Iogear MMomentum Pro Review: Just Missing the MMO Mark

MMO mice call for careful design. The best gaming mouse for MMO players is one with a great and generous programmable button layout. Those buttons should be easy to reach, easy to program and feel comfortable after long hours of use.

The Kaliber Gaming by Iogear MMomentum Pro mouse is an inexpensive MMO mouse that’s supposed to be made for open world competitive gameplay, but it fails to tick off some of the right boxes. Still, considering the featureset this is a decent value at $60 while being a good fit for other types of titles.  

Iogear MMomentum Pro Specs  

Design and Comfort of Iogear MMomentum

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This mouse  will make for great eye candy on any desk. When I first opened the package, I thought the rat looked beautiful. With its wider top, its profile stands out compared to other gaming mice. The buttons all have ridges and are a slightly different texture from the rest of the mouse, which is complemented with a nice glossy finish that plays well with the mouse’s RGB. The RGB pops on this mouse, with options to light up the scroll wheel, the logo under your palm and, more visibly, around the base.  

Speaking of RGB, the LEDs here are very pretty and allow for the overall experience with the MMomentum Pro to feel much more customized. It was easy enough to use the software to make the MMomentum Pro match my setup. I love having a design that is sleek and simple with a pop of color, so that my area isn't all just a black space.

The mouse’s build is where things fell short for me. Iogear’s MMO mouse is 4.88 x 3.15 x 1.65 inches. For comparison, the Razer Naga Trinity MMO mouse is 4.69 x 2.91 x 1.69 inches, and the Logitech G604 Lightspeed is 5.12 x 3.15 x 1.77 inches. So although I found the mouse to be a little wide, its dimensions are within decent range of competitors. The comfort issues are exacerbated, however, by the layout of the bank of four macro buttons. 

The MMomentum Pro’s shape made it hard for my small hands to reach the awkwardly placed four buttons. My thumb had to try really hard and got very tired very quickly when trying to access the side buttons. The four side buttons are flush with the desk, proving to be faulty design for me.

Ignoring the macro bank though, the mouse was accommodating to my palm and claw grips. It let me focus on the game rather than the mouse. However, this doesn’t seem to be a mouse that’s accessible for people with chronic pain. As someone with lupus and fibromyalgia, holding my hand the way the MMomentum Pro requires became very painful after a brief amount of time.

Gaming Performance of Iogear MMomentum

The MMomentum Pro’s sensor specs help it compete with other gaming mice. Its PixArt PMW-3389 can handle sensitivity settings of up to 16,000 counts per inch (CPI), which is more than most mainstream gamers need, a max velocity of 400 inches per second (IPS) and up to 50 grams of acceleration.

But when I fired up some MMO titles, including Final Fantasy XIV, Destiny 2 and a little World of Warcraft, the Iogear mouse didn’t meet my needs. All of the side buttons are a little too close to the bottom of the mouse. I have skinny fingers and still felt like I had to push my thumb into my desk when trying to use the side buttons. I had to bend my thumb backward to hit the number 4 button, meaning I was basically unable to use it. If you have a relevant disability or hand strength issues, using the mouse’s full set of buttons is incredibly difficult.

Out-of-the-box button programming was funky. Although there are buttons south of the scroll wheel for turning CPI up or down, the side button labeled 1 is a sniper button that lowers your CPI to 100 when held. Button number 2 types the number “1,” number 3 types “2” and number 4 types “3.” Finally, the button next to the left click is set to triple-click. (You also get two traditional side buttons set to go forward and back, as well as a programmable scroll wheel in.) 

Obviously, you can use the software to make everything what you want, but this strange setup prevented me from just plugging in the mouse and gaming and the option of circumnavigating software altogether. Those new to MMO mice may be left very confused.

On top of this, you only get 4 macro buttons, but in an MMO game you’ll generally want more slots than that. The Logitech G604 Lightspeed’s bank has six buttons, and Razer’s Naga Trinity has a bank with up to 12 buttons.

Betters news comes in the form of the wheel, which has a great tactile feel for scrolling without being too bumpy. Your preference may differ, but I enjoyed this aspect of the MMomentum Pro; I find mice with bumpy scroll wheels feel clunky and more like a productivity tool than a gaming controller. This is just my personal preference though. The rubber scroll wheel also did a good job of fighting off sweat, holding up well during my gameplay and work.

Generally speaking, the mouse actually did work pretty well with games outside the genre for which it was created. The sensor is as premium as most of today’s gaming mice. No matter the CPI settings I used, tracking was reliable and kept up with me. In Destiny 2, I was able to quickly and accurately hit all of my shots. The sensor for this mouse worked perfectly fine across all styles of game but specifically stood out in FPS gameplay. Plus, the sniper button comes in handy with FPS games too.

The pointer’s three CPI adjustment buttons work in conjunction with the RGB so you know which of the 5 programmed settings you’re using. The buttons are perfectly placed so I never accidently hit them and, yet, they are super easy to reach.

Features and Software of Iogear MMomentum

Iogear packed the MMomentum Pro with enough onboard memory for making 5 profiles (128KB). The free software allows for everything from RGB (one setting for the scroll wheel, logo and base) to basic keybinding, macro options, polling rate and CPI adjustments.

Five profiles mean it’s easy to adjust from 5 preset CPI levels, which is great for those that utilize these settings, especially in first-person shooters.

Bottom Line

The Iogear MMomentum Pro does some things right. It looks good and is accommodating to various gamer grips. The mouse also boasts pleasant splashes of RGB, as well as a premium-grade sensor that worked across PC titles.

But ultimately, I’m not sure why this is called an MMO mouse. When I used it to play Final Fantasy XIV, I didn’t feel like I got an advantage as you might gain from other MMO mice. Having four macro buttons didn’t really help with my 12-plus item hotbar. And the macro bank I did have was hard, if not painful, to leverage.

For alternatives with more accessible and generous side buttons, the Razer Naga Trinity and Logitech G604 Lightspeed for only about $10-$15 more than our review subject.

The MMomentum Pro’s price is good, especially considering the feature set and performance, but Iogear is missing the mark when it markets this toward MMO gameplay. Still, with its great sensor and well-placed sniper button and additional CPI controls, the MMomentum Pro would fare well with FPS and other games. I see it being more useful in titles like Fortnite, Borderlands or even League of Legends.