The way you hold a mouse is as personal as your fingerprint, so when Mountain's Makalu Max arrived on my desk with a host of customization options, the company's second mouse release looked to be a good one.

However, the perforated Makalu 67, the company's first entry into the gaming mouse market, was not particularly well received in this area. Like many ultralights, it felt flimsy, and the RGB trim did not feel particularly well implemented. Also, the DPI selection buttons had a habit of catching on the fingers.

Especially when holding the mouse like our Jacob does. He has his middle finger pinned to the scroll wheel and his index and ring fingers on the left and right buttons. Seriously, he does this because he needs to tell them it's not right.

But Mountain has built its reputation by putting user customization at the forefront of its product creation. Its first product, the Everest, was an excellent multi-purpose keyboard, and the Everest 60 became my favorite enthusiast keyboard. And it is still the keyboard I am proud to have on my desktop at home.

I'm a big fan of Mountain's gaming keyboards, and I really want to like the Makalu Max. the Makalu Max is a real favorite, and I've been using it for a while now. It has the classic PixArt sensor and even comes with interchangeable weights if you need sensitivity up to 19,000 DPI. This in itself is not that innovative, and has been done in the past with many other mice, but few mice have employed weights that allow for weight balancing in different parts of the mouse body.

There is a set of three rings that can be used as clip-in weights: one solid for the heaviest option, one cutout for the lightest option, one filled one-third of the way in and the rest cut out. The last one allows the heaviest part of the ring to be dropped anywhere on the circumference, biasing the weight to different sides.

Frankly, this is pretty nifty, but the aspect of customization that will appeal to more people is the option to completely change the shape. Due to the position of the sniper and forward/reverse buttons, the standard shape is very straightforward and symmetrical, although it does not accommodate ambidexterity. However, there are two magnetically attachable side panels that can be interchanged to provide pinky or thumb support.

This increases the range of mouse grips that the Makalu Max can be comfortably attached to, and the range of fleshy hands that can hold it. For those of you with monstrous paws, Mountain's newest rodent should provide ample support. A combination of options can be used to create a variety of different looking mice: ...... but since I'm very vanilla, I must say that I absolutely prefer the simple, slim, symmetrical layout.

Still, if you're really interested in customization, Mountain offers STL files that you can download and tweak to your heart's content before 3D printing the Makalu Max side panels.

Aside from the customization aspect, the Makalu Max is also a wireless mouse, with no noticeable lag and a reliable connection. However, it is also this aspect of the device that I find most problematic.

I've adjusted the timing of the soft and deep sleeps as best I can, but I just can't seem to get to a usage situation where I'm not deeply frustrated when I have to set the mouse aside for a moment and click a button to wake it up again. I understand the importance of preserving battery life, but I want my mouse to be readily available when I need it.

And when I set it up that way, it seems to overcharge; the USB Type-C charging cable is soft and fabric-coated, making it flexible and comfortable to use as a wired mouse, but the RGB LED ring around the mouse wheel start blinking red, which is still irritating.

We probably sound like big Razer apologists, given the gang of Razer rodents that fill our Best Gaming Mice guide, but neither the DeathAdder V3 Pro nor the V2 Pro gave me that feeling. the V3 Pro is currently about $100 more, but the V2 Pro is the same price as the Makalu Max, and if I don't want to chase the extra girth of the magnetic side panel, it's probably the more affordable wireless mouse I would buy.

I admit I'm not a fan of Razer's demanding Synapse software, but I can't even leave a Mountain review without getting upset about the Base Camp software. I don't like it. For one thing, I can't find it; it doesn't install as visible with the quick search feature accessible with the Windows key, and for another, it's not user-friendly. This is a common failing of even the best peripheral manufacturers, whose software is almost always the worst to use.

That said, I still have a good feeling about Makalu Max. I've been using it solidly for quite a while now, and I keep going back and forth between "Oh, I could happily keep using this" and "Damn, why does it go to sleep so often?"

For a responsive, customizable, and reliable wireless gaming mouse, it's attractive, now that it's out there and priced right. However, due to quality of life issues, we cannot explicitly recommend it at this time.