The Fenrir line-up is fresh from G-Wolves consisting of two mice, the Fenrir Max, and the Fenrir Asym. These mice are designed for fingertip grip, which is not my normal style of grip, but fortunately I was able to take some extra time with these mice to use them to their fullest, and they might have swayed me over to preferring fingertip grip.
Testing Period: Over 2 Months
Mousepads: Tekkusai Entity, Padsmith Empress V2, Vaxee PC, Wraith Esports Sunset
Hand Size: 19.5cm x 10cm
As the name suggests, the Fenrir Max is the larger of the two while also being fully symmetrical and having a solid shell design. Both of these mice have strengths and weaknesses compared to each other which I will go over in this review.
Specifications
Sensor: Pixart PMW-3950
Weight: 21g (Fenrir Asym), 24g (Fenrir Max)
Switches: Omron Mini (Fenrir Asym), Blue Shell pink Dot (Fenrir Max)
Price: $159.99
Dimensions: Fenrir Max – L:75mm W:63mm H:27mm
Fenrir Asym – L:75mm W:61mm H:31mm
Battery: 200mAh
Unboxing
The unboxing experience coming from G-Wolves is some of the best, from the Holographic box and the carry case, to the highest amount of accessories I’ve ever seen coming from a mouse, G-Wolves certainly did an excellent job with the unboxing experience and included accessories. Both of the Fenrirs have the same unboxing experience, the only differentiating factor is the box design.
In the Box:
4x G-Wolves Lightweight Clay
2x Arm sleeves with wrist area coverage and thumb hole
3x dust cover stickers for the bottom
2x sets of full sized skates
1x set of grip tape
2x NFC chips
1x Carry Case
30x 0.15mm dot foam spacers
30x 0.1mm dot foam spacers
30x ptfe dot skates
1x USB A to USB C black braided cable
1x USB A to USB C thin gray braided cable
1x 8k Dongle
1x Fenrir
Accessories
I’ve got to say that the accessories themselves feel nice and I continued to use them even when I wasn’t testing the mouse. I quite enjoy using the included sleeves on both glass and cloth, so if you’re thinking about getting a sleeve along with this mouse, no need, G-Wolves have you covered. The sleeve I was using is the Midori B4M, but I prefer this one because of the wrist area being covered and it’s a more stretchy thin fabric that better fits to the shape of my arm. The only downside of the sleeves from my experience is that they aren’t really durable, but I can’t complain especially considering that G-wolves include two sleeves per mouse.
The cables feel premium, I was even comfortable using the included thinner gray cable for wired play. It still obviously felt wired but it was significantly less noticeable than the more standard black cable that’s included and is most commonly included with mice.
The included grip tape is G-wolves’ own, and is designed to fit perfectly to each mouse model. It looks unique and consists of many smaller modules so you can apply as little or as much as you would like. I’d say the included grip tape is good enough to not have to buy after market unless you specifically want something extra thin.
The carry case is a cool accessory that as someone who travels a lot, I appreciate it. I doubt that many people will use it but for those people who will it’s certainly a welcome addition. The carry case is quite spacious, I was able to have it comfortably hold 1x full size mouse, both of the Fenris, 2 cables, and all 3 dongles. The available space inside roughly measures 16cm L * 9cm W * 5cm H. In terms of compartments there are none besides mesh pockets on either side which are large enough to fit a full sized mouse.
The Dot foam spacers came in clutch, my Fenrir Asym unit had an uneven base which made it irritating to use on glass, but thanks to the dot foam spacer I was able to add some extra thickness between the base and the skate on the corner where there was the most unevenness, and it completely fixed the issue, it felt perfect – zero wobble.
Quality
Both of these mice are rock solid. When stress testing their structural integrity I was surprised by the absence of flex. I was expecting the Fenrir Asym to at least flex on its hump since it has large holes there, and from my previous experience with a mouse like the Finalmouse ULX Prophecy which was easy to flex the area with holes, the Fenrir Asym was nothing like this, I was not able to cause it to flex.
Overall the engineering is really impressive and G-Wolves did a great job. The PCB reinforces the sides which contributes to the lack of flex on the sides. I haven’t experienced any creaking either despite my heavy use over the past few months. G-wolves genuinely impressed me with the build quality and I hope other companies take notes.
