Genius X-G510 Review

If you’re just getting into casual PC gaming, purchasing peripherals can be an intimidating task. If you don’t want to drop a Benjamin on a mouse, the Genius X-G510( at Amazon)(Opens in a new window) may be a good start, depending on what you’re looking for. Its ambidextrous design is nice, though the extra programmable buttons could use a little more fit and finish. The X-G510 is a decent choice if you’re getting into PC gaming, though the Editors’ Choice for gaming mice is still the Roccat Lua Tri-Button Gaming Mouse($84.87 at Amazon)(Opens in a new window), thanks to its lower price and comfortable usability.

Design and Features
The X-G510 looks like your typical gaming optical mouse. It’s full-size and wired with a black 5.9-foot braided USB cable. It measures 4.6 by 2.9 by 1.5 inches (HWD) and weighs 4.6 ounces (cable included). There’s no messing with weight or other dimensional adjustments, so if you’re looking for a mouse that can alter its shape, like the modular Cyborg R.A.T. 9, this won’t satisfy you. The entertaining design—complete with simulated sword slices on the side—and low profile are stylish, but feels uncomfortable after longer periods of use.

The top portion is a matte black with a clear lightning strike that covers the majority of the surface. The lightning pulses a bright blue, adjustable in the mouse’s settings app. It has an ambidextrous design, so lefties will have no issue. The sides are indented for thumb comfort.

It’s a six-button mouse, which means, aside from the left and right mouse buttons on top of the mouse, you have four customizable buttons: a click wheel, a DPI button behind the wheel to cycle through four sensitivity settings, and an extra button on either side for added functionality in whatever game or application you’re using. It isn’t enough to cater to the MMO crowd, unlike the Logitech G600 with its dozen programmable buttons, but it has two more than the Roccat Lua. Unfortunately, the click wheel is lacking any lateral movement for horizontal scrolling.

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Behind the scroll wheel is the DPI adjust button that temporarily blinks depending on the sensitivity. There are only four DPI settings, ranging from 500 to 2,000, compared with the Lua’s seven settings which range from 250 to 2,000.

Performance
Genius provides a CD for installing its dashboard for managing settings. Unfortunately the software is Windows-only (Windows XP/Vista/Win7/Win8). You can manage the X-G510’s light settings, programmable buttons, macros, and sensitivity using the dashboard. The mouse also stores up to three profiles you can cycle through either through the application or by mapping a profile to the side buttons, click wheel button, or DPI button. The X-G510 will work as a plug-and-play mouse on Windows or Mac, though customization options will be lost on a Mac. The left and right mouse buttons required very little pressure, though the left and right side buttons required more force to press, and stuck out a little farther than needed. The DPI button isn’t easy to access behind the scroll wheel, but you likely won’t be hitting it that often, and if you are you can reassign it to another button. Scrolling was easy enough, but required a tiny bit more effort than your normal scroll wheel.

During testing in Team Fortess 2, the X-G510 showed itself to be an adequate gaming mouse. Its movement was smooth and performed as expected. The DPI adjust button was useful for the occasional need for an accuracy adjustment.

The Genius X-G510 is a stylish gaming mouse with a little more functionality than your basic three-button mouse. While the Roccat Lua is our Editors’ Choice for a budget gaming mouse, the X-G510 has two extra buttons for a little more customization. Unfortunately that only takes it so far. Compared with other gaming mice with a few extra buttons like the Razer Taipan, it’s inexpensive, but the X-G510 is uncomfortable to use after a time, making it less than ideal if you just need a basic mouse for long-term play.