HyperX Pulsefire Haste Review

HyperX Pulsefire Haste specs

Alternatives

If you want a better-feeling scroll wheel: The Glorious Model D has a much better-feeling, more tactile scroll wheel. You’ll pay for the better scroll wheel with a slightly higher weight and price.

If you want better latency performance: The Logitech G203 Lightsync and the Logitech G305 both have better click latency performance and are competitively priced.

If you want a wireless gaming mouse: The HyperX Pulsefire Haste Wireless uses the same design language and has similar performance but is wireless.

Performance

Weight

One of the primary selling points of the HyperX Pulsefire Haste is its incredibly low weight of 59 grams, putting it among the best FPS gaming mice. Dropping below 60 grams puts this gaming mouse in ultralight territory where many other higher-priced and similar-weight models reside.

For example, the Razer Viper V2 Pro costs upwards of $100 and weighs the same, as does the Pulsar Xlite V2, which is typically double the HyperX’s price.

Some lightweight gaming mice weigh less than 50 grams, but several sacrifice build quality to make weight, like the Cooler Master MM720. The HyperX Pulsefire Haste has good build quality and reduces weight through an open-structure, honeycomb design.

Sensor

The HyperX Pulsefire Haste has a higher DPI sensor than the best budget gaming mice. The PixArt PAW3335 sensor maxes out at 16,000 DPI and can be adjusted from a minimum of 200 in 100 increments.

Some other budget gaming mice have lower DPI sensors that also don’t perform as well. Notably, the ever-popular Razer Viper Mini has a max DPI of 8,500. The Razer model also can’t track as accurately for quick mouse flicks – it tracks at up to 300 inches per second, whereas the HyperX Pulsefire Haste tracks at up to 450 inches per second, on par with much pricier models.

This exceptional performance partly explains why the HyperX Pulsefire Haste is such a great gaming mouse, especially since it beats out many higher-priced competitors.

Polling rate

You can max out the HyperX Pulsefire Haste’s polling rate by adjusting it up to 1000 Hz. We see no reason to select the other lower polling rates offered. This gaming mouse is faster when reporting actions back to your computer 1,000 times per second versus less frequently.

This gaming mouse is also wired, so there’s no concern about a higher reporting rate affecting battery life.

While a 1000 Hz polling rate is competitive among the best gaming mice, it’s not the highest offered. The aptly-named Razer Viper 8K Hz maxes out at an 8000 Hz polling rate, partly explaining why it has much lower click latency.

Button performance and sound

The HyperX Pulsefire Haste’s L/R switches feel crisp compared to budget gaming mice suffering from mushy switches and little tactile feedback. The TTC Golden Dustproof mechanical switches in this mouse also have excellent durability with a rating of 60 million clicks.

The two side buttons are audibly the same and have a similar tactile feel as the L/R switches.

But the scroll wheel click does leave some room for improvement. The travel feels too short, which gave us little confidence the scroll wheel had been actuated when clicking. The scroll wheel click feel is one of the downsides of the HyperX Pulsefire Haste, though many gamers will be able to overlook this minor fault.

Gliding

One advantage of lightweight gaming mice is that they glide smoothly and effortlessly across a mousepad, as does the HyperX Pulsefire Haste. We recommend using this gaming mouse with a mouse bungee since it is a wired gaming mouse, and the cable occasionally affects the gliding performance.

Four total virgin-grade PTFE are on the underside, two small feet on the back, and two small feet towards the front. No feet surround the sensor, like some other models. But you do get four replacement feet in the box, something that can’t be said for many high-end gaming mice.

Design

Buttons

There are six total buttons on the HyperX Pulsefire Haste, the standard L/R buttons, two glossy buttons on the side, the clickable scroll wheel, and a tic-tac-shaped button behind the scroll wheel defaults to cycling through DPI profiles, but are remappable.

Six buttons are a standard layout for performance-oriented gaming mice. There’s no need for many buttons and programmable layers when the primary goal is cutting weight to improve performance in fast-paced games, such as FPS titles, where demon movement and micro-adjustments for aiming are critical.

One design cue that leaves room for improvement is the size of the two side buttons. The side buttons are well-placed for most hand sizes but are too narrow, which can result in missing the buttons with your thumb. The side button size becomes less of an issue once you’ve used the gaming mouse for some time and have built up your muscle memory.

Scroll wheel

The HyperX Pulsefire Haste’s scroll wheel feel is our primary gripe. While the rubberized ridges surround the scroll wheel and add grip for precise scrolling, the click travel is too little. It can be challenging to tell if you’ve actuated a scroll wheel click, mainly since the click is not tactile. The Razer Viper Mini or the Glorious Model D are better options for outstanding performance and a better scroll wheel.

There is no free scroll or L/R tilt functionality, as is common with competing gaming mice.

Shape

The HyperX Pulsefire Haste uses a common design language with its symmetrical shape, though it doesn’t have side buttons on the right and can’t be used left-handed, like the Logitech G Pro Wireless.

The hump is ever-so-slightly biased behind the mouse’s center, providing good support where you need it if you use a palm grip. The width is noticeably narrower than many symmetrical mice, and there are slight inward recesses on both sides for added holding power.

Hand size and grip style

It’s rare for gaming mice brands to sell loads of units without going after the biggest market, which is people with medium to large-size hands, which is what the HyperX Pulsefire Haste is designed for.

You may find that the L/R buttons are too short and don’t hit the sweet spot if you have overly small hands. You may also find that the narrow width makes it hard to grip and control precisely if you have extra large hands.

The HyperX Pulsefire Haste is more versatile when it comes to fitting different grips. We noted before that the back-biased hump provides good palm support for palm grips. The hump is also not so high that it hits your palm when using a fingertip grip. Claw grips can best precisely control the HyperX Pulsefire Haste when adding the included grip tape, which compliments the gripability of the slight side recesses.

Customization and software

RGB

One RGB lighting zone on the scroll wheel can be customized in NGENUITY. Little RGB is expected for high-performing gaming mice that tend to ditch RGB in favor of reducing weight.

Profiles

The HyperX Pulsefire Haste has onboard memory, which allows you to save your mouse configuration in NGENUITY on one computer and use the mouse on the go on other machines. That said, there is only one onboard profile, which is comparatively low knowing that some competing gaming mice, like the Logitech G203 Lightsync, can carry up to five custom profiles onboard.

With Gamelink, you can also configure custom profiles and automatically switch to that profile when opening specific games.

NGENUITY software

HyperX’s NGENUITY software does all the essentials most gamers will care about. Still, it is less robust than you’d get when using Synapse with a Razer gaming mouse or G-Hub with a Logitech gaming mouse. The biggest downside is that there are no layers where a button can be assigned a shift-like functionality to unlock more programmable actions.

Inside NGENUITY, you can adjust the following settings for the HyperX Pulsefire Haste.

• Remap the mouse buttons, including to assign custom macros
• Adjust the DPI presets in increments of 100 from 200 to 16,000
• Adjust the polling rate from a list including 125, 250, 500, and 1000 Hz presets
• Customize the RGB with basic effects and colors
• Configure custom presets in Gamelink, so the configuration automatically switches to your custom profile when opening specific games

In the box

• HyperX Pulsefire Haste with cable (1.9m)
• Grip tape
• Replacement PTFE feet
• Product card
• Operating manual