OCZ Behemoth mouse review

Matt Jancaitis 17 Apr, 2009 at 10:57am ET Article published in Tech

The OCZ Behemoth mouse.

I’ve been accused of having a peripheral fetish, and I’m proud — well, not ashamed, at least — to admit it. From keyboards and mice to headphones and webcams, I tend to experiment a lot and have plenty of backups. Naturally, I jumped at the chance to do another peripheral review for Icrontic, and OCZ has sent us the Behemoth to evaluate. Read on to see our impressions and whether or not it’s worth your dollars.

Size matters

Even if you weren’t aware that the mouse was named the Behemoth, the first thing you’ll notice is its size. The standard mousing surfaces aren’t much bigger than that of any other mouse, but the size is in its girth. The mouse is wider than a standard mouse, and provides a place to seat both your ring and pinky finger on the mouse itself. These indentations seem universally placed, for right-handed mousers anyway, and are long enough to accommodate many differently sized hands.

Other notable features, even among gaming mice, include the weighting system and multiple cord-routing options. The mouse comes with five weights at 4.5 grams each, for a maximum weight of 22.5 grams, and the six different cable options can even route the cable out the sides.

Weights mounted in the base of the Behemoth.

The top of the Behemoth also sports a button to cycle through user-defined DPI settings that will affect the speed and accuracy of the cursor. The mouse’s surfaces are pleasant, soft, and semi-rubberized, while the mouse wheel has more of a rubber feel, and features a channel running through the middle. This channel may be strictly aesthetic, but it didn’t negatively impact scrolling ability.

To wrap up the hardware, the mouse features forward and back buttons under the thumb, a dual-laser system to improve tracking, and a cloth-braided USB cord.

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Comments

1. 
   17 Apr 2009 ~ 3:00pm Annes Excellent writeup, Snarky. I think I'm just about sold on one of these.
2. 
   17 Apr 2009 ~ 6:24pm Linc Yeah, I think I'd appreciate a larger mouse. My G5 doesn't fit my hand very well. Nice writeup, Lord of the Peripheral!
3. 
   17 Apr 2009 ~ 10:14pm Cliff_Forster Wow, for $25 its appears to be a practical no brainer. Good review.
4. 
   18 Apr 2009 ~ 10:42pm chrisWhite I love people who share my gadget fetish. You have no idea how much I've spent on Mice over the years (I've bought THREE MX Revolutions...)
5. 
   18 Apr 2009 ~ 10:52pm Snarkasm I currently have four Razer, two Logitech, and now one OCZ mouse, along with a Razer keyboard, two Logi keyboards, a simple generic one, and a specialty gaming keypad.
   
   I can't help it, something just draws me to them. I think I'm going to grab the Logi G19 when it comes out, and likely the Razer Mamba. Mmmmmmmmmmmm....
   
   The Behemoth is an incredible steal and a fantastic mouse. I don't think I can say enough about it. Highly, highly, highly recommended.
6. 
   18 Apr 2009 ~ 10:59pm chrisWhite Ha, my current setup is my Revolution for my laptop and general work mouse, my G7 for gaming, keyboard is the diNova Edge—which I love and paid way too much for—plus I have a wireless numpad, a Contour Shuttle Pro and a Space Navigator. I love the Revolution mice but they're just too slow for gaming (particularly the click speed of all things) and I'm reasonably happy with the G7. Actually, shockingly, my favorite gaming mouse is actually the HP terrible mice included with their workstations, so light and fast. I should hate them but I don't
7. 
   21 Apr 2009 ~ 3:09am Mochan I've always hated Logitech mice. They never handle properly, I begin to suck at FPS deathmatches whenever I use Logitech mice. The OCZ Behemoth looks too big for me; I like smaller, light mice that really let me aim properly.
   
   I have a bit of a peripheral fetish too, I have 4 mice on me right now, 2 Logitech and 2 A4 Tech (a largely unknown brand that IMO has better mice than Logitech). I always fall for Logitech though because their packaging is so sweet. Even if functionally they are not my thing.
   
   I also have 4 keyboards one normal one, 2 Logitechs, 1 A4 Tech Gaming Keyboard and 1 Belkin N52 TE -- which I should also review. I couldn't really get into theBelkin, though, cool and geeky as it was. It just didn't have enough buttons; as someone who's been playing FPS for more than a decade certain controls had been hard-wired into my muscle memory and using 1,2,3 and 4 keys for switching weapons was one of them; this was the Achilles heel of the Nostromo N52.
   
