Honeycomb mouse are the in thing these days. They are pretty lightweight and are perfect for those looking for lighter and more manageable gaming mouse. Going with the trend, ASUS decided to try its luck and use its experience with gaming peripherals to jump into the bandwagon. Which now leads us to our review of the ASUS TUF Gaming M4 Air, ASUS’ take on the honeycomb gaming mouse craze. Is it worth your attention? Let’s find out!
| Connectivity | USB 2.0 |
| Weight |
47g w/o cable
|
| Sensor |
PAW3335
|
| Resolution | 16000 |
| Max Speed | 400 |
| Max Acceleration | 40g |
| USB Report rate | 1000 Hz |
| L/R Switch Type |
60 million
|
| Button | 6 |
| Cable |
TUF Gaming Paracord Cable
|
| OS |
Windows® 10/11
|
| Software |
Armoury Crate
|
| Dimensions |
126 x 63.5 x39.6 mm
|
| Weight With Cable |
47g w/o cable
|
| Weight Without Cable | 47g |
| Color | Black |
| Contents |
1 x TUF GAMING M4 AIR Mouse, 1 x Quick Start Guide, 1 x Warranty Card
|
The packaging is a bit bare here and you only get the mouse from it. Note that the cable that comes with the TUF M4 Air is not detachable.
No RGB LightingIf you are after lighting to accent your gaming rig, you won’t find anything in the TUF Gaming M4 Air. It does not have RGB lighting. It’s just a plain good old mouse that has holes in it.
With ASUS Armoury Crate, you can reprogram the keys of the TUF Gaming M4 Air. You can assign programs to the buttons the buttons for quick access or bind it to keyboard keys. However, there’s no macro function. This means that you won’t be able to string together commands at a press of a button using this gaming mouse.
Once you use the TUF M4 Air, you’ll definitely notice the difference in terms of weight compared to converntional gaming mice. This one weighs at only 47g, almost half as that of the ASUS M3 Gaming Mouse. Personally, as someone that prefers heavier gaming mice, it took me sometime to get used to the M4’s weight.
Even with the holes in it, the TUF M4 is also a sturdy gaming mouse. Applying downward pressure on it, more than what you’ll use when playing, resulted in no changes in the mouse’s structure. If you want to really destroy this thing, you definitely would have to be deliberate about it. It’s pretty solid and while it can look cheap, its sturdiness is definitely not.
Probably what some of you might be worried about. The ASUS TUF Gaming M4 Air is advertised to have ASUS “Antibacterial Guard” which basically means that they added a bit of silver to minimize the growth of bacteria on the shell of the mouse. Though I can’t vouch for its effectivity, an alcohol wipe after a strenuous day can help in keeping the whole mouse clean. Furthermore, regular cleaning using cotton swabs (cotton buds) can get rid of the dead skin that might get stuck at the corners of a honeycomb cell.
ASUS claims that the devices inside are IPX6 protection for accidental spills or sweat. Unfortunately, I don’t have any means to try this safely as ASUS recommends to dry the device for one day before using it again. But then again, it can leave you with enough assurance that the device that you are using it resistant to water despite it having a lot of holes in it. For other liquids, like milk or juices, that may be a different matter altogether.
Without a doubt, the TUF M4 Air is an incredible honeycomb gaming mouse. It offers a good number of features without a price tag that requires a limb or two. ASUS really did well in producing a product with a new design that offers features that they are known for. Sure, you don’t get RGB lights with it, but you do have practical ones like key binding, good DPI control, and great build.
The ASUS TUf Gaming M4 Air is available in the Philippines and is priced at PHP 2,190.
For other similar ASUS ROG or TUF mouse, you can check out our review of the ROG Gladius III, TUF Gaming M3, or the ROG Strix Impact II. You can also check out the recently released ROG Claymore II review here.
Know more about the TUF Gaming M4 Air here.
