Fnatic Bolt Wireless Gaming Mouse Review

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Cody has been a gamer ever since his family got a Sega Genesis when he was five-years-old. In addition to his love of narrative-focused RPGs and ho... Read more

Reviewed by Benjamin Barr

There are a lot of different kinds of gaming mice on the market, so it can be a little intimidating trying to find the right one. Those who are looking for an ultra-light weight mouse with low latency wireless connectivity might consider the new Fnatic Bolt.

Fnatic specializes in eSports-grade gaming peripherals, and they just sent one of their new mice to us for a fair and unbiased review. Here is what we found.

Unboxing and Build Quality

Inside the box, you will find the mouse itself, some instructions, a USB dongle for the 2.4G connection, a braided cable, and an adapter that allows you to use the charging cable as an extension for the dongle. The Bolt has a moderately symmetrical design, but it’s primarily intended for right-handed users. It’s exceptionally lightweight, but isn’t perforated like many other light designs.

It has six buttons: the right and left, the scroll wheel, one below the scroll wheel to switch through the different profiles, and two programable buttons on the thumb-side. The scroll wheel has a silicone coating that gives it a grippy texture. It’s also the only part of the mouse that has RGB. Each of buttons feels secure, and the Kailh brand switches are very satisfying to press.

Outside the mouse, there are a few really impressive design choices that Fnatic has made regarding the wireless setup. To start, the cable is braided and extremely light. It also has prongs on either side of the USB-C end that insert into the mouse. These achieve two things: they make the cable lock in place so that it doesn’t come loose while gaming, and they angle the cable slightly upward so that it doesn’t drag on the mousepad as much.

The adapter for the wireless dongle is also cleverly thought out. It allows the user to keep the dongle closer to the mouse so that there is a lower probability of signal interference. This also makes it so that the cable itself is easily accessible for when the mouse’s battery gets low and you need to switch to wired mode.

Wireless Performance

The Bolt has two wireless connectivity modes: 2.4G and Bluetooth 5.1. Users can easily transition between these modes by using a switch found on the bottom of the mouse.

The 2.4G connection is incredibly responsive. We tested it by playing some Deathloop and found that the mouse was more than capable of keeping up with the fast-paced shooting mechanics in that game without any noticeable latency. Fnatic claims the mouse can operate in this mode for 110 hours. We didn’t exactly time it, but we managed to use the mouse consistently for just over a week before needing to recharge it.

Bluetooth connectivity has a bit more latency and isn’t usually recommended for gaming, but it extends the mouse’s battery life considerably — taking it up to 210 hours on a single charge.  This makes it better for productivity and allows users to get a bit more wireless time with their mouse between gaming sessions.

Fnatic OP Software

In addition to all of the physical design features, the Bolt also comes with control software. Fnatic OP isn’t the most complex software that we’ve ever seen, but it does offer some really great features. The Bolt has four onboard memory profiles, and you can use the software to adjust what settings the mouse uses under each of them. You can use the Performance tab to control the CPI, adjust lift off distance, polling rate, debounce, and the amount of time before the Bolt goes to sleep due to inactivity. The Key Bindings section allows you to remap any buttons on the mouse.

Then there’s the Lighting section. There are only six lighting effects available for the Bolt: Colour Editor (Static), Pulse, Fade, Heartbeat, and Reactive. Truth be told, though, the only light in the mouse is in the scroll wheel, and it isn’t terribly vibrant or impressive. One nice thing about the software is that you can see how much charge is left on the mouse, letting you know if it’s nearly time to plug it back in.

Is the Bolt Worth the Money?

The Bolt MSRPs at $89.99, which is a reasonable price for this degree of quality. Its biggest competition is probably the Logitech G703 Lightspeed, which has a similar design and feature set. It MSRPs at $99.99, but is currently on sale for $69.99 on Amazon at the time of writing.

It’s worth noting, though, that the G703 weighs 95g, making the Bolt about 2/3 its weight. I don’t know that there’s another wireless gaming mouse on the market that can match both the Bolt’s incredibly light weight and reliable wireless performance.

For these reasons, we think the Bolt is an excellent choice for competitive gamers looking for a light, wireless gaming mouse that’s all performance and no frills.