Endorfy Liv Plus Wireless review: a multi-device gaming mouse with a surprise up its sleeve

Doesn't it look good? I never thought I'd be saying that about a mouse, especially one with so many holes cut out of its housing, yet here we are.

Endorfy appears to have done something a little different with its approach to gaming mice with the LIV Plus wireless. It's a multi-layered skeletonised design that comes with a magnetic charging dock and features that together become a great overall package that doesn't cost the Earth compared to more expensive competitors that do not come with a dock or a unique style like this.

I will be comparing this directly to the Endgame XM2we since both mice are similarly sized and specced. I have a year of gaming experience with the XM2we, and I've already reviewed it with a very high verdict score. It is also priced similarly to the LIV Plus.

Specifications

The sensor

It's the PixArt PAW3395 but set at a maximum of 1000Hz. I know some on the internet will scoff at this when many gaming mice now come with 4000Hz, but you must ask how useful that 4000Hz is and then how reliable its stability is in general.

I linked to a video by Optimum Tech in another review where objective measurements were done, along with a subjective supplement, to test whether a higher polling rate is actually beneficial. The results were not too unsurprising for those who have been using good 1000Hz mice for a while.

Though having said that, it's worth noting that when using Motion Sync, at 1000Hz there will be a 1ms latency introduction, whilst at 4000Hz this drops to 0.25ms. Some competetive gamers playing on 240Hz or higher screens may be able to notice the difference in this sort of scenario and this will also depend on the game,too. Gravastar has a great write-up on the pros and potential cons of Motion Sync.

Otherwise, the 3395 is generally considered high-end and offers a range of features that can be customised in the software, which I will cover shortly.

In the hand

Whether you're a claw or palm gripper, the LIV Plus satisfies both styles. I have medium-sized hands (wrist base to middle finger length: 19cm), and comfort took just a few hours to adjust to. This is the first time I have ever used a skeletonised mouse, so it took a little adjustment for my fingers to accept that there are holes in the surface they are gripping. I am also not a sweaty-palmed gamer, but for those who are, the airflow will be very welcome to hopefully reduce such issues.

Once the adjustment phase passed, the mouse was just as comfortable in the palm as the XM2we, maybe slightly more, thanks to the softer button action and mechanical click feedback and sound.

It just feels and sounds more refined vs the hollow sound of an optical switch. There's a metallic nature to the sound of a mechanical switch (click sound video below).

Praise must to be given to the material and construction quality, too, it is rigid no matter where I squeeze the mouse. This is almost certainly helped by the triangular structure of the skeleton scaffolding in each layer. A triangle is the strongest shape to use in engineering any form of structure.

Depending on the style of grip used and finger placement on the outer side of the mouse, some may find a little pressure discomfort on the ring finger where it rests exactly on the circled area shown below:

I found this was the natural resting position of my ring finger when adopting a palm grip. With a claw grip, the same finger rests a little before the green circle. This was somewhat remedied by simply moving my finger over one of the triangle holes immediately left of the central circled point.

The alternative, as shown above, is to apply a piece of grip tape to that area to provide a cushioned pad to rest the finger on. Something like the Pulsar Supergrip kit contains a selection of tape sizes to tailor the cushion. Endorfy does not bundle any type of grip tape in the box, which I think would have been very useful. Most other mice now come with grip tape of some form.

This likely won't affect everyone, of course, and my finger mostly adjusted to it within a day of gaming, even without the grip tape. Your mileage may vary!

Software

The Endorfy software offers the same settings as both Turtle Beach and Endgame. The sensors provide the same range of features, so it makes sense the software options are similar, too.

Nothing much else to add here, the tool doesn't need to be running in the background, and even if you leave it there in the system tray, it is a 5MB piece of software using no real system resources.

It is a shame that the battery indicator only shows a meter, it would have been nice to see am actual percentage as well, since the software from other mouse brands show this correctly.

The software also controls the ARGB lighting for both the wheel and the rear of the mouse. There are numerous customisation options to tailor the lighting to preference, and my preference is in the off position.

Buttons & switches

Let's begin with a clip showing how the buttons sound:

The GM 8.0 switches sound and feel excellent, how do they stack up in terms of click to release latency? I checked out a simple test, and whilst this is a software test, it is still a good way to compare mice on the same browser/PC as a means to measure the difference between them. You can try the test yourself, just tap the mouse button as lightly as possible that actuates the switch to get the lowest possible latency result with the cursor hovering over the on-screen button.

The results were interesting, even though the mechanical switches on the LIV Plus felt like they were performing better, the actual numbers speak for themselves, optical in this instance is just quicker. I did this test 200 times on each mouse.

All the mice were set to match settings, except the MX Master 3S, which maxes out at a 125Hz polling rate, and the table below is the average result after the 200-click run. I've added the MX Master 3S because the on-click latency is actually pretty good, as the slow-motion test in my Turtle Beach Burst II Air review showed:

In practice, can I tell the difference in games? No, not at all, but objective numbers are still useful at demonstrating how good a particular type of switch is, at least on paper.

And just like with my other mice, the DPI button is my remapped button for ultrawide aspect ratio control when watching online media content that has not correctly been encoded:

For those curious, the Ultrawideo browser extension is what I use.

