StormCrow PC Gaming Bundle Elite: Affordable mouse-keyboard package

The currently slightly troubled game retailer chain Gamestop is evidently in the process of conquering new business areas and is increasingly devoting itself to gaming accessories. With the mouse-keyboard package StormCrow PC Gaming Bundle Elite at the price of a mere 64.99 euros, Gamestop now wants to spit a little into the soup of peripheral manufacturers. Mouse along with mouse pad and mechanical keyboard at this price are actually a declaration of war. We took a closer look at the bundle.

The StormCrow PC Gaming Bundle Elite comes from a manufacturer called @Play Accessories and, unsurprisingly, is crammed together in China. That is not reprehensible, meanwhile a not inconsiderable part of common periphery comes from the factories around Shenzen. The manufacturer has been dealing with the production of gaming peripherals for PCs and consoles for some time, so it is also not a newcomer to the field and their portfolio has been available at Gamestop for some time. StormCrow is now adding a PC gaming franchise.

So far, not unusual. In contrast, the battle price of 64.99 euros is impressive. After all, the bundle includes a gaming mouse, a large mouse pad and a mechanical keyboard with palm rest. Normally, the inclined player has to pull a lot more gravel just for a mechanical keyboard of well-known brands. For this reason alone, the bundle is extremely interesting. But is there also quality behind it or do the buttons fly around your ears and the mouse disappears in the hole when you use it for the first time?

Let's start with the keyboard. As already mentioned, it is a mechanical keyboard, in which blue switches are installed, i.e. it is tactile, clicky and makes a lot of noise. Perhaps not the optimal choice for fast gaming, but a good mix for players who want to or have to type hard at the same time. We could not determine which manufacturer the switches are from. At the price, it is pretty clear that Cherry is not behind it. Therefore we cannot say anything about the longevity of the keys.

The processing of the full keyboard does not come close to more expensive products, but is okay overall. The manufacturer actually donated an aluminum housing to the keyboard, but you can already tell by the weight that both plastic and aluminum elements are quite thin. The gaps between the upper and lower part are not always even, but this is not a broken leg. The 1.8 meter long connection cable was even provided with a textile sheathing, not a matter of course in the lower price segment.

As is usually the case, the keyboard has two fold-out feet, but they do not snap into place and give in quickly when moved on a softer button. The slip resistance when the feet are unfolded is also not quite optimal. The package includes a palm rest, which however cannot be attached to the keyboard. The gel pad covered with synthetic fiber material with a rubber bottom is simply placed in front of the keyboard. Not a very nice solution, since the shelf also slips quickly. After all, the gel material is quite soft and comfortable because it is malleable.

You shouldn't expect luxury features such as USB pass-through or audio connection at the price, of course, but it was enough for lighting. It is quite simple and has nothing to do with the luxurious RGB artworks of more expensive keyboards. There are six colors and a total of 20 effects that you can select with a hotkey. Although software is available, it is relatively superfluous and not absolutely necessary. There is nothing in the extremely simple program that cannot be controlled with a key combination. The fairly simple lighting does not knock your socks off, especially since the luminosity is relatively weak, but if you want something colorful, at least you have the option.

The keyboard does surprisingly well when gaming. The switches work without grumbling, even if the typing feel across all buttons is not quite homogeneous. Due to the thin housing, the stops are also quite loud. But honestly: if you voluntarily take blue switches, you don't care about the noise anyway. Therefore acceptable, especially since no unsightly noises such as spring reverb or the like can be heard. All in all, the keyboard fulfills its purpose rock solid, unless you make too great demands.

The mouse is a right-handed mouse with a correspondingly asymmetrical design. We did not find the ergonomics to be ideal for palm grip players because there is little storage space for ring fingers and little fingers, but of course that is also a matter of taste. There is nothing wrong with the arrangement of the buttons, that fits so far. The slightly rough surface lies comfortably in the hand, the side grooves, which are supposed to create a secure grip, miss their task, however, because they are much too flat. The 1.8 meter long connection cable is also covered with textile and not too hard.

In addition to the two mouse buttons, there is a rubberized, clickable mouse wheel, the signal of which was not always transmitted 100% during testing, at least during rapid scrolling there was a dropout here and there. Behind it are two DPI switches, which are assigned six different values. On the side there are the two usual thumb buttons with pleasant pressure points, as well as another button near the tip of the thumb, the resistance of which we felt was clearly too high to be useful in the game, since the mouse is too much torn by the necessary effort.

The manufacturer has provided the mouse with lighting, logo and an LED strip at the bottom ensure smaller eye-catchers. No software is required here either, but one is optionally available. As with the keyboard, most settings can be made without software using key combinations, which are fortunately documented in a reasