Joined in 2023 
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Cables have really been evolving across the board to the point where the standards for what can be called ‘good’ are a lot higher today than what they were just a couple of months ago, and the M4does reach those standards, so no worries here. Sensor and Everyday Performance
Rounding all of this off we see a scroll wheel that feels pretty much perfect: there’s a medium amount of tactility between steps, and the textured and rubberized wheel is quiet when using it and easy to press. Everything about this mouse is plug and play so there’s no way to finely tune the DPI or RGB lights. That’s not really a problem for me and they’ve got all the ‘standard DPIs’ on there (and then some) so I doubt that this will be a problem for anyone but if you’re someone who loves macros or uses a non-common DPI this isn’t going to be it for you, doubly so because software isn’t really something that’s on the horizon if I go by what I’ve been told by Xtrfy representatives. It’s fine with me though, as I use 1600 DPI and I honestly prefer mice that are plug and play or have built in memory so that they can be used as a plug and play peripheral. PixArt’s 3395 optical sensor that’s used as the brains of the M8 is one of the latest and greatest sensors out there, and this one (predictably) performs flawlessly. It’s also implemented perfectly, so this mouse will perform exactly like you’d expect a gaming mouse in 2022 (and beyond) to perform. Xtrfy’s wireless implementation has been proven to be pretty much perfect in the past, and it’s the same here. I experienced no dropouts, no issues with the mouse going to sleep (or not waking up) at annoying moments, and the latency is on par with what you’d expect these days. The first thing I thought when I unboxed the M8 was ‘where does the cable go’? The mouse is wireless, but even wireless mice need to be charged at times, and that’s usually done at the front. With a button height of just 4mm that’s obviously not an option, so the charging port has been moved to the side of the mouse. It’s a bit of a quirky thing to see, but I’ll speak more about my experiences with this new design later on in the review. The box of the Xtrfy M4is pretty standard: you’ll see some images of the mouse itself along with some highlighted features and details on the exact sizing of the product, but obviously we’re all more interested in what’s inside of said box.I don’t want to go too deep here because even the definitions on the ‘traditional’ grip styles can be muddy (look up some images and you’ll find that people can have different ideas about what is claw grip, for example) but hopefully this section does help a bit to help you decide if it’s going to be for you. The coating of the MZ1 feels good to me, even though it’s ever so slightly glossy and I’m usually not a fan of that. I had no issues with performance or slipperiness throughout my testing and the mouse also handles sweat and oils rather easily. There's a new type of gaming mouse on the market: the ultra-light. These lightweight mice use honeycomb designs and other measures to cut mass wherever possible, making for a more manoeuvrable mouse that's easier to aim. Following the first releases by specialists like Glorious and Finalmouse, almost every major brand now has at least one ultra-light mice of their own with new sizes, shapes and features. Some of these mice even forgo the holey look, with internal modifications to bring weight down and an intact outer shell. After extensive testing of every ultra-light mouse in FPS games like Warzone 2.0, Valorant and CSGO, we're ready to make our recommendations. As a tradeoff though it felt (and still does feel) less ‘stable’ when doing stuff like large horizontal swipes where keeping your crosshairs at an exact height is of importance. Larger mice (for me) have the advantage here because there’s just less room for them to slip around inside your hand when swiping. The Bolt also comes with highly-regarded Kailh 8.0 switches and a solid optical sensor, the PixArt 3370; the design is comfortable and ambidextrous albeit without side buttons on each side, meaning it's not truly suitable for left-handers. Battery life is also reasonable, thanks to the modest RGB lighting in the scroll wheel, with a quoted 110 hours for 2.4GHz and 210 hours on Bluetooth; USB-C charging is via a provided paracord cable. The one annoyance is that there's no place to insert the 2.4GHz wireless dongle into the mouse itself, making this better for use at home than on the go.
