
Hi all, and welcome to my long term review of the Anker Gaming Mouse.
Nowadays people, including myself are always looking for the "Best Bang for your Buck" or Performance for your Pound, but all too often the apparent bargain you see does not fulfill its promise and you end up wishing you had spent that bit more on the more mainstream and well known brands.
However, occasionally there is the odd rose buried amongst the thorns, as is the case with the Anker 8200 dpi gaming mouse (OK ill stop with the cliches now).
I purchased this mouse 12 months ago and decided to do a long term review, but I shall begin firstly with the packaging and unboxing.


The mouse comes well packaged within a rather expensive looking box depicting images and information about the product and its functions.
The box has a velcro door that can be opened to view the mouse, lets have a peak inside:


Ok, its a very nice box, but its the mouse we are interested in so lets see whats inside:


The contents includes the mouse, eight small weights in a handy silver box, and a small instructions booklet.
The booklet shows you how to insert the weights to achieve your desired mouse feel, and also gives details of how to use the software and where to download it from, which we will come to later.
So the mouse itself, it has 9 programmable buttons - the usual left and right click, mouse wheel button , one at the front of the mouse wheel, two more behind the wheel, and three thumb buttons on the LHS.
There is also an additional button underneath the mouse for switching profiles.
This is also where the weights can be fitted.

I shall say at this point that as far as I am aware this is only produced in right hand format.
The Mouse wire is connected to your pc via a 2 metre braided wire with a gold plated usb. The braided wire has been seen to be very durable with no fraying after 12 months of use.

Underneath the mouse three pads can be seen, two smaller ones at the front and one larger pad at the back. These are of a smooth plastic variety and allows the mouse to move swiftly and effortlessly around. Although scratches and wear has appeared on these pads over the last year, it is not excessive and movement of the mouse remains fluid.
Ergonomics of a gaming mouse is very important and dependant upon individuals hands and preferences. For this reason I would always recomend trying a mouse if possible before you buy as what suits one person may not necessarily suit another.
This is not always possible to do of course but for reference I would say my hands are medium to large and I rest my fingers on the buttons rather than have the so called claw approach. As such I find the mouse a perfect size and fit for myself, and have spent many hours gaming with no cramp or wrist ache setting in. The thumb buttons fall easy to hand (pardon the pun) though I really only use the front two thumb buttons.
The mouse has a rubber feel top including the left and right buttons, with glossy black plastic at the sides. Under the thumb buttons on the left hand side there is a gripped rubber section to prevent your thumb from sliding.
On top of the mouse is also the Anker logo which lights up along with the mouse wheel and dpi indicator when in use.
Here is a few images of the mouse itself, I have included one image with a pen to give an idea of its physical size.




The software for the mouse although not included on disc is referred to in the booklet and is easily downloaded.
The software allows you to change and customise pretty much anything you wish, including the colour of the led logo and mouse wheel.
On the main page you have the ability to assign all 9 buttons with either a single key, combo key, a recordable macro or a number of presets, buttons can also be disabled if required. Mouse accelaeration, point speed, scroll speed, double click speed and polling rate are also easily changed on this page.

The DPI tab brings you to a view of four sliders, where you can adjust each individually from 8200 down to 0. You can then assign one of the nine buttons to toggle through the different dpi settings depending on your needs. If you do not wish to toggle through all four settings you can disable as many as you wish.
I find this very useful both in gaming but also in photoshop, where if you need to make a precise selection just click your assigned button and accuracy is enhanced, once done click again to move around the screen quickly.
There are two further tabs, one for light so you can change the led lights to the colour you wish and an update tab.

Once you have configured the mouse how you wish just click apply and the profile is saved. You can have two profiles saved to the actual mouse itself, so you can take your mouse with you and know that it will perform on another PC in the same manner. You can also save more profiles for different games etc, to your pc which you can load when required.
So thats the functunality covered. Lastly living with the mouse and build quality.
Over the last year I am happy to say that I have had no problems at all with this device. I have upgraded from windows 7 to 8.1 and i just plugged the mouse in and away it went, the braided lead is as solid as the day I got it, and there is barely any wear or tear noticeable after many hours of gaming.
All buttons still perform and click away with a solid and secure feel.
If I am being really picky then the only thing that I can think of that could be improved is the dpi led notification. this lights up between one and four lights to indicate the dpi setting you are using, however this will always be a blue led and does not change colour with the mouse wheel and logo.


The small issue with this is that the two profiles I use I have assigned different colours to, so it is easy to see which is in use, however with your hand on the mouse you can only really see the dpi lights.
So thats it the only fault I can find, and to sum up
Pros:
Durable
Nine Customiseable buttons
Two profiles that are loaded into the mouse itself.
Customisable lighting
Adjustable weights
Great packaging
Braided wire
Ergonomic and great fluid movement
No driver or software issues
Cheap, Cheap, Cheap.
Cons:
DPI leds not customiseable.
So thats it, here is the rose within the thorns, the best bang for ya buck, the diamond in the rough (ok over doing the cliches again)
and still i believe only £26 or so.
Definately worth a Gold and a Value for money award.
Thanks for looking
Pete
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