Gaming mice with the honeycomb design were once a true rarity. Where, once, they were special, today, it seems like every manufacturer has their take on this lightweight design formula. While the influx of such mice has made it extremely difficult to stand out among the crowd, it also forced some innovation. Where many manufacturers settled for gimmicks, Genesis went back to the basics. Their Xenon 800 gaming mouse is a honeycomb contender that aims to offer both peak performance and customization options you seldom find in similar, equivalent mice. Did they succeed? Read on for a full breakdown.
Genesis Xenon 800 is available for purchase on Max Gaming and you can check it out on the Genesis homepage.
DESIGN
As a manufacturer, Genesis might not exactly be on your radar but it’s quickly becoming a prominent contender looking to produce high-quality and affordable peripherals. Their latest offering in that sense is the Xenon 800 – an 8 button, right-handed mouse with a recognizable honeycomb shell design. When talking about honeycomb mice, many people will probably think of the Glorious or G-Wolves lineup first, but let me be the first to tell you that in this case, Genesis does it better.
The first thing to talk about regarding Xenon 800 is how light the mouse is. It’s entirely made out of plastic and comes in at a mere 58 grams, making it one the lightest mice on the market. It’s no wonder since both its top panel as well as its sides are covered in densely packed hexagonal holes – much like some of the G-Wolves models. It has a fairly standard overall size footprint, coming in at 120 mm in length, 66 mm in width, and is 43 mm high at its tallest point.
The classic honeycomb design
All of the above, coupled with its shape makes the Xenon 800 probably one of, if not most comfortable ergonomic mouse I’ve ever used. While this may vary depending on the size of your hands, there’s no denying that Genesis found a magical sweet spot in terms of size and shape that simply makes Xenon a joy to use. Its right-hand side slopes at just the right angle and the macro buttons are easily accessible with your thumb.Â
While these are the most important features, there are also other ones that tie into it feeling as it does. First, the mouse is equipped with high-quality Teflon feet that really make it fly across any and all surfaces and the second one is the presence of the extremely flexible and ultra-light fabric cable.
Good for both the palm and claw grip
It comes as close as possible to feeling like a wireless mouse while having the full reliability of a wired one. As mentioned, the mouse has 8 buttons – two main ones, the scroll wheel, and the DPI button on the top along with the two macro buttons on the left side. On the bottom, you have a pooling rate switch which can be adjusted to three different settings. The two main clickers are equipped with Omron switches which are rated for 20 million clicks. The DPI button is made out of rubber, while the side macro buttons are covered in a nice glossy material to contrast the otherwise matte finish of the entire mouse.
When it comes to the scroll wheel, I have to give it extra props since it’s also very enjoyable to use. It’s really soft to the touch, jitter-free and fast. All of that while offering a really soft and completely quiet tactile scrolling experience. It’s better than the one on the Glorious Model D and most definitely better than the one on my daily driver Razer Viper Ultimate.
The wheel is stable, quiet and enjoyable to use
To spice things up, Genesis also decided to include a couple of small but awesome customization options. The upper portion of the honeycomb shell can easily be removed and replaced with a smooth, matte one featuring the Genesis branding. Furthermore, you can also change the rubber DPI button and switch it between a black or a red one and they also come in bigger and smaller variants. While the full shell doesn’t make the mouse look as attractive, it’s a great option to have if you prefer that look or if you simply want to change the appearance of your mouse from time to time.
The customization doesn’t stop there, however. Underneath the shell, there’s a magnetized tray with some cheeky writing where you can add an additional 12 weights to the mouse. Each weight comes in at 1.75 grams, enabling you to add a total of 21 grams on top of the base 58 if you find that just a bit too light. The individual weights, as well as the tray itself, are easily removed and are held firmly in place with magnets so you don’t need to worry about them shifting when using the mouse.Â
Should you find 58 grams a bit too light
Lastly, in terms of the design, we have the gracefully, if somewhat clumsily implemented RGB. It’s most prominently featured in the strip running across the lower back of the mouse but it’s also present underneath the shell in the form of the Genesis logo as well as in the mouse wheel. The fact that most of the lights are situated in the back means they’ll be covered with your hand while using the mouse. Sure, you could argue that you don’t actually look at your mouse while using it but it’s still a shame to have it covered up as it greatly complements the overall design and makes the mouse look even more beautiful. There’s a total of 9 RGB presets with the standout being the Prismo which smoothly cycles between different colors and the Stream which is essentially the classic RGB color wave.Â
PERFORMANCE
Under the hood, the Xenon 800 has the flagship PMW 3389 sensor. Not that you’d need it, but its resolution goes all the way up to 16 000 DPI, it has 50G acceleration along with a tracking speed of up to 400 IPS. In terms of usage, this translates to excellent responsiveness as well as high accuracy and precision for whichever purpose or game you plan on using the mouse. Couple that with how comfortable and light it is and it becomes clear that you have one great mouse on your hands.
It’s an absolute joy to use for first-person shooters, battle royales, and just about anything else, either competitively or casually. The sensor does its job superbly, the feet make sudden movements and changes in direction smooth and easy to execute and the DPI button is easy to access on the fly. I took it for a spin in Hyperscape and the fast pace of this battle royale and the performance of the Xenon felt like a match made in heaven. Something a bit less fast-paced like Destiny 2 or any number of other games proved to be a breeze and were all easily handled by the Xenon 800. It’s only weakness is the presence of only two side buttons which could make is somewhat less useful for certain MMO’s or macro intensive RPG’s.
Body customization is a very nice touch
The excellent performance can further be expanded with the usage of the accompanying software. Like many other manufacturers, Genesis opts to have different software for each of their peripherals. This can be great if you are using just one of them as they are usually pretty light on your system but it can also be somewhat annoying if you use more than one, in which case you’ll swamp your PC with them.Â
That aside, the software for the Xenon 800 is simple in design but very easy to use and filled with functionalities. Of course, there’s the ever-present option of creating different profiles and macro key combinations as well as the option to reprogram all of the 8 buttons for a different purpose. For example, I used one of the macro buttons as an aim key where holding it would reduce the DPI down for easier sniper kills.
Top of the line performance
Of course, you can also fine-tune the DPI and change the setting for each level to your liking so you don’t have to go into the software each time you want to make a change. Then you have the RGB settings where you can use one of the 9 effects as well as adjust their brightness and speed.Â
You can also further adjust the sensitivity, scrolling, and double click speed and you can even adjust the distance you can lift your mouse before it stops tracking the movement across three stages. This setting will depend on how sensitive you like your mouse to be and whether and how much you lift the mouse off the surface during gameplay. It’s a really nice addition to the Xenon 800 and a real cherry on the cake of its customizability in terms of performance. To boot, the mouse even has on-board memory so you can take all of your settings with you to another PC.
