***1. Shape, Grip, & Comfort***

* **Hand Size & Grip:** My hands are **16x7.5 cm**. Surprisingly, I can actually use a claw grip on this mouse, despite it being a pure fingertip design.
* **Shape Dynamics:** The shape overall is really good. I initially thought my hands would be too small to fingertip the M5, but it actually gives me the best range of motion I’ve ever had. The side width matches up nicely with the front sides of my **Sora V2**, so the transition didn't feel weird at all.
* **Side Flatness & DIY Fix:** Both sides are completely flat with no curves, which caused my pinky to cramp up after long sessions. To fix this, I added **air-dry lightweight clay** near the rear to create an asymmetrical flare for my pinky to rest on (similar to the Fenrir shape). *Note: Since the G-Wolves clay isn't available in my country, I just bought cheap lightweight clay from an online shopping app*

***2. Build Quality & Coating***

* **Material & Aesthetics:** The mouse is made of **Forged Carbon Fiber**. Whether that's 100% true or just marketing, I don't really care because it looks absolutely stunning, especially on the front mouse clicks: I will never cover any griptape on the front buttons to admire the material appearance.
* **Coating/Texture:** The coating feels very chalky. I know a lot of people say it provides zero grip, and it’s true that the main clicks are quite slippery. However, I actually love chalky coatings. I still use grip tape to avoid skin gunk building up in the honeycomb holes, but the side holes themselves provide more than enough grip to use bare if you prefer.
* **Flex & Creaking:** Absolutely perfect. No flex or creaking whatsoever on my copy.
* **Weight Distribution:** On my scale, it weighs around **31 grams** with grip tape applied to both sides. The weight is perfectly centered. Having never used a mouse under 40g before, 30g feels phenomenal; there is zero inertia when hard-flicking.

***3. Clicks & Scroll Wheel***

* **Main Clicks (M1/M2):** With my normal finger placement right over the switches, there is zero pre-travel or post-travel. If you press at the very front edge of the buttons, there is a tiny bit of post-travel. Some reviewers complained about a "scratchy" feeling, but my copy is completely fine with no side wobble. They use **Omron optical switches**, which have a distinct pingy sound that I find incredibly satisfying. They are very tactile and spammable.
* **Side Buttons:** I'm not sure if my copy is defective, but the side buttons feel like they are rubbing against the side wall. I owned the original M5 before and don't remember this issue. On this V2, they feel very stiff and extremely mushy on the pre-travel. I don't use side buttons much in-game, but it definitely hurts the overall premium feel.
* **Scroll Wheel & Middle Click:** The scroll wheel steps are well-defined—not muddy at all, and no weird stuttering. The middle click feels a bit strange to press, but it functions perfectly fine.

***4. Performance & Hardware***

* **Sensor Tracking:** The **PAW3950** is flawless. No stutters, spin-outs, or tracking issues in any games.
* **Polling Rate:** It supports up to **8000 Hz**, but because I play on a lower-spec laptop, I can't test higher polling rates without risking performance stability. Honestly, 8K feels like a gimmick anyway; 1000 Hz is literally all you need.
* **Battery Life:** It has a **200mAh battery**. I’ve only used it for 2 days, but it only drains about 5–7% after a 3-hour gaming session at 1 kHz with all performance settings maxed out. I assume it can easily last a week on a full charge.
* **Dongle:** The built-in OLED screen looks great and is a nice touch for the setup. I just wish there was a way to upload custom images to it.

***5. Glides & Skates***

* **Stock Skates:** It comes with both full-size PTFE skates and dot skates in the box. The dot skates come pre-installed; they feel perfectly fine to me, so I have no plans to swap them out.

***6. Software & In-Game Experience***

* **Web UI:** The web-based software has almost everything you need. However, the site layout looks a bit bland, and because it's translated from Chinese, some of the English wording feels a little weird lol.
* **Tac FPS (CS2):** I hit some great shots, but because there is palm support, I struggled with micro-adjustments due to the lack of stability. I'll be sticking to my Sora V2 for tactical shooters.
* **Tracking FPS (Apex Legends):** The mouse gave me a ton of confidence. Tracking feels way smoother because of the massive vertical range of motion, and pulling down with just my fingers made recoil control incredibly easy.

**OVERALL SCORE: 9/10**

***TL;DR opinion***

* **Pros:** Insanely light (31g with grip tape), perfectly balanced weight, flawless PAW3950 sensor, crisp and satisfying "pingy" Omron optical main clicks, and incredible range of motion for tracking-heavy games like Apex Legends. Web-based software means no heavy bloatware.
* **Cons:** Completely flat sides caused pinky cramps (had to DIY a clay flare modification), chalky coating is quite slippery, and the side buttons on my copy are very stiff and mushy.
* **Verdict (9/10):** A phenomenal budget carbon fiber fingertip mouse. If you play tactical shooters (CS2/Valorant), the lack of back support might feel unstable, but for fast-paced tracking shooters, it gives you massive aiming confidence.

A bit late to the party on this one, but here are my thoughts on the Darmoshark M5 V2 Air