Written by Profi | 01 July 2012
Posted in Articles - Reviews

Recently the German based organization ROCCAT has released its new product - the optical mouse Savu. It only looked natural that we here at GreatFrag had to test this new product. After already reviewing one keyboard and one headset it was time to also review ROCCAT Savu. A well thought product with a great balance regarding the weight and shape, with nice finishing touches and a rather solid build.

Specifications:

• Mouse type: Mid Sized optical mouse
• Sensor type: Optical
• Sensor DPI: 400-800-1600-4000
• Polling rate: 125, 250, 500, 1000 Hz
• Maximum speed: 60 inches/second
• Acceleration: 20G
• Max fps: 6400 fps
• Weight: 90 g without cable
• Width: 7,5 cm maximum width
• Length: 12 cm maximum length
• Buttons: 5 + 2
• Cable type: braided
• Cable length: 1,8m
• Connection type: USB 2.0
• System requirements: Windows XP, Vista 32/64bit, 7 32/64 bit, Internet Connection.

The Box

As for all the ROCCAT products, the box is stylish, with its cut out edge, it gives a great look to the overall aspect of the product.


As for the other products, it contains useful information about the mouse and its content. The information is given in 9 languages, so that almost everybody is pleased. The lack of the plastic screen gives it a minus, but on the other hand it makes you curious about what the box has inside. So you can imagine that I myself was curious to see what ROCCAT build this time.

Unboxing

As before, the unboxing was easy. You need to remove 3 stickers and “voila” you are done.


Inside the box you will find ROCCAT Savu, ROCCAT ID card and the installation guide that as usual for ROCCAT products is in 10 languages. The mouse is incased in a plastic form that prevents the shocks while in transport, and also keeps it nice and tight in the center of the box.


Taking out of the plastic shell I grabbed the mouse in my hand and first impression was “uuuu ultralight weight”. I know the box stated that, but hey, I did not expect it to be this light. From my point of view this is one big plus, as I do like the light mices, because it is easy to use it for long term sessions without getting tired. The mouse seems to be build out of tough materials, the finishing details are great, the shape of the mouse is great, it feels robust but yet so light. 

Another nice feature that I discovered is the textile material coated cable,
that makes it more malleable, so the eternal problems of rubber coated cables of them sticking to the shape they receive while being packed in the box is gone in few minutes. After I looked at the other contend I decided to give the mouse a try.

The Mouse

 

Before plug-in the ROCCAT Savu I took a closer look at the product. My impressions were: the mouse it close to optimal balance between the size, the shape, the build in quality and weight. It is a middle sized mouse, that fits great into the hand, the shape allows your hand to engulf the mouse perfectly, and have the best position of the hand while in use.

Compared to other ROCCAT's product Kone[+] the mouse is not that small, you can clearly see that the difference between SAVU and it’s bigger brother isn’t that big.


The only minus I can think about, is that this mouse isn’t ambidextrous, but the manufacturer states this on the box so no one can complain, after all most of the users are right-handed.

One nifty thing that I also came across while examining the mouse was the side grip material, the material they have put in there is something like the “cats tongue”.


It has some porous texture that makes it easy to handle the ROCCAT Savu while using it for a long time and also prevents the sweaty hands as I found out in time while I used it.

The attention to details is what ROCCAT is known for, and this time the mouse looks like they stepped in a notch, the mouse has a perfect line flow, the lines are curve and give the mouse an impressive look.


The side buttons also help maintain the design as they have an awesome shape, and they stick out from the rest of the mouse enough to be able to push them without any problem but also enough not to disturb the line flow.

The ROCCAT 2D branding on the right click button also gives it a plus in the design. The wheel button also has a great shape, and is as precise as your fingers are. The light screen at the end of the mouse completes the design and make the mouse look “bad ass”.

In usage

The ROCCAT Savu is plug and play type of device. Just stick USB cable in and you are ready to go, but this is only if play at a low sensitivity, the mouse without the software on has a low sensitivity so if you like it to be higher you need to install the software since the mouse lacks the buttons or the button combination that allows you to change the sensitivity on the fly.

The colored screen shuffle between all colors that it is able, which is a nice feature. If you don’t like your mouse to be colored you can stop the light from the software. Without the software on, the standard button assignment means that the two buttons on the side of the mouse have the Internet Browser forward and the Easy Shift[+] functions, but this changes once you have installed the software, while the other buttons have the standard functions.

Also something that I found out was that while pressing Easy Shift[+] and than moved the wheel up or down, the volume in my headset went up or down.

A normal sized hand engulfs the mouse perfectly, and every button is in easy reach so you can perfectly click each button you need. The buttons have a nice feeling when pressed, and the scroll button moves freely up and down and has an excellent precision.

So without the software on, the only problem I had - the low sensitivity, but everything changed after I installed the software. Installing the software is easy, again the box does not feature an installation CD, but this as I said in the Kulo 7.1 USB review, it’s a good thing, because by following the download procedure from the official site, you are sure to get the updated version of the driver. This is a good thing because you know that everytime you install the software you can get the maximum out of your mouse with new features and bug fixes. Once the download is complete, you can easily install the software, so you are few clicks away from unlocking all that this mouse can do.

After I installed the software I started to search for what this mouse can do. The menu contains all that you need to tweak and twitch your configuration as you please, from DPI change, to sensitivity change to even changing sensitivity on X and Y axis but also scroll and double click speed.


