Ozone SMOG Gaming Mouse
Ozone is a relatively new company that has been around for at least a year or so according to their website. They already have several products on the market but only one mouse as of this writing: the Ozone SMOG Gaming Mouse.
The SMOG is a solid black mouse featuring accented red buttons and a braided USB cable with a gold connector. The top of the mouse is glossy, black while the left thumb area is covered in a grippy rippled rubber and the right finger area is constructed of a smoother rubber. Buttons include standard left and right click, a wide scroll wheel that clicks and tilts, two other buttons behind the wheel labeled Lift and Mode, two thumb buttons in a front and back orientation, and a DPI selection rocker button under the normal thumb placement.
The Mode button is used to switch between pre-configured user profiles, while the Lift button serves a less common purpose. Essentially, this button lets you adjust how high the mouse is allowed to be lifted from its work surface, a feature you are not likely to use very often and could just as easily be configured in the software.
There is a small LED bank in front of the thumb rest area that displays the current selected DPI as well as the current selected user profile. On the bottom of the SMOG are five ceramic feet that have a mirror-like shine and are very smooth. The tracking sensor is right-aligned with a button on the left to remove the side grip and access the battery compartment.
The included software worked fine with Windows 7, but unfortunately it leaves a lot to be desired. Even with the user manual (poorly translated to English) I was left scratching my head more often than not. I could select profiles, rename them and create macros. But when it came to remapping keys things didn't go as smoothly. For example, I couldn't replace the Lift button with F5 (refresh) for browser usage, but it was possible to remap this key with a macro I created.
Each profile can store up to nine macros and there are seven different macros. The back of the mouse lights up one of seven different colors, indicating the current profile selected. There really isn't much else to the software other than the ability to fine-tune the DPI settings.
In Windows and during gaming the mouse worked flawlessly. There were no issues with tracking or anything else. Comfort, on the other hand, is a different story. While the mouse is plenty wide, the top of the mouse tapers off too soon and just feels really odd under my hand. I tried both side grips and liked the one that is countered for both fingers, but even still the whole experience didn't feel natural.
As we have seen with other popular accessory providers it appears that Ozone purchased the licensing rights to this mouse and rebranded it as their own. The SMOG is virtually identical to the Cyber Snipa Silencer gaming mouse. Ozone has made some improvements to the mouse such as a better laser sensor with better stats, ceramic feet and a braided cable, but the design and feel is the same. This is common practice among many accessory providers and not really something to be concerned with. The SMOG is available for around $60, or $10 more than the Cyber Snipa Silencer.
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