Cooler Master MM720 review

The Cooler Master MM720 ($46) competes with some of the best cheap gaming mice for a place at your desk, and certainly has the looks to attract your attention. 

The first thing you’ll notice is the size and shape — the MM720 is quite small and very round, which supports the use of a claw grip. A finger rest on the right of the mouse provides additional support for your hand, too. The MM720 might take some getting used to, but will reward you with a very comfortable, super-lightweight gaming mouse.

Beneath the plastic honeycomb case is a smattering of performance features that work well, and a sensor that is, for the most part, accurate and responsive. I’m annoyed by the built-in mouse acceleration, which torpedoed any chance of this becoming a new staple competitive mouse for me. Combined with the frustrating companion app and underwhelming quality of the build, my blossoming appreciation for this claw grip mouse has become a little more subdued.

This isn’t going to be considered one of the very best gaming mice, but if you’re looking for a cheap claw-grip mouse with an interesting style to boot, the MM720 is a good choice.

Find out more in our full Cooler Master MM720 review.

Cooler Master MM720 review: Cheat Sheet

• What is it? A uniquely round honeycomb mouse, with a good amount of features and distinct shape
• Who is it for? Those looking for a claw grip mouse at a cheap price
• What does it cost? It can vary a lot in price — the MSRP is $46, but I’ve seen it go for as low as $25 if you opt for the glossy white color
• What do we like? The amount of customization available is great, and the mouse is really light, allowing for easy movement on your desk
• What don’t we like? The shape isn’t going to work for everyone, especially those with bigger hands, and some users might be put off by its looks. Gaming performance also takes a hit due to hardware mouse acceleration that can’t be disabled

Cooler Master MM720 review: The ups

The MM720 does a great job at being a cheap but competent gaming mouse for those who prefer a claw grip. Sporting an impressive array of customization and a bold appearance, this mouse offers just as much performance as it does visual flair.

Build

The MM720 is quite stubby at 3-inches wide and 4.5-inches long, but the design brings ergonomic benefits that help it feel like a natural fit for medium to large hands. The curvature of the case on the sides is particularly comfortable, and adjusting to the expected grip is easier than I expected, thanks in part to a well-placed finger rest on the right side of the mouse.

The low weight, at just 1.7 ounces, outclasses some of the lightest gaming mice available — it’s even lighter than the Logitech G Pro Superlight ($150) by half an ounce. In turn this makes the mouse feel great to use, as it can be moved around using my fingers almost effortlessly. The PTFE skates in the base allow slick movement thanks to the smooth plastic finish, and this works wonders on my mousepad.

Appearance

While the industry trend of honeycomb case design is divisive, and is implemented with mixed degrees of success, the MM720 applies the aesthetic well. The holes encompass the rear half of the mouse, leaving the buttons clear of the holey design. This doesn’t over-expose the internals and is not very noticeable to the touch, which makes the design less intrusive than other examples, like the SteelSeries Aerox 5 ($139).

I also love the MM720’s lighting design, which has a soft glow that makes the most of the honeycomb and really completes the look. The soft glow of the light is diffused excellently by the honeycomb case — it looks even better to me than the Aerox 5’s RGB lighting. You’re able to customize the lighting on both the palm and the mouse wheel via the MasterPlus+ companion app, which allows you to select from 5 presets.

Features

A plethora of useful gaming features makes the MM720 excellent bang for your buck. Via the CoolerMaster ‘MasterPlus+’ app, the mouse supports angle-snapping, which keeps your crosshair level in FPS games by smoothing out linear mouse movements. It also supports multiple polling rate presets, of 125, 250, 500 and 1000Hz. Two lift off distance options of Low and High allow you to set how far you can raise the mouse before the sensor cuts off, which will allow you to have more control over what readings are picked up. You may also adjust the response time of the left and right mouse click anywhere from 32ms down to 4ms, so you can strike a balance between responsiveness and avoiding accidental clicks. An interesting feature is the ability to tune the angle of the mouse up to 30 degrees — this makes a regular left to right mouse movement send your cursor diagonally across the screen, which allows for more variation in handling of the mouse at atypical angles.

You can also fully rebind the 5 programmable mouse buttons (including the DPI switch underneath the mouse), and create new macros. I appreciate the variety of binds available, as you can even create new bindings for multimedia. The ‘mouse combo’ function is particularly useful, too, allowing you to press a button while holding down the mouse wheel to perform a new bind — this brings up the number of possible functions to a massive 12.

Performance

A high quality 1,000Hz polling rate sensor backed up by a max DPI of 32,000 will come in handy for those who want the highest sensitivities possible while maintaining accuracy. The MM720 also blows budget rivals out of the water. It’s great to see such a high-performing mouse going for less than $50. Although, if you want a beefy 4,000Hz polling rate, you will have to look to the Redragon M916 ($44).

Cooler Master MM720 review: The downs

A few problems prevent the MM720 from being a flat out recommendation for the price. Locked hardware mouse acceleration is a massive factor, leading to generally poor performance in games, and software is rather buggy, which has hindered me from getting the most out of the mouse. Even at this price point, I also expect better than the flimsy construction and low quality materials used. 

Locked hardware acceleration

I’ve been practicing in-game with the MM720 for a week so I could adjust to the design and grip, but I found myself constantly being held back by the 50g of built-in mouse acceleration. This means that the speed at which you move the mouse adjusts the distance your cursor travels, rather than being a precise reading of the position. In FPS games in particular this was really challenging for me to get past, and I noticed a considerable decrease in my aim accuracy while playing Valorant, as I was not able to build muscle memory of how much I needed to move my mouse in order to reach my target.

This is a mouse that would be best in a more casual gaming environment, and I got the most out of it in ‘Grand Strategy’ games like Hearts of Iron IV, or games that do not require high levels of accuracy, like Teamfight Tactics. For productivity, the high DPI along with mouse acceleration makes more day-to-day tasks easy and quick, so this critique will only affect FPS gamers and esports aficionados out there.

Build

Despite a surprisingly high quality USB-A cable, unfortunately the MM720’s build quality is generally underwhelming. The shiny plastic finish looks cheap, while not feeling the best in my hand. While the mouse has substance and doesn’t feel hollow to the touch, the cheap plastic doesn’t inspire confidence about its durability: I don’t doubt that the mouse buttons are rated to last however many million clicks, but the case itself does not feel well-attached and makes creaking noises, which lets the mouse down.

The mouse buttons are also lacking in quality. All of the inputs feel a little mushy and not as responsive as I would like. The thumb buttons in particular are rounded and are made out of a soft, shiny plastic, making them slightly easier to press in claw grip but losing the responsive, tactile feel you get on other budget mice like the Redragon M916.

I should also add that some other mice provide support for resting your palm, even in claw grip. Bigger mice like the Corsair Ironclaw ($79) offer much more support at the cost of size and weight, which might be a consideration if you partake in longer gaming sessions.

Software

Cooler Master’s ‘MasterPlus+’ software is tricky to use, frequently crashing or randomly hiding sections of the UI, which often make it a nightmare to adjust profiles and make quick adjustments to the mouse’s performance. Setting up the “mouse combo” feature is quite confusing, while issues like the non-adjustable window and design elements suddenly going missing make it feel as though it’s held together by tape. As the software is bundled with a suite of features for Cooler Master components, running the app has a noticeable impact on performance, idling at about 500MB of RAM — the stuttering and slow loading times even on my beefy gaming PC is a great annoyance.

Cooler Master MM720 review: Verdict

It’s great to see budget mice offering an in-depth level of support for a specific grip type, with strong performance and a fun appearance— and with this the MM720 does not disappoint.

Sadly, the built-in mouse acceleration and associated loss of accuracy prevents this from being an easy recommendation for the price, especially if you are looking for a mouse that can be used competitively. If you have gotten this far and are considering picking this up but don’t like the sound of the claw grip, you should definitely check out the HyperX Pulsefire Core ($25) for a more versatile budget option, minus the acceleration.

Even though I’m a little disappointed with the performance, and the awkward size is not for everyone, the Cooler Master MM720 is a mouse that should be on your radar, particularly if you are after a cool little budget mouse for non-competitive gaming.