Rakk Gears has continuously been improving their products lately with the release of a bunch of new models that appeals to a variety of users. They’ve recently released a combination of budget mechanical keyboard and a mouse targeted towards iCafe owners with the Rakk Tandus and Rakk Dasig and also released their current flagship mechanical keyboard which I reviewed recently, the very popular and highly touted as one of the best budget mechanical keyboard out in the market, the Rakk Lam-Ang Pro. They’ve also released a budget case in the form of the Rakk Haliya, but there’s one more product that people are really looking forward to and that’s the product we’re taking a look at today, it is the highly anticipated, flagship mouse from Rakk Gears, the Rakk Kaptan Gaming Mouse. A mouse that was developed with community feedback in mind much like what they did with the Rakk Lam-Ang Pro Mechanical Keyboard. I gave you guys my unboxing and first impressions here, and now, I’m finally giving you my full review.
MY EARLY BREAKDOWN
Pros: Good sensor, Comfortable and nice to the touch, Lightweight paracord cable, Crispy buttons and stable scroll wheel, Adjustable lift off distance and polling rate
Cons: Coating could fade over time
SPECIFICATIONS
Model Name: Rakk Kaptan
Sensor: Pixart PMW 3389
Weight: 78g (84g tested)
Adjustable lift off distance: 1mm-3mm
Adjustable Polling Rate: 125hz, 500hz and 1000hz
Adjustable DPI: 100 to 16000
Cable: Paracord Cable
Switches: Huano
Dimensions: 120mm x 65mm x 42mm (measured)
WHAT’S IN THE PACKAGE?
Rakk Kaptan Mouse
2 Side Grips
2 Mouse Feet
3 Sets of DPI button covers
User Manual
FULL REVIEW
Design and Construction
At first touch, the Rakk Kaptan looks and feels really good, it has this nice smooth matte texture on it that I really like and I always prefer compared to a glossy or rough textured finish.
It has a weight of around 84g which although not on par with the specifications is still pretty lightweight. And although it is made mostly out of plastic which all mouse are, the build construction is quite decent, there’s no unnecessary flexing or squeaking sounds.
Parts Overview
On top, we have the scroll wheel, the DPI button, the left and right mouse clickers, and then at the rear end, we have a Rakk logo.
On the left side, we have the forward and back buttons and we can see a little bit of the RGB lining at the back side.
On the other side, we also have the RGB lining, and it has this subtle curve to this side wherein you can rest your fingers.
At the back, we can clearly see the curvature of this mouse towards the right as well as on the front view as you can see here.
At the bottom we have the model name, serial number, certifications and of course the polling rate switch and the Pixart PMW 3389 sensor. And lastly, we have 2 large mouse feet at the top and bottom.
Like I said, the texture of this mouse feels really good with its smooth matte finish all around the mouse. I’ve been using this for a few weeks now and it does get shiny on some parts but that is pretty normal for this kind of finish. The good thing is that it is white so it’s not that obvious compared to the matte black. But the drawback is it gets dirty easily compared to the black version, so I guess, choose your poison.
Overall, as you can see the mouse looks pretty good.
Paracord Cable
Now, looking at the cable, instead of using the traditional stiff braided cable, Rakk gears decided to use paracord instead which I highly appreciate. It also has a velcro strap and The USB plug is also gold plated which is a nice touch. The paracord cable is very flexible and lightweight as well which should reduce cable drag allowing the mouse to have unrestricted movement.
Buttons (Huano Switch)
When it comes to the buttons, the left and right mouse clickers are Huano switches which are heavier but more durable than the popular Omron switch. The scroll wheel feels really nice with tactile notches and crispy clicks. The same goes with the forward and back button which are equally crisp and satisfying to click, not to mention easy to reach as well using my thumb.
For the actual dimensions of this mouse since some of you were asking about it, the length is around 120mm with a width of around 65mm and a height of 42mm.
Comfort
Moving on in terms of comfort, we have this nice curvature at the right side wherein you can rest your ring and pinky finger nicely.
And then on the other side, we have a subtle concave shape for the grip.
At least for the size of my chubby hands, all the buttons are easy to reach and click which is a huge plus for me because on some mouse, sometimes I can not easily reach the forward button. Now, like I said on my first impressions, I am not a fan of Huano switch because it is quite heavy and that I like the lighter actuation with the Omron switch, but as per my experience with this mouse, it is actually not that bad and I think I can get used to this.
For the past years I’ve been using a razer DeathAdder elite and what I miss about it that the Rakk Kaptan doesn’t have is this grooves that guides my fingers to the correct spot of the mouse clickers, with the Kaptan sometimes I click the left and right mouse clickers at the far side. It does have some slight groove but not as good as my experience with the shape of the Razer DeathAdder elite.
What I don’t miss with the DeathAdder though is the relatively stiff braided cable which the Rakk Kaptan has the advantage with. The Rakk Kaptan doesn’t move at all thanks to its lightweight and flexible paracord cable.
Grip Styles
When it comes to grip styles, in my opinion, the Rakk Kaptan although made specifically for right handed users with its curvature, is suitable for almost all types of grips.
Whether you are a palm grip user, fingertip user or a claw grip user, the mouse clickers can be clicked at almost any area up until the DPI button. It will just boil down to your shape preference when it comes to the actual location of the hump.
Sensor (Pixart PMW 3389)
The Rakk Kaptan gaming mouse is actually using a very good Pixart PMW 3389 sensor which can also be seen with other top tier brands and models like the Razer DeathAdder elite, Hyperx pulse fire pro, the latest Coolermaster mm710 lightweight mouse and a lot more. That alone should give you an idea that this mouse should perform quite good.
Other Features
Adjustable Lift-Off Distance
The Rakk Kaptan actually has an adjustable lift-off distance of 1mm to 3mm. For my testing, I use a 1mm thick CD to check, and with 1 CD at 1 mm lift of distance, the mouse is tracking properly, but when I add another CD, it stopped tracking until I changed the lift-off distance to 2mm.
Now after I add another CD, it stopped tracking properly even at 3mm because these 3 CDs combined has exceeded the 3mm lift of distance at 3.5mm. Basically, what this means is that the adjustable lift of distance works and is a nice addition as people have different techniques and some of them could benefit with this feature. Personally, I use 1mm lift of distance because I don’t want the mouse to move whenever I adjust its placement on a mousepad.
Adjustable Polling Rate
Another neat feature of this mouse is the adjustable polling rate with 125hz, 500hz and 1000hz as your option. Basically, the higher the polling rate the often it sends signals about its position to your computer decreasing input lag, but it consumes more CPU resources. In my opinion, polling rate around 500hz is pretty decent. As per my testing, the polling rates on this mouse works as intended.
Adjustable DPI
When it comes to DPI, since this mouse is using the PMW 3389 sensor, it has up to 16000 DPI that you can fine-tune using the software in increments of 50. Personally, for gaming, I am using 800 DPI for better control while for normal productivity tasks, I use 2700 DPI for faster movements across the screen. Before I was actually using high DPI for gaming but I recently decided to try lower DPI, though I had to adjust my mousepad real estate, I think it was worth it because I think I can aim better now.
Performance
I’ve been using this mouse for a few weeks now and as per my experience, right of the batt the sensor feels really good and accurate, and as I use this mouse day to day for both productivity and gaming I was able to easily transition to the shape and the huano switches. I feel at home with the sensor on this mouse that I can confidently say that I can replace my Razer DeathAdder elite with this one. I have no problems whatsoever with the accuracy of the sensor and it also doesn’t have any jittering even at the lowest DPI setting. I also tested this extensively for quick flick shots and it doesn’t spin out, I can do quick 180 degrees turn and still get right where I want it to be.
To be honest, I’m hard-pressed to look for something that I don’t like about this mouse, the shape is perfect for my hands and the sensor is very good, but if I have to pick one thing that I don’t like, it’s just really about my personal preference when it comes to the switch, like I said, I prefer the lightweight actuation of the Omron switch compared to huano, but even that, I find the huano switch on this one not bad at all.
Software
The software is pretty basic but is useful nonetheless. We have multiple profiles that you can import and export, and you can also save your settings on the onboard memory of the mouse. All the buttons are pretty much customizable including the scroll up and down movements of the scroll wheel. You can change a button’s function to any other function, or use it as a fire key, for key combination, macro, aim key, DPI adjustment, multimedia functions, and office keys.
I actually set my forward and back button to i and o for in and out points on my Adobe Premiere Pro video editing software.
On the DPI tab, you can adjust the DPI settings in increments of 50 and you have up to 7 Different DPI configurations to cycle through.
Whenever you press the DPI button it will flash a corresponding color, but unfortunately, it isn’t shown on the software so you have to memorize the colors if you use multiple DPI settings which I find very inconvenient, I literally have to count whenever I change DPI.
On the LED tab, you can change the lighting effects of the mouse, you have steady, breathing, Neon, Tail, and OFF. You can change the brightness and speed directly from this software, and you can also choose your desired color from the available color palette.
On the Parameter tab, this is where the technical settings are located. We have the mouse sensitivity which I leave at 6, improve pointer precision which I leave to off, we also have the scrolling speed and the adjustable double-clicking speed which may come in handy in the long run. And lastly, we also have the adjustable lift-off distance that we’ve discussed earlier.
On the macro tab, you can record your macros and assign it to any button you like.
And that’s it for the software, other than the DPI colors not represented here, the software is pretty intuitive.
VERDICT
To conclude, the Rakk Kaptan gaming mouse much like the Rakk Lam-Ang pro mechanical keyboard, lived up to its hype and is currently the best gaming mouse Rakk Gears has to offer.
Comfort-wise it is very comfortable with a nice smooth matte texture and a very balanced shape that should fit most hands and grip style providing that you are right-handed. The paracord cable is certainly a well-appreciated touch since it actually works as it should allowing the mouse with complete freedom when it comes to cable drag while still being durable as a normal braided cable. The buttons are all crispy, no mushy buttons at all and with a very stable and satisfying scroll wheel. The sensor is on par with top tier mouse out in the market and is definitely accurate and reliable. The adjustable lift of distance and polling rate are also nice additions.
Now, no product is perfect but like I said, I am really hard-pressed to look for something that I don’t like about this mouse, maybe it just fits my personal preference that well. The only thing that needs to be observed here is the durability especially with the coating because I feel like that’s the weakest point of this mouse, I will not be surprised if I see this coating shine or fade at some point in the future.
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