Clicks
Main clicks:
The clicks on both mice are great, but different, the Fenrir Asym is equipped with Omron Mini switches while the Fenrir Max has Omron Pink dot blue shell switches. Not only are the switches different but I feel like the implementation is completely different as well. I feel like the clicks on the Fenrir Asym have less total travel and hence feels snappier. The implementation of the pink dot blue shells on the Fenrir Max is still good but not as good as their implementation on my Finalmouse ULX Prophecy, they feel lighter on the ULX. Regarding the build of the clicks it’s once again impressive, none of the Fenrirs have any side wobble on the main clicks, there’s very minimal pre or post travel, especially on the Fenrir Asym, the Fenrir max has slightly more but it’s still near perfect.
Scroll Wheel:
The scroll wheel is implemented well, both of the scroll wheels have well defined steps and grippy rubber ring, they’re a tad on the heavier side to actuate the click but I haven’t had any issues and it worked perfectly fine.
Side Buttons:
The side buttons are built the same way on both of the mice with a split design, they are the same size and feel practically the same. The Side buttons are really small but because G-Wolves decided to have them split with a gap in between, it makes them pretty usable, they feel nice with minimal pre-travel and slight post travel.
The only issue I have with the side-buttons is because the Fenrir Asym doesn’t have much height, my thumb is as thick as the mouse where the sidebuttons are located, meaning that my thumb rests on them. I thought this would be an issue, but because of how light the Fenrir Asym is at 21g, moving the mouse is effortless, and I never exerted enough pressure while moving the mouse to initiate the side button. Throughout my multiple months of use I have actuated the side buttons accidentally on two occasions during aim training, where I accidentally pressed into them to micro-adjust, but after getting used to the shape and the position of the side buttons it never happened again. After getting the hang of it I might even prefer having my thumb directly on the side buttons. I found it especially beneficial in faster paced games, not only because it’s faster/easier to actuate, but it requires less movement of my thumb, meaning less adjusting, and in a fast paced environment it was meaningful.
Coating/Grip
G-wolves decided to not apply a coating, wether its to save weight, or to how they claim be more eco-friendly. Instead of coating both the Fenrir Asym and the max have either holes, or raised raised hexagonal pattern which allows you to have something to grip on when holding the mouse. The Fenrir Max is fully covered in this hexagonal pattern, while this pattern is only on the sides of the Fenrir Asym. Since the Asym has holes on the main clicks without the hexagonal pattern, the main clicks are smooth and don’t really have anything to grip to, so I’d recommend to use grip tape on these mice in general, but especially on the Asym’s main clicks. I’m also glad to say that the coating isn’t a fingertip magnet, although sweat residue does get stuck along the raised hexagonal cells, making it necessary to wipe clean every now and then to prevent gunk build up.
Shapes
The Fenrir Max is the shape I’d recommend to those who have never tried fingertip before. It maintains both the width and the button height of regular sized mice, and will probably be an easier transition in comparison to the smaller fingertip mice or even the Fenrir Asym. The sides are flat and angled outward towards the rear. The main clicks have comfortable finger grooves, and the side buttons are right above where my thumb naturally rests, despite them being small, they are separated, easy to actuate, and I haven’t had any misclicks. It also has a higher hump than the Fenrir Asym but is still relatively flat, the hump wasn’t high enough for me to be able to have contact with the bottom of my fingers so I was only able to grip the Fenrir Max with a pure fingertip grip.
The Fenrir Asym has the same length and width of the Fenrir max, but with a twist, it’s lower overall, and the bottom right side has a sharp flare outwards towards the base.
The lower button height of the Fenrir Asym is very noticeable, and personally I prefer it. It makes using the mouse feel more effortless, my hand is in a more natural position as if I was just laying it on my desk. The flare on the right side perfectly provides an angled surface for my pinky, allowing me to have some extra control. I also often found that on other mice if the sides were completely flat my hand would occasionally cramp from the awkward angle of my pinky, but with this flare it feels very comfortable. If you’ve experienced cramps from having an uncomfortable grip with your pinky the fenrir Asym might be your solution.
Software
G-wolves has some nice Web-based software, it works flawlessly for me, as shown in the screenshots above it has a clean and simple design, G-wolves gets a pass on this for me. G-wolves also recently created a mobile app that allows you to control your mouse settings from your phone, I’ve tried using it, testing, and the whole process of using the mobile app as well as setting it up seemed very unpolished, as if its a work in progress. The download links only worked in certain browser, and I’ve encountered many unusual issues to the point where I cant recommend using the mobile app, especially for iOS users because the app costs $6.99 for apple users. Maybe in the future G-wolves will improve the setup and use of the mobile app, but at its current state its not worth the hassle and I would definitely stick to G-wolves web-based software as it worked perfectly for me.
Is it worth buying/should you get one?
Coming in at $159 for the basic color ways(black, white with green accents), and $179 for the special colors(violet, emerald green, sapphire blue, silver shadow, tianlan(sky blue)) these are not cheap mice, but are they worth your money? Both of the Fenrirs are some of the best if not the best fingertip mice, and provide something outstanding on the market, for example the Fenrir Max is the lightest solid shell wireless mouse you can find, and the Fenrir Asym is even lighter without having to sacrifice the scroll wheel or the side buttons AND has a unique shape. If you are looking for the best all around fingertip mice I don’t think it gets much better than these, G-wolves really impressed me especially with the build quality of these mice, and I can wholeheartedly recommend them.
Which Fenrir is right for you?
When swapping between the two, these are the 3 differences that stood out:
- The button height on the Fenrir Asym is lower, It feels more natural as if your hand was laying on your mousepad, I find it gives a more precise aiming feel but I’d consider this to be personal preference. Although the difference in button height isn’t drastic I can definitely notice the lower button height and I consider it to be more comfortable. It feels as if it reduces the chances of wrist strain(not that I have experienced any on either mouse, the Asym just feels more comfortable while the max feels normal which I suspect because it has a similar button height to many of my other mice such as my Finalmouse ULX Prophecy medium and Endgame Gear op1 8k).
2. Since the Fenrir Asym is overall less tall, there is less space underneath the side buttons, this meant that my thumb had to be on the side buttons which can rarely lead to accidental clicks . Meanwhile on Fenrir Max this is not an issue for me, my thumb fits underneath the side buttons without touching them, and I haven’t had any clicks accidently. Keep in mind both of these mice are in the low 20 grams so you don’t need to use much force to move them at all, which makes accidental clicks to be harder than you may assume. In general having my thumb on the side buttons wasn’t an issue for me personally, it might have actually benefitted me to have my thumb already on the side buttons in fast paced games, but I can imagine for someone with larger fingers or with a strong grip, accidental side button clicks might be more a more common occurrence.
3. The Fenrir Asym has the right side flare out at the bottom, creating an angled surface for my pinkie allowing me to have more control. At first it didn’t feel significant at all, but the more I used the Asym the more I appreciated it, and I’ve learned to like it.
In conclusion both of these mice are fantastic, my personal pick out of the two is the Fenrir Asym, as I believe it’s better as a fingertip mouse due to the lower overall height, and the asymmetrical side flare makes it feel more natural to hold. Just because of how natural the Fenrir Asym feels to me, it will probably be my main or at the very least be in my main rotation. I would still recommend the Fenrir Max over the Asym if it’s your first time trying a fingertip mouse as the button height and the size is overall closer to a regular mouse and the Fenrir Max can act as a good introduction to fingertip mice to someone who hasn’t tried it before, besides that the the Fenrir Max has a solid shell which many might find more preferable.
Pros:
- Weight (lightest on the market)
- Build quality (extremely solid, no flex, no creaking)
- Shape
- Unboxing Experience & Included Accessories
- Web Based Software
- Solid Shell Design (For Fenrir Max only)
- Clicks and Sensor Implementation
Cons:
– $159 price (expensive in general but validated considering you cannot find anything better at a lower price, and both of these provide a unique experience, especially the Fenrir Asym)
– QC: My fenrir Asym did have an uneven base but I was able to fix that with the included dot spacers.
