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The first gaming mouse from the California-based PC tech giant is called the NZXT Lift. The company is a renowned name in the PC hardware market. While they have ventured into high-end cooling, cases, fans, accessories, and pre-builts in the past, the company recently launched into the motherboard, microphone, mouse, and keyboard market.
NZXT was kind enough to send the Lift gaming mouse for review. We ran the mouse through its paces and shared some interesting insights.
Pre-delivery
The NZXT Lift is marketed as an ambidextrous gaming mouse. This mouse is based on the PMW3389 optical sensor from Pixart. It is available in white and black variants.
Users can customize their Lift from the official website. The company has a total of six accent colors to choose from. The list includes blue, cyan, purple, red, white, and yellow. The Lift was launched alongside the Function keyboard.
The details published by the company are listed below.
Overall, the Lift looks quite promising pre-delivery.
Unboxing the NZXT Lift
NZXT did not embellish the unboxing experience. The packaging is minimalist. It follows the white and purple layout common with every NZXT product.
Inside the outer carton, we found another cardboard box. This box housed the mouse and some paperwork.
Overall, NZXT curated a standard unboxing experience for Lift. There are no unexpected twists or gimmicks that make it stand out. Although nothing spectacular, I think the scope of the delivery is well designed.
Shape
The NZXT Lift is based on a symmetrical design. Left-hand users will, thus, have no issues with this mouse. Despite being ambidextrous, this mouse's thumb buttons are only on the left side.
Although it is a lightweight design, this mouse is quite big. Users with a comparatively smaller palm will thus have gripping issues.
The slightly tapering design of the Lift has grown on me. The wave-like shape ensures users have no problem with lag, palm, claw, or fingertip grips. Being a lag grip person, I fully appreciate the design of this mouse.
Surface and build quality
The surface of the NZXT Lift has a matte finish. The white version, which I reviewed, has an elegant feel. However, like any other white product, this product has picked up some dirt and spots over a couple of weeks.
The surface of this mouse does not attract fingerprints like most white products. But the matte finish might get worn out over time. Over the testing period, I spotted two smudges where the finish had worn out, resulting in a glossy texture.
The Lift is built robustly. Despite being lightweight, it feels sturdy in hand. It weighed 69 gms, which is two gms more than the advertised weight. The mouse delivers a premium feel. It looks and feels expensive despite being a $50 plastic shell.
NZXT uses a high-quality paracord sheath cable with this mouse. The USB connector feels high quality too.
Overall, I have no complaints about this mouse's surface and build quality, especially considering the price tag.
Buttons
The NZXT Lift has a total of six buttons. The list includes the following:
- The left-click button
- The right-click button
- The middle mouse button (which doubles up as the scroll wheel)
- The DPI switch button
- The thumb forward button
- The thumb backward button
NZXT uses Omron mechanical switches, rated for 20+ million clicks in this mouse.
The left and right click buttons are extremely responsive and clicky. They might be one of the best mouse buttons I have ever used.
The thumb buttons feel high quality. Clicking on them requires more pressure, unlike the left and right clicks. This can prevent accidental clicks in video games.
The scroll wheel, however, does not feel as adequately built as the rest of the mouse. It feels a bit plasticky.
I have no complaints about the DPI switch. Gamers do not need to use the button as often, but that has not stopped NZXT from making this button feel as good as the rest of the mouse.
Overall, the buttons of the Lift feel incredibly high quality, especially considering the price this product sells for.
Mouse feet
The NZXT Lift has a total of three feet. The feet are spread throughout the mouse.
The first chunk is at the top of the mouse. The second chunk is around the sensor. The third foot covers the bottom of the mouse.
The feet look sturdy and have been built well. However, NZXT did not mean for gamers to take them apart. This is acceptable as most users will not be taking their mouse feet apart.
Sensor
As mentioned earlier, the Lift comes with the Pixart PMW3389 sensor. This mouse uses an unaltered version of it.
The sensor goes from 100 DPI to 16,000 DPI. The Lift also comes with other capabilities of the PMW3389. The list includes programmable LEDs and smooth tracking.
The PMW3389 is a high-end sensor. The gaming experience with this mouse is exceptionally smooth. I did not run into any pixel skipping or unwanted acceleration issues.
Performance
I tested the NZXT Lift through the standard tests any mouse has to go through. This includes verification of the LOD, measuring the jitter, calculating the CPI divergence, and a few accuracy tests.
LOD test
In the Lift Off Distance test, we verify the LOD of the mouse. The NZXT Lift was able to produce some fantastic results.