And even enable or disable Roccat Savu acceleration, all these commands can be done from Main Control tab and the Advance Control tab. Also from the Advance Control you can assign what color the mouse has to display, or you can shut it down entirely if you please to do so.

In the Button Assignment you can assign different commands for the buttons.


First thing that surprised me in the software was the amount of commands you can assign on the 7 buttons. I told you that the two side buttons are preconfigured and that the mouse lacks the on the fly changing sensitivity buttons, but this can be repaired once you install the software by assigning those commands using the wheel up and down in coordination with the Easy Shift[+] button (the back button on the side).

Another great thing about the mouse used in with an installed software is the fact that you can switch the DPI by only clicking one mouse button, you can go up to 4000 DPI, and those being real DPI.

Also what worth being mentioned is the possibility to assign MACRO buttons, for all your favorite programs including games, browsers, movie players and even Windows. You may say that there are too many assignments for the relative small amount of buttons that the mouse has, but ROCCAT thought about that and introduce up to 5 profiles that can be selected.


You can make your perfect configuration and save it as a Profile.

For example, you play different games, in my case one FPS and one RTS, and you have different configuration for each game, without having to go into the software program you can assign one button that allows you to pick up between profiles. Once the profile is loaded you have all your saved settings for the game, program or whatever you want.

Now in true ROCCAT fashion there is a twist to the software, if for the Kulo 7.1 USB the manufacturer has set up a nice trolling tool, with the cartoon, monster voice change, for Savu they have made something even better.


The so called R.A.D. also known as ROCCAT Achievements Display is their latest trololololo tool. Sure what this does is great, it tracks your mouse usage by registering numbers of clicks, distance made so far by movement of the mouse, how many times you have used the Easy Shift[+] and Easy Aim. But they did not stop here, as the longer you use the mouse they sooner you get to reveal the HIDDEN Trophies, yes you’ve read well - hidden trophies.

There are a total of 13 trophies that can be revealed, and you can imagine that even if you are not a curious person, you will definitely check the stats once in a while, just for the sake of it. From my point of view this is an awesome feature, it makes you want use your mouse more in order to discover what it is to be revealed. The statistics of your mouse can be shown in total, per day or per week.

Another great feature that the software has is the voice announcement of certain commands such as sensitivity change, DPI change, profile change, volume up or down and unlocking a new trophy. This tool is nice because these commands will most likely be the most used on your mouse, and you can know everytime what you have just changed at your mouse and not have surprises.

Last feature that the software has is the Update feature, which allows you to update the software with the latest changes from the software menu itself, without having to go on the ROCCAT main page.

The software is easy to use, it has the same standard lookout in true ROCCAT fashion that allows every user, regardless the IT knowledge to twitch his mouse however he wants, which is yet another great plus.

Conclusions:

After I have made all my settings I went on to test the mouse ROCCAT Savu even more, first stop was the everyday usage, with windows commands, browsers, open folders and so on, the precision of the mouse used in coordination with a ROCCAT Taito is pure awesome, the mouse moves as much as you want, hits every beat you want, stop where you want.

Next stop was an RTS game. After uploading my RTS configured profile I went on to play the game, the game needs precision combined with fast movement, with the perfect twitches to the mouse regarding DPI and sensitivity you can achieves the exact things you need in order to become better and better at the game.

Usually I tend to get carried away while playing the game and soon after I started I realized I have been playing for few over 3 hours, and even though I did not leave the mouse out of my hand in all this time, the side no sweat material coped with the heat of my hand and did its job.

Than I moved to a FPS game, where you need quick reaction and a steady hand that can point a precision mouse to the “enemy’s head”. After switching to my FPS profile I went on to play. With Savu you can really feel like you control the movement of the gun, it goes where it needs to go, and stops every time it is needed. The spray tends to get better, and the quick 1 bullet headshots seems to be even easier than before. 

Another great thing I’ve discovered is the scroll button. If for example, on my first professional mouse I used to have problems by over scrolling and not picking the gun I wanted, with Savu the problem is gone. The scroll goes down and up step by step so you can pick up the gun you want and not over scroll and be caught with a knife or a hand grenade when you need your rifle.

I tend not to use the side buttons to much while in games, but you can bind different commands to the buttons, and with the sensitivity configuration that I have presented earlier you can easily change the sensitivity to the one you like.
The mouse looks cool from every angle, the shape is really impressive, and all the finishing touches such as the ROCCAT branding on the right click, the back light panel with it’s flickering changing light really defines the ‘cool-ness’ and the bad ass look of this mouse.

From my point of view mouse ROCCAT Savu is one of the best mouse in its class. The ergonomics of the mouse is great and the balance between the weight and the size is well thought. Buttons are in easy reach, no gimmick and useless things on it. Great shape and an awesome looking cord.

When you take the mouse in your hand you can really feel that it’s strong, durable, and that the details they have thought at while developing the product covered every aspect. The shape allows it to fit perfectly in almost every type of hand, and the line flow help at that also.

Pros:

• Plug and play device
• Great ergonomics
• Easy Shift[+] button
• Wheel moves freely and lets you know always how much you have scrolled up or down
• Durable material and tough like feeling
• ROCCAT talk that lets you know what command exactly you have issued to the mouse
• NO SWEAT sides, the material on the two sides do really help during long term sessions
• Easy access to the product software, and a user friendly software

Cons:

• Lack of on the fly sensitivity change buttons, without the software on
• Lack of ambidextrous shape