Performance

Between this, the XM2we and the Burst II Air, all three mice are equally matched for gaming performance. The weight and shape of each mouse differs, as does the button feedback, these differences alone could be enough to give an edge to one mouse over the other.

In some respect, the lightness of the Burst II Air has a big advantage at feeling invisible under my palm, especially for flick movements when dodging machine attacks in Horizon Forbidden West, whereas, in the same measure, the rear-biased weight distribution of the LIV Plus means the same flick action is possible due to a light front end even though the overall weight is higher when I use the claw grip on both mice.

This just highlights how the shape and other features may matter more for a greater experience than having a 4K polling rate or the latest flagship sensor.

The icing on the LIV Plus performance cake, and the surprise that the headline alludes to, is that this mouse has a 250Hz polling rate when connected to a computer via Bluetooth. This is unusual because mtypically it's always 125Hz. The Endorfy software does not see the mouse when connected via Bluetooth either, so it is strictly a fixed 250Hz.

I tested the tracking stability of both 1000Hz over 2.4GHz and 250Hz over Bluetooth using the official Razer Polling Rate Tester tool:

The Bluetooth signal appears to fluctuate frequently to slightly below 250Hz. If I watch the cursor closely then I cannot see any obvious skipping or stuttering on a 144Hz OLED display.

Another positive of Bluetooth is that the battery level can be seen in whatever OS you are on:

I came across a piece of software by peripheral makers, Melgeek, as I have a keyboard in for review from them. This software has a mouse testing feature which plots every mouse polling interval over a timing period. It's rather useful at gauging where a mouse's sensor performance sits and seeing if it's well under control or a bit all over the place with plots in the higher latency ranges.

Here is a look using the wireless 2.4GHz dongle at 1000Hz:

And now Bluetooth at 250Hz:

Interestingly, using Bluetooth the LIV Plus is sitting at just under 1ms latency the vast majority of the time, the second busiest is ~7ms. Pretty decent numbers for Bluetooth given that almost all other Bluetooth mice are 125Hz. Bear in mind I am using a Maxoni mini Bluetooth 5.3 USB dongle on my desktop PC. This dongle uses the Realtek chipset and is driver-less. Other Bluetooth adapters may see different results as not all Bluetooth adapters are created equal.

The only other mouse I have access to currently, that is also Bluetooth, is the MX Master 3S, which showed the following:

That is quite a remarkable difference in polling interval performance, granted it's only 125Hz, but you can see how it would have looked even if it was 250Hz.

Initiate docking procedure

The charging dock's party trick is that it doubles up as the hub to connect the 2.4GHz dongle, so no need to use up an additional USB port.

The underside is also sticky, so it stays on the desk. If the sticky surface gets clogged up with dust, it can be wiped with a wet cloth, which restores its sticky finish once more.

The button in the middle shown above is the RGB lighting control. A long press turns the lighting off fully. This is the only way to adjust the dock's lighting.

I have yet to have a chance to time how long a full charge takes simply because the battery lasts 160 hours from a full charge. Typically, my charging habits for stuff like this are the same as on my phone, which sits on the wireless pad when not in use, so it is always in a state of full charge.

Placing the mouse on the magnetic base is easy, and it kind of guides itself and locks into place via the magnets anyway. Lifting off is equally easy. The whole process is very simple and effective and tidies up the desk for those like me who use different mice for gaming/productivity.

Quirks / Issues

I found very few issues during my testing. The back button on the side. Pressing it normally sees no issue, but if you push it in a little too hard, then the button cap overshoots the housing frame it sits in, and you can hear and feel its seating tab rub past the housing. The forward button has no such issue. I have mentioned this to Endorfy who is in contact with the product department as it could be a manufacturing issue that slipped through.

This is only noticed if I purposefully press the button beyond normal pressure, even when gaming. Still, it's something to note regardless in-case the internal recess/tab weakens over time resulting in less pressure needed to have this happen in say a year of use.

Also, there seems to be an electrical interference noise coming from the rear RGB lighting. When set to the breathing mode that cycles all the colours, then I can hear the circuitry buzzing as it pulses through the colours/brightness.

It is very hard to pick up on video, but since my PC is quieter than a laptop, the noise is audible to me at an arm length's distance from my ear.

Turning off the RGB stops the noise, whilst switching the lighting to a static colour changes the pitch of the buzzing to a whisper-quite tone that is only audible, bringing the mouse to within 6 inches of my ear.

Conclusion

This is a fantastic mouse, not only for gaming but also for general usage. The fact that I could only really fault it in two areas (three if we include the back button noted above, though this could just be my review unit as well), the buzzing rear LEDs and the potential ring finger comfort issue, just goes to show how well the LIV Plus has been engineered.

The materials are of excellent quality, the weighting is well judged, the specs align with most of the competition bar, just higher polling rates, and the accompanying software is easy to use. It doesn't need to be running in the background.

The convenience of the charging dock adds some value to the overall package, and the long battery life means it won't need to be charged as often as other mice. As a reference point, my Burst II Air using the same sensor is rated to 40 hours due to having a smaller battery.

Update - 2024.07.07

A new piece of software to track and plot sensor polling interval across a period of time came to light. I am now using this on all mouse reviews going forward as it gives great insight into how well calibrated a mouse comes from factory. The results of the LIV Plus in this test have been added to the Performance section of this review.