Before beginning to read this review article, my teammates and I from Tech Critter would like wish all of our dear readers, a very Merry Christmas! and a Happy New Year 2014!
After an enjoyable experience with the Apollo Optical Extension, I now move on to the Hades Extension Optical Gaming Mouse, there is also a laser version to the Hades but that's another story for another day.
This is also a product from Gamdias (Thank you Gamdias Malaysia) and as with Apollo, the name Hades also belongs to the Greek God of Death and Riches a.k.a the King of Underworld in Greek mythologies. At RM179 SRP, I'm not too sure about being the king of the underworld but it is rich in features so to speak, rest assured that nothing involves death in my reviews.
Specs
Once again, here are the specs of the mouse from the Gamdias Official Website, check the link for more info.
| Weight System | N/A |
| Cable Length | 2M |
| Keys | 7+1 Keys |
| Resolution | up to 3200 DPI |
| Polling Rate | 125 / 250 / 500 /1000 Hz |
| Onboard Memory | 64KB |
| Dimension(LxWxH) | 124.5 x 81.3 x 40 mm(max width) |
| Tracking Method | Advanced Gaming Optical Sensor |
| Switch Lifecycle | 10 Million |
| Graphical UI | Yes (GAMDIAS HERA) |
Unboxing
The front have an hourglass window for people to peek at the mouse, with several illustrations of the logo, branding, naming and some of the features highlighted at the bottom. The box also have the same translucent etched logo all over the surface, which is nice as it adds to the aesthetics value of the box.
The back follows through with the design at the front and you'll find a list of the Hades features, most of it are the usual things you would have in a typical gaming oriented device such as on-board memory, high DPI level etc; But I'm intrigued to fiddle with the interchangeable wings on the side, which is the main feature the Hades have to offer.
Opening the front flap, the Hades itself is encased in a plastic shell which enable users to somewhat test out the shape before purchasing. On the opposite side is an illustration of Hades (Gamdias version) and a note about the benefits of Hera, the software driver.
Popping out the contents, you will find the mouse, two extra pairs of side wings, an installation guide booklet and product stickers.
The design of the Hades have a simplistic ambidextrous design and have the medium sized wings pre-attached. Except for the glossy strip at the centre, the Hades is coated in rubber which adds to the "grippyness" of the mouse.
The mouse is symmetrical in every way, except for the Hades logo on the left clicker, featuring 8 buttons in total with a braided 2-metre cable.
At the back, we find the Gamdias logo that will surely glows in gold when plugged in.
The following images are what the Hades will look like with the different sized wings attached.
As you can see, the different wings changes the grip and feel of the Hades from slim to wide, hence allowing users to adjust the Hades to their liking. Detaching and attaching the side panels are easily done with the deployment of magnets as depicted below. I find that I'm most comfortable with the smallest wing on the left and the medium wing on the right which makes it more to a right-handed mouse than an ambidextrous mouse. Just bear in mind that attaching the smallest wing will give you a matte surface instead of a rubber coated one.
The underside of the Hades is where the optical sensor lays. 4 thin pieces of polytetrafluoroethelene serves as gliders for the Hades, would probably like to see a wider design in my opinion but gliding on my SS QCK is so far effortless.
Driver Software
I've gotta give credit to the R&D team in Gamdias as any of their product shares the same Hera driver software, although that doesn't mean that everything will be the same as in my previous review of the Apollo Optical Extension, as the Hades is a different product so I'll be looking at the differences in the software as it is essentially the same software used in the Gamdias Apollo review.
Same tab, different theme. It looks like the developers went the extra mile to customize the backdrop for every different peripherals. We get 6 select-able profiles for the Hades, so that means 6 possible settings for every of it's eight buttons.
No changes in the Macro management.
Mouse control is pretty much the same as well, except that the Hades have a physical dedicated DPI button set to cycle between the customisable DPI levels. You could still set the buttons to have DPI up/down should you prefer it that way.
Multicolour LED in the scroll wheel, much the same as the Apollo.
I do believe that the Assign Sound & Timer, Sound File Edit, Timer Setting, Muscle Memory and Update/Support tabs are standard across all Gamdias devices, head to the Apollo Review to get the full insight of each and every tabs of the Hera Driver Software.
Usage & Testing
Since the shape and size of the Hades is adjustable, I managed to get a good comfortable palm grip. The mouse feels solid even though the side wings are removable. Buttons are no doubt responsive but the thumb does have to reach upwards a bit to actuate the side navigation buttons, being right handed accessing the side buttons at the right (Note: the Hades is an ambidextrous mouse) is a challenge to me. Tracking is good, I detect no dragging and pointer drift throughout the usage of the Hades and lift distance is not an issue as well.
Saying that he Hades is accurate is an understatement. With all the buttons being macro-able, I could get one of the side button to work in precision aim, very useful when sniping in FPS games. Having more buttons also means that I could assign one just to cycle between profiles. Since the Hades is a bigger mouse than the Apollo that I tested before this, I find that I could game longer without feeling tired as I could palm the Hades comfortably.
Conclusion
It's hard to find any faults with the Gamdias Hades as it is a complete all-rounder. Being both ambidextrous and adjustable in width it could easily accommodate more type of users even claw grippers may still be able to use the Hades without much trouble as well. I also have to admit that the RM179 (SRP) makes the Hades a really great value for your money. If it's missing anything at all, I'd say maybe the weight adjustment would be a good feature to have, although I like to have my mouse as light as possible so it didn't bother me as much.
The software team also did a great job, even customising the background to the Hades theme when it's plugged in. Now all they need to do is to fix the Profile Match and Profile Hotkey feature in the next update.
Pros
- Adjustable size with swappable wings
- Fully macroable buttons
- Customisable DPI adjustments
- Good driver software
Cons
- Profile doesn't automatically switch back
The Gamdias Hades receives the Tech Critter Gold Award and Recommended Award for it's outstanding flexibility and features (and it would make a great Christmas present too!)
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