Hardware Review – 8BitDo Retro R8 Mouse

I love 8BitDo’s stuff. I own a lot of stuff from them. From retro wireless controller adapters to actual wireless retro controllers, you’ll find a lot of them around my apartment. In particular, my arcade stick by them and legally distinct Genesis and SNES controllers get a tonne of use. I even had to replace the sticks on my SF30 because I wore them down. It’s in a colour scheme they don’t sell anymore (because it maybe wasn’t legally distinct enough from a Super Famicom controller), but it’s pretty awesome that they sell replacement parts so you can make your own repairs.

I’m not exactly the most technical or picky when it comes to computer peripherals, however. At my old job, I used a standard Dell pack-in keyboard and Lenovo mouse for nine years (they actually lasted that long) and was perfectly happy. The only thing I demand of my mouse is that its scroll-wheel button works consistently, which is seemingly a big ask considering how many I’ve encountered that don’t. But I reviewed an 8BitDo Retro Mechanical Keyboard a few years back, and declared it the best keyboard I’ve ever put my fingerprints on. Like I said, I’m not the pickiest, but I stand by my words. I still use it. I’m typing on it now. I spilled a matcha latte on it a while back, and after a deep cleaning, it still works, good as new.

And that seemingly put me on a list, because they occasionally send me stuff. I got the Retro Numpad a while back (like the keyboard, it’s great), and now they’ve sent me the 8BitDo Retro R8 Mouse.

CURTAINS MUST MATCH THE DRAPES

I saw the 8BitDo Retro R8 Mouse a while back when they released it. I wasn’t as enthusiastic as I was when I first saw their retro keyboards. I was happy with my mouse, which is a… hold on… Logitech G502 HERO. I picked that one because it has a different sort of scroll wheel. Don’t ask me how it’s different. Magnets or something. But remember: the scroll wheel button is, like, the most important thing to me when it comes to mouses.

Plus, the 8BitDo Retro R8 Mouse only comes in an NES-style colour-scheme, and my keyboard is Famicom flavoured. I’m not sure why they did that. Maybe to gauge demand.

In any case, I was going to overlook the mouse until one showed up in the mail. So, this should be interesting.

MY NIGH INVULNERABLE WRISTS

The box comes with a charging stand that can double as a 2.4GHz receiver and the mouse itself. Plus a USB-C to USB-Vanilla cable. The mouse has the receiver dongle embedded in it, so if you don’t want to truck the stand around – like, say, if you’re using it with a laptop – you can use it directly. Or you can use Bluetooth, which it also supports. You can also plug in the mouse directly and use it wired. I would probably do that last thing, except then I’d just have this random charger collecting dust, so 2.4GHz it is.

The mouse itself is, uh, pretty basic when it comes to ergonomics. It’s not far off from that Lenovo mouse I mentioned earlier, honestly. And I stand by the fact that I don’t care. I don’t squeeze my mouse or apply much force to it when moving it around, so I don’t think it matters what shape my hand is sitting in. I’m sure a, uh, bone doctor would tell me different, but if scrolling shoot-’em-ups haven’t given me carpal tunnel syndrome yet, I don’t think anything will.

If anything, the hardest factor to get used to is the weight. You can’t add or remove weight like you can in some higher end mouses, and on its own, it’s pretty light. That’s the sort of thing that I’ll just get used to over time, and then it will be a non-issue. However, the weight of my mouse is, like, 80% of my physical activity in a day, so I guess my arm is just going to have to atrophy.

The reason for the basic form factor, I guess, is because it is designed for right-handed people, as well as demons. I’m right-handed, if that isn’t obvious. I put all of my stat points in my right arm, and if it weren’t for typing, left-sticks, and that knife game from Aliens, I probably wouldn’t even use my left hand at all. So, handedness doesn’t matter, but then, nothing else about its shape does either.

BECAUSE ARMY MEN MATTER

The sensitivity (or DPI) of the mouse can be set using a single button behind the scroll wheel. You can tell what sensitivity it’s at by a light that appears when you press it, but the order is: yellow, green, orange, pink, blue, purple. That… doesn’t make sequential sense to me. Like, if they used ROY G. BIV, then I’d be able to tell where on the DPI spectrum it is, but this way, it seems arbitrary, and there’s no way I’m going to remember orange and pink are roughly middle-of-the-road. You can disable some of the levels in the software, so you could knock it down to a more manageable 3 or something, but you can’t reorder them. Yet, anyway. I think this is something that could be done with a software or firmware update, but I don’t know. Let 8BitDo figure that out.

The more important thing is that it can go from 100 to a ridiculous 26000 DPI. I don’t know your exact circumstances, but I doubt you’d ever need to go that high. Thankfully, by default, it only goes up to a more fathomable 6400 DPI. This can be adjusted in the software as well.

Another important detail is that you can change the polling rate on the mouse. You may never even think about polling rate, usually, but if you play the old Army Men games on PC, the mouse cursor will hitch at high rates, which makes it uncomfortable to play. The default rate (500Hz) works well enough unless you deliberately try to force it to stop responding, but it can be reduced to 250Hz or raised to 4000Hz. Wired can go up to 8000Hz, while Bluetooth is stuck at 125Hz.

NO MORE SUPPER BUTTONS

Aside from the beige/grey colour scheme, it also has two red buttons on each side of the mouse that link it more closely to the NES controller’s aesthetic. They’re recessed, but they’re easy enough to hit. While the ones on the opposite side are obviously for if you’re sinister-handed, but you can also map them in the software, if you need rarely used buttons within reach. I haven’t, but I also haven’t decided how I want to map the Supper Buttons. That’s not a typo, that’s what they’re called in the software, “Supper buttons.” No, wait… I just checked the software, and it looks like maybe they “fixed” that. That’s no fun.

Now, after a week of using the mouse, I can’t tell you the most important thing: if the scroll wheel button holds up. It requires a bit more wear and tear before it might start acting squirrely. Or maybe it won’t ever. I won’t know for a few months, at least. Right now, a week out of the box, it works fine. The only issue I have with the scroll wheel is that it has a bit of an edge to it, but it will no doubt get sanded down by my rugged digits.

As for other complaints; not many. I keep forgetting to set it back on the stand at night. I’m not accustomed to using a wireless mouse. I haven’t had it run out of juice on me, yet. Let’s see… 8BitDo states it gets 26-105 hours on 2.4GHz depending on the polling rate. Fair enough, I’ll just have to remember it occasionally.

ANY GOING BACK?

The real question is if I’ll swap back to my Logitech G502 HERO after this review. I’m not sure. I can at least say that I’m not in a rush. The 8BitDo Retro R8 Mouse technically has fewer features, but the features that aren’t here, I never use. Like, unlocking the click-points on the mouse wheel so it scrolls smoothly. Cool in concept, I usually only change it accidentally.

Where it matters, 8BitDo’s offering has it: polling rate, which is important for Army Men. Oh, also the scroll wheel button, but I’m not going to know if that holds up for quite some time.

At the end of the day, I got used to it. If there’s one thing I wish for, it’s that it had a Famicom style. It’s not that it really clashes with my keyboard, it just isn’t the perfect compliment. Otherwise, yeah, it’s a solid mouse. It’s not terribly expensive, and its feature set is robust. But, I mean, let’s be honest, you’d be buying it for the aesthetic. I’m just here to let you know that you won’t be sacrificing much to express your love for the NES. Or original Xbox. If you’re into that sort of thing.

This review was conducted using hardware provided by the manufacturer. Thanks, guys.