As some of you might remember, last year, Microsoft pretty much revolutionized the world of mice by launching the highly innovative BlueTrack technology, which offers serious improvements over both its optical and laser counterparts. And since the SideWinder family of gaming peripherals is one of the company's most famous hardware series, the Redmond giant has decided to infuse some of that BlueTrack wonder into this gaming-oriented peripheral as well, and so, the SideWinder X8 was born.

The SideWinder X8 combines Microsoft's impressive level of expertise in building peripherals in general and mice in particular with all the advantages provided by the BlueTrack technology, which offers processing of 13,000 frames per second, 75g maximum acceleration and 120 inches per second maximum speed. Hence, it's no wonder that the X8 is able to deliver some of the best frame rates, speeds and accelerations on the market, with a tracking range from 250 dots per inch (dpi) to 4,000 dpi.

Despite the fact that most professional gaming mice are wired, Microsoft has decided that the 2.4GHz wireless module built within the X8 could provide lag-free play with virtually no latency, so no wires are involved. However, for this reason, the mouse comes equipped with a rechargeable battery, which provides up to 30 hours of gaming on a single charge. As an alternative, gamers can always use the play-and-charge cable, equipped with a winding cord management system that offers easy charging, even while in use.

“Many gamers have long desired a wireless gaming mouse that doesn’t compromise on performance, and Microsoft delivers with the SideWinder X8 Mouse,” stated Bill Jukes, product marketing manager for Microsoft Hardware, when talking about the company's latest development “Combining the best tracking performance available with an innovative wireless solution, this mouse will change the way gamers perceive wireless performance.” 

Pretty much as expected (since, after all, we're talking about a gaming peripheral), the SideWinder X8 is not exactly very cheap, selling for around 100 US dollars starting this week. However, if it does provide the promised level of performance, then the price tag is quite a worthy one.


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