Orbital Pathfinder mouse review: Infinite customization, with a great mouse to boot

The Core Pathfinder is just a half shell that houses the buttons and the sensor. Those brave enough and don’t care for ergonomics can use it as is, but that would defeat the whole purpose of customizability. Orbital also has different color shells so you can swap out the base white/black shell, but the buttons and attachments will be either white or black. The modules and their clipping mechanism may look delicate but I had no issues - cracks or snaps - swapping them in and out. The Pathfinder is a symmetrical mouse, but with one module that sort of makes it ergonomic.

The USP of the Pathfinder is the customizability and ability to personalize the “in hand feel” to a degree that no other mouse offers. While it excels at that, it’s not limited to just being customizable. At its core, it is a solid lightweight gaming mouse with accurate tracking, high polling rate support, consistent and pleasant clicks, and a grippy scroll wheel. The PAW 3950DM doesn’t miss a beat and while no one games at 30,000 DPI, the incremental adjustment is much appreciated. Similarly, I only used the mouse at 8,000 Hz polling rate briefly and switched to 1,000 Hz for better battery life.

Speaking of which, the battery life is good enough and meets the company’s claims. Using the mouse at 1,000 Hz polling, it easily lasts more than a week, which is what Orbital claims. The 300 mAh drains much quicker in 8,000 Hz and 4,000 Hz modes, with no perceptible improvement in latency. There’s a reason why even the pros stick to 1,000 Hz. Charging with the included USB Type-C cable is very quick, but the angled connector forces you to plug it in only one way. That's probably a feature to prevent cable drag on the desk during wired operation, to some degree. The connector does allow the receiver to be more planted on the desk with the cable naturally falling behind the desk top.

Coming to the customizability, as Orbital claims, there are more than 3,000 possible combinations with the different attachments in the Explore Box. With 3D printing, there are infinite customization options, and there is an active community creating and sharing models. Basically, how it works is, there are numerous modules for the left grip, right grip, and the hump. Each of these can be used with or without spacers for a slimmer or wider profile. Additionally, each module is connected using a rail and ratchet system with four “teeth” to lock the modules in four depth levels. Once in place, the teeth are strong enough to hold the shape during light use, but they may compress with a tighter grip. That’s where the spacers come in. Each module can have two spacers that go in before it, increasing the width and keeping the modules in place. Not to forget, the two extra buttons (typically forward and back) can also be customized with small, medium, and large sizes.

Also included in the Core Box are three types of skates for more control or more speed. I prefer the high control despite the higher friction.

Finding the right combination can be overwhelming with so many options, and it was. Orbitalworks recommends taking a few days or even weeks with a customized shape and then deciding what works best. I kept swapping the modules based on my grip style and shape of the mouse that felt the best. I found that you can get to the right shape fairly quickly, but fine tuning that shape can take longer. For example, an ergonomic shape works best for me and there’s only one hump module out of the four that allows for it. And, I like somewhat larger mice so adding both spacers was ideal. Same with the right grip, and for my hybrid grip style, the ‘Xtra Claw’ module worked great. There are more options for the right grip than the left, so finding the correct left grip was quite easy. I ended up with the combination that you see in the photos above, and it’s been working great.

Now, despite all this customization, there are still some gaps that can’t be filled with the Pathfinder. The overall size of the mouse even at maximum thickness (using all spacers) might still feel small for those with larger hands. Even for my medium sized hands, the high hump wasn’t high enough. The software is easy to use but a web driver would’ve been ideal. There is no Bluetooth connectivity so for someone like me who uses a Mac for work and Windows PC for gaming, separate mice are required for a wireless, dongle-less experience. The DPI button is on the bottom so no on-the-fly sensitivity switching. There are only flat spacers and if there were angled ones, the modules could be adjusted for finer precision. Lastly, there is no RGB, for those who prefer their peripherals to light up. Some of these gripes can be addressed with 3D printing but not everyone has access to a printer or the modeling skills.