Get the Matar MT-X24 on Amazon
The Matar MT-X24 is a $30 honeycomb mouse with a Pixart 3389 under the hood. And yes, you read that correctly: $30 for a 3389 mouse. It’s also super light at 61g and features an Ultra Weave cable and RGB lighting. Naturally this mouse piqued my interest as it boasts some impressive specs at a ridiculously low price.
At first glance this looks like a G-Wolves Hati clone, however the mouse has more of a flare at the front, so it’s almost like a Hati/Ninja Air58 mix. I really like this shape, and I think it can accommodate any grip style and any hand size. It’s just a nice neutral shape with no exaggerated curves. For fingertip and claw, a hand size of 17cm and bigger will work, and for palm 16-19cm should be good. I have medium hands at 18x9cm, and this mouse worked great for my fingertip/palm hybrid grip. I feel like this size and weight gives me a perfect balance of speed and precision. With smaller mice I usually feel faster (Viper Mini, Model O Minus) and with bigger mice I feel more precise (DeathAdder, Model D). The Matar strikes a perfect middle ground. It’s still really easy to throw this mouse around for fast flicks and swipes, but it also works great for smaller, precise movements.
Now at $30 these are some impressive specs, so I was half-expecting the build quality to be poor, but that is definitely not the case. The shell actually feels really strong, and the plastic is thicker than the Hati. Almost no bend in the frame, and most importantly the sides feel very solid. The only thing I found was that the top part of the shell felt slightly loose, and this was sometimes noticeable during general use. Nothing loose inside the mouse, only some very minor scroll wheel rattle when shaken. But overall the build quality is way better than I expected at $30. You’ll also notice that the Matar has the hexagonal holes on the sides. Personally I’m not a big fan of this, but it didn’t hinder my grip too much. No side grips are included, so no workaround.
This mouse features Huano 20M switches, and they are a little heavier but have a very nice tactile feel. The primaries have low-medium pre-travel, but the post-travel is fairly high, especially if you press towards the tip of the buttons (almost like on ergo mice). The side buttons are really good, and don’t have that mushy feel that you get with a lot of honeycomb mice. Low pre-travel and medium post travel. Good placement as well. The scroll wheel has light clicks, and more of a smooth feel with dull steps. Something sounded a little flimsy when scrolling forward, so not sure what that was.
The cable is called the Ultra Weave. I wouldn’t say it is as flexible as the actual Ultra Weave on the MM710, but it’s very light and I didn’t experience any cable drag. Initially the feet felt scratchy, however once they broke in it was totally fine. They are actually really glidy, and on par with the Glorious G-Skates that I like so much. There is also a switch on the bottom that allows you to turn the lighting zones on and off.
The Matar has a matte finish but the surface feels fairly smooth. I did notice some fingermarks after a few hours of use. There is a half-circle lighting zone on the back of the mouse, which looks really cool in the dark as some light spills onto the mouse pad. With the software you can cycle through 9 RGB modes, or turn it off entirely. Inside the mouse there is a logo, which breathes in sync with the scroll wheel. Unfortunately this is independent from the RGB zone, and there is no way to make it match the selected RGB mode.
This mouse performed extremely well, and honestly it’s right up there with mice like the Hati and Model O. The Pixart 3389 is one of the top sensors, and provided flawless tracking as expected. After the feet broke in, the glide felt very good. The edges are quite sharp though, so if you apply downward pressure you will feel some scratchiness. In comparison to the Model O Minus, the Matar does feel bigger and fuller in the hand, mainly because of the bigger grip width and higher profile. So in general I was using more of a palm/fingertip hybrid, and it wasn’t so easy to manipulate the mouse with my fingertips only. There was more wrist and arm movement, whereas with the O Minus it’s the fingers and wrist mostly.
There doesn’t seem to be any software for the Matar, however I used the software of the eShark ESL-M4 and it worked perfectly fine. All the buttons can be remapped, and we have the expected list of options. You can save up to six DPI levels, and the range is 100-16000 with increments of 100. There are 9 RGB modes, and you have control over the colour and speed. Make sure to set the polling rate to 1000hz, as it defaulted to 500 when opening the software for the first time.
The Matar MT-X24 exceeded my expectations by a country mile. At $30 this mouse is competing with the top honeycomb offerings out there. There is no catch, no fine print, just incredible value. My only nitpick would be the loose back shell, and if Matar can iron out that issue, this is undoubtedly the best valued mouse on the market.
headtr1p 