Incott G23 Pro Review
This mouse was kindly sent for review by MechKeys. This review is my unfiltered experience with the product.
Specs
Dimensions - 126x63.5x40mm
Weight - 65g
Main clicks - Huano Transparent Blue Shell Pink Dot Switches (Hot swappable)
Coating - UV
Scroll wheel - TTC Gold Encoder
Sensor - PAW3950 (PAW3395 Non Pro)
Polling rate - Up to 8k (Dongle only included with Pro)
Battery - 500mAh
MCU - PixArt PAR2862
Price - ~$95 CAD (~$65 CAD Non Pro)
Intro
Incott is a Chinese OEM brand. I’ve taken a look at the Incott GHERO Pro before, being a Vaxee NP-01 inspired shape at a low price. My review was largely positive, apart from the scroll wheel feeling quite loose and an annoying dongle pairing process.
The G23 (Pro) is a near direct clone of the Logitech G Pro X Superlight with hot swap switches.
I’ve been using this mouse for just over 2 weeks, and I’m impressed with its performance compared to the GHERO Pro. I’ll be making comparisons to it throughout my review.
My copy is Orange, and I’m using the stock skates. They’re the same PTFE blend as the GHERO Pro’s, which were also alright.
Basically a GPX
The GPX has a fairly simple ambidextrous shape with a middle hump. It has some fairly deep comfort grooves along the clicks. Its most defining features are a bulge at the back of the hump and inward side grooves, which most similar shapes don’t replicate. The G23 closely does.
It’s often described as a “safe” shape, but is somewhat large and most well suited for relaxed claw styles- especially carpal stabilized claw. I’m not a fan of it personally, as the very back of the hump sticking out forces me out of my preferred pincer claw grip.
Even so, it’s a tried and true shape that’ll work for a lot of people.
Now, it’s not exactly the same as a GPX, being 1mm longer at the clicks. Far closer than any other mouse on the market, though.
Great Click Implementation
Coming with Huano TBSPDs, the base switches are great. I find the click tensioning very well tuned to the point I wouldn’t care if it had hotswap features or not. Extremely light and rather bouncy, feeling better than my GHERO Pro unit (which was already very solid). Also minimal side play and no pre/post-travel inconsistencies.
But it does have hotswap switches as well, and the mechanism is unintrusive and simple. A clamp holds the switch structure to the base. I do wonder how much weight this system adds, though.
Same Grippy Coating
The G23 and G23 Pro both come with the same UV coating as the GHERO Pro. I like this coating a lot, and find it slightly better than the Pulsar (non eS) one.
Solid Scroll Wheel
Such a huge improvement from my GHERO Pro unit. On that mouse, the wheel was easily my largest gripe, feeling quite loose.
The scroll wheel here feels similar to my X2H Mini’s, which I’m very happy about. Light but defined steps, just how I like it.
Scroll click is also somewhat light.
Clicky Side Buttons
One of the largest complaints about the GPX and GPX 2 are the mushy side buttons. I’m happy to say the G23 Pro’s are solid. Also noticeably better than the GHERO Pro.
They have very little pre-travel, but a fair bit of post-travel. I don’t find this to be an issue, as it means the side buttons protrude out of the shell a good amount.
Another Tank
Just like the GHERO Pro, the G23 Pro has no flexing and impressive build quality. It’s also around the same weight, despite being larger, having hotswap switches, and the same battery size. A nice improvement, and should be the expectation from Incott.
Average Software
The Incott app appears to be a variation of the same type of OEM software I’ve seen on many other mice. The minimum debounce setting is 0ms, and it has 0.7mm, 1.0mm, and 2.0mm LoD settings like most other 3950 mice do. I’d imagine the non Pro would lack the 0.7mm option.
There are 3 sensor modes: LP, HP, and Corded. Corded is the highest performance setting.
The DPI goes all the way up to 45000. Not really useful, but cool, I guess?
Performs Very Well
I like Incott’s sensor implementation with this Pixart MCU. It’s not used on many other mice, but the wireless signal felt very reliable and I had no issues on higher polling rates. For the most part, I stuck to 1k though.
65g is a similar weight to a GPX 1 with the puck on, but still a bit heavier. Weighs more than other new releases at a similar size.
A 500mAh battery may be fairly large, but Incott claimed 143h of battery life at 1k and 50 minutes to a full charge. I didn’t really believe this, so I wanted to do a little test.
I have only charged this mouse a single time since I got it, and it lasted for well over a week of heavy use at 1k with however much charge it shipped with. The battery indicator said about 90% at the start.
143h doesn’t feel too far off, and I'd say it's more like 110-120h. Around 50 minutes to a full charge also seems accurate. Good stuff.
Overall Thoughts
I feel like this presents a more compelling deal than the original GPX, which is sometimes recommended on a sale. This is cheaper, has up to date internals, much better side buttons, and hotswap as a bit of an added bonus.
It’s a great release from Incott, who are seemingly refining their products. Just about every issue I had with the GHERO Pro was addressed here. It'd be nice if it was around 5-7g lighter though.
Like I said in my GHERO Pro review, I’d like to see an original shape from them.