Iogear Kaliber Gaming Fokus Pro Laser Gaming Mouse Review

Having a gaming peripheral stand up to the rigors of gaming is something that both normal gamers and the professionals that use them to beat out their gaming brethren in the tournament arena rely on to stay at their very best. In my years of nowhere near professional level gaming, I’ve used several mice before finding one that suits my favorite genres. But what I haven’t found over those years is one near as rugged as the new Kaliber Gaming™ FOKUS Pro Laser Gaming Mouse by Iogear.

gme670_0Iogear has been in the business of creating a wide variety of computer connectivity solutions for years now and I’ve even used more than a few of them myself in that time. The new Kaliber Gaming line of gaming peripherals available today is yet another step towards continuing their goals to making the complicated world of technology just a little bit user-friendly. The FOKUS Gaming Mouse isn’t my first entry into dabbling with tougher gaming peripherals as I use a mechanical gaming keyboard daily for play and work so I know just how important a long lasting device is to gamers.

When I first unboxed the FOKUS, I came to the immediate realization that this mouse was something else entirely from the rest of the Kaliber Gaming™ series mice. While the FOKUS does use the same ABS and polycarbonate material for some of its construction it features a strikingly white sturdy aluminum shell pretty much everywhere your hand will make contact with it. Normally I’m not a huge fan of white gaming peripherals due to their penchant to show dirtiness rather quickly but I have to say the Imperial White design is rather visually striking. It’s actually just one device is an actual set of Kaliber Gaming™ devices to carry this clearly Star Wars inspired coloration for those interested.

gme670_1The FOKUS follows the Kaliber Gaming™ tradition of featuring a lighting scheme that by default ebbs with the popular “breathing” effect seen in a lot of other gaming peripherals. It differentiates itself however as it deviates from the standard blue lighting scheme of the other mice in the Kaliber series to offer a total of 7 different colors that can be seen in ebbing rotation all over the design. Of course blue is included among the options and you can set the mouse to one of the colors or turn them off entirely if it’s too distracting. Personally I left the lighting in its default setting as it looks rather cool in a darkened room.

The Kaliber Gaming™ FOKUS Pro Laser Gaming Mouse is easily the most rugged of the three gaming mice that I’ve had the pleasure to test out with its largely aluminum shell. While it doesn’t have the rubber hand grip reinforcements of the RETIKAL, I really dig that it shared the same basic ambidextrous concept as the SYMMETRE offering both left and right handed gamers an even playing field with this mouse. The design also features rubber pads to help against slip and a sturdy braided cable measuring 6.5 feet that allowed for plenty of play in cord with little physical drag much like their other mouse designs.

Other than its striking appearance the FOKUS features an 8 button layout designed to offer players a customizable experience. Its ambidextrous design puts it in the same general button configuration as the SYMETTRE with the notable exception of the single DPI button under the scroll wheel allowing players to quick-switch the DPI between the 5 presets ranging for 800-8200 DPI. That said it does lack a dedicated button for switching the custom user defined configuration profiles so you’ll have to either use the downloadable Kaliber Gaming™ software to switch before loading up a program or dedicate one of the configurable buttons to allow cycling profiles on the fly.

iogearfokusambiThat said the real feature with this mouse is its FOKUS on giving gamers the speed and precision on a casual to tournament level that they need to stay a step ahead in an ever changing PC gaming environment. With 4K gaming becoming more prevalent in the PC market thanks to new visual hardware and games like The Division, Rise of the Tomb Raider and the newly released Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare this year having a high level DPI makes the FOKUS Pro Laser Gaming Mouse perfect for just these sort of games. I found adjusting my DPI with incredible ease during recent sessions of playing The Division where I needed low DPI for sniping and higher DPI for moving and firing for more hip fire aiming of assault rifles and LMGs in combat.

gme670_2I ran the FOKUS through the ringer testing it on everything from point and click dungeon crawlers to the tougher and grueling venues of online shooters and much like its brethren held up spectacular. If I had any real complaints they would be minor like me hitting the right side buttons way to easily at times when I didn’t mean to in the heat of battle. Depending on what you actually set those buttons to do it could cost you in game but again it’s all in how you configure by using the separate Kaliber Gaming software made available from the RETIKAL product page on Iogear’s website. This software allows you to customize and program the FOKUS pretty much anyway you want with some possible consideration for profile switching needed.

The Kaliber Gaming™ FOKUS Pro Laser Gaming Mouse definitely falls into the higher tier of gaming mice that I’ve tried with its DPI range and that makes it versatile in more than just gaming. This is a mouse that I can see being used by designers and digital artists of all kinds with its ability to allow precise lines or quick strokes at a moment’s notice. As someone that dabbled lightly in both areas for fun over the years, I can really see this devices potential outside of gaming.

At the end of my time with the new Kaliber Gaming™ FOKUS Pro Laser Gaming Mouse, I can safely say that while I like the versatility of the other mice on the Kaliber series this one is by far my favorite. Its main focus on DPI and its rugged construction shows that this is a mouse that is designed to take a beating while offering all gamers an edge when it comes to speed and precision. It definitely gains my respect with the fact that it is made to be accessible to every gamer with the ambidextrous design and the customization offered by the Kaliber Gaming™ software. If you’re looking for a new mouse or just getting started with PC gaming, the Kaliber Gaming™ FOKUS Pro Laser Gaming Mouse is definitely worth checking out at your local retailer or online today.

Author: Jason Flick
Started my gaming life with a NES and copy of Mario at a young age. Since then I've found a love for all gaming things dealing with adventure, roleplaying and first person shooters across all systems, handhelds and PC. Joined up with Game Chronicles years ago to write about the games I love to play.

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