Cherry MW 4500 mouse review: Keeping wrist pain at bay

Cherry MW 4500 mouse review

Working long hours at a desk-bound in front end of a PC usually means you're also in constant contact with a mouse and keyboard. Whereas the former device seems to pose less of a trouble on our joints, a mouse can wreak havoc on wrists and forearms; I tin can adjure. To combat hurting, in that location are some funky ergonomic mouse designs, including trackball (which I primarily use) and angled options.

Carmine's MW 4500 is in the angled army camp, retaining a standard laser on the lesser just designed so your hand grips it at a more natural angle. Compared to some ergonomic mice it'due south on the cheap side — you tin usually find it for about $xx — but is information technology worth even that much? Does it assist with wrist pain? Let's take a await in this review.

Budget ergonomic mouse

Cherry-red MW 4500

Starts at about $20

Bottom line: Information technology's an optical mouse that should help alleviate some wrist pain, but it doesn't really have anything that sets information technology autonomously from alternatives.

Pros

Three DPI settings
Long battery life
Buttons have satisfying click
Ergonomic 45-caste design

Cons

Lacking grip
Right-hand just
Can't configure extra buttons

What yous'll beloved almost the Cherry MW 4500

The mouse comes in a small-scale cardboard box with a strip of bubble wrap, which just about anyone who hates bulky plastic packaging can capeesh. Taking it out, you're confronted with the 45-degree design, which tilts the correct, left, and scroll inputs sideways. Placing your paw around the mouse, your forearm, wrist, and manus sit down on their side, more than like you lot're reaching out to milk shake someone'due south hand rather than placing your mitt palm-down on your desk. In that location'due south noticeably less torque on your joints immediately, though yous're yet pivoting your wrist. It as well weighs virtually a one-half-pound, which is simply near right when it comes to a residue between too heavy for comfort and too light for precision.

You can adjust how much you have to motility the mouse with a DPI toggle just behind the scroll wheel. The everyman information technology goes is 600, with 900 and 1,200 every bit the other options. The placement of the push button seems alright, and I didn't accidentally striking it while using the mouse.

The right- and left-click buttons are separated with a scroll wheel between, and each input feels sturdy. The buttons take a solid click to them but don't have likewise much pressure to printing, while the wheel moves smoothly with incremental turns you tin feel equally yous scroll. There are likewise two buttons for your thumb that are easy to attain simply don't go far the way when not in employ.

Category	Spec
Buttons	Left, right, scroll, DPI, ii side
Resolution	600, 900, ane,200 DPI
Connection	ii.iv GHz dongle
Range	About 33 anxiety (10 meters)
Bombardment	Two AAA (well-nigh six months)
Dimensions	4.17 inches x 2.67 inches x 1.53 inches (106 mm x 68 mm x 39 mm)
Weight	0.49 pounds (220 thou)

The Carmine MW 4500 uses a 2.4 GHz dongle to connect to your PC, completely ignoring Bluetooth. I don't heed — there's a slot next to the battery compartment where you lot can shop the miniature dongle when on the become — but lack of Bluetooth might be a dealbreaker, especially if you have a device without a USB-A port.

Cherry claims yous go about six months of life from the 2 AAA batteries, and while I've nevertheless to hit that bespeak, there are some features that assistance conserve battery life. A switch on the lesser of the mouse lets you lot turn it completely off when not in use, and it will also go into battery-saving mode after y'all leave it be for 10 seconds.

Equally far as accuracy and usage scenarios, I used the Reddish MW 4500 for nearly every task for near a week. Standard web browsing and other productivity tasks it handles easily, and I even used it for photo editing. I had no problems with precision with my standard gaming mousepad, merely know that this mouse will not work on reflective or glass surfaces. Information technology does take some time to get used to, and I had to driblet information technology while gaming for a more than standard mouse, but overall I didn't detect whatsoever wrist hurting creeping back in like I unremarkably practise when going from my usual trackball to a standard mouse.

What you lot'll hate virtually the Cherry MW 4500

The Cherry MW 4500 has a slick plastic body that doesn't have any grip or texture, and you might find it kind of slippery. I wasn't peculiarly concerned with information technology and didn't observe information technology that much, especially because of how your hand sort of wraps around the body for a secure concur.

On that note, I retrieve my (likely larger-than-average) hand is a bit likewise big for the mouse. It wasn't uncomfortable, but my fingers hang off the front buttons and I have to sort of readjust if I'1000 making precision movements. This is also a right-handed mouse only, with no left-handed option available. Deplorable, lefties.

Finally, while yous can bind the extra thumb buttons in games or apps that permit it, the MW 4500 doesn't have any software available for refinements and customization. That's not exactly surprising since the mouse costs most $20, simply it's something to keep in mind. If yous're worried about keeping tabs on battery life, a built-in LED almost your pollex residual will let yous know when they're nearing death.

Cherry MW 4500 bottom line

For about $20 (yous can besides grab the mouse from Amazon.de for nigh €25), the Cherry MW 4500 is certainly not a bad wireless option. When switching from my trackball mouse to a standard mouse — I still game a lot — I can usually feel wrist and forearm pain coming back, but non here. The 45-degree angle reduces stress, and I was able to use to for everyday purposes 24-hour interval in and 24-hour interval out.

Unfortunately, there's no Bluetooth option, so anyone without a USB-A port on their device for the dongle will desire to look elsewhere, and lefties are out of luck. At that place are as well plenty of cheaper options that will do the same thing quite well, and trackball mice are still readily available if y'all desire to completely eliminate wrist movements.

Who should buy this mouse?

Results volition certainly vary, merely if yous experience wrist and forearm hurting, yous should brand a change sooner than afterward. The Cherry MW 4500'south design should assistance alleviate that pain — it worked in my case — but it doesn't exactly accept any other defining features that set it apart from the competition.

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