In most cases, there is not much in the way of innovation when it comes to the mouse. It seems these days as long as its sensors work well and it has some flashy RGB and a few extra buttons – you’re good to go. Lexip turns all of that on its head with the PU94 Dual Joystick Gaming Mouse. As the name suggests, there are two built-in joysticks – but does it all come together into a usable product? Check out the specifications below before we dive in.
Specifications
- MSRP: $99.99 (Amazon)
- Internal Pivot Joystick
- 3-Dimensions of Movement with mouse remaining on the surface
- Thumb Joystick
- Absolutely accuracy over 30 degrees in all directions
- Laser Sensor
- ADNS-9800 sensor
- Speed/Acceleration Ratio: 150FPS/30g
- 2 Accelerometers
- Up to 12,000 DPI
- Mo42 Ceramic Pads (Mouse Feet)
- Omron Switches
- Programmable Buttons:
- Right/Left and Scroll Wheel Click
- DPI Button
- 2 Side Buttons
- All Axis of internal and thumb joystick are programmable
- Dimensions: 11.9 x 5.1 x 2.5 cm (LxWxH)
- Weight: 141g
- Cable: 1.6m detachable braided USB cable (Micro-USB)
Mice can be a tough sell for a lot of people. Innovating on the design can prove to be a real gamble considering your mouse is one of the most used devices for interacting with your computer. If it’s uncomfortable, you’re going to get a different one. If it’s too heavy, too light, too flimsy, shaped too weird, etc, etc, you get the point. There’s a million ways to fail at designing a new mouse and only a finite amount of ways to succeed. Gamers these days want a mouse that feels like a traditional mouse but is completely customizable with plenty of buttons to suit their needs. So when the Lexip PU94 landed on my desk with two joysticks built-in I was skeptical, to say the least.
You may be asking yourself why you would need a joystick on a mouse, let alone two. To answer that question: you don’t. However, once you use the Lexip PU94 and go back to your old mouse, you’re going to miss them if you happen to frequent certain kinds of games (e.g. the ones you can fly in) but I also found the thumb joystick incredibly useful when it came to playing WoW and other MMOs.
When it comes to your flying games, like GTA V or Battlefield/Battlefront, I wouldn’t replace the built-in joystick for anything. It takes little setup with the Lexip Control Panel app to get your bindings in order and from there flying has become a joy instead of the task it’s always felt like with a keyboard and mouse. While you could use the side thumbstick for your joystick control, I chose to use the internal pivot joystick, allowing me to simply tilt the mouse left, right, forward, back or any combination of those directions. It was completely intuitive and natural to get the hang of – the learning curve was nearly non-existent. The Lexip Control Panel makes sense to use, isn’t overly convoluted, and has all the options laid out plain as day. People have reported the software being buggy for them, but after dozens of hours of use, I’m happy to report that it’s been nothing but a smooth experience for me.
When it came to the more traditional bread and butter games of this website, I found myself binding a hotkey or two to the forward and backward tilt of the internal pivot, but used the thumb joystick for my WASD movements as I traversed long stretches. I found it much more relaxing. You could always, in turn, bind the thumbstick directions to hotkeys as well and really open up the number of bindings readily available on your mouse. The great thing about the PU94 is the power is put in your hands – nothing is blocked off from being customized.
Moving on to the build of the PU94, the mouse doesn’t fall far from the tree in most ways. It’s made mostly from the standard matte black plastic you find throughout the industry with a few shiny accents. There’s some tasteful RGB on the logo and mouse wheel area, as well as a nice glow that hits your mousepad from the underside. Where Lexip really sets themselves apart are the ceramic feet. After using the PU94 with these ceramic pads I can’t understand how this hasn’t become an industry-standard yet – this is as close to frictionless movement as we are going to get. I’ve used the mouse on a straight wood surface, plastic mouse pad and cloth mouse mat and the experience is unparalleled. The Lexip PU94 hands down delivers the smoothest movement I’ve ever experienced in a mouse – it quite literally almost feels like your just moving it through the air.
Final Thoughts
Is the Lexip PU94 the mouse for you? That’s a hard question to answer. If you’re a straight FPS player, never straying far from Overwatch or CS:GO then there likely wouldn’t be many benefits outside of the ceramic pads. However, if you’re a gamer that appreciates tons of bindings on their mouse, or frequently hop in vehicles to gleefully slaughter your enemies it would be worth a serious look. The build quality is good, the concepts are top-notch and well-executed, and overall the price isn’t terrible considering the features you get access to.
Pros
- Everything is programmable
- Joystick bindings have a ton of potential across multiple games
- RGB is tasteful and togglable
Cons
- It can feel a little wobbly
- Easy to accidentally mouse click when tilting forward
- Only feels useful in certain types of games
The product discussed in this article was provided by the manufacturer for the purposes of review.