Kickstarter Live for Swiftpoint Z2 Mouse

The most feature rich but flawed mouse known to man gets a sequel with the Swiftpoint Z2, currently on Kickstarter.

Launching in mid 2016, the Swiftpoint Z kickstarter looked too good to be true. Multi-button mice had been common for a decade or more, but new models would have one small thing distinguishing them usually. Then along comes a product during the prime of the kickstarter phenomenon that promised 13 buttons and an LED screen! Add triggers, pressure sensitive buttons, and a gyroscope?! As well as vibration feedback and an accelerometer; you’re just takin’ the mickey now. You would be forgiven for thinking it was a flight of fancy, but the kickstarter campaign was successfully funded and even better, it was delivered in good time. It’s rare that something is so far beyond everything else, and then manages to live up to the hype – unlike Elden Ring which did just that, the Swiftpoint Z fell critically short in one area sadly.

Given how much time a gamer spends using their mouse, the feel of the mouse is very important. A slight flaw becomes a constant nag, and a moderate problem becomes a huge issue after hundreds of hours of use, so erasing these flaws is a very important factor in their design. The Swiftpoint Z came with one such flaw – a working but terrible feeling scroll wheel. It was loose, it rattled, and it felt terrible every time you bumped it, had to scroll it, or depress it. This completely ruined the mouse for me to the point I sent a support ticket – which sadly went nowhere – but it appears it was a common issue as it has been addressed in the launch of the Z2.

I may sound salty, but it was like eating at a Michelin 3-star restaurant… with a dead rat on your table. The food was still the best you could get, but the sight and smell of the rat just ruined it. Since they’re directly addressing it in the kickstarter itself it was likely a widespread issue so rather than be dogged by fears of a repeat performance they acknowledge the past problem and say that it’s been remedied. Going back to a Logitech G502 felt like a step back in a lot of ways but it was a solid, dependable mouse that had no glaring faults which sadly made it prefferable to the otherwise superior Swiftpoint Z

The new kickstarter campaign is already well past funded and has reached 60% of the original kickstarter funding so there’s little risk of it not seeing fruition given the company’s good track record of other peripherals. Is it worth you backing this kickstarter? That’s hard to say. The mouse does not come in a wireless version so that could be a deal breaker. If you have the disposable income to risk $US130 on a mouse that you might find unusable and be unable to get a replacement, refund, or repair for then sure – you might end up with the best mouse in the world. If you can’t throw your money around like that, your best bet is probably to wait until there are reviews that put it through its paces so you can decide if it’s worth the premium or not. I’m definitely interested in this mouse, but I need to feel it for myself before I buy in again – my heart cannot be broken that badly again.

#roundtablecoop