Attack Shark X1 Review : way better than the reputation would make it look
Very very quick on why I actually got to own this mouse : *I was already looking at \*maybe\* get a new mouse after my Pulsar X2 (which I have been using for 3 years) started having battery issues and Pulsar basically told me to shove it. Mouse still works fine, but battery lasts barely 3 days now, when it used to be over a week. It's also a bit bloated (not about to explode though). The lack of BT support (which is practical when I travel with my laptop) was also kind of a pain, as well as the lack of dongle storage.*
*A bit more than a month ago, I bought an Attack Shark X11SE (kind of on accident, but since I was looking for a mouse I decided to keep it for testing) and while the mouse is great overall, I have a few qualms with it : the first is the triggers post travel, which is annoying even though you get used to it, second is the fact that it uses a budget sensor (it's fine 99% of the time but I had a few sensor spin outs or sensor skips when playing high intensity Overwatch and it can be annoying) and third I guess is the size. It's a Viper V3 clone, but it ends up being considerably larger than what I'm used to (Pulsar X2 / SS Aerox 3), but I like the trigger shape, and the flaring at the back.*
*In short, I was looking for a Viper Mini clone with better specs than what the X11SE has (3311 sensor), BT + dongle storage and a similar weight class as the X11SE (58g) and my Pulsar X2 (56g).*
*My searches led me to the RAWM SH-01 which looks like a truly amazing little mouse, but there were two issues : it's 8kHz polling, which I have absolutely no use for (I play at 800dpi on a 165Hz monitor) which led to the second issue : the price. It's 80ā¬ where I live, and I wasn't ready to spend that much on a new mouse, especially if that was just to test a "hunch" on wether I like the RAzer Viper mini shape or not. So I continued my research, saw some ATK stuff that seemed nice but was even more expensive, and finally ended on the Attack Shark X1, which according to Elo shapes is pretty much just a smaller Viper clone.*
*It had everything I wanted on paper : upgraded sensor (3950 Pro instead of 3311), it has the weight target that I had (it's 53g officially, my copy weighs 55g), it has BT support and dongle storage. It also has the added bonus of a dock, which we'll talk about later. And price wise, it was less than half the RAWM SH-01, coming at 35ā¬. So I ordered it.*
I recieved it a few weeks ago and have been playing almost exclusively with it since. Here are my impressions :
\- no more sensor issues like I saw on the X11SE. They were rare and not that much of a problem, but I'm happy to see them gone.
\- the clicks are wayyy sharper compared to the X11SE, and very light. I like them the most out of all the mice I own I think
\- post travel on the triggers is still as thing. I got used to it by now, but if you want a mouse that's perfect for spam clicking or if you really hate post travel on your mouse period, this is not the mouse for you (and overall, Attack Shark lenses should be avoided, even the R5 Ultra apparently has pretty dreadful post travel too, and that's some of their high end stuff)
\- The dock is nice, but mostly useless. I don't put the mouse on the dock the moment I'm not using it, and yes it can extend the battery life of your mouse if you let it charge for 5 minutes here and there, but I'm not sure of the utility of that thing. Also, the RGB is annoying to be sure. I'm considering maybe ditching it.
\- Skates aren't the best, but they are "fine" after you break them in with a couple days of intense play sessions. They are not scratchy on a cloth pad, they even go fine on my hardpad. It's probably better to switch to dot skates, but they are decent enough that I really can't be bothered at the moment.
\- in typical Attack Shark fashion, the scroll wheel has very light steps, I would probably prefer if they were sharper like they are on my Pulsar X2, but it has at least the benefit of being silent when scrolling. The scroll click is nice too. This also applies to the X11SE.
\- the DPI button being on top of the mouse is a nicer ergonomic placement than being at the bottom like it was on the X11SE.
\- the glossy finish on the side buttons was kind of off-putting at first, but after a few weeks of use, I must say that I do prefer those compared to the textured or matte ones on my other mice. They have a bit more pre-travel than I would like but just like the post travel on the triggers, it's a matter of habit and they really don't bother me at all.
\- weight balance is pretty much exactly in the center of the mouse, this is definitely nice. I was expecting it to be a bit back heavy since the contact pads for the dock are in the back, as well as the battery, but no, they actually bothered to balance it. Nice.
\- coating on my black copy is right in between my Pulsar X2 and my X11SE in terms of coarseness. It's not slippery and I didn't feel the need to use grip tapes at all. In contrast, the X11SE was a bit too coarse, with the side effect of accumulating more gunk than needed. It's a decent surface coating, I'm satisfied with it.
\- The Attack shark software is decently light on ressources, and easy to use. I put my DPI settings, set the mouse I wanted and uninstalled it, everything is stored on board anyway.
**Conclusion :**
I wasn't expecting much, but honestly, I think I have found my new mouse. Not endgame worthy at all (I still have the RAWM SH-01 in the back of my mind...), but it's a good enough sweetspot for me, and I have had a grand total of zero issues with it since I got it.
It's a decent performer, the weight is good, the build quality is decent, the specs are great and the price is very low considering the performance and the amount of features it has. I thought the X11SE was a great deal (and I still think it is), but the X1 is by far the better value here considering it's only about 7ā¬ more.
The one thing they advertize this mouse a lot for is the charging dock (they also do that for the X11 non-SE), but this ended up being the most useless thing in the box, and definitely the most dissapointing one. Only thing I use it for is USB pass through for the USB reciever, but I could very well just use my Pulsar one.
If you have been wanting a Viper Mini shape with modern-ish specs at a good price, well this is the mouse for you I guess.
If you want a faster polling rate, no trigger post-travel, a sharper scroll wheel and no useless dock, then there are probably some better options on the market, albeit at a higher price.
For the amount of talk some of Attack Shark mice get nowadays, I'm kind of surprised no one is mentioning the X1, it's probably one of the best they have across all the models they have. It's much better than both the X11 and X11SE for me. I'm not sure I would even prefer to use the Carbon fiber X11 Ultra instead of this. Probably not.