Monday, April 19, 2021
The Sabre Pro may just be the lightweight gaming mouse you've been waiting for.
Corsair makes some of the best PC gaming mice in the market today, and the company is now making its foray into the lightweight segment with the Sabre RGB Pro. That's not the only standout feature on the mouse; with a 8,000Hz polling rate, the Sabre Pro is going up against FPS-focused gaming mice from Razer and Logitech for the best mouse crown.
Corsair first made the switch to high polling rate with the K100 gaming keyboard last year, with the keyboard going up to 4,000Hz. Corsair is now doubling down in this area with the Sabre Pro, and the mouse has a lot going for it: you get high-quality Omron switches, spring-loaded main buttons, a PixArt sensor that goes up to 18,000 DPI, and customizable RGB lighting. The fact that the Sabre Pro costs just $60 makes it a very enticing option, so let's take a look at what you're getting with the mouse.
Corsair Sabre RGB Pro
Bottom line: The Sabre Pro offers a comfortable design in a lightweight chassis that's great for extended gaming sessions. You get two RGB lighting zones, plenty of customizability via Corsair's iCUE software utility, and spring-loaded buttons. You'll need high-end hardware to take full advantage of the 8,000Hz polling rate, and overall the Sabre Pro is a truly great lightweight gaming mouse.
The Good
- 8,000Hz polling
- Lightweight chassis
- Easy to switch DPI on the fly
- Highly customizable RGB lighting
- Great value
The Bad
- Not an ambidextrous design
- 8,000Hz polling needs high-end hardware
Corsair Sabre RGB Pro: Price and availability
The Sabre RGB Pro is now available in the U.S., EU, and other global markets. The mouse retails for $60 in the U.S., €60 in Europe, £50 in the United Kingdom, $89 in Australia, $80 in Canada, and the equivalent of $75 in most parts of Southeast Asia.
The mouse is sold directly from Corsair where available, and you can also pick it up from most e-commerce stores where Corsair products are usually available.
Corsair Sabre RGB Pro: What you'll like
Coming in at just 74g, the Sabre RGB Pro is one of the lightest mice that Corsair has released — the Katar Pro XT weighs 75g. I switched to the Sabre RGB Pro from the wireless Dark Core RGB Pro, and the difference in weight was immediately noticeable.
Yes, there's no built-in battery here, but even seen against traditional wired gaming mice — like the 82g Deathadder v2 and 92g Sensei 310 — the Sabre RGB Pro wins out by some margin. The lightweight design makes the mouse that much more comfortable in all-day use and marathon gaming sessions.
If you've been waiting for a lightweight gaming mouse, look no further.
Corsair hasn't changed too many things on the design side of things. The Sabre RGB Pro has a plastic chassis with a bulge at the back around the Corsair logo that makes it ideal for palm grip gamers. You get two main mouse buttons, textured scroll wheel, DPI button that sits behind the scroll wheel, and two buttons on the side.
There's a subtle indent on the left for your thumb, and the side-mounted buttons are easily accessible. All the buttons are programmable via Corsair's iCUE software, and the brand rolled out an overhauled version of the utility with a cleaner layout. You'll find four large PTFE glide pads at the bottom, and they hold up pretty well in daily use.
A nifty addition is the three LEDs that sit at the front of the side-mounted buttons; these indicate the current DPI level. With five onboard DPI profiles, you can easily switch DPI on the fly and see what mode you're using via the LED indicator on the side. The mouse has two-zone RGB lighting: one set of LEDs around the scroll wheel and the other inside the Corsair logo. Now, if you don't particularly care for RGB lighting, you can pick up the standard version of the Sabre Pro for $55, and the upside is that it is even lighter, coming in at just 68g.
The Sabre RGB Pro has a paracord cable that's lighter than the usual braided options you find in this category, and it has a tendency to tangle quite easily. That said, the cable itself is long, so you shouldn't have any issues connecting it to one of the rear-mounted USB ports of your gaming rig.
Coming to the features, the Sabre Pro has a PixArt PMW3392 sensor that goes up to 18,000DPI, and you can adjust the DPI from 100 to 18,000. The mouse has Omron switches that are rated for 50 million clicks, and the marquee feature is 8,000Hz polling — eight times higher than what you'll find on most mice today.
Even without 8,000Hz polling, this is a brilliant mouse for FPS gaming.
I enabled 8,000Hz polling straight away, but I didn't see any difference in gaming. Of course, the feature is aimed at pro gamers, so if you have been waiting for a mouse with high polling rate and have the reflexes (and the hardware to use the feature), you may see an edge here.
But even if you don't end up using 8,000Hz polling, the Sabre RGB Pro is a brilliant gaming mouse. I played several hours of Valorant and Borderlands 3, and there was a noticeable difference over the Rival 310 or the Dark Core RGB Pro. The lightweight design makes the mouse that much more agile, and it just feels better for extended gaming sessions. After using the Sabre RGB Pro for just over a month, I don't see myself switching to another mouse anytime soon.
Corsair Sabre RGB Pro: What needs work
The Sabre RGB Pro gets a lot right, but the mouse doesn't have an ambidextrous design. So if you are a left-handed gamer and are in the market for a lightweight mouse, you will have to look elsewhere.
Then there's the 8,000Hz polling. You'll need a high-end machine to fully use the feature: Corsair recommends an Intel Core i7 9th Gen or second-gen AMD Ryzen 7 or higher. Polling is set to 1,000Hz out of the box, but if you have a machine that meets the requirements, you can switch to 8,000Hz.
If you switch to 8,000Hz on a machine that doesn't meet the hardware requirements, you will see high CPU utilization for even routine tasks with the mouse. You'll also need to connect the mouse to a dedicated USB slot at the back of your motherboard to fully leverage 8,000Hz polling — a hub won't cut it.
Corsair Sabre RGB Pro: Competition
There's no shortage of options if you're in the market for a lightweight gaming mouse. The Logitech G Pro X Superlight weighs just 63g, works wirelessly, and has a 25,000DPI sensor that is one of the best you'll find on any mouse today. The downside is that it costs $150; more than double that of the Sabre RGB Pro.
The Glorious Model O is another alternative that holds up pretty well. The $80 mouse has wireless connectivity, weighs just 69g, and has an ambidextrous design with a honeycomb pattern on the chassis.
Corsair Sabre RGB Pro: Should you buy it?
You should buy this if ...
- You want a lightweight mouse for FPS gaming
- You need 8,000Hz polling rate
- You want an affordable gaming mouse that's comfortable for all-day use
You shouldn't buy this if...
- You don't have the hardware to fully unlock 8,000Hz polling
- You need an ambidextrous design
The Sabre Pro nails the basics: the ergonomic design with the lightweight chassis make it ideal for daily use, and you get a high-quality PixArt sensor along with durable Omron switches and spring-loaded main buttons. The RGB lighting is customizable, you can easily adjust DPI on the fly, and the affordability on offer here makes the Sabre Pro a standout choice.
The 8,000Hz polling is also an interesting addition, but know that you will need powerful hardware to fully leverage the feature. Also, the paracord cable tends to get tangled up a lot more than the braided cables that are offered with Corsair's costlier gaming mice, but it should be just as durable in long-term use.
With the Sabre Pro, Corsair has once again shown that it can deliver a gaming mouse that nails the fundamentals while still retaining its affordability. At just $60, the Sabre Pro undercuts its rivals by at least $20, and the mouse itself is a brilliant choice if you're looking for a lightweight option that's comfortable for extended gaming sessions. If you don't care about the RGB lighting, you can save $5 and get the standard Sabre Pro.
Corsair Sabre RGB Pro
Bottom line: The Sabre Pro offers a comfortable design in a lightweight chassis that's great for extended gaming sessions. You get two RGB lighting zones, plenty of customizability via Corsair's iCUE software utility, and spring-loaded buttons. You'll need high-end hardware to take full advantage of the 8,000Hz polling rate, and overall the Sabre Pro is a truly great lightweight gaming mouse.
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