A good wireless gaming mouse is much like a Goldilocks tale. Instead of porridge being too hot or too cold, gaming mice are often too big or too small, too many or too few buttons, too light or too heavy. However, Corsair's updated Dark Core mouse tries to strike the perfect balance in almost every aspect of its design. While it is still a large mouse, Corsair has made some smart changes both inside and out with the Dark Core RGB Pro SE.

It has fewer buttons than its predecessor, but the layout is cleaner and more thoughtful. The upgraded Pixart PAW3392 optical sensor reaches 18,000 DPI, and QI wireless compatibility and improved battery life are just a few of the improvements under the hood that will excite some people. Another is the $90 price tag, well below competitors like the Logitech G604 Lightspeed and ROG Spatha.

The Dark Core Pro uses Corsair's Slipstream wireless technology, which Corsair claims offers sub-1ms latency. In other words, it should be almost indistinguishable from a wired gaming mouse in terms of performance. In actual use, I was surprised to find that it works just as well as a wired gaming mouse.

Whenever I get a new mouse, I spend a lot of time at the Apex Legends target range fiddling with guns and various ranges; I had no problems with the G7 Scout, Triple Take, Wingman, and other precision guns.

Kudos also go to the button layout. Primarily, the two buttons for adjusting DPI on the fly are located at the end of the left mouse button that cycles through the on-board profiles. The light indicator that tells you which profile you are in is also a nice touch. At first, I was concerned that the two extra buttons might affect gameplay, as the LMB is slightly thinner than the RMB. However, this ended up not being an issue in playing a frantic shooter like Call of Duty Warzone.

Shooters like COD: Warzone benefit most from this on-the-fly DPI switching. Being able to go from a higher DPI to a lower preset every time I picked up a long-range weapon for sniping really came in handy and became my new favorite way to play.

For me, the Dark Core RGB Pro SE is best used with a palm grip. However, if you are a claw-grip gamer like me, the mouse works fine even if the textured grip around the mouse feels a little too slippery for my liking. If you have larger hands, the Dark Core Pro is taller than other Corsair gaming mice like the Harpoon and Glaive. If you need a place to put your pinky and ring fingers, a magnetic textured grip can be added to the right side of the mouse. We found this to be more comfortable for long gaming sessions.

As for the battery, the Dark Core Pro SE boasts up to 50 hours of battery life on a single charge, and the upgrade to USB-C charging is a welcome improvement. Another nice touch is support for Qi wireless charging, which is becoming more common with mousepads (it also works with Corsair's MM1000). Anecdotally, the Dark Core could be used for about four days of gaming and working before needing to be recharged.

As for connectivity, we had no problems with either the 2.4GHz wireless connection via the dongle or via Bluetooth 4.0. We added wireless dongles to other devices we owned, such as wireless headsets and keyboards, to increase traffic. After adding the wireless keyboard dongle, I noticed quite a bit of stuttering; switching to Bluetooth was the best solution for me, so be careful if you are using a large number of wireless dongles on your PC or laptop. However, if you want to take advantage of the fast, ultra-low latency Corsair Slipstream technology, you will need to use a dongle.

Corsair's Dark Core RGB Pro SE is competitively priced at $90 and closes the performance gap between wired and wireless gaming mice everywhere Corsair's impressively updated mouse, despite the lack of claw-grip love and if you want something speedy and affordable, it's worth a look. Personally, I think it's a little too big to work comfortably with the Claw Grip, so I'd recommend literally holding the mouse in your hand and seeing how it fares before pulling the trigger on a purchase.