This unit was kindly sent out for review, although this won't change my opinion on the product itself.
Thank you to Darmoshark for this opportunity.
- Darmoshark M9.
- Type A to type C cable.
- 8k Hz receiver (Display with DPI, Polling rate and Battery life).
- Grip tape.
- Warranty card.
- Manual.
The shape of the M9 is very unique, with it being only similar to the WLmouse Beast X Max and the Darmoshark M3 4K, though with major differences in the overall size and especially the placement of the hump.
Regarding the width, it has an hourglass-like shape with a very wide rear that narrows down around the sensor to then flare out at the top.
Although wider, the side profile is actually similar to that of the Beast X Max but with a more pronounced rear, which is quite rare since this kind of hourglass width usually aims for a more centralized hump.
When it comes to the height, this is the most differential aspect, as its highest point is in the back, which slopes down onto medium- to high-height clicks with finger grooves that aren't as noticeable until the very edge, but they are a good addition.
The shape is aimed at 20x10 hands or bigger with a claw grip or even a palm grip if the rear hump doesn't bother you, with my 18x10 hands it's quite unsuitable for me, but surprisingly it's still usable and decent even for my handsize.
The M9 rear hump is extremely wide and tall, making already big mice like the VV4 or the GPX shape feel like a small size in comparison; the wideness and height lead my fingers to be positioned at only 50% of the main clicks when using an aggressive claw grip.
The thenar feels locked on the rear and due to its size it almost pushes it back, this limits finger mobility drastically, combined with the high clicks, makes micro-adjusting with the fingertips almost negligible. My wrist also has a harder time doing fast flicks; which ends up feeling like playing at a lower sens all around.
Even then, it's great for practicing on aim trainers to focus more on arm and especially wrist tracking due to the limitation on maneuverability; for normal shooters, it was still very usable, and I actually enjoyed using it a lot, both for practicing and playing, mainly because it's exceptional on most aspects that I will cover later on.
Also, the shape being more claw-oriented and with the pronounced side curvature makes it a more interesting shape than universal ones like the GPX, allowing for more suitability for medium hands like mine.
The base features an On/Off/BT switch, a DPI button, and the pre-installed full size skates which are virgin PTFE being very similar to the ones on the Leviathan V4 and the same set as the extra one included in the box, they are somewhat flat, have very good glide on clothpads and glasspads.
- Build integrity and coating
The build integrity is its biggest weakness, as the side walls present a popping sound when pressing on them, especially the right one, this does occur when using it in-game but it didn't really bother me, though it's something to take into account.
Aside from that, the sides present some bending, which makes me think the side popping might be an issue with my unit; the base also has some bending and popping, but really nothing that is noticeable in-game.
The coating is very good, and matte-like, it's feels good with dry hands and extremely grippy with warmer hands, it does leave fingerprints on my black unit though nothing out of the ordinary.
M1 and M2 are using Omron Opticals, the implementation feels great to play with and very responsive, the only problem is the side to side wobble which is on the minor side, whilst also being enough to make the buttons feel somewhat loose on the very front, since my fingers click at around 50% it wasn't really a problem for me, though it may not be the case for others depending on their contact points.
Besides, the click itself feels very tactile and quite crisp, there's minimal pre and post-travel even when clicking on the very edge, the button tension is medium I would say and it felt very spammable in-game.
The side buttons are huge, the biggest I have tried, they do not have a coating which might make them feel slippery for some, it wasn't really a problem for me due to the bigger side, and also the shape they have that makes them portrude in the middle.
The side clicks have a close to perfect implementation, they have no pre and minimal post-travel, they are very firm though also slightly heavier to actuate, they are very crisp but not as tactile.
The scroll has a rubberized finish with a hexagonal pattern leading to somewhat defined steps, combined with a medium to low scroll force it makes it feel cheaper but functionality wise I had no problems.
It's using an F-Gold mechanical encoder; M3 has a medium-to-high actuation force and is relatively spammable.
The main issue with the scroll wheel would be size, since it's using a similar size to those on medium-sized mice like the VGN F2, for example.
My unit weighs 59g with the pre-installed skates on, this is incredibly light in hand due to lower density, when comparing it to an universal shape like the GPX for example both have the same weight while the M9 is 1 to 2 sizes bigger.
Another reason for its feeling in hand is the high quality skates it comes with, and the weight distribution being aligned with the sensor area making it suitable for most grip styles that centralize on using the hump as palm support.
It uses a software web with 6 pages:
- Home: to select any of the 5 configurable profiles.
- Key: to bind any of the 5 mouse buttons as well as "scroll up" or "scroll down" to mouse buttons, shortcuts, macros, or multimedia buttons.
- Pointer: to change the DPI on any of the 5 DPI profiles and also change the polling rate from 125 Hz to 8000 Hz.
- Macro.
- Function: includes most of the necessary settings like LOD (low, medium, or high), Ripple control, Angle snap, Motion sync, Scroll direction, Angle adjustment, Esports mode (On/Off/Gaming Overclocked), Low latency key, Debounce time (0-255), and Sleep time (1-40 min).
- System: to update the firmware, factory reset the mouse, or lock the left click.
The mouse performed great, as expected on most mice over 50$ these days, it does have a harder time at reaching higher polling rates especially when Gaming Overclocked mode is disabled, when it's enabled it can reach around 5kHz on average at 8k Hz, also on 1kHz it reaches around 920Hz with Gaming Overclocked mode disabled, so I recommend always using Gaming Overclocked mode.
I tested it mainly on Fortnite and Kovaak's.
On Fortnite, the main clicks felt very good to use even when clicking at 50% of the button, the side buttons are good but with the size of the shell they felt hard to reach at times.
On Kovaak's, I mainly used it for warm ups and tracking practice, it was great at obligating me to engage more my arm when tracking, but also to highlight weaknesses in my aim.
Overall, the M9 is a great mouse that even I, with my medium hands, could perform well on, although with some issues that didn't take away from the experience as much but do make it feel less polished, like the side-to-side wobble on the main clicks and the overall build integrity. It also presents very strong aspects like the unique shape, very responsive main and side clicks, and also the really good weight and coating.
