It’s amazing what twenty dollars can get you. Budget gaming brand E-Blue makes a variety of wired and wireless gaming mice, and the wireless Cobra is far nicer than a sub-$20 mouse should be. I wouldn’t advise anyone to buy a cheap mouse over the Logitech G602: for $50, Logitech gives you a better sensor, software to adjust DPI and set keybinds, and better build quality and battery life. But if you don’t have the money and just want something dirt cheap, it’s hard to argue against the Cobra Advanced for $17.
The Cobra has three DPI options, 500/1000/1750, and a nicely narrow ambidextrous (except there are only thumb buttons on the left side) body design. The left and right buttons are nicely concave and cradle your fingers and have a fast, firm click action. The thumb buttons have a softer click, but are well positioned and firm enough to lay your thumb on top of without accidentally clicking. It’s a light mouse that glides easily and feels responsive while gaming. I didn’t encounter any issues with lag or slowdown while playing Unreal Tournament.
In fact, I got better gaming performance out of the Cobra than much more expensive gaming mice. It's easy to grip without collecting sweat and I didn't notice any issues with sensor performance while gaming. No wireless lag or issues with the report rate. I'm sure the Cobra tops out at a relatively low acceleration threshhold, so it's not going to be the perfect mouse for a low sensitivity Counter-Strike player. It's not really the perfect mouse for anyone, but it's good enough that most gamers won't find it hindering their game playing.
There are, of course, downsides to such a budget mouse, even though I think the Cobra feels much better than you'd expect for its price. The wheel has a soft scrolling feel that doesn’t offer much precision. There’s no visual indication of what DPI setting you’re on, so you just have to press the button to cycle between the different settings.
There’s no driver software to let you fine-tune DPI or identify your report rate, and the mouse doesn’t have a power-saving feature when it’s sitting dormant like more premium mice. I’m skeptical of E-Blue’s claimed two years of battery life on a pair of AAAs, but hey, the Cobra Advanced Wireless costs less than $20. What more can you ask for, really?