Genesis Krypton 550 Gaming Mouse Review

I’m back with my Genesis Krypton 550 Gaming Mouse Review. It’s been absolutely ages since I’ve checked out a gaming mouse and as usual two come up for review at once.

I’ve also got a wireless offering from the folks over at Sandberg to write up next. My go-to mouse these days is a cheap Bluetooth one by Rapoo, it uses so little power I literally can’t remember when I last changed the AA battery. My only apprehension for this review is that I hope I haven’t got so used to having a tangle-free, wire-free mouse that I immediately dislike the wired Krypton 550, here’s hoping.

Genesis have followed on from their previous ultra-light mouse and continued the current trend of a honeycomb design. This sort of styling is becoming increasingly popular and I really quite like it. It has it’s pros and cons but I guess the biggest positive is the weight reduction.

Let’s dig a little deeper into the review. I’ll start with my first impressions and then move onto the gaming performance and build quality.

Genesis 550 Krypton Review: Side profile looks great.

Genesis Krypton 550 Gaming Mouse Review

As with literally everything that Genesis have sent over so far, the packaging is brilliant. Their branding is uniform across their entire range and their entire ecosystem works well together. The red and black colour scheme is a classic combination and is quite striking to look at. If you were browsing a shop the packaging would most definitely stand out among the crowded gaming mouse shelf.

The front of the box has some awesome high quality imagery and it’s overlaid with a gloss finish which contrasts against the somewhat muted red and black. On the back and sides of the box is where you’ll find some information about the mouse performance and compatibility. The information is clear, concise and easy to read.

It’s constructed with really good quality cardboard and one thing I particularly like about the packaging is that there isn’t much in terms of single use plastic. The only plastic found in the entire product is the tray that holds the mouse in place. As an estimate, I think around 90% of the packaging is recyclable which is great! There is some slight room for improvement but they have to start somewhere.

I’ve literally just finished my write up of the Neon 750 Gaming Headset Review so make sure you check that out aswell. You’ll see what I mean about the uniform packaging across the entire range.

The only thing I’m a little wary of is how comfortable it’s going to be when gaming for long periods of time. It looks a little smaller than my current mouse. I just hope it’s comfier than those small ‘travel’ sized mouse, which I detest. I have faith in Genesis to deliver though, they are becoming a thoroughbred in the gaming peripherals world.

Overall my first impressions are good. I just hope that good start to the review translates into real world gaming performance. Let’s take a look now at the performance qualities of this Genesis Krypton 550 Gaming Mouse.

Mouse Gaming Performance

The Krypton 550 is described as being an ultralight gaming mouse and that it is! Weighing in at just 70g it’s as light as a feather. Being light makes it super fast and that translates into it being able to improve your reaction times when aiming and squeezing the trigger on your enemy.

The lightweight design paired with the super slick feet makes for an extremely responsive mouse when it comes to movement. And if you want even greater movement performance here’s a PRO TIP; I tend to use a polymer based cleaning agent for the desk, it’s actually designed as quick detailer for cars but it really helps make the desk surface slick and the gaming mouse just glides over it, like it’s on a pocket or air!

How does it perform in the real world then? Let’s boot up some games and find out! The real question is, what should we play? I think for this review we’ll play Risk Of Rain 2 (hit the link to check out our review). Risk of Rain 2 (ROR2) will be a good test because as with most similar games, the ROR2 game mechanics require a fairly decent mouse for world exploration and tracking and then firing at your enemies.

The Krypton 550 makes aiming at enemies a breeze. It’s lightweight and comfortable in the hand. My hands aren’t ogre sized, but I guess I’ve got quite large hands and I found the mouse to be a good size that fit snugly into the palm. It was positioned well to help make button clicks easy.

After gaming for around 2 hours it continued that pleasant, comfortable feeling, which I’m pleased with. At first I thought it may not be comfortable due to it being a little smaller than my current mouse but you’ll get no complaints from me. It’s a pleasing experience and didn’t leave me with any niggling hand or wrist pain.

One thing that stood out to me about this mouse was my accuracy increased by quite a bit. I normally game with a controller so when I switch over to mouse and keyboard I find that my accuracy with the mouse dips a bit. But, with the Krypton 550 I felt like it was on par with my controller performances.

Left and right click provide good tactile feedback. It’s good to know you’ve clicked a button with that physical feedback, as sometimes the audible ‘click’ noise is drowned out by in game audio, particularly when gaming using a headset. I’ll go into a bit more detail on the switches below.

I’ll cover the cable quality further down the review but I just wanted to comment on it’s length. It’s long enough that you can move the mouse wherever you need to position your cursor but it’s short enough to not have to hide or get tangled up in any additional cable slack.

The 550 has the option to select from some pre-set DPI’s. I went for a mid-range setting which I found to be suitable for FPS games such as Splitgate, COD etc. You can download proprietary software to customise the DPI settings, but I found the default selections to be adequate.

Overall I think this mouse has met and exceeded my expectations. It performs well in the real world for day to day desktop needs and more importantly, it’s performs brilliantly where it matters most; gaming. Let’s move on now and talk about more of the features that make the Genesis Krypton 550 such a great, budget friendly option!