Users can customize the LOD on this mouse. It supports either a 2mm or a 3mm lift-off distance. In both settings, the mouse tracked at the exact number it was set for.
When I set the mouse to stop tracking after lifting it by 2mm, it stopped tracking at the 2 DVD mark. Hence, the LOD is between 1.2 and 2.4mm, which lines up with the 2mm LOD it was set for.
Similarly, when the LOD was set at 3mm, the mouse stopped tracking at the 3 DVD mark. Thus, the LOD is between 2.4 and 3.6mm.
In the LOD test, the mouse passed with 100% accuracy.
Jitter test
Note: Zoom into the attached images for a better understanding of the noise created by the sensor.
In the Jitter test, we measure the noise produced by the sensor. The test measures the unregistered movements reported by the sensor. The more the noise, the worse the quality of the sensor.
Since the PMW3389 is a high-quality sensor, we saw negligible jitters in the Lift. At lower CPIs of 800 and 1600jitters aretter is practically absent.
However, at high CPIs like 10,000 and 16,000, users can tell the noise from the images I derived based on various movements.
CPI Divergence test
The CPI divergence test measures the tracking of CPI when a particular CPI is set from the software. These numbers were derived by measuring the CPI five times for each setting and then averaging the number for a final result. The Lift amazed me in this test as well.
Every set CPI has some deviation from the initially set value. But the deviation is consistently below 1% for every test.
Perfect Control Speed test
The Perfect Control Speed test measures the maximum velocity at which the mouse tracks. To test this, I did a quick swipe across a 600mm mouse pad with this mouse.
Results on all sets of CPIs are acceptable. None of the graphs break at high velocities. The mouse can track at even higher speeds than what I achieved.
Human beings rarely touch 5m/s or higher while gaming. Thus, esports gamers will not have any problems with this device.
Speed Related Accuracy Variance test
The Speed Related Accuracy Variance test measures the accuracy of the mouse at different velocities. For this test, I did a quick swipe with the Lift across a 600mm mouse pad and then slowly brought it back to its original position.
We have a near-perfect graph of 1600 CPI. A few deviations from the straight line can be credited mainly to human error.
Polling Rate test
The polling rate test measures the reporting frequency of the sensor. For this test, I rapidly flicked the mouse to and fro for a distance of approximately 600mm.
The Lift supports two polling rates: 500 Hz and 1000 Hz.
At 500 Hz, the test results are all over the place. The polling rate of the mouse touch was as high as 1000 Hz at times. It even drops to as low as 40 Hz in places.
At 1000 Hz, we see a similar trend. The polling rate reaches as high as 1900 Hz at times.
Overall, the polling rate deviates by a considerable margin in several places.
Software
NZXT bundles the NZXT CAM software with the mouse. CAM is a highly polished software, free from bugs and other issues.
The software allows users to customize lighting, DPI, polling rate, LOD, add macros, and remap buttons.
Mouse setting in the software (Image via Sportskeeda)
DPI customization can be done in terms of four memory settings. DPI can be set anywhere between 100 CPI and 16,000 CPI in steps of 100.
Lighting customization, however, felt a bit limiting. The software comes with only a few presets to choose from. However, NZXT gives users complete freedom in choosing any color from the RGB spectrum.
Overall, NZXT CAM is one of the best software for controlling hardware. But, it is extremely CPU intensive.
Lighting
The Lift is based on a minimalist design. Thus, there is no RGB on the dorsal side.
The two RGB strips have been moved to the bottom of the mouse. Most RGB LEDs are masked. The lighting is not particularly noticeable.
The LEDs on the mouse also warm the surface up over prolonged usage. In my testing, the surface became noticeably warm after keeping the LEDs turned on at maximum brightness for a minimum duration of two hours. I feel the lighting on the Lift is wasted potential.
Value
The Lift is priced at $49.99. At this price, its primary competitor is the Glorious Model O Minus. The Lift has its own set of caveats. But, overall, it is a solid performer.
If gamers dislike the complex geometric design of the Model O Minus, the Lift can be a subtle alternative with a very minimalist design approach.
For the features, specs, and performance it manages to deliver, I think the Lift is perfectly priced.
Conclusion
Product: NZXT Lift ambidextrous gaming mouse (provided by Acro Engineering Company)
Release date: Spring 2022
Size: 126.8 mm x 67.23 mm x 38.35 mm
Weight: 67g
Interface: 6 buttons
Connectivity: 2-meter cable
Contents: NZXT Lift gaming mouse, paperwork
System requirements: macOS X 10.14 and later; Windows 7 and later
