Mouse Review: VAXEE XE Wireless

A mostly subjective review of a gaming mouse I wish I could love.

VAXEE introduced its first product, the NP-01, in the fall of 2020, and since then, they have become one of the industry’s most respected makers of gaming mice and other peripherals.  

Their latest product, the VAXEE XE Wireless, comes on the heels of a long line of well-received and well-reviewed gaming mice. And truth be told, the VAXEE XE Wireless should be another community favorite; however, I don’t love it, and that bums me out.

On paper, this mouse should be perfect for me: it’s an extremely well-built, ambidextrous mouse featuring near-state-of-the-art wireless tech, awesome clicks, pristine skates, and a great scroll wheel.  

But every time I take it for a spin, my aim feels slightly off, and after 15 minutes or so, I find myself reaching for my trusty Zowie S1.  

So, as always, let’s start with the most important part of any mouse review: the shape.

VAXEE XE Wireless shape, & dimensions

The VAXEE XE Wireless is an ambidextrous mouse weighing in at 76g, and its dimensions are as follows:

·      Grip width (middle): 61mm

·      Grip width (front): 62mm

·      Grip width (back): 66mm

·      Height: 38mm

·      Length: 122mm

In hand, the VAXEE XE Wireless reminds me of several mice I’ve used in the past, such as the Zowie FK1, HyperX Pulsefire Haste, and the G Pro Superlight.

Of these mice, the Zowie FK1 is probably the closest in terms of shape and feel, which shouldn’t come as a surprise.

VAXEE was started by the founders of Zowie, and if I had to take a guess, I have a feeling the XE was their attempt to update and improve upon the FK1 design.

As we can see, the VAXEE XE Wireless and Zowie FK1 share several similar design features:

·      Flat shape

·      Lack of flare towards the front of the mouse

·      Slight comfort curves in mouse 1 and mouse 2

·      Moderate side grooves for your thumbs

·      A slight flare towards the back of the mouse

There are some slight differences in the design: the FK1 is longer, not as tall, and the hump is a little further back, but to me, the FK1 is still the XE’s closest sibling.

However, the VAXEE XE Wireless feels unwieldy compared to the FK1 due to the combination of its weight, grip shape, and its short, centralized hump.  

This is all subjective, of course, because at 38mm tall, the VAXEE XE Wireless is only 1mm taller than the Zowie FK1; however, the VAXEE XE Wireless feels flatter than the Fk1 due to my grip style (fingertip/relaxed claw).

Indeed, no part of my palm touches the VAXEE XE Wireless unless I grip the mouse towards the front and force it back toward the base of my palm, which doesn’t feel very good at all.

However, due to the length of the FK1, the back of the mouse does contact my palm, which adds a bit of stability in different aiming positions.

As such, the only grip that feels somewhat natural with the VAXEE XE Wireless is a fingertip grip, but it’s still not ideal.  

Why?

Well, it all comes down to the shape of XE Wireless’s sides and its weight.

Flat & bothered

Compared to the Zowie FK series, the sides on the VAXEE XE Wireless are much flatter.

As we can see, the VAXEE XE Wireless comes in slightly above its listed grip width of 61mm. However, as with all mice, the grip width is relative to where you position your thumb. If you hold your mouse closer to the mousepad, the grip width is slightly narrower at 60.18mm.

This isn’t much of a difference, which means the sides of the VAXEE XE Wireless are relatively flat compared to say, the Zowie FK1.

At its maximum grip width, the Zowie FK1 comes in at 60.42mm; however, its minimum grip width is 57.07mm. This delta is much bigger than it is on the VAXEE XE Wireless, which changes how the mouse feels in hand.

So, what does this mean in practice?

A more aggressive inwards flare towards the bottom of a mouse’s grip allows it to “sit” within my grip style, which feels way more natural and comfortable compared to a mouse with flat sides.

This also means that I don’t have to squeeze the mouse as hard to get that “locked-in” feeling.

However, when a mouse has flat sides, I always find myself squeezing it to death just to make sure I have a good grip on it.

This makes mice with flat sides more tiring to use—but that said, the shape of the sides isn’t the only problem.

The issue is when flat sides are combined with a high weight.

Heavy or not

The VAXEE XE Wireless weighs in at approximately 74g, which isn’t heavy, but when you combine its weight with the shape of its sides, the VAXEE XE Wireless can feel cumbersome and exhausting to use.

On the other hand, the flat sides of mice like the G Pro Superlight or the HyperX Pulsefire Haste don’t bother me as much because they’re much lighter.

So, even though I still need to squeeze mice like the G Pro Superlight a bit harder than the FK1, it’s still easier to move around than the VAXEE XE Wireless simply due to the weight difference.

If, however, the VAXEE XE Wireless was closer to 60g in weight, I think my feelings toward this mouse would be totally different.

Who is this mouse for?

Because of the low height, wide grip, and centralized hump, I would say the VAXEE XE Wireless is more suitable for fingertip grip users.

However, I do think the claw and palm grip users will feel right at home with the VAXEE XE Wireless if they hold the mouse closer to the front (at or past the forward thumb button) or if their hand size is somewhere between small and medium.

If, however, you’re like me and hold the mouse closer to the back of the thumb groove (near the back button), I think you’ll have a difficult time using any kind of grip other than a fingertip grip.

The nitty gritty

There’s a lot we haven’t talked about yet when it comes to the VAXEE XE Wireless, including the button feel, scroll wheel, sensor performance, and more.

While these things are important, I’ve always found that lengthy discussions of these components fail to inform me of whether a mouse is going to work for me (hence the babbling above).  

We’ll still talk about them, but I encourage all of you to read TechPowerUp’s review of the VAXEE XE Wireless to get a better understanding of this mouse’s technical specs and components.

Clicks & side buttons

The clicks on the VAXEE XE Wireless are crisp and easy to actuate. There is a moderate amount of pre- and post-travel on my copy, but not enough to be an issue.

The click “feel” between Mouse 1 and Mouse 2 is nearly identical; however, the Mouse 2 on my copy sounds slightly different than Mouse 1.

The side buttons are a little small and placed place a little high for my liking, but overall, they work well and have little pre- and post-travel.

Scroll wheel

The scroll wheel on the VAXEE XE Wireless features a mechanical scroll that VAXEE says is ideal for “work” versus playing video games. I don’t know if this is true or not, but I do know that I like the scroll wheel on the XE Wireless.

The scroll wheel also features a nice, rubberized texture and pronounced grooves, which makes scrolling a very tactile experience.

Actuating the scroll wheel click is easy enough; however, I think I would prefer it was slightly easier to activate.

Overall, the scrolling experience reminds me of the C series scroll wheels from Zowie, but smoother and less noisy.

Build quality

One of the things that put VAXEE on the map was their commitment to building quality mice for esports, and the VAXEE XE Wireless is no different.

I’ve had the VAXEE XE Wireless for about 2 months now, and in that time, it’s held up extremely well.

There are no discernable creaks when squeezing the mouse; however, there is a very slight rattle coming from somewhere inside the mouse, which was noticeable on the day I got it.

Other than that slight nuisance, the VAXEE XE Wireless is a tank, and I do not doubt that it could take years of abuse if it were to be my main mouse moving forward.

Coating

The coating on the VAXEE XE Wireless is grippy and works well with sweaty hands.

Compared to the coating used in mice from Zowie and Logitech, the coating on the VAXEE XE Wireless feels more rubberized and smoother.

Additionally, the coating isn’t as much of a fingerprint magnet compared to Zowie’s offerings, which is nice if you’re the kind of person who doesn’t regularly wipe down their mice.

Mouse feet

The VAXEE XE Wireless features two large front and rear skates with rounded edges. The shape of the skates should prevent the mouse from digging into your mouse pad; however, one thing I noticed is that the skates aren’t perfectly flat.

Indeed, the edges of the skates are slightly taller than the middle of the skates, which means on some surfaces, the entire surface area of the skate might not make good contact.

This probably won’t be an issue on cloth pads, but it could be a factor in how the mouse feels on a hard pad.

Sensor

The VAXEE XE Wireless uses the 3395 sensor, which Vaxee says has been tuned for professional esports players.

They don’t go into a whole lot of details on the site, but I can tell you that the sensor feels “fine”, which is all you really need to know, right?

Okay, maybe not—but if you’re the kind of person that really worries whether the sensor in their mouse is holding them back, you should feel confident about VAXEE’s implementation of the 3395 here.

The 3395 is one of the best sensors on the market, and I have no doubt VAXEE did its due diligence in ensuring the XE Wireless performs at a level that is acceptable for competitive play.

VAXEE even offers a competitive firmware update that can be installed over the original firmware which further enhances the responsiveness of the mouse.

I gave this firmware a whirl, and while the mouse does feel more responsive and “direct”, I eventually went back to the original firmware due to the competitive feeling almost too direct.

Indeed, the out-of-the-box performance of the VAXEE XE Wireless is excellent and should be more than enough for any competitive FPS player.

Other goodies

Some other features of the VAXEE XE Wireless worth noting are the lack of required software needed to control things like polling rate, DPI, lift-off distance, etc., and the ability to use the mouse for two computers.

Indeed, all the buttons required to adjust the VAXEE XE Wireless’s performance can be found on the bottom of the mouse, which is something more mouse manufacturers should implement.

Finally, if you purchase another wireless receiver from VAXEE, you can quickly swap between two computers by pressing both thumb buttons and the function button at the same time.

Instructions on how to pair the VAXEE XE Wireless to two computers can be found at:

Conclusion

The VAXEE XE Wireless is a terrific gaming mouse with excellent build quality and reliable wireless connectivity.

Truth be told if sides on the VAXEE XE Wireless were just a little more tapered near the bottom, I think it would be my primary mouse moving forward.

Indeed, when the mouse does “click” for me, the VAXEE XE Wireless is one of the best-feeling mice I’ve ever used, and if its combination of flat sides and 76g weight don’t bother you, the VAXEE XE Wireless should be on your shopping list if you’re in the market for an ambidextrous wireless mouse.