no surfaces like glass.
There is no onboard memory, so there is no option of taking your mouse and having your customizations work on a new computer. This also means no stored profiles, and the downloadable software doesn’t support them anyway. This is a straighforward gaming mouse intended for the FPS gamer who uses default settings.
The Mionix NAOS 3200 is a straightforward gaming mouse with a great feel and all of the default buttons a FPS gamer expects. The LED lighting makes this mouse look as good as any product from Razer or Microsoft, and actually has a purpose beyond aethetics.
This is a no-nonsense gaming mouse, but is $10 more expensive than other mice that have a few more features, like the Cooler Master Storm or Logitech G500. For around $60 you get a great gaming mouse that’s also useful for productivity and has one of the best ergonomic feels around.
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