Gravastar Mercury M1 Pro

Introduction

Gravastar has quite the reputation for offering uniquely designed peripherals, in spite of being better known for their audio gear – the Mercury M1 Pro is one of the zaniest gaming mice I’ve seen yet.

Its sci-fi type skeletal design complements the Gravastar Mercury K1 Pro keyboard I looked at earlier this year, while inside it packs a punch with a 26,000 DPI sensor and up to 4000Hz polling rate, plus up to 200 hours of rated endurance.

For the £109.95/$99.95 price tag, it represents a potent choice in a sea of powerful gaming mice such as the Razer Viper V3 Hyperspeed and Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini.

I’ve been testing the Mercury M1 Pro for the last few weeks to see if it can take the crown as one of the best gaming mice we’ve tested.

Design

• Skeletal, sci-fi looks
• Solid metal chassis
• Sensible button placement

As was the case with the K1 Pro keyboard, the Mercury M1 Pro’s looks might be considered quite divisive. I understand that the skeletal, sci-fi monster vibe might not be for everyone, but it definitely makes it quite an eye-catching peripheral.

It’s a mostly curved, symmetrical chassis, in-keeping with modern ultralight mouse design, in spite of the higher 88g mass. The curved shape contours well to my hand, making this Gravastar mouse quite a comfortable one, while the hatched pattern on the left side gives a useful texturing for a thumbrest. The fact that the chassis is made of a magnesium alloy gives it a reassuring feel in-hand, with excellent build quality.

There is some slightly tacky cues that I’m not necessarily a fan of, though, such as the ‘Game Beyond Limits’ tagline on the left mouse button, and the M1 lettering on the right button. I appreciate it’s for some additional flair, but isn’t necessarily needed to help the Mercury M1 Pro stand out even more – it doesn’t exactly need to.

Mouse buttons are kept to the basics, and little else. There are the two main ones, a lovely textured scroll and tilt wheel and a top button for DPI switching, plus two smaller navigation buttons on the left side.

On the underside you’ll find a combo on/off switch and connectivity selection between Bluetooth and 2.4GHz. For charging purposes, there is a USB-C port at the front, which is always nice.

Performance

• Snappy 26,000 DPI sensor
• Versatile wireless connectivity
• Excellent battery life

Inside, the Mercury M1 Pro doesn’t necessarily hold back with its sensor and such, coming with a 26,000 DPI PixArt PAW3395DM sensor that seems to be quite standard-issue among lots of different mice.

It means this mouse has some immensely brisk movement, which at the top end results in quite jittery movement if you aren’t used to high-sensitivity mice. To be truthful, once you get past the 12,000 DPI mark or so, discerning between them can be quite difficult, but make no mistake that it makes for a responsive experience in FPS titles such as Counter-Strike 2. I did find myself dialling things back down to a more sensible level for general office use.

Gravastar advertises the Mercury M1 Pro to come with a 4000Hz polling rate – turn over the box and you’ll see it listed in the spec sheet. This is technically true, although you need to purchase their additional 4K receiver separately for this to work. Out of the box, therefore, it’s the same 1000Hz rate you’ll see on lots of other gaming mice – perhaps a little disappointing for the price, but for more casual players, it’s fine.

They don’t disclose the switches used inside, which is a bit of a shame. Nonetheless, I found the main mouse buttons to feel plenty responsive and tactile with a louder click noise. Those buttons can be quite loud, though.

Connectivity is handled either by 2.4GHz wireless with the ‘Turbospeed’ receiver, or with Bluetooth 5.1. I found no issues in using the Mercury M1 Pro over 2.4GHz with my main Windows gaming PC in games, and then switching to Bluetooth with my MacBook Pro for work purposes. It can work over USB-C, too.

Gravastar rates the mouse to last for up to 200 hours on a charge over Bluetooth, or up to 143 hours over the 2.4GHz receiver. This is longer than Asus claims with the Harpe Ace Mini, and even longer than the 95 hours that Logitech claims with the class-leading G Pro X Superlight 2 Dex model.

Software and Lighting

• Basic, but usable software
• Bright RGB lighting

The Mercury M1 Pro works with Gravastar’s own software suite, which provides a lightweight and intuitive UI for things such as button remapping, changing the DPI level and configuring the bright RGB lighting that exudes through its various holes.

The software isn’t necessarily the most polished option against the big manufacturers, but it does the job for the basic, functional customisation on offer.

The Mercury M1 Pro’s RGB lighting is crisp and sharp, and outputs from the centre of the mouse, providing a little more atmosphere or gamer-type charm if you want it. It has functional purposes too, such as flashing blue for Bluetooth pairing, and changing colour depending on the DPI level you have selected.

Should you buy it?

FAQs