X2N CrazyLight Medium review

Hello! This is just a preamble for you to know the perspective I am reviewing this from. I am Pasta and I have been interested in mice and peripherals since 2021. I have 20Lx10W cm hands, and I use a hybrid between fingertip and claw, switching between the two depending on the aiming scenario, as well as the mouse I am using. My previous favorite shape was the OP1 by Endgame Gear, with personal complaints about it being too small for me to claw, but perfect to fingertip grip. Note that I am new to doing reviews, so feel free to leave any feedback or questions in the comments! :)

Rating system:

The rating system isn't based on what is currently available or what I have tried, it is based on what I subjectively think could be improved in an ideal implementation. My ratings are purely subjective and likely will change, and a 10/10 likely won't happen in my rating system. Expect to see lower ratings than commonly given.

Clicks:

Pre and post travel: The click implementation isn’t bad or unusable, but it definitely isn't good. I would say they are on par with a lot of the chinese clone brands. There is a good bit of pretravel, and a good bit more post travel.

Switches: The X2N uses Pulsar's modified version of FE opticals. In my opinion they aren't very good switches, I hope to see them using custom Huano SPDT switches in the near future. I appreciate that they aren't very loud like the Viper V4 Pro, but they are also not very quiet.

Click rating: 5.71/10

Scroll wheel:

I really enjoy how quiet it is, it could be more tactile between steps, and it is too low into the shell for me (Photo attached). It overall isn't bad, but I’ve felt better. There is also an issue of tapping it slightly and it scrolling and making me jump, each step shouldn't be that light. Rating is a low 6 without that issue, considering that issue it is a 5.3 or less.

Scroll wheel rating: 5.3/10

Coating:

I consider this a mediocre coating/surface, the coating doesn't add much grip compared to raw plastic, I have tried surfaces with no coating (GMM Spearhead V3) with a better feeling surface. For comparison of coatings on plastic mice, the 60 dollar Mchose L7 ultra, and viper v4 pro have better coatings, with the Endgame gear XM2 and OP1 being way better.

Coating rating: 4.4/10

Side buttons:

The side buttons could be larger and protrude more, and more quiet. The side buttons also aren't very consistent, I have one side button that is louder and more pingy than the other. In terms of sound and click feeling I much prefer the sidebuttons on the viper v4 pro, I prefer the shape of the current side buttons on the X2N.

Side buttons rating: 6.34/10

Shape:

Shape positives: The hump is absolutely the star of the show for me, it holds my claw grip very well, and with my 20x10cm hands, it isn't too large for exclusively claw grip. For me personally, I use a hybrid claw and fingertip grip, this is right before the line of being too large for me to finger-tip. I am able to finger-tip this after moving my fingers near the middle of the clicks.

Shape Cons and feedback: After the initial side curves in, it curves back out towards the front. I would like to see them reduce the front side width to be more like that of the op1, not strictly in terms of actual width, in terms of profile, although I could see this with a much thinner grip width (past the rear hump) being an improvement.

Shape rating: 8.02/10

Negatives and gripes + Changes I would like to see:

Base:

The transition between the top shell and skate area is a glossy finish, this scratches easily, and collects grime as well, when it arrived it already had scratches on this part from the factory, as seen in this photo:

The area under the skates also has the same issue of being glossy (it is more of a sanded semigloss), it is an area where you are expected to remove and replace skates, this would typically be done with a fingernail or a plastic tool, with a glossy finish under the skates, it makes it harder to clean off adhesive and grime, and makes it much more likely to show visible scratches.

At the edge of the skate area there is also a lip, this makes it harder for adhesive to escape from under the stock skates, this makes sense on a less enthusiast branding, but for a “CrazyLight” branded product, I think a fully flat base would make more sense.

A common issue with pulsar bases has been that the base is un-even and not flat, I have this issue with mine. To use it on glass pads without wobbling I had to sand my base down.

Dongle and cable issue:

The dongle is too light, and has fallen off of my desk multiple times, they should redesign it to fit more weights in the bottom of it so it stays flat on the desk. The other thing that adds to the issue of the dongle being so light, is how insanely rigid the cable is, either have a more ergonomic cable that isn't so stiff, or add weights to the dongle.

Sensor and MCU:

The sensor and especially the MCU are quite outdated, could definitely see a CL v2 of this and their other CL series mice with the updated XS-2 and 54L15.

Shape Cons:

After the initial side curves in, it curves back out towards the front, I would like to see them reduce the front side width to not curve back out.

Base and PCB changes:

PCB screwed into the top shell, instead of being screwed into the base, this would make it easier to remove the pointless weight from the base. I would also like to see the entire removal of the base, or almost complete removal of it. Base designs like those in the Gabe Mouse Mods Spearhead V3, and G-Wolves Lycan are much more well optimized for weight.

Side wall support:

Since we would be removing the side wall support by the base, we would need support added elsewhere. The best way I have seen this done, is by using carbon fiber rods where more support is needed, these would either be glued in, or press fit in.

Scroll wheel:

It should be a bit more tactile, higher up, use an optical encoder (less important), all while staying at a similar level of volume.

Side buttons:

Could be more quiet, and a little bit larger, they also aren't very consistent.

Thank you for reading my review! As a reward here is a photo with my cat and the X2N!