Pwnage is back with a new mouse, the upstart company has taken feedback from the release of the original Ultra Symm and returned with a familiar and improved product. A series of subtle adjustments and an upgraded feature set across the board make for an interesting wireless mouse for anyone who’s looking for a safe medium sized ambi shape.
Measurements (L x W x H)
118 x 60 x 38 mm
Weight
71-75g (depending on cover used)
Packaging and Presentation
Pwnage definitely put some care into their packaging and presentation of the Ultra Symm 2 mouse. It’s got a nice glossy box and features enough extras to give you the feeling of additional value. Included in my box were the two top covers, a paracord style charging cable, extra feet and button spacers to modify the feeling of the clicks.
Design and Build Quality
The hype behind the Pwnage Ultra Symm stems mostly from its shape, which closely resembles the Zowie S2. The S2 was a super popular shape because it’s a medium sized ambi that worked well with multiple grip styles and I like the Pwnage Ultra Symm 2 shape even more as they’ve made the mouse slightly shorter and lighter. If you used the original Ultra Symm you’ll be at home here as the dimensions are almost identical except the Ultra Symm 2 is 2mm shorter. For me this was a welcome change as it makes the shape feel better for claw grip, giving a tiny bit more room for quick vertical adjustments.
It’s a very comfortable and easy mouse for medium handed gamers to swap to without much of an adjustment period. In terms of the look of the mouse, my white solid version had a smooth matte coating. It comes with an removable cover that lets you choose between a lighter honeycomb design and a solid top plate. There’s hits of RGB lighting on the scroll wheel at the back of the mouse but it doesn’t steal the show or impress like the RGB featured on mice like the Glorious Model O Wireless. I do think that the RGB colors themselves do look better than the original Pwnage Ultra Custom and seem a bit brighter with more pop but that could be due to the white colored version I have.
The design of the mouse is otherwise understated with a standard six button design and a toggle on the back of the mouse to control RGB and power on/off. The mouse comes with serviceable stock feet by way of the PTFE skates which includes one around the sensor ring. The coating isn’t anything special but it goes the job done in terms of offering enough grip that you aren’t forced to buy grips for it. I also found that the mouse did a fair job of keeping fingerprint marks away and despite using my mouse for several days it still looks pretty much brand new.
The build quality feels generally very solid. There’s no creaking, side flex or bottom flex if I press in hard. There’s on rattle or any loose feeling on the body or wheel of the mouse. There is definitely more weight towards the back of the mouse which makes it slightly heavy. Fortunately it was not as pronounced as on the original Pwnage Ultra Symm. The weight is due to the battery and RGB at the back of the mouse. After a week of use I didn’t notice any deterioration to the feel of the mouse itself. I personally would have liked to see the RGB completely removed from the mouse for greater weight savings but that’s mostly personal preference. The coating of the mouse is really smooth and can be a bit slippery but otherwise feels pretty high quality. There’s no graininess to the texture and it does a good job of not showing fingerprints.
The charging cable allows you to use the Ultra Symm plugged in but it wasn’t the most flexible paracord style cable out there. I would compare it to the ones on the Razer Viper or the Xtfy M4. I intend on using this mouse wireless as much as I can so this wasn’t a big sticking point for me.
Buttons & Scroll Wheel
I believe that clicks are a major differentiator for mice these days and the Ultra Symm 2 has swapped out the Omron 50Ms from their predecessor for Kailh GM8.0s. This really makes the clicks feel MUCH better than before. M1 and M2 give a satisfying tactile click that takes a medium amount of force. You won’t hit these by accident but they also aren’t too stiff or hard to spam. They give a nice quiet click that won’t annoy those in your immediate surroundings.
There is no real noticeable pre-travel but there is a tiny bit of post travel at the end of the click. The finger grooves also add comfort for your fingers to rest as you grip the mouse. They did a great job of implementing the clicks as there is minimal sideplay and you both M1 and M2 are crispy and feel responsive.
The side buttons are nicely placed and easy to reach. They are medium sized and feel decently snappy. They protrude out the shell just enough to be comfortable and they feel very reactive with minimal pre-travel. The side buttons offer a very light sounding clicks but don’t offer much tactility The scroll wheel has a nice grip with the rubber coating and isn’t tensioned too much so you can scroll quickly. The middle click takes medium force and has a been satisfying tactile response. It’s ab it of a shallower click but you won’t be hitting it by accident. The wheel is nice for bunnyhopping in game but I wish there was a tad more tactility. The positioning of the wheel was nicely done and I found it generally unobtrusive in all day to day use and it also looked good with the RGB shining through.
Shape, Performance and Software
The shape and performance of this mouse go hand in hand. The S2 became one of Zowie’s most popular shapes and this shape works well for the wireless Ultra Symm. I felt really comfortable in-game using the shape and it’s great for claw or fingertip. In terms of my aim in-game, it felt snappy and responsive and it didn’t take very long to get used to the Ultra Symm at all. If you like small to medium size ambi shapes you’ll feel right at home with the Ultra Symmetrical wireless. While the back heavy design has been noticeably IMPROVED from the original Pwnage Symm, the Symm 2 still has some weight at the back that makes it less than optimal for aiming at times.
The sensor has also been improved being upgraded to the 3370. This upgrade made the mouse feel noticeably more responsive in game that the original and I found my aim felt snappy throughout my testing. One area of concern with the original Pwnage Ultra Symm was that there was a slight wireless lag in terms of responsiveness. I’m happy to report that the new wireless control unit (MCU) has improved the mouse in those regards. In my human latency testing the mouse performed on-par with the top of the line releases by Logitech and Razer. The drivers from Pwnage are available to download through their site and I will say that it looks promising that they seem to keep rolling out updates on the software over time.
Sensor, Skates and Battery Life
I didn’t experience any spin-outs or other issues with the sensor. It offers customizable DPI ranging from 200 – 16000 DPI and I did not have any issues with LOD. It seems like it’s set to a suitably low LOD right out the box.
The Pwnage Ultra Symm 2 comes with white PTFE skates that offer decent speed and a consistent glide. They are on the thicker side for stock feet so I think they’ll last you a decent amount of time and even then there are extras in the box. I think you can absolutely get by with the skates without rushing out and buying aftermarket replacements immediately. They feel quite fast and smooth out of the box and I’d rate them as above average for the price of the mouse.
In terms of battery life, I got about a week of active use out of it and it does feel like it’s slightly been improved from the original Ultra Symm. You should expect about 80-100 hours of gaming on one full charge of the battery. I’d say the battery is higher than Glorious but perhaps not to the insane levels of the Superlight or Finalmouse Starlight-12. If you do run out of battery, it should fully charge in about two hours of being plugged in.
Conclusion
The original Pwnage Ultra Symm was promising but it fell shorts in several areas. The Pwnage Ultra Symm 2 improves upon the formula with better clicks, improved build quality and most importantly an upgraded sensor and better wireless latency. This results in a great all around wireless mouse at a reasonable preicepoint. If you like the Zowie S2 shape but have been looking for something wireless with a better feature set, you won’t be disappointed by the Pwnage Symm 2.
Pros
- Reliable shape for multiple grip styles
- Responsive sensor and great battery life
- Great feeling main clicks
Cons
- Slight back-heavy weighting
- Side clicks on the dull side
Bottom Line
If you want the S2 shape but in a mouse that is wireless and lighter, the Pwnage Ultra Symm 2 is the way to go
Rating
9/10
Where to Buy the Pwnage Ultra Symm 2
Try this mouse if you like these shapes
Zowie S2, Endgame XM1, G-Wolves Hati-S, Vaxee NP-01S