Introduction

Sandberg Blast Mouse is one of the first products in the new EsportsEquipment series from Sandberg.The series features superlative gaming products at affordable prices.Of course, it comes with awesome software, offers Macros and profiles, full RGB color options for the front facing LED, a unique shape, style, and layout.



The provided chart is not very thorough,but it affords all of the basic information a knowledgeable buyer would want to know about the product prior to purchasing it.




Packaging & Contents


With the Blast at the bottom, and the logo and Sandberg name at the top in bright white on black cardboard, this package is hard to miss.



Here we get to see the right side of the Blast.



At the rear there's a piece of paper inside the box which has a few words about the product in 24 languages placed right above the specifications and bundle contents lists.



A thick clear plastic affords a great view of the Blast contained within it.



The accessories include only a cd with the drivers.




A Closer Look

Normally, when reviewing a mouse, one of the make-or-break factors is feel. Does the mouse fit nicely in the hand? Does it get tiring to use after several hours? Are all the buttons easily accessible? It's an incredibly important consideration, but it's also one that's hard to be objective about. After all, everyone's hand is a different shape and size, and there are several different ways to hold a mouse. One person's dream mouse could be another person's last pick.The new Blast looks like a Transformer in the middle of its transformation process.



The sharp slanting lines and loud colors offer the aggressive aesthetic that many gamers expect from high-end peripherals. But my favorite aspect of the mouse, has to be the air gap design. Pieces float and weave underneath one another looking as though their suspended in thin air.The futuristic design isn't just about looking pretty though.



On either side, the button angles down from the center, but also offers a final upward angle to keep you on top without sliding off the sides.



The attachments are screwed with Allen wrench.Here we can see much more of the interior frame, as the right side of the top has quite a gap from the heel of this mouse.



The Blast has a 3500 DPI (Avago 3050) laser sensor.The sensitivity can be adjusted on the fly,using the big red button located behind the wheel.



The DPI button allows you to switch between three DPI levels.



LEDs in the mouse indicate which stage you're currently at. The stages can be set individually via the Blast's software.



The left-side panel,contains three of the mouse buttons.



At the back we find the large palm rest with the Sandberg logo on it, already on the mouse.It is currently in its lowest presentation, but that is what the silver screw at the back is for.



The base of the mouse is a solid steel chassis, which makes the mouse feel incredibly solid, and lends it a not-inconsiderable amount of weight.



Connection of the Blast to your PC is done via a cloth braided cable.There is a gold plated USB 2.0 connection at the end of the 2 meters of cable.




Software & Performance

Plugging the mouse directly into the PC's USB ports, the mouse installed normally, without the need for software. However, as ever, if you want to get the best out of these modern, programmable mice, you do need to install the software.The left side has an image of the mouse, with all of the optional things that can be moved around, or even used for Macros and other advanced features to make this mouse work for you, and not the other way around, as the dropdown box shows. This is also where you address the polling rate, and have the option to reset the settings to default.You have access to four settings of DPI levels to correspond to the lights found on the top of the Blast. The DPI can be adjusted independently if desired.



In the advanced controls section, you can address the pointer speed, scroll speed, double-click speed, and there is also an option for universal scrolling, to enable scroll wheel control in applications that do not have native support.Sandberg?s driver is clearly laid out and generally easy to use, and offers all the usual game profile and macro programming bits you?d expect. It?s all round a pretty good job.



The Sandberg Blast has the ability to change polling rates per the three profiles to 125, 250, 500, and 1000Hz.The maximum polling rate of 1000Hz was used for all tests. According to two separate polling tools, Direct Input Mouse Rate (for DirectX) and Mouse Rate Checker, the Sandberg Blast exceeded the peak advertised polling rate. As for gaming itself, the Sandberg Blast shines!The precise scroll wheel rotation prevented over-correction when selecting weapons in Wolfenstein (this has occasionally been an issue with other gaming mice). All the buttons on the mouse are extra-clicky and responsive.The two main buttons are both extremely precise and crisp.Over all a fantastic gaming mouse that is highly precise and comfortable.




Final Thoughts

The days of realistically being able to tell the difference between one ultra-high-spec laser mouse and another, in any meaningful way, have pretty much gone, so it was no surprise that the Blast performed exceptionally, leaving me entirely confident in its technical abilities.The Sandberg Blast is a very good gaming mouse that?s built well, has excellent performance and comes well equipped. In this regard it can go toe to toe with just about any other out there.No matter how fast I moved, the laser tracked perfectly and worked on all the usual surfaces, with only the classic problem surfaces such as glass proving difficult. All the buttons, too, were fast and responsive, layout quirks notwithstanding.Once the software is in play, the sky is really the limit here. Yes, it does remind mea lot of the capabilities of other offerings, but things are definitely done in a Sandberg style.Any way you look at it, no matter the game chosen, or the job you have to accomplish, this Blast is more than ready to take on the task. If you find some task to be too tedious, start a profile, write some Macros, and assign them to any of the eight buttons, and enjoy the feature set provided from Sandberg.



I honestly enjoyed my time testing the Sandberg Blast gaming mouse, and i do feel they certainly priced it correctly for what you do get with this design. Around $60 is a good price point to come out at, as this mouse is definitely unique in its abilities to conform to more hands than any other solution out there.Plus, it is much cheaper than most other solutions with these components, which usually draw closer to $100. So, with all things considered,I find this to be better than average.So, what we I left with is an outstanding introduction to Sandberg EsportsEquipment series and their gaming mice.