Cooler Master MM731 mouse review – ultra lightweight but solid performance

Cooler Master has significant offerings in almost every aspect of the PC gaming market. Though famous primarily for their cases, their peripheral range is strong too, with a whole host of products including keyboards, mice, headsets and mousepads… the list truly goes on. Today we are going to take a look at their new wireless gaming mouse, the MM731, to see whether it can hit their normal high standards. Considering the $90 price point, let’s hope so.

Cooler Master MM731 Gaming Mouse

Sensor Pixart PAW3370

DPI 19,000

Weight 59g/2.08oz

Size (H x W x D) 122.3 x 69.0 x 39.1MM

Buttons 6

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Unboxing & setup

The mouse comes packaged in a utilitarian box with no bells or whistles, just enough packing materials to keep the mouse safe during its travels. The setup is a simple and uncomplicated affair with it lighting up as soon as you plug it in. The wireless functionalities are enabled via the switch on the underside of the mouse and are equally easy to operate. It’s worth noting that the pairing button must be held down for the mouse to become discoverable on your device of choice. It’s not necessary to download the Cooler Master MasterPlus+ software suite to use the MM731, but it’s recommended in order to get the most out of it.

Design

The word ‘innocuous’ comes to mind. The MM731 is devoid of sharp angles and aggressive lines and instead favors smooth ergonomics and an understated color scheme. It strongly resembles the venerable G-Pro from Logitech. We were provided with the matte black version, but a minimalist white version is available too. There is a refreshingly restrained implementation of RGB lighting present here, taking the form of the soft hexagon of Cooler Master’s logo, without the name of the company within. The hexagon entirely disappears when the lighting isn’t active. 

Taking a look at the underside you’ll find a small switch to flip between wired, 2.4GHz, and Bluetooth connectivity. Alongside this, there is a pairing button and a button to cycle through DPI presets. The decision to locate a button to improve gameplay performance on the underside of the mouse is unintuitive and inconvenient. There is no obvious reason why Cooler Master couldn’t have positioned it between the mouse buttons as other manufactures like Corsair and Razer usually do.

Overall, though, the design is smart and professional. It will blend into any setup with ease and will sit on your desk incognito until the lighting activates. Cooler Master has taken no chances with the design here and there’s nothing to criticize about the aesthetic.

Build quality

The mouse is impressively sturdy given its weight or lack thereof. The materials feel decent but more is expected given the price, and while they exhibit very little flex, the sides do bend inwards under unrealistically extreme pressure. Under normal gaming conditions, you can be confident that the materials will hold up. The cable has very soft, robust-feeling fabric shrouding that creates so little friction that it’s easy to forget that this mouse isn’t wireless.

Ergonomics

This mouse is designed for both claw-users and palm users, though it favors a palm grip as the lower right-hand side of the mouse extends slightly too far out for ideal pinky finger placement. It’s not uncomfortable by any means, but if you’re a picky claw user, this mouse isn’t for you. 

Thoughtfully, Cooler Master has included optional adhesive grip tape for the MM731 that can be applied to the sides and both mouse buttons. This is a nice addition as the plastic used for the exterior of the mouse isn’t the grippiest due to a lack of texture. Use of the grip tape on the sides was of some benefit but use on the mouse buttons is not necessary and some particularly competitive gamers may even find it to be a disadvantage due to the minute height increase it causes. Normal users will grow accustomed to this change within a few days.

Performance

The MM731 shines here, with an effortless glide thanks to the lightweight and included PTFE pads. The 19,000 DPI-capable optical sensor is accurate and didn’t miss a beat during testing. The mouse may be light on buttons for the gamer that needs excessive customization options but the ones it does have are satisfying, responsive, and rapid enough to handle even the most twitchy of competitive FPS games.

The mouse was tested in 2.4GHz, Bluetooth, and wired modes. No perceptible lagging or loss of signal occurred in any of them, although top-tier pro gamers may still prefer wired mode. The mouse wheel smoothly slots back and forth which allows for precise usage in gaming – you’ll be hard-pressed to switch past the intended weapon selection with this wheel. The rubber-textured cover over the mouse wheel could benefit from being more robustly attached to the wheel itself as we found that it was easy for your finger to roll the rubber cover around the wheel, instead of actuating it.

Software

As with the rest of Cooler Master’s considerable peripheral lineup, the use of the MasterPlus+ software is recommended as it allows more control and customization of the product. In this case, the MasterPlus+ software is functional enough in terms of altering the mouse’s DPI, RGB lighting, and macros. Additionally, it can be used to save profiles containing all the customization settings to the mouse itself. Which is a considerable advantage if you’re partial to the occasional LAN party. The software is a little clunky but it’s functional enough once you make it through the maze of updates.

Final verdict

The MM731 is a strong contender for the hybrid wired/wireless gaming mouse market. It boasts a minimal, professional design that belies a killer sensor and impressive wireless capabilities. The mouse is designed to accommodate users of all grip types and given the minute weight of just 59g, packing all these features in is an impressive feat of design and engineering.