This makes it convenient for presentations or situations where the computer is not immediately accessible. We like the soft-touch part, but though it looks good the glossy finish picks up fingerprints far too readily – kind of a problem for a device you’re constantly touching. Additionally, reducing the pointer speed and disabling unnecessary features like the scroll wheel's tilt functionality can help conserve battery power.

Microsoft Wireless Mouse 5000 review | TechRadar Microsoft Wireless Mouse 5000 review | TechRadar

Quite aside from the ergonomic disadvantage, the scroll wheel doesn’t offer notched feedback; an essential feature for any serious fragger. From there, you can assign custom functions to the additional buttons according to your preferences. Likewise the rest of the mouse’s buttons offer positive feedback, but then that’s no less than you would expect from one of the biggest players and pioneers in the mouse market. The 5000 is a nice-looking device, combining a piano-black top and base with rubberized, textured sides. Despite its many features, it’s really easy to connect, and all you need to do ahead of time is make sure that your computer is Bluetooth compatible.There are five buttons, with the usual Microsoft software for button-mapping, though the placement of the forward and backward buttons being on opposite sides of the mouse makes navigation more awkward than if they were aligned on the thumb side only. Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest.

Microsoft Wireless BlueTrack Mouse 5000 - Trusted Reviews Microsoft Wireless BlueTrack Mouse 5000 - Trusted Reviews

If you’re using a laptop, the Bluetooth switch is usually located along the sides or you can use a keyboard shortcut. Together with the Wireless Mobile Mouse 4000 and 6000, it is also one of the few rodents in Microsoft’s arsenal which are completely ambidextrous, so southpaws rejoice. As with most of the company’s desktop mice, including the recent Explorer, the transceiver can be easily slotted into the mouse’s base.For south-paws and those who mouse on unusual surfaces it’s a bargain, but thanks to a few ergonomic failings everyone else might wish to check out other mice first.