The Pictek T7 gaming mouse may lack name recognition and alpha-gamer sex-appeal, but it compensates with no-frills value and a rock-bottom price.
Pic-who?
At first glance, I figured Pictek was likely another European or Asian peripheral manufacturer similar to Perrixx or one of the many others that occasionally cross my desk for review.
Even buying the Pictek T7 from Amazon feels like the eCommerce equivalent of buying speakers from the back of a van in a supermarket parking lot. The price is shockingly low (around $15) and the Amazon product page was clearly not written by a native English speaker. And Pictek doesn’t appear to have their own gaming product Web site.
Amazon is rife with electronics products sold at bargain basement prices by obscure companies. And penny pinchers know all too well the steely resolve required to finally click the ‘buy’ button for one. There’s a certain, undeniable thrill in gambling on bargain-bin electronics—bet right and you might hit a jackpot, getting a fantastic product at a low price and feeling like you got away with something you shouldn’t have.
But bet wrong, and money saved is quickly extracted thrice over in frustration, sub-par performance, and time spent contacting support or finally sending it back for a refund— assuming you can get a refund at all.
For this review, Pictek was kind enough to supply me with a T7 (through Amazon). It arrived in a simple, mouse-sized, cardboard box with no branding of any kind. Inside was the mouse, a small instructional pamphlet, and a 2.5″ disc with the T7 driver software.
Pictek T7 gaming mouse features & specifications
As you might expect for a low-cost mouse, the T7 is a no-frills product with the most common features for entry-level gaming mice:
- 7 total mouse buttons
- Up to 7200 DPI, adjustable in 200 DPI increments
- Programmable buttons with macro support
- Multicolor LED (Yellow, Green, Blue, Red, Purple) with lighting effects
- 5-million click estimated lifespan for switches
- Plastic construction
Performance and evaluation
For both general computing and gaming, the T7 performs well. I played a considerable amount of Overwatch and a variety of other games in other genres.
And in all honesty, I found relatively little to complain about. All the mouse buttons provide solid, tactile feedback. The overall design and form factor of the T7 is fairly ‘standard’ (similar to a Razer Mamba, if less refined), and the buttons on the top and left side of the mouse are relatively easy to reach. The scroll wheel could perhaps provide a little more tactile, precise feedback, but your taste may vary.
The T7 software is pretty bare-bones but offers the ‘core’ features you’d expect, such as adjustable lighting, programmable buttons, and adjustable DPI. The macro recorder part of the software is actually a little better than average. It’s certainly adequate for most users, and it even supports adding mouse functions like Right or Left clicks into keyboard macros.
The most notable, minor quibble I could detect was that the mouse-feet on the underside of the T7 could glide a little more smoothly.
But what lies beneath…
As you might expect of a mouse in the sub-$20 price range from a little-known company, the Pictek T7 comes with a few caveats. Fortunately, none of these really mar its general usage too much to offset its budget price, but it’s good to be aware of them before you buy.
The first quibble is a design issue: The T7 has a recessed Mode Switch (profile switch) button on the underside of the mouse. Putting a button on the bottom of a mouse is just plain bad and unnecessary (I can scarcely remember the last mouse I reviewed that had one.) What’s even worse is that it’s a double-whammie of bad: Not only is on the bottom of the mouse, but it’s recessed to prevent it from interfering with the mouse movement. So it’s in a bad place and—even if you’re desperate enough to use it—it’s hard to press.
This is the biggest “fail” of the T7, but it doesn’t really hurt the mouse that much and it’s easily circumvented.
Some additional caveats include the fact that the T7 software comes on a CD, and Pictek doesn’t appear to have any easy-to-find Web site, support page, or other “features” offered by more mature and well-known competitors. In other words, don’t expect driver updates any time soon, and the quality of the warranty and technical support are anyone’s guess.
But in all honesty, the T7 is a simple—and so far reliable—product. In this price range if you got 3-6 good months out of it (and I suspect you’d get much more) it’s enough to say you got your money’s worth.
Overall: 7/10 Good
If the Pictek were a more expensive mouse I’d likely be less forgiving, but the Pictek T7 (despite the noted issues) still performs well and provides all the essentials of an entrry-level gaming mouse—and does it for well under $20.
PC & Video Gaming Examiner 