Waizowl OGM Cloud + 4K Dongle Review
Author:esper_(community reviews)
UNBOXING
The waizowl ogm cloud comes packaged in a nice thick box with a side door that slides out to access all the contents. It's similar packaging as the ninjutso sora and vgn dragonfly f1. There is a box that contains the 1k dongle, white cable, an extra large pair of skates, and matching red griptape. The 4k dongle, which is purchased separately, comes with a stiff black cable. To turn on and off the mouse, you simply just press and hold the dpi button, which is also labelled power underneath it. The presentation and quality definitely gives me the impression that these are premium products.
Specs:
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Dimensions: 126x68x38mm (57mm grip width)
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Weight: 55g±2 (58g on my scale)
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Switches: Huano blue shell pink dot
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Encoder: Huano black shell red dot
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Coating: Feather coating (premium matte coating)
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Sensor: PixArt PAW3395
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MCU: Nordic nRF52840
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Battery: 300mAh
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Max Polling Rate: 1000Hz stock / 4000Hz w/ dongle (purchased separately)
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Connector: USB Type-C
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Color Options: Black, or white
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Price: mouse - $99.99, 4k dongle - $14.99
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Extras: Large pair of skates & grip tape
BUTTONS
Main Clicks
The cloud uses huano blue shell pink dots as its main switches. The clicks are medium tensioned, have almost no pre-travel, a short amount of post-travel, and feel consistent when clicked anywhere along the buttons. When actuating the clicks, the switch feels like it resonates throughout the entirety of the buttons, which gives it a whole feeling – though this makes them somewhat dull/not as tactile feeling in contrast to lighter implementations. I think the convex/rounded button design attributes to this. Another way I can kinda try to describe the feeling is it's as if they have some depth/pressure feedback when pressing them, whereas lighter implementations have a thin, quick snap that are mostly felt at the area underneath your fingertip. The convex design also makes it easy to spam since you have most of your finger in contact with the button.
Scrollwheel & Side Buttons
The scrollwheel sits low into the shell. It uses a huano black shell red dot encoder, which gives it light-to-scroll, defined notches. There's a decent bounce when clicking down, though I think a slight bit more travel would make it feel more satisfying to press. The band around the ring also has a nice feel to it that doesn't feel like the usual cheap rubber ones that some mice use. The side buttons, on the other hand, are pill-shaped, have very little pre-travel, and a decent amount of post-travel. I quite like the travel on them, and they're easy to reach, but the click-feel is a little dull on my copy's front side button.
COATING, CABLE, SKATES, & BUILD QUALITY.
I'm sure everyone has heard of it by now, but the coating on the cloud feels exceptional. It has that rubbery, grippy feel that's usually classified as premium – think somewhere between endgame and zowie coating in terms of feel. The white cable included with the mouse is decently flexible, though I do wish it had an angled stress relief. There's also a black one that comes with the 4k dongle that's pretty stiff, which I assume is from extra shielding for less interference at higher polling rates. The stock skates are very good and come as 4 corner pieces, and there's an extra set of 2 large ones in the box. The smaller skate design makes them dig into soft pads more easily. The mouse also feels extremely rigid with no flex, creaking, and rattling. It feels like a top tier premium mouse.
SHAPE
My hands are 19.5x10cm and I use a relaxed pincer claw grip. Before describing the shape, here's how I grip the Waizowl OGM Cloud:
The waizowl cloud's shape takes heavy inspiration from the legendary steelseries sensei. I myself have not tried it before, but have always thought the sensei raw looked pretty cool. It's a large mouse, so it did take some getting used to initially coming from medium-small mice. For example, I used to consider the x2 medium a decently wide-feeling mouse, but it felt normal-sized in hand when compared to the cloud. However, that didn't stop me from enjoying the mouse and I definitely understand why the shape is so beloved. The cloud's shape feels safe in most areas, except for the back as it flares out quite widely, so smaller hands may find it a bit restrictive. It fits my hand-size and gripstyle pretty well, and I will go into details why.
The buttons(1) have a convex/rounded design – unlike most modern mice which feature either comfort grooves, or a flattish design. Personally, I prefer buttons with comfort grooves as I usually keep my fingers centered, but don't really pay mind to it that much on the cloud due in part to the grippy coating; however, those with sweaty hands may find it difficult to keep their fingers in place if the coating doesn't work for them. The sides(2) start off wide from the top of the shell, but taper in slightly while heading towards the base, and still provide a relatively flat-feeling for the most part. This gives the top portion a sort of ledge/bump that can be used to lock onto your ring finger joint if you normally make contact with it for support when gripping/lifting the mouse.
From the base of the mouse(3), you'll notice the front flair is not drastic at all. The measurements show that it's only a 2mm increase from the grip-width, and it gradually rounds in as it reaches the front. This gives the side area where the front width is widest a sort of subtle bump for me to rest the tip of my ring finger on – though I do think the side wall height could be a little taller for a little more freedom in ring finger placement. You can also see that the back does flare out quite a bit, so there's a nice arch to lock onto when curling your fingers in an aggressive claw grip, and there's good palm support to stabilize that grip due to the width of the hump.
When viewing the hump from the back(4), you can see it gradually/non-aggressively slopes towards the sides starting from its peak. This gives it a rather flattish and wide-feeling hump, which makes it flexible for both knuckle and pincer claw as it can encompass the entire knuckle palm region depending on how you arch your hand. From the side view(5), you can see it quickly tapers down at an almost linear angle towards the back of the mouse. In hand, it provides a low hump experience that reminds me of the zowie fk series. I believe this is what makes the shape work so well for me, despite being larger than I'm used to as I can rest my hand at a natural, low-sitting angle, and still have decent enough room to tense/pinch the mouse with my palm when aiming.
SOFTWARE, 4K DONGLE, & BATTERY LIFE
When first opening the software, make sure to change the mouse to "OGM Cloud", located on the top right to access the cloud's settings. The mouse comes at 4ms debounce by default and motion-sync enabled. There is a high-speed mode that only works at 1khz polling rate or below. When the mouse enters sleep mode, the 4k dongle led starts glowing green. If you uncheck movement or both boxes for wake-up mode, you only have to click on the mouse for it to wake the mouse.
The mouse at 4khz lasted me 4-5 days of moderate use, so it seems quite efficient. It's hard to check battery percentage since the led is underneath the mouse, but I believe the LED starts pulsing red at under 35%. The battery percentage in the software is inaccurate when plugging in the mouse unless it is fully charged. For example, one time I unplugged it and saw it at 47% in the software, then it would go down to 42% a few seconds later, and then finally stabilize at 35% a minute later. So I would recommend waiting a little to get the accurate %, or just fully charge it. The mouse also doesn't tell you when it's fully charged as the led underneath just pulses green the whole time when plugged in. The 4k dongle has an LED around the base that shines the polling rate's preset colors and no indication of battery level, which is something I would like to see changed.
PROS & CONS
+premium/high-quality mouse
+large, safe shape (clone of the legendary steelseries sensei)
+well-implemented, deep-feeling clicks
+clicks feel consistent when pressed anywhere along the buttons
+light, tactile scrollwheel with nice feeling rubber ring
+easy to press side buttons
+premium matte coating
+great stock skates (4 corner design pre-installed, extra large pair in box)
+extremely well built
+extras: griptape & large pair of skates
+supports 4khz polling rate (4k dongle purchased separately)
=competitively priced ($100 for mouse, $15 for 4k dongle)
=side buttons feel a little dull
=4k dongle led kinda pointless (wish it showed battery % level)
