Cherry has introduced its MW 4500 mouse featuring a rather unique shape that promises to reduce, or even prevent hand fatigue, but only for right handers. The mouse is aimed at mainstream users in office or home, it has a sensor with a relatively high DPI sampling rate, is outfitted with six buttons and a scroll wheel. What is particularly noteworthy is that it is not expensive at all.

Throughout the last decade anf a half, computer mice have evolved quite greatly as manufacturers experimented with shapes and sensor technologies to provide the best ergonomics and performance for different types of users and applications. The absolute majority of today’s “ergonomic” mice features asymmetric shape along with various design elements to improve the user comfort. The Cherry MW 4500 takes some pages from today’s ergonomic mice, but looks radically different than most of them because its palm rest has an angle of 45°. Such palm rest angle is more common for trackballs rather than mice, but Cherry believes that it “relieves wrist tension and allows fatigue-free work.” Ergonomics is, of course, a very individual thing, but it should be interesting to see how such a radically high angle affects pointing precision when editing images or playing FPS games.

The extravagant shape is the key selling point of the Cherry MW 4500, but it does not mean that the manufacturer did not care about other aspects of the product. Inside the Cherry MW 4500, there is an infrared laser sensor that supports 600, 900 and 1200 DPI sampling rates, which is in line with other modern mice for the SOHO market. When it comes to buttons, there are six regular keys found on all modern mice, nothing extraordinary. The mouse is wireless, it comes with a tiny receiver that resembles Logitech’s Unify and needs two AAA batteries to operate. Cherry does not disclose how long the batteries are going to last for an average user, but says there is a status LED that warns the user about a low battery. As for dimensions and weight, the mouse measures 120×60×35 mm and weighs 120 grams.

Normally, mice with fancy ergonomics come at a hefty price. This is not the case with the Cherry MW 4500, which will retail for €30, $35, or £30, depending on the region (and at price points like these, it will be interesting to buy the MW 4500 simply out of interest — is it really comfortable to use?). The mouse will be covered by a two-year warranty.

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Source: Cherry

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  • JoeyJoJo123 - Monday, December 18, 2017 - link

    Now this looks a much better than the last MC 4900 mouse in terms of ergonomics. I'm surprised the MC 4900 mouse actually passed through Cherry's rigorous ergonomics testing.

    At $35, I'd also just buy it to give it a try, even if miniature/portable wireless laptop mice aren't particularly fatiguing to me (and they're about as unergonomic as it goes for common mouse shapes).
  • wolrah - Monday, December 18, 2017 - link

    I have the Anker Ergonomic Mouse which has a similar design, and while it feels nice to move around the orientation poses a problem when trying to click. I can't seem to do it without slightly dragging at the same time because I'm pushing sideways on the mouse to click. It basically requires that you counter with your thumb in a claw grip of sorts.
  • DanNeely - Monday, December 18, 2017 - link

    I'd been wondering about that since I first saw a mouse from a specialist ergo company that was rotated 90* relative to standard orientation that had the buttons on the finger side.
  • alienz - Monday, December 18, 2017 - link

    If you're referring to the Evoluent mouse I've used them for years and never noticed a push when trying to click. They are solid enough to keep them grounded.

    That said I don't game much with them at all, but played a couple of hours of Doom with one. I'm not taking home any prizes, but it worked just fine.
  • DanNeely - Monday, December 18, 2017 - link

    Probably, I never noted a brand name, but they're the only vertical mouse Google's turning up...
  • LiquidSilverZ - Monday, December 18, 2017 - link

    I've been using one similar to those that I bought on Amazon (also available on eBay). It is the Delux M618LU Wired Vertical Mouse (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00D19KF7U). I like it a lot and have gotten used to it already. The feel/grip is similar to a pistol grip, which feels natural for point-and-shoot games. It comes with a wrist rest that attaches to the mouse, which I didn't prefer and have removed. It also has a DPI button on top that is easily accessible, and it needs no additional drivers on Win10.
    It's only about $20 and should be considered if any carpal tunnel/tendonitis pain is felt. There are some reviews on youtube, such as: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yaGhWN2cvUY
    They are mostly positive and usually rate this Delux higher than Anker and Evoluent (I have tried neither).
  • LiquidSilverZ - Monday, December 18, 2017 - link

    No edit, sweet. Product link was incorrect.
    Amazon Link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00D19KF7U/
    Manufacturer Link: http://www.deluxworld.com/en/index.php?ac=article&...
  • BinaryTB - Monday, December 18, 2017 - link

    What are the drivers like? Extremely bloated like Logitech or Razer? Or default only OS drivers like Zowie?

    Rant:
    I loved Logitech/Razer mice, but their drivers just got worse and worse every year in the name of "ease of use" and requiring online accounts so that they could gather more data on usage. I don't need a program running in the background that shows me a heatmap of where I've clicked.
  • JoeyJoJo123 - Monday, December 18, 2017 - link

    I also like driverless mice, and Zowie's been using good, comfortable, no-nonsense mouse shapes with quality sensors for a good while.

    I don't imagine Cherry would have an obtrustive driver, as Cherry-branded keyboards don't have an explicit driver download-and-install package. (And Razer and Logitech tend to just have a large driver install for all their peripherals in-one, so just like their mice, their keyboards require an explicit driver package install to customize settings.)
  • Hurr Durr - Monday, December 18, 2017 - link

    I would agree with you on Razer, but Logitech? All mice in their current lineup should have onboard memory, so you don`t even need LGS(this is what you meant by "driver", I guess) outside of initial setup.

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