Mad Catz RAT 6+ Review Modded Gaming Mouse With Adjustable Weight and Palm Rest
Boasting a super custom and unique bodykit, the Mad Catz RAT 6+ gaming mouse looks like something dreamed up at a modified car meet event! The RAT 6+ gaming mouse is complete with side skirts and, it even has a rear knob protrusion that looks like a modded exhaust tail pipe!
The raise side skit has a dedicated profile button perched atop the left click button and there is another side skirt down below for resting the thumb. The profile button lets you toggle between profiles, which are color coded. The profile button has an RGB led built-in to it that changes color every time you press it, letting you easily identify the profile (four to choose from).
Another area where the Mad Catz RAT 6+ mouse stands out is in the construction. Unlike most mice peripherals (including gaming mice), which are overwhelmingly made of plastic, the Mad Catz RAT 6+ frame base is made of solid metal with cutouts that showcase the scroll wheel and the mouse weights, which resemble exhaust pipe tubing. The base of the RAT 6+ has teflon pads that allows the mouse to easily skate/glide on a surface.
In terms of side buttons, the RAT 6+ has two long and thin buttons, a rubberized thumb barrel wheel and a small round button (precision button) located just above the thumb rest, making it easy and convenient to activate.
As mentioned earlier, the Mad Catz RAT 6+ mouse has a knob protruding out of the back of the mouse. This plastic thumb knob is designed to be unscrewed and gives you access to the RAT 6+ weight management system, which consists of a long metal pin and three weight discs inserted into it, just like metal washers.
The mouse weights are held securely in place via a spring and the threaded thumb knob, which lets you tighten the weights snugly so, they don't wiggle around. The spring, weight discs and thumb knob weigh 20 grams. Each weight disc weighs 5 grams. Total weight of the mouse is 120 grams (without the cable). The cord has a semi rigid fabric sheath and it's non-detachable. It has a USB connector and measures 1.6 meters long.
Such outstanding gaming mouse wouldn't be complete without RGBs and the Mad Catz RAT 6+ has that too. The RGB lighting is located on three zones: the logo on top, the dpi buttons and the honeycomb etchings on the left side of the mouse next to the hex socket head cap bolt. The honeycomb leds are designed to shine onto the small claw marking below, giving the impression the claw marking is lighted. The small led bar indicator on the side indicates the current dpi profile.
The RGB lighting is managed via Mad Catz software where you can change colors, lighting effect (breathing, rainbow, color cycle and color chase). You can have each RGB zone with a different color but, the lighting effect works across all zones; hence you cannot have individual lighting effects for each RGB zone. The Mad Catz RAT 6+ has a total of 11 buttons - 9 physical buttons and the thumb barrel, which doubles as two buttons. Buttons include the left/right click Omron switch buttons, scroll wheel middle press button, precision aim button (small round button), two dpi buttons and two left side buttons hidden below the thumb barrel.
The physical buttons have an audible clicky actuation, while the rubbery scroll wheel and thumb barrel rotate smoothly without making any noise. The two dpi buttons are tucked right behind the scroll wheel and have a low profile design. While the dpi buttons don't get in the way, the front dpi button is fairly tucked under, making it not as easy to press.
By default, the Mad Catz RAT 6+ dpi buttons are set to 800 dpi, 1600 dpi, 3200 dpi and 12,000 dpi. If you're happy with these dpi profiles, you're good to go. If you want to tweak the dpi, you will need to download Mad Catz software, which is really worth it.
You can change the dpi from 50 dpi (lowest) to 12,000 dpi (highest) in increments of 50 dpi, as well as do other cool things such as program all 11 buttons and make them perform whichever function you want. Assigning buttons is very easy by dragging and dropping a function into each button honeycomb slot. The "precision aim" button gradually lowers the dpi.
Other things the Mad Catz software lets you do include adjust lift-off (i.e. +2mm/+3mm) and change polling rate (125Hz, 250Hz, 500Hz, 1000Hz and 2000Hz). There is also an angle snap function, which is interesting to see since most gaming mouse software do not include it. When enabled, angle snapping is supposed to make the optical sensor (Pixart PMW 3360) help you draw perfect straight lines, a bit like when holding Shift while drawing lines in Photoshop.
Angle snapping works and, it's mostly designed for finer control over crosshair placement in games such as Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CSGO). Some swear by angle snapping, while others do not. When enabled, angle snapping can make it a tad difficult to track a target and manage recoil.
The Mad Catz RAT 6+ hump (palm rest) can be fully detached from the body, as well as adjusted longwise via a sliding ratchet type mechanism that works similarly to that of a headphone band, although the RAT 6+ has a spring-loaded latch lever handle for locking the adjustment. The latch lever is tucked right under the mouse so, it's out of sight. The Mad Catz RAT 6+ is such an unconventional mouse. If you've ever been drawn to modded stuff or like to dabble in car cruising, you won't regret buying the RAT 6+ gaming mouse.
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