More Intellimouse than eXtreme gamer, Cherry’s new wireless gaming mice give understated office chic in the best possible way

Cherry may be a name synonymous with mechanical keyboards and ubiquitous mechanical switches but it’s been known to bang out the odd rodent now and then. A few years back it released the M8 wireless gaming mouse, an unassuming little fellow that garnered a fair bit of respect among fans. Next out of the burrow is its successor, the M68 which comes in both a wireless and Pro variant, and it looks to be a promising upgrade on the original design.

Like the M8, the M68 doesn’t really look like a gaming mouse. The standard option has pops of aqua which could give it away, but the Pro version is all business. This is something I enjoy, because it lets you get away with some stealth mode-gaming kit on you at all times. No one looks twice at a mouse that looks like it’s designed for Microsoft Word, and that’s what we have here with the new M68s.

Other than that minor splash of colour, the standard M68 wireless and Pro are really similar looking pieces of kit. This means they both keep the symmetrical design, which, if the side buttons were movable, would make it great for ambidextrous users. They also have the lowered front said to give extra precision to clicks, and even share dimensions. But everything meaningful that distinguishes them is under the hood.

The M68 Wireless comes in at $100. It boasts 75 hours of battery life and has a polling rate up to 1000 Hz. The slightly smaller battery also allows this cheaper model to weigh a few grams less than the Pro at 53 g. That makes it a good portable option, though maybe not quite as good as the miniature version the MW8.

The Pro is priced at $140. For those extra $40 you get up to 90 hours of battery life and a polling rate that’s up to 8000 Hz, and also claims to one of the lowest click latencies out there. It weighs a little more with those extra 15 hours of battery coming in at 55 g. Other than that they both offer the same 2.4 GHz connectivity and dual side buttons.

These sound like zippy little no fuss gaming mice, which can be a reprieve when it comes to how overdone some of these are. The Pro is the clear choice for anyone who cares about being as accurate as possible in FPS games, or really need that click responsiveness in competitive scenes. While for $40 less the standard M68 could be a nicely priced midrang mouse.

It will all come down to the actual feel for whether or not these mice are worth your time. Do those lowered front portions actually help with clicking heads or are they just a downwards slide into my desk? If Cherry decides to release one that looks as nice as the new Northern Lights keyboard then I probably won’t even care.