A4Tech’s V-Track powered mice is supposed to be better than Bluetrack

When I think of A4Tech, I automatically think of affordable mice that gets the job done without trying to be fancy or anything. Well I just came back from an A4Tech event where they showcased their latest mice technology, the V-Track, which is supposed to be better or at least rival Microsoft’s Bluetrack and Logitech’s Darkfield technology.

The V-Track technology allows A4Tech’s mice to function properly on virtually any surface without the need of a pad. It even works on transparent or reflective glass, furry rugs or carpets, and on uneven surfaces. And it will even work properly on your skin or even your hair, not that you would want to do that. But for those who uses their laptop with their dog beside them, yep you can use your dog as a dogpad.

Behind the scenes, optical mice uses a slightly angled light path to the surface while V-Track technology uses a vertical reinforced light for a more precise output even on soft 3D fabrics and uneven surfaces. Compared to Microsoft’s BlueTrack, V-Tracks main advantage is that it works properly on uneven or 3D surfaces due to the vertical light it use to illuminate the surface.

It also uses a short light path which should lower power consumption giving you more juice out of your battery when using a wireless mouse. V-Track also has a tiny lens aperture compared to traditional optical mice and this prevents dust accumulation on V-Track powered mice.

They had some of these V-Track mice for us to test on a variety of surfaces. While it tracks properly in furry rugs, the furs themselves hamper the movement of the mouse so it kinda defeats the purpose. You could use it on bed or carpet without a problem though. As for glass, I still find it not to precise all the time even when using 2000 dpi. There are still moments when the tracking will delay slightly. You won’t mind if while browsing but it might frustrate you when gaming.

Some of their mice has a special button that allows you attach functions like taking a screenshot, or marking the screen (useful for presenting), launching a file or an app, etc. One model even doubles as a laser pointer. Then there are also models with another button that allows you to change the dpi (up to 2000) in an instant. Very useful for gaming.

I think the biggest edge of A4Tech’s V-Track over Microsoft’s BlueTrack or Logitech’s Darkfield technology is its affordability. There are a variety of mice from wired to wireless to choose from ranging from P350 to P900. That’s cheap folks considering that the cheapest BlueTrack mouse is P790 while some ranges in the thousands.

Although A4Tech probably won’t win awards with the design and construction of their mice, you can’t argue with the price. They are also planning to phase out their ordinary optical mice with V-Track technology so expect prices to get cheaper.

F3 in the middle

There’s even a gaming mouse, called the F3, which also uses V-Track and costs only around P1,000. If you think your gaming mouse is not doing its job properly and Razer is just too expensive, you might want to try the F3 which some top gamers in Asia are already using, or so they say.

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