CM Storm Devastator Review – Gaming Keyboard and Mouse Combo

Getting two things to review in the same package feels a little overwhelming, yet exciting at the same time. I get to ask myself so many questions that I normally wouldn’t, such as: “How do these two devices work together?” or “Do they manage to pull off a similar style, making them feel like an item bundle” and even “What does this mean for consumers, is it more worth it than buying a keyboard and mouse separately?” All these questions I will answer, analyzing both the products included in the Cooler Master Devastator bundle separately and as a package.

The Devastator combo by Cooler Master features both a keyboard and a mouse in one convenient package. Cooler Master just released a red edition, which features a red backlight, but for this review I’m using the blue edition. Both versions seem to be exactly the same however, so it’s up to your preference whether you prefer having blue or red backlight.

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

When you take a look at the Devastator’s box you can clearly see an image of the keyboard and mouse side by side, instantly advertising the fact that it’s a gaming bundle. Opening the box you’ll have the CMStorm Keyboard on the left side and the CMStorm mouse fitted nicely on the right. Also included in the box is a tiny instruction booklet

Overall, you won’t be getting many fancy accessories, no stickers or carrying cases. However, you are getting both a keyboard and a mouse, so there’s not much room for complaint.

APPEARANCE, DESIGN AND FEATURES

MOUSE
The mouse is made of a lightweight yet hard plastic material, which while giving it a lightweight feel also would make me somewhat suspicious of it’s build quality and durability. Thankfully, the frame itself seems to be pretty sturdy, and with the mouse not having too many moving parts, there isn’t much that could quickly fail. I know it’s not the case, but the way it’s designed makes it seem as if it’s all just one piece, especially since the mouse buttons aren’t separated from the mouse body, making the whole top portion of the Devastator mouse both feel and seem minimalistic and sturdy. Whenever the mouse is plugged into your computer, the lines running down the center of the mouse light up into a cool neon blue, which makes it feel futuristic. I personally really like how Cooler Master made the mouse glow (which seems to be a requirement for gaming mice nowadays, not that I’m complaining), and feel that it adds another whole level of visual appreciation to the already well designed mouse. However, this can’t be toggled on or off, so if you don’t like the lighting, or have a reason to want it off, you’re out of luck.

The CM Devastator mouse has a total of six buttons, four of which can be used for whatever you would want them set to. The additional button, which as far as I’m concerned isn’t reprogrammable, is a DPI switch that changes the mouse’s DPI between 1000, 1600, and 2000. Having the DPI switch on the mouse instead of having to change it through software makes it easy to just plug in the mouse and start using it without any setup. Additionally, having it in such  quick and easy to reach locations means that if you ever need to change something while in game, you wouldn’t have to exit the program to do so. An example of this would be in a first person shooter, someone might want to have the DPI set to 1600 on average, but would prefer it set to a lower setting when aiming down the sights or sniping, to improve accuracy. With the DPI switch, it’d be easy to toggle between the three settings, making it easy to adapt to specific situations on the fly.

The other five buttons are the standard left, right, middle, and then you have two additional buttons located on the left side, directly beneath the left mouse button. With gaming mice five buttons seems to be the industry standard, allowing gamers a good deal of flexibility while not cluttering the mouse, overwhelming users or simply feeling pointless and unnecessary. I also really liked the scroll wheel on the mouse, finding it extremely comfortable, wide enough for your finger to rest on comfortably, the right amount of grip, and really smooth in its rolling. Obviously, this is something that boils down to personal preference, since you might prefer scroll wheels to be a bit more “rigid” in their movements.