Creative Sound BlasterX Siege M04: a comfortable and precise gaming mouse

Ergonomics

The first and only mouse in the Sound Blaster X range at the time of writing, the Siege M04 is unsurprisingly versatile. And to do this, what could be better than a design inspired by the biggest?

There is indeed a certain resemblance to the G502 from Logitech, bestseller if ever there was one. The proportions of the Creative Sound BlasterX Siege M04 make it easy to handle for most hands, thanks in particular to its wasp size (67.7 mm wide), its classic height (43 mm) and its long length (135, 6 mm). A template that invites more to take in palm or claw.

The quality of manufacture is satisfactory and the soft plastic used for the shell is pleasant to the hand, although a little messy. The braided USB cable is quite thin, but a bit rigid.

If the M04 is not a model of lightness, it is still less heavy than a G502 and remains average with its 110 g (without cable). Its maneuverability remains fairly good thanks to its curved edges and coated with elastomer ensuring good adhesion; enough to easily lift the mouse to center it. Small flat however on the balancing, which can disturb the smallest hands, and we note on our specimen a small lateral instability, which could however diminish with the wear of the pads and is felt only on rigid surface (no problem on foam and fabric mat ).

The Siege M04 also seems more suitable for medium and large hands, evidenced by the position of its buttons. If the main click buttons can be manipulated without any particular constraint, the buttons in the left-hand section are not all as easy to access. The two associated by default with the functions "previous page" and "next page" are quite simple to reach, but the third button, used to lower the sensitivity of the sensor when it is pressed (function sometimes called "sniper"), is positioned very forward, out of reach of the shortest thumbs, and forces the hand to move well on the mouse to be operated without particular gymnastics. Its inclined position, however, allows it to be reached with the tip of the thumb if you press on its lower part. Same thing for the button to change the sensitivity on the fly (3 steps), located above the wheel, so not very accessible. The latter should not, however, be used in the heat of the moment, this task being entrusted to the third slice button, all the same more easily usable despite its relative distance.

The click quality of the buttons is in any case satisfactory, in particular that of the two main ones which have the privilege of being based on Omron switches guaranteed for a minimum of 50 million activations.

For its part, the wheel is well notched and therefore well suited to the game, without being too stiff, allowing pleasant office use. No lateral orientation possible, however, with this wheel, it is only associated with a switch.

Finally, impossible to miss the RGB backlighting of this M04, very flashy and present in 3 areas: wheel, logo and a border almost all around the mouse. The effects are quite successful for lovers of multicolored light effects.

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Precision

Omnipresent when it comes to mid-range and high-end mice designed for video games, the PixArt PMW3360 optical sensor was chosen by Creative to animate its Siege M04 - the choice of reason if you want to be able to fight on an equal footing against more or less renowned competitors. The maximum capture speed of 6.35 m / s and the maximum acceleration of 50 g of this sensor ensure that the M04 performs flawlessly. The most abrupt movements, frequent when playing at low sensitivity, are perfectly managed, as are the finest, with faithful pixel-by-pixel tracking and without acceleration.

We would nevertheless recommend a mouse pad, because if surface recognition is quite good for an optical sensor, nothing beats the fluidity and precision offered by a good pad. This will at the same time limit the wear and tear of the 4 PTFE pads, which also ensure satisfactory sliding.

On the side of maximum sensitivity, nothing new under the sun. The PMW3360 can climb up to 12,000 dpi, and it's still almost useless, even with a multi-screen configuration in UHD. Remember that at this maximum sensitivity, a movement of less than a centimeter is enough to cover the entire width of an Ultra HD screen (3,840 x 2,160 px). Precision in these conditions would suffer too much, but let's say that who can do more can do less.

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Conclusion

If it is not original, the Siege M04, the first mouse in the Sound BlasterX range, provides at all levels. We can simply blame him for a delicate access to certain buttons and a balance not necessarily optimal, but which ultimately do not really concern users with big hands. This first test shot from Creative is in any case successful.

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