   I see Chris you have a Dinovo; I didn't get the Edge, but I got the Mini, because I needed a small keyboard for home theatre use. I must say, it's rpetty shoddy and way overpriced, but it's pretty cool. It's not totally usable though; it powers out way too much and it takes too long for bluetooth to reconnect from sleep mode. Overall I guess I'm not happy with Logitech; they are an overhyped brand for all their peripherals except their speakers, IMO.
8. 
   21 Apr 2009 ~ 3:35am NiGHTS

   Mochan wrote:

   I also have 4 keyboards one normal one, 2 Logitechs, 1 A4 Tech Gaming Keyboard and 1 Belkin N52 TE -- which I should also review. I couldn't really get into theBelkin, though, cool and geeky as it was. It just didn't have enough buttons; as someone who's been playing FPS for more than a decade certain controls had been hard-wired into my muscle memory and using 1,2,3 and 4 keys for switching weapons was one of them; this was the Achilles heel of the Nostromo N52.

   
   I don't buy that. There are 20 buttons on the face of it with the ability to scroll through 3 key settings. That's 60 buttons.
   
   I set up the d-pad to do my weapon switching - try that.
9. 
   21 Apr 2009 ~ 4:56am Mochan I tried the d-pad but it wasn't responsive enough to really fit the bill, but I suppose that's just me. I wasn't able to really adapt to it. I tried, for two weeks, but I suppose it just wasn't for me. Just an extra 4 buttons on top of the WASD would have made it perfect.
10. 
    21 Apr 2009 ~ 12:01pm Snarkasm

    Mochan wrote:

    The OCZ Behemoth looks too big for me; I like smaller, light mice that really let me aim properly.

    
    You can take the weights out of the it and get quite a light mouse. Moreover, with greater surface area contact with the mouse, you actually have more control over how it moves. My movements feel much more secure with the Behemoth than they do with a standard two-button where my fingers fall off the side.
    
    I've wanted to try the Belkin, the Logi coming-soon-equivalent (G13), or similar pads for a while, but they always seem a little too expensive for what they are, and just another thing to clutter my desk. I do all right with my keyboard for now, though.
11. 
    21 Apr 2009 ~ 5:34pm PatrickMoorhead I got a lot of geek gadgets for Christmas, but ironically, I got most excited about a Logitech illuminated keyboard. I was almost, almost embarrassed to get into a keyboard that much.
    
    But, then again, you are using it almost 100% of the time, so I guess keyboards are "exciting." See, men can rationalize so much!
12. 
    21 Apr 2009 ~ 5:49pm BuddyJ That makes total sense.
13. 
    21 Apr 2009 ~ 5:52pm Leonardo Can you overclock it?
    
    Next!
14. 
    21 Apr 2009 ~ 6:22pm Snarkasm

    Leonardo wrote:

    Can you overclock it?

    
    Yes.
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    If by overclock you mean "raise DPI sensitivity." For a mouse, that's pretty much what overclocking relates to!
15. 
    21 Apr 2009 ~ 10:13pm chrisWhite Hmm, never had any trouble with the Logitech keyboard, it's always connected and I love the feel of it. That said, it's way overpriced like you mentioned. I think Logitech realized it too since they now have that other keyboard that looks extremely similar at a much lower price.
    
    I think Logitech is overrated, I've loved their mice but sometimes they suck, their drivers really suck and that ****ing batter issue with the Revolution just kills me. I've had three Revolutions die on me, the last one I was smart enough to keep the receipt and return it for one that actually seems perfect.
    
    The SpacePilot Pro is my current wet dream gadget. $10 says the drivers still blow on it though. $20 says I buy the damn thing at SIGGRAPH.
    
    
    
    I'd kill for it to work in games like Sins of a Solar Empire or any similar game and I'd love to try it in an FPS, so precise.
16. 
    20 Jun 2009 ~ 12:14pm Cliff_Forster Day 2 using my Behemoth, Day 1, took some getting used to, I just thought it felt wrong, but now that I have a few hours on it, its starting to feel very natural. I wish the side forward/back button was a little better made, but otherwise its very nice.