Cougar Revenger 4K Mouse review: Feels great, but flawed

One of the most interesting companies you’ll come across in modern computing is Cougar. Cougar is known for making some of the most niche cases, such as the Conquer 2 and the FV270 — which we took a look at, not too long ago. The aggressive, unique Cougar designs usually extend to their peripherals, too… but not today.

Cougar’s newest gaming mouse, the Revenger Pro 4K, is oddly simple for a company that’s known for going above and beyond with its designs. This basic 5-button mouse features a simple, plain, lightweight (55g) design that looks practically mundane next to Cougar’s cases.

Design and Comfort

The Cougar Revenger Pro 4K is a new mouse from Cougar; a company not really known for its peripherals. The Revenger Pro is available in either white or black and features a matte finish that isn’t grippy, nor slick — it’s the right finish in my opinion. However, if you get the black model, keep in mind that it will attract palm sweat. I can’t fault Cougar too much for this; it’s practically inevitable.

According to Cougar, the mouse has been sculpted to make room for two fingers on each button, meaning you can rest your middle and ring finger on the RMB (right mouse button). I have very large hands and while this was somewhat doable, it was not comfortable at all and I was practically resting my middle finger on the scroll wheel. I should mention that just because this type of grip didn’t work for me, it’s not because this mouse is abnormally small. In fact, it’s a really nice size. It’s a bit smaller than the Razer DeathAdder V3 Pro and weighs only 1.94 ounces (55g).

However, if you’d like to add some bulk to the Cougar Revenger 4K, the company was generous enough to include rubber grip tape in the box. Speaking of generosity, the mouse also comes with a little sack for traveling and extra skates so you can truly get the most out of this mouse. These skates aren’t cheap plastic either; they are 100% PTFE. It also comes with both 1,000 Hz and 4,000 Hz polling rate dongles, a USB dongle adapter, and a USB-C to USB-A paracord cable.

For reference, the measurements of the Cougar Revenger Pro 4K are 4.9 inches (124mm) long by 2.6 inches (65mm) wide by 1.5 inches (38mm) tall. In contrast, the DeathAdder V3 Pro is 5.01 inches long (127.3mm) by 2.65 inches wide (67.31mm) by 1.6 inches (40.6mm) tall. Yes, while the size difference is minuscule, it could be a dealbreaker for some.

The side buttons on the Revenger Pro 4K are crafted perfectly. They’re light enough to use on the fly, but not too light to the point where you’re making errors. This is huge for me because I’m the type of person who swears by side buttons for regular computing.

One of my favorite parts about the Revenger Pro 4K is the switches, which are optical and made by Omron and are rated for 70 million clicks. They felt more lively, clicky, and satisfying than the switches on my Death Adder V3 Pro.

What isn’t satisfying is the scroll wheel: it’s notched and somewhat loud, and while it didn’t give me any issues, it just wasn’t very satisfying to use.

Specs

Performance

The Cougar Revenger 4K is very simple looking; arguably as simple as the Logitech G Pro. However, its performance is the opposite. It’s amazing.

After using the Razer DeathAdder V3 Pro as my primary gaming mouse for over two years, I was genuinely concerned about switching to Cougar’s new mouse. However, I had nothing to worry about, as I absolutely adored this mouse’s performance.

If you’re unaware, I’m a huge fan of the zombies mode in Call of Duty, and with the release of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, there was no better time to test a mouse. Call it a coincidence, but before switching to the Cougar, I was stuck at a high round of 32 — which is decent, but not great. But after switching, I was able to hit round 53 after a few games — and then round 62 a few days later.

Everything on the Cougar Revenger Pro 4K feels crisp and smooth. The left and right mouse buttons have a nice, firm tactile bump and the side buttons never felt mushy or unresponsive (and I rely on those a lot for melee attacks). The PixArt 3395 sensor works flawlessly; I use a pretty high DPI for FPS games (1,900) and I never experienced any lag or issues with the lift off distance.

That said, when I set the report rate to 4,000 Hz, my 1,900 DPI felt more like 800 DPI. Could I bump up the DPI? Yes, but that defeats the purpose of the dongle.This was a bit of a bummer, because while there are some people who obsess over high polling rates, this demonstrates that it’s not just the polling rate that can create lag or latency issues. Plus, there are plenty of mice on the market today that boast even higher polling rates (8,000 Hz), without this issue.

The battery life on the Cougar Revenger 4K is fantastic without the dongle — according to Cougar, it’s rated for 150 hours, which is on par with or above that of most premium gaming mice. With the dongle and a 4,000 Hz polling rate, that drops to 45 hours, which isn’t great but could certainly be worse.

Despite the fact that I couldn’t get the 4,000 Hz dongle to work correctly, the Cougar Revenger Pro 4K’s performance still blew me away, especially at its price point of only $70.

Features and Software

The software supporting the Cougar Revenger 4K is simple, yet effective.

You can adjust the DPI and polling rate, and turn on ripple control, angle snapping, and motion sync. The polling rate will automatically bump up to 4,000 Hz when you’re using the 4K dongle, but you can still adjust it down in the software if you want to.

The Bottom Line

While it was disappointing that the Cougar Revenger Pro 4K had issues with its 4,000 Hz polling rate dongle, I still loved this mouse — especially for $70. I’m not too concerned about the polling rate because I don’t think it’s necessary, but there are plenty of mice with 4K or 8K polling rates — such as the $130 Glorious Model D 2 Pro 4K/8K.