The Krypton 550 is comfortable and very lightweight.

Genesis Krypton 550 Gaming Mouse Review Features

The Krypton 550 has plenty of features that make it stand out from a quite frankly, super over-crowded budget gaming mouse market. It has a DPI switch, built-in memory, RGB lighting and plenty more. As I mentioned above, it also comes with it’s own software. It’s not mandatory though as most of the basic controls can be selected from the mouse itself. You’ll need to download it if you want to change the button bindings though.

The DPI selector button, which is on top of the mouse comes with four different button profiles. If you do end up downloading the Genesis software you can actually change these profiles to whichever DPI’s your game requires which is a great feature in my view.

Genesis have opted to use the PMW 3325 Optical Sensor. This particular sensor features a DPI of up to 8,000 which is more than enough for most gamers. This particular sensor type is more often than not found in most budget orientated gaming mice. Over the years I’ve been writing reviews for the blog, I’ve tested a few mice with the same 3325 sensor and (if my memory serves me correct) they all track reasonably well, the Krypton 550 included.

The Redragon M711 Cobra and the Talentech Ember are other mouse options that use the same sensor. These should also be in the same price bracket as the Genesis offering but have a slightly higher DPI setting. But, as I mentioned 8,000 is more than enough! Gamers tend to play on fairly low settings to help balance the accuracy and faster cursor movement that you get with a higher DPI.

Stiff Switches

The switches used in the construction of this mouse are really quite stiff in my opinion. When playing ROR2 my fingers didn’t get tired or anything like that but it’s something to consider if you’re go to genre is an FPS game. Also think about what switches your current mouse uses. If it’s something that uses OMRON switches you may find the Krypton 550 a little too stiff for your liking.

But before you make a decision, consider this; FPS games require a certain degree of control. You don’t want to accidentally press the button when it’s not needed. When you need to do 4-5 shots in quick succession you want to do it deliberately and with purpose. A stiffer switch allows that control.

When you have a switch that is actuated with very little pressure it becomes very easy to press the button too fast causing you to unwillingly spray a barrage of bullets, thus reducing you’r accuracy. The HUANO switches Genesis have used offer that control.

In my experience Omron switches have almost become the standard switches in most gaming mice. Genesis have done something different by choosing to use the HUANO switches. I’d not heard of these before so I did a bit of research for the purposes of my review.

They have an average life expectancy of up to 20 million clicks which should offer great reliability. But, having done some digging, they aren’t as well made as the OMRONS and are slightly cheaper. Time will tell if they made the right decision choosing the cheaper option. I certainly haven’t had any issues whilst using this mouse but saying that, I’ve only had the mouse for around 7 days.

Build Quality & Design

The honeycomb design does look rather nice and it also allows manufacturers like Genesis to make the mice so much lighter, as there is just less material needed to make it. The main part of the mouse has a matte black look to it and plenty of curves to help contour your hand easier.

In my view there’s only two design considerations to keep in mind when trying to decide if you want to buy this mouse or not. The first is, you kinda have to like the honeycomb design, it’s not for everybody. Yes it’s functional but imagine how much dust is going to accumulate on the internal components. You could get an electric air duster for that though.

The second consideration is the RGB LED lighting. I wouldn’t say I’m bored of RGB, but it’s getting ever so slightly stale in terms of design. I’m almost leaning towards it being a bit of a lazy design feature. But, that’s just my opinion! I have owned and used several RGB peripherals in recent years, so if you like it then go for it.

It’s extremely well made. The honeycomb doesn’t remove too much of the rigidity, it’s still fairly strong. I bashed it on the edge of my desk half expecting the top of the mouse to cave in. It didn’t, it held up to my abuse.

Another thing that’s well made is the cable. It’s strong, really strong. I tugged and tugged at that thing and bent it in ways no cable should ever be bent. I then plugged in back in and it worked right away. The ‘neck’ that covers the cable attaching to the USB connector hasn’t crumpled under my testing and it looks like it’ll last a lifetime.

Overall I do like the design and I’m (as usual) impressed with the trademark Genesis build quality. It may not be everyone’s cup of tea in terms of styling, but it certainly looks at home on my desk.

It’s quite a ‘low profile’ looking mouse.

How Much And Where To Buy

You’ll probably not find this for sale on Amazon. For pricing and availability check out the Genesis website. Hit the link here.

Summary And Verdict

The Genesis Krypton 550 Gaming Mouse has features that allow it to compete with brands we constantly see named in the ‘top gaming mice of 2021’ articles. It delivers everything you could need in a gaming mouse. The only thing I would like and I’m not sure purists or competitive e-sports teams would agree, but I want a Bluetooth version or one with an optional cable at least. Latency with Bluetooth isn’t an issue anymore thanks to ever increasing Bluetooth standards.

Score: 10/10

I haven’t given many of these but for me at least it has to be top marks. It’s comfortable, responsive and competivley priced. Unlike other mice I’ve reviewed Genesis haven’t over promised or under-delivered.