PC Review Reviews Input Devices A4Tech Wireless Battery-Free Optical Mouse

Now I can sound a little friendlier towards this rodent. Straight out of the box, and without reading any instructions, I plugged the mouse pad's USB connector into my notebook, put the mouse on it and pressed the little black button at the top of the pad that was clearly marked ‘Tune'. The mouse lit up in a rather striking red that set off its admittedly simple but slick design very nicely. (The usual screen message about a new USB device being recognised had appeared in the meantime, of course). I gave the mouse a few experimental twitches, shoves and shakes and, hey presto, it worked like a charm. Yes, it's still me – the cynic – writing this, but I have to admit I started to like this piece of kit very quickly. 

The mouse itself is very light, and its movement over the pad surface is excellent, almost frictionless. You might even improve this by adding Teflon skates but personally I don't think it's necessary. Only a longer-term test would determine if the mouse pad would eventually wear and weaken its highly polished initial performance.

There is also something to be said of having freedom from a wire attached to the mouse itself, though the scope of movement is limited by the small size of the pad. I'm using the mouse in a notebook PC as I type this, and I do prefer it to my wireless notebook mouse. First, most notebook mice are tiny and not really designed for intensive use. Second, I forever have to retune the connection with the USB dongle. Oh, and third…yes…I do have to consider battery replacement. 

An alternative is a little Kingston mouse that I have which has a USB connector and its wire sneakily concealed in a little flip-open compartment. No batteries, compact but not too small, and optical flexibility. Anyhow, that's the kind of competition that the A4-Tech mouse has to stack up against, and even though that competition is tough, I'd be perfectly happy to slap the battery-free mouse and its pad into my laptop case – even together they are very light. While pads are not really essential with optical mice, most people I know still prefer to use one, so in that context, this new combination starts to look even better.

Advent wireless / A4 Tech / Kingston USB

I couldn't find out what the mouse's optical resolution was, but it's clearly not intended as a gaming device. The size of the pad alone restricts its use in that area, and from even basic movement tests it was clearly not going to perform well in a major online fragfest. It may do fine for the casual gamer, though – someone who's not into shooters.

The mouse comes with a warning that it probably will not work well when the pad is placed directly on a metal surface (so anyone who's splashed out a couple of grand for one of those very expensive Lian-Li aluminium computer desks should steer clear of this mouse!). You can stick a book under the pad if you have to though to shield it from any metal surface. Also, you are told not to put the pad to close to your monitor, speakers or other electronic stuff you have lying around on your desk.

Whilst I remain cynical about the ‘wireless' claim, I do like this mouse/pad combo and it's certainly not massively overpriced at around £15 in the UK and $30-35 in the US. It's definitely worth a look for those using standard apps and basic games. A4-Tech is one of those companies that do seem to try and innovate and I for one think that should be applauded. With this mouse, they have a good product at a fair price and even though they sell it as a mouse, when it would be more accurately pitched as a mouse/pad combo, I don't think they're really out to trick people. It just means their marketing is innovative too.