UtechSmart Venus Gaming Mouse RGB Wired, 16400 DPI High Precision Laser Programmable MMO Computer Gaming Mice [IGNs Recommendation]

As a previous owner of two separate Razer mice, I am content to say that the Utech Venus is a fine alternative to the Naga. I bought two of these as a replacement for myself and my partner, and theyre working fine after about a month of owning them. Pros: + The programmable MMO side buttons are more comfortable and easier to identify without looking directly at them, due to their shape and curvature - at least compared to the Nagas less pronounced design + The adjustable weights are exactly as expected, with an overall weight that doesnt get too heavy with all of them or too heavy without any + The braided USB cable is sturdy and doesnt get frayed easily and collect dust/lint like my previous mouse + The mouse driver is fairly straightforward and mostly user-friendly. I havent had any issues in using it that other customers claim to have had + The color LED light looks great and is adjustable, meaning it isnt a distraction when playing movies on my computer + The adjustable DPI/acceleration and mouse wheel scroll speed is very handy and on-the-fly, making it less of a hassle to switch between settings if Im browsing websites vs. playing games + Comes with little coated stickers for the feet on the underside of the mouse, to prevent it from getting scratched (handy if you dont have a mousepad, or if your pad is worn out) Cons: - The underside lid for the adjustable weights is a little finicky; Im worried about breaking the mouse sometimes when trying to twist the lid loose to add/remove weights - The teflon material isnt my favorite to the touch (mostly if I accidentally slide my fingernails across it), but its far from a dealbreaker - The color LED doesnt change color automatically. When I read that it has a breathing light setting, I was under the impression that you could have the color LED both pulsate in brightness, as well as automatically rotate between colors (I wanted to have it match my keyboard); unfortunately, it only pulsates in brightness - Though the package I received the mouse in included a disposable USB drive with the driver software on it, the software is out-of-date compared to what the Utech website currently has. Not too big of a deal, considering how easy it is to get the new driver Overall, it does everything I want in a gaming mouse. I got two for the price of just one of my previous gaming mouse. Theres a little extra legwork in getting the driver going. As long as you dont handle your equipment poorly, theres no reason it should have any issues. Ill follow up if it starts to have issues like my previous mice (such as unintentional double/triple-inputs for macros or wheel clicks); I had that issue 1-2 years into owning my previous mice, so hopefully this one outlasts those!

The mouse is on the larger size to accommodate the num pad on the side, but it feels great in the hand. The num pad can at first be a little hard to use without looking, but the different sizes and slants of the keys help you quickly catch on. Ive been using this mouse for the last 5 days and I only charged it once when I got it and its only 50% down as of now. After about 30 seconds with no use, the lights turn off and the mouse appears to enter a low power mode as it doesn’t lose charge when left on overnight. Sadly the only way to check the power level is through the software, but the software is really quick to load, so its fine. The mouse arrived almost fully charged. The charging cable is a nice braided cable. I was pleasantly surprised to see the mouse came with a nice carrying case. Note that the wireless version doesn’t have an option to adjust the weight, but I think it has a pretty good weight already. The software comes on a USB stick that will open a download link to the software. I can confirm that the software is not running in the background taking up any precious processing power, all the macros and key data are stored on the mouse itself. As far as the software itself, it can a first seem confusing, but after you get the hang of it, it works great and has so many great customization options. At first, I didn’t expect to use this for non-gaming purposes, but with the ability to add profiles, and so many customization options that allow you to add tons of macros and key shortcuts I have found it comes in handy for general everyday use as well. I have one profile set up for gaming that includes inventory hotkeys and more for gaming, then I have a different profile with quick keys for copy, paste, enter, and other keys to quickly open/close applications. The process for adding new profiles could be improved as I believe it includes going up to the red arrow in the top right corner and exporting then importing a profile, from there you can easily switch between the profiles with the button on the bottom of the mouse and the software will update accordingly. Once you have the different profiles you can still always change both in the software the same as normal. The window of the software can sadly not be adjusted in size, though its fine. the DPI can be quickly adjusted with the on mouse buttons, and the different levels can also be changed. The mouse can be set to ridiculously high DPI, as if you would ever need it to be that high, which is why I turned my DPI levels way down. The mouse can get some good lighting colors, but I will say that the color on the mouse is not always identical to the color look in the software, and with some colors, the lighting section colors dont completely match each other. The lighting color sections CANT be controlled separately, though Im personally fine with this, and there is an option to completely turn off the lights, which I assume should result in better battery life. All the lighting modes look good, my favorite being Neon which cycles through every color, I use the neon mode on my gaming profile, and a solid color for my everyday profile to help easily distinguish between the two profiles I have. Overall this is a great product and is a great alternative to a ridiculously expensive gaming mouse.

The Good: I purchased the wired version of this mouse in October, 2014. I have had 0 problems with it and I LOVE it! Its by far the best mouse I ever owned. I got my mouse covered in liquid so I decided to get a new one. I was checking out the wireless version since Ive been wanting the same mouse in a wireless version. So, I went ahead and bought this one. When I got the moue, I was BLOWN AWAY! It has almost everything I wanted and I didnt think it would have. For example, the cord that comes with it to charge and make it a wired mouse, isnt just a cheap usb cable. Its actually the same thick, long, and sturdy cable that comes with the wired version. It has an unbelievable texture I cant get over! I wish all my gaming controllers had this texture too. The only thing thats different is that it doesnt have the little weights to change the weight of the mouse. I like the mouse weight the way it is though so Im ok with it. The mouse glides so smoothly as well. It comes with these little stickers like the wired one that I think are just to raise it maybe? Im not sure I just put them on like the first one. I think maybe the help with the gliding of the mouse. The Bad: The UI is a little confusing in the app. The place to save and load profiles is in a drop down arrow which may confuse people also since its called Export and Import profile. With this option, its a little different from the way it was done in the wired version. Its not that big of a deal really. The only other thing that I dont like is the fact that you cant choose individual colors for the side button section, the wheel section, and the logo. I believe it was something like that in the wired version. With this mouse, you can only change all the lights as one. It really isnt big deal which is why I still rate it a 5. I would rate it a 4.8 maybe if that was possible on Amazon but it isnt. NOTES: There are 2 other things to mention that may be important to future purchasers. 1. There is the ability to create and assign macros. May be very important to some. For those who dont know what it is, its the ability to do several key presses assigned to one button. For example, you could assign a macro to the side button 1 that will make the computer think you pressed Control and C to copy. Then you could make a macro for the 2 button that does, control and v to paste something. You can do any number of things like this. 2. There are 4 light modes. A. Steady which stays on always and you can chose brightness. B. Respiration which slowly goes dim then back up to max brightness which you can change the speed. C. Neon which just alternates between several colors and has no options. D. Off which obviously keeps lights off completely. Verdict: I would 100% recommend this mouse to anybody for ANY purpose. You could game and use it as a regular mouse of course. I havent tested it yet but I think the fact that you have granular control of the pointer, the effortless glide, the ergonomic design and the gripping texture of the mouse, I think this would be an AMAZING mouse for drawing, using programs that need this kind of control such as 3D software. If youre looking for the best mouse you can get to do it all, this is the one! Its also WAY cheaper than other mice with nowhere near as high quality and options.

Great option! The feel of this mouse in the hand was super comfortable due to how it is molded. I have smaller hands with a fingertip grip and the width of the mouse feels larger in the hand too but again very comfortable. Hubby has large meatier mitts with a palm grip, and he says he likes it and feels great. Weight, button options, glide all so far so good. Great mouse for the $ and would recommend.

Im glad i went ahead and purchase this mouse. It does exactly what i desire it to do when i game as well browse and work well with my one handed keyboard. Things to note about this mouse that some reviews havent really gone to is the texture of the mouse. It like a soft bubbly feel like worn down sandpaper which is a bit uncomfortable but you will get use to it as well give you nice grip to the mouse. The side button, fire button and the dpi button are your everyday plastic texture feel as well the button are tilted inward so you can tell where your thumb is pressed against as well it press downward so no chance of jamming. One like to note is the dpi button lean abit toward the other dpi button when pressed instead of a downward motion (must be just my mouse) so keep in mind of accidentally placing something heavy on the dpi button to prevent jamming it. Lastly the scroll wheel isnt free moving instead it stop when you stop moving it but the there isnt no clicking just the feel of it stopping. Before i go into tips bare in mind that macros are a bit of gray zone when it comes to mmo and other online game aspects thing like automation macro (where you click a button and a sequence of skills happen or have a skill on loop) will get you banned. Only macro that are allowed is 1. Singular keybind of the side button so button 1 can be something like G for guild or have it as 9 that have a skill. 2. Quick cast or one step process where instead of shift + 1 or 1 + left click you can make a macro where it make the two step process one step process (only one skill is allowed per button) Tips: 1. You can change the keybinding of the fire button next to your leftclick to a different keybinding- examples being the copy command where you can just double left click a link to highlight it then press the button instead of ctrl + c or manual right clicking to browse copy. Another good keybinding is have on your fire button is your movement speed skill or a buff you usually use so it be a go to while you move. 2. You can turn off all dpi beside one on a profile - when you use your dpi button on one profile it stay the same color and only thing change is the red meter so what i do is i choose one of the dpi (1-5 choose 1 if you dont want the red meter and either 2-5 if you want to have a certain meter. 2-5. You can keybind one of your dpi button as changed profile - adding onto previous tip, you can have all 5 profiles have one button to change profile as well have their own unique dpi based on game or what your currently doing as well you dont have to turn your mouse over to change profile -note: at the moment i dont think you can disable profiles to only have a certain amount and also when you change profiles it 1,2,3,4,5 so you cant do profile 1 , profile 2 then back to 1 i tried. 3. Have your side button be skills on furthest keys - majority of players tend to use 1-6 and buttons around it as well ctrl, alt and shift to keep your hand on WASD or reach toward 0,-, = for things like mounts or potions. Instead of doing that keybind your side button to one of them to maintain your movement as well limit your hand leaving WASD or using your mouse left click to click it. 4. Mouse only WASD - Say your lazy or you need to eat or need to do homework. You can keybind 1 as WA, 2 as W 3 as WD, 4 as A 5 as S and 6 as D (and if you can also do S backmotion as well). It pretty helpful but can be abit overwhelming on a single hand but the option is there for your use. 5. Button are great for tank players - when it comes to weapons tanks have to swap weapons but usually they are 1h and offhand so you cant exactly place the weapon into your hotbar and expect quick change compare to 2h wielding players where they just click one button and easy swap as well good amount of mmos dont support having same keybinding for two they usually unbind the other. So instead have a side button have two pressed where it click a key that hold your shield and another that hold your sword making it a single presses. 5-5. Add more situationial weapon combo - you can be more creative and do stuff like have 4 kind of shield on 1-3, 4-6 , 7-9,10-12 then 3 1h weapon on (1,4,7,10) , (2,5,8,11),(3,6,9,12) so you can do singular swap or entirely different swap. (Note that 5 and 5-5 is in the gray zone and dont go all crazy on it in making a marco where you swap your entire armor set and skill set since it can be considered automation) 6. Side buttons are great for support/healers in 5 man party - there always three ways to target a party member. Left clicking your ally avatar, left clicking the party member interface or using F1-F5. Personally as a healer main i hate using F1-F5 (even though it very helpful) since there some keyboards where F is away from the main key so i cast or channel a spell then i click on a different button so i dont lack in my role and as well laptop having their sound and play button on it so it doesnt work so you have to keybind the party member button elsewhere or disable the feature. So what i love about this mouse is i can keybind the party member 1-5 to the side buttons without any form of delay in my healing output. (This also help me greatly in league of legend since you have to hold the key to keep your camara locked to your allies this help me place my redemption much more easier since the transition to ally camara is instant without the need to unlock my camera everytime to do so or using the map as well it allowed me to continue using my skills without having my hand covering the skills briefly as well it gave me the idea of what my ally see on their screen so i understand my position towards my ally. Lastly it great since you can place your shield, heal or buff more consistently when your allies are cluster together since the one you want to target is in the center of your screen)

I recently built a new box and was grudgingly forced to switch to Windows 10. When I did so, I found that the new G-Hub program with which Logitech has replaced the old Logitech Gaming Software is unspeakably horrible. It does not support my beloved G700 mouse -- or even the G602 -- and also dropped support for the G13 keypad, for which Logitech offers no replacement in their current line-up of products. I swear Logitechs current leadership is deliberately sabotaging the company... Anyway, after 20 years of steadfast loyalty to Logitech, I was forced to abandon them and look elsewhere for my peripheral needs. I came across this little gem of a mouse quite by accident. While several manufacturers have offered mice with numeric thumb keypads in the past, theyve always been wired. This one is dual mode (wired/wireless), which is a requirement for me. At a price of fifty bucks, I snapped it up without hesitation. I am pleasantly surprised at how good it turned out to be, since I wasnt expecting much of it. Let me say this up front, however: No, the programming software is not as good as Logitech (or LGS, at least; anything is better than G-Hub). But it is quite adequate for what I do with it. You can easily program any mouse key to emulate any keyboard key and a small variety of multimedia commands. The only thing it cant do (that I can see; someone correct me if Im wrong), is remove bindings and allow games to see the mouse keys as digital buttons, i.e. - mousebutton4, mousebutton5, etc. This is a little disappointing, but nothing I cant work around. The ergonomics are quite nice, but understand that Im coming from years of using the Logitech 600/700 series, which are high hump palm mice similar to this one. I prefer that feel and find that flat mice, which encourage a claw hold, tend to be very uncomfortable for me. The numeric thumb buttons are set up so that there are two vertical channels -- 123,456 and 789,0-=. This design is so that you can easily feel which channel your thumb is in and quickly press the button you want without looking at it. This is a real boon in MMOs. Mind you, it will take a while to train your muscle memory, but once youve got it down it is surprisingly intuitive. The buttons have a slight resistance to them, so that you can move your thumb around without accidentally triggering one. They arent hard to press by any means, but you cant activate them by simply dragging your thumb across them; you must consciously press a button. It lights up in pretty colors. I dont give two shakes of a wet cat about such things, but yes it lights up in pretty colors and yes you can change them. Whatever. Enough about that silliness. The cord is a nice cloth braid and is easy to plug/unplug, (the G700 was notoriously fickle in this area). The programming software is obtained via a Dropbox link which is supplied on a little cardboard USB drive. Unconventional perhaps, but it got the job done. The wireless dongle is... well, a wireless dongle. You plug it in and it does wireless dongle things for you. Id definitely recommend this mouse to gamers. Its an absolute steal at fifty bucks. If I were still doing CAD work Id buy one for the office, as all those thumb buttons would make wonderful shortcuts for design software -- similar to the old 18-button digitizer puck I used back when dinosaurs roamed the engineering offices. Or perhaps if youre a digital artist you could use it in your painting software. Whatever your use might be, if you like lots of buttons on your mice, you should definitely pick one up.

I own two of the previous wired model of this mouse (work & home). I love it. My wife bough the wireless version recently and loved it as well. I then bought the wireless version for work so I wouldnt have to have my go to meetings mouse in addition to my main wired mouse. The pricing (on both versions) is also very reasonable. There are good & bad between the models. There are aspects to the new software that I like and some that I dislike. The wired version was hampered by having to use older software to get all the functionality. This one can use the new software. Lighting: There are additional lighting effects that were not available on the wired version. These features are still lacking in variety and options, but that is a minor complaint. Specifically, while plugged in it pulses a color (based on battery charge) rather than the light setting chosen. Id love to just use it wired when at my desk and wireless when off to meetings and such. I love the light color cycling and miss that when it is plugged in. Weight Compartment: The wired version had the bottom compartment with additional weights. This version is lacking that and thus a bit lighter than I am used to. While I liked the heavier weight it isnt a deal breaker for me. Software: The software, while newer, has fewer options for programming the keys compared to the older version. The older version had a ton of pre-made keys that were easy and available. You can get to the same functionality, but you have to add them as key combinations. An example was the old software had a pre-done entry for copy, paste, and other basic functions. On this one I had to manually create a ctrl + c hotkey. Again, not a huge issue for me, but I could see it being less useful for others who may not have an idea of what to put on all the keys. It certainly felt like a step backwards on that aspect. I suspect this has to do with them storing the profile on the mouse directly rather than in a file. Profiles: The software not having the profiles or way to toggle between them was odd. There is no indicator for which profile you are on. The button on the bottom to toggle profiles just felt odd as well. This might be worth the trade-off for having the two profiles on the mouse though. I absolutely hated that I couldnt convert my current profile onto the new mouse (.pdf profile in older version vs .jmk in this one). This forced me to re-create all my macros and re-assign them. Again, not a deal breaker as it is a one time setup and only impacts people with prior versions. Note, the software is PC only. You can set the mouse up on a Windows machine, it stores the profiles on the mouse, then you can use the mouse without issue on a Mac. Misc: The slot for the dongle on the bottom of the mouse is a bit odd. It sticks out just far enough that you cant use the mouse with the wired charger while the dongle is put in the mouse for storage. I dont understand why they didnt do the recessed tabs on top/bottom of it so you could grip it to pull the dongle out (like most other dongle storage layouts are). I suspect it is mostly a non-issue since you dont remove the dongle while you have it plugged in, it just seemed like an odd design choice (maybe something they can fix in the next hardware revision/version). The Good: Good size that fits hand very comfortably with the nice textured finish Good quantity of buttons to program High precision with adjustable DPI to get mouse movements just right Multiple profiles for different tasks Better lighting options compared to prior versions profiles stored on mouse (limit 2) The Less Good: no additional weight compartment in wireless version (wired version has it) lighting options, while better, are still underwhelming lighting option when plugged in is not existent less pre-created macro/key options in software compared to earlier versions (can manually create for functionality, just lose the ease of it) The Bad nothing that would sway my purchase decision Summary: This is a great mouse for the price. It is very comfortable to use and ticks off all the quality items needed for a functional mouse for gaming or customization of buttons. The software is its greatest weakness, but not detrimental to the point where it has a functional impact (just the area they should focus more effort on). I back this up with this wireless mouse version being my third of this style/brand of mouse for my own use (2 wired, 1 wireless) plus my wifes use of both the wired and wireless version too. Mac users need to be aware of the software limitation so they can get it setup on a Windows machine first, then theyll be ready to go.

Far better for gaming than your regular, generic, 2 clicker and wheel. The number buttons on the side are convenient, but also not. It takes time to get used to using this mouse, while not pressing those buttons on the side. Could be fixed by making them more ridged, or by removing 1 row, making room for your thumb to grip the edge of the mouse. That is my only real issue for now.

Edited, Jan. 8, 2021: I wanted to write this revised review sooner but of course, Amazon has to approve all reviews and then I forgot until now. Anyways, Ive dropped the review down to three stars because this mouse is just average. You cant hold down the button next to the LMB and press another button on the side, i.e. binding top button to Ctrl and pressing a side button to double the amount of button presses. As previously mentioned, you cannot remap the DPI buttons whatsoever. The wired mouses software is much more in-depth and lets you do all of these things, from what Ive researched. After using this mouse for several weeks, the side buttons are no longer consistent in feel and sound. Some buttons are still tactile, while others are almost silent and mushy. The right click feels much softer than the left click, to the point where I almost dont realize Ive pushed it. The only saving grace for this mouse at this point is the fact that its wireless. I wont be returning the mouse as its not worth the hassle, but Im definitely going to just stick with a Logitech G600. For the price of the wire, I can enjoy double the button presses with everything being customizable. And its cheaper a majority of the time. The pouch it includes is nice, and Ill definitely use that. The mouse is not a bad mouse, its just not exactly what I need for my playstyle. Like I said, its just average. I knew getting into this that I couldnt remap the DPI buttons, but when I found out about the lack of multi-button support and the wired mouses counterpart having much more in-depth software...I was very disappointed. I really feel like the issues Ive come across are software related, but I dont foresee a software update coming anytime soon for these mice. *****Original Review Below***** Please UtechSmart, let us remap the two buttons under the scroll wheel! I personally never change my DPI once I set it via software, but having the option to use the buttons for something more functional would be nice! Pleeeeease. I know there are several other reviews mentioning this. Those two perfectly good buttons are unused otherwise. Created macros also do not show up in the macro list when attempting to assign them to a key. Because of these two easily fixable software issues that have STILL not been updated, Ive docked a star. As for the actual mouse, its great! First impressions, I was definitely pleased to see a carrying pouch and a detachable braided USB-C cable. I bought this mouse as a substitute for my G600 while I travel, as there is no wireless version of the G600 yet. The driver software is included via a very snazzy looking business card that flips out into a baby USB drive. It does the win+r command and types in a command to open a Dropbox with the software files. The buttons themselves are alright, theyll definitely do the job. The scroll wheel is good, though I wish it tilted like my G600 too. But as thats a hardware thing, I can accept that tradeoff for wireless connectivity. Clicks are not offensively loud like some mice, which Im definitely grateful for as Ill be using this while traveling. However, the side buttons are a bit audible, much louder than the G600, but still not terrible. (If you have a Nintendo Switch, the side buttons sound similar to pressing the face buttons on the joycons.) The finish on the mouse is...different than Im used to. But its not bad, just a bit textured. Its not smooth like a G600 or a Naga, but more like a soft sandpaper, if you will. The entire mouse feels like that except for the shiny section in the middle where your palm rests, and the side buttons. Theres a spot under the mouse to store the tiny USB dongle, and its magnetic rather than snapping in. A very nice touch as I have short fingernails and trying to pry something like that out would be a nightmare. I also enjoy the resting spot for your ring finger, and although its not a button like my G600, its still second nature for me to have a finger there. The third clicking button I use on my G600 was just moved to the left of the left mouse button, which I am perfectly fine with. Its not a bad placement and I can easily reach it plus all twelve of the side buttons, effectively doubling the button inputs. Getting onto the software, its...usable. When I first installed it, I could not for the life of me get the colors on the mouse to change. And as I was searching for the solution, suddenly about 15 or so minutes later, the lights just started cooperating. Very odd. It works flawlessly now so I have no complaints, just confusion. The software lets you choose what buttons you want to use, but you have to choose the option Key Combination and just press the key without any modifiers in order to do so. Just in case anyone has any confusion like I did at first. The lighting is all one color, no per-key RGB here. Which is fine, my G600 is the same. I do enjoy the amount of lights though! The scroll wheel illumination is very nice, and the logo illumination is bright. However, the lights on the front of the mouse seem to be different colors between the three grills on either side, which isnt a big deal to me personally. Mapping keys (once I figured it out) was quick, changing the DPI setting via software and disabling the other DPI profiles (hence, making those buttons useless) was painless. Im grateful the software allows macros, but I couldnt get them to show up in the macro list when I tried to assign them to a key, which, like the DPI buttons, makes them useless. TL;DR Pros: The mouse comes with a nice pouch and braided USB-C cable. Feels good to use, a decent wireless substitute to the G600. Mapping keys was quick and painless. Lights are bright and seem to be fairly accurate. (Note: You cannot change the four lights next to the DPI buttons, so I turn mine off.) Mouse weighs similar to a G600. Cons: THE SOFTWARE. Seriously. Please, let me remap the DPI buttons just like the side buttons (which the wired version allows) and let me have the ability to use my macros. If I knew coding and could fix it myself, I absolutely would. Literally the only things wrong with this mouse are software related. I dont understand why these issues havent been fixed. If you can have a fancy business card that runs an entire string of code to download software, why cant said software be fixed?

The mouse is perfect for MMOs. There are plenty of buttons to bind abilities and everything is within reasonable distance of my fingers despite having small hands. I wish the battery was replaceable, though. Have to buy new if it dies.