LAS VEGAS, NV -- At CES 2018, Corsair announced its first wirelessly charged mouse, the Dark Core RGB SE, and wireless charging mouse pad, the MM1000 Qi.
We first heard of Corsair’s wireless charging efforts at Computex 2017, when it was still a work in progress. Starting with the mouse, the Dark Core RGB SE (opens in new tab) is an all-new design from Corsair. It’s a right-handed design with an interchangeable, magnetically attached grip plate on its pinky side. Its real selling point is of course its built-in Qi charging module, which wirelessly recharges the mouse’s 24 hours of battery life. The mouse uses low-latency 2.4GHz Bluetooth and boasts a 16,000-DPI optical unit for a sensor. Its nine buttons and three-zone RGB lighting are programmed through Corsair’s unified driver, CUE, but the mouse has its own memory to store the settings.
What’s a wirelessly charged mouse without a wireless charging mousepad? The MM1000 Qi (opens in new tab) is Corsair’s new Qi-equipped mouse pad. Marked in at the top-right corner of this 350 x 260 mm hard mat is a spot where you can park your Dark Core SE for charging. With Qi, you don’t get the ability to charge while the mouse is moving, but you do get the benefit of being able to charge any Qi-compatible device, such as a smartphone. The MM1000 Qi even comes with a Qi charging dongle, complete with adapters, in case your smartphone doesn’t have it built-in. If you have more devices to charge, or just for convenience’s sake, the pad also has a USB 3.0 pass-through.
Rather confusingly, there is a non-SE version of the Dark Core RGB that doesn’t have wireless charging but is still wireless. Both mice can also run in wired mode with an included cable. The two versions of the Dark Core RGB and the MM1000 Qi will be available starting this month at $80 (Dark Core RGB), $90 (Dark Core RGB SE), and $80 (MM1000 Qi).
| Product | Dark Core RGB | Dark Core RGB SE |
|---|---|---|
| Sensor | PMW3367 (Optical) | PMW3367 (Optical) |
| Resolution | Up to 16,000 DPI | Up to 16,000 DPI |
| Ambidextrous | No (right-handed only) | No (right-handed only) |
| Switches | Omron (main mouse buttons only) | Omron (main mouse buttons only) |
| Polling Rate | 1,000Hz | 1,000Hz |
| Lighting | 3-zone RGB 16.8M colors | 3-zone RGB 16.8M colors |
| Buttons | 9 | 9 |
| Software | Corsair CUE | Corsair CUE |
| Cable | WirelessUSB | WirelessUSB |
| Dimensions (H x W x D) | 126.8 x 89.2 x 43.2mm | 126.8 x 89.2 x 43.2mm |
| Weight | 128g | 128g |
| Price | $80 | $90 |