I love that the all of the areas that you grip don't have any holes in them, and that Xtrfy has also coated the internals to provide water and dust protection. The mouse creaks a little when held tightly, and the cable has frayed slightly where it rubbed on the sharp edge of a crummy mouse pad, but neither are genuine issues - I have zero qualms about the build quality here. The mouse can be configured entirely using on-board controls too, no software required. By default, you can adjust the lift-off distance, debounce delay and DPI setting, as well as customise everything about the lighting, from effect and colour to brightness and speed. This works nicely, and the key used for making most changes can be set as the F11 key afterwards so that it can be rebound to be used in games - handy! Small note here: all colorways have the same matte coating (more on the coating later) and currently there are no glossy versions available. I obviously don’t know what will happen in the future but I thought I’d mention this up front as I know people will be wondering about glossy versions. Something that felt a bit less impactful to me than I perhaps first expected was the button height. I am someone who prefers to have his trigger fingers closer to the mousepad as opposed to further away from it, so I’m a big fan of the fact that this mouse allows you to basically place your fingers on the mousepad itself, but I found that my grip didn’t allow for that to happen unless I went full palm. I use a slightly tilted claw grip (and I have 18.5×10 cm hands, for reference) and for me the button height felt a little inconsequential. The buttons do make this mouse feel even safer when it comes to the shape, though. Basically the entire front portion of the mouse is made out of button, so you’re free to place your fingers anywhere you want to place them, making it so that you can use a wide variety of grip styles comfortably.There’s a tiny bit of creaking here and there if you press down really hard on the shell but unless you’ve got the grip strength of a vice you won’t ever encounter any problems with this in an actual gaming or productivity scenario. More important is that the shell is very sturdy; there’s almost no flex anywhere on the mouse so this one can take a bit of a beating and I did not manage to actuate any (side) buttons by pressing down hard on the shell. Your hand size will determine how comfortable a given mouse is to use. Most ultra-light mice will be perfectly usable for the vast majority of hand sizes, but if you have particularly large or small hands then opting for a matching mouse may offer the best results. To find your hand size, keep your fingers together and measure from the tip of your longest finger to your wrist. For example, my hand size is 200mm x 100mm, so I personally look for mice that are around 120mm x 60mm. Different grip styles can also influence your ideal mouse size; claw and fingertip grips will hover around the 60 per cent mark, while palm grips are flatter and therefore mice that are closer to 70 per cent of your hand size will feel more comfortable. This is Xtrfy’s first completely solid mouse, and with it coming in at a very light weight of 55 grams it’s built really well. The bottom plate flexes a bit when applying a lot of pressure to it (this part of the mouse never experiences that kind of pressure when using it normally though, so that’s of absolutely no concern) but other than that the M8 is completely solid. It’s also completely quiet when tapping or shaking the mouse. The Xtrfy M4is a really nice product. There are a few tiny little flaws here and there (such as the pre travel on the side buttons and the side travel on the left mouse button) and the cable isn’t the best in the world but aside from that it’s absolutely great.
What you get with the MZ1 is an extremely small and light mouse. The fact that it’s so lightweight (58 grams on my scales) combined with its small frame makes for a very nimble pointing device.Having had some issues with creaking and shell flexing in the past with Xtrfy mice (most notably on the MZ1) I paid close attention to how the mouse felt when using it, but I have to give credit where credit is due: my copy is completely flawless when it comes to the build quality. Sensor and Everyday Performance
Without further ado, here are the best ultra-light gaming mice on the market: Best ultra-light mouse 2023 Xtrfy has never been a brand that plays it safe when it comes to their mice. Rather than just copying whatever is the most popular shape on the market at any given time, the Swedish brand opts to go for original designs and follows its own path. Making something lighter usually means that you have to make some compromises to reach a certain weight. Some companies sacrifice a bit of structural integrity to achieve the lowest weight possible, but Xtrfy clearly claim that this wasn’t the case here. Indeed I must say that the M4feels really solid. Furthermore, there aren't really any components under the holes that would be affected by dirt - just a PCB and potentially RGB lighting, with moving elements like button switches generally covered up. I wouldn't advise eating messy foods or spilling drinks onto an ultra-light mouse, but I wouldn't recommend that with any other kind of computer peripheral either. If you're concerned about this, consider traditional full-body mice like the Roccat Kone Pure Ultra, Endgame Gear XM1 or Logitech G Pro Wireless.Watch the latest DF Weekly, where Digital Foundry staff discuss the hottest gaming technology news.
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