Ozone's Radon 5K is almost great

An attractive and stolid mousing option from a relative newcomer to the Australian market - Ozone Gaming.

Ozone’s a relative newcomer to Australian shores. As of writing, the company is still confirming an Australian distributor, but they’re keen to crack the market, and to that end we’ve got the not quite so shiny new Radon 5K mouse to play with.

We don’t mean anything about its shininess – it’s a lovely matte black rubber finished mouse, with a rather wider than average footprint under the hand (if you get our meaning). The black is offset by an attractive O³ logo, and a set of red LEDs to denote the dpi settings you’ve chosen to frag with. Completed by a cloth-wrapped cable of good length, the Radon is certainly an attractive package.

There’s a hint of cleverness at play, too. Under the mouse is a multi-channel cable run that lets you re-arrange where the cable exits the underside – great if you’ve got a cramped mousing surface, or are a left-hander. Though, if you are a left-hander, the asymmetric, right-handed leaning Radon may not be the perfect choice on basic ergonomic principles.

However, the Radon’s let down by one of our pet hates in gaming mice – an off-center laser censor.

You might be different, but we mouse with the heel of our hand planted on the desktop, using it as a kind of fulcrum around which all our movements depend. As such, lateral mouse movements on an off-center sensor cause a diagonal tracking of the mouse cursor, rather than a truly flat lateral movement. If there’s one thing that’s going to throw off quick, reflexive aiming, this is it.

It certainly did that with us, which is a shame, as if the Radon had a centered censor it would be a killer choice – it easily matched the performance of our stock Razer Lachesis. It’s not got the best software, though, but as we rarely spend too long working on macros anyway, that’s not a huge detraction.

It’s a bit of a mixed bag, and at the likely price it’s going to sell for, a lot to ask. It is a tops performer, though - if you can ignore the censor placement - but whether or not it’s the right mouse for you... only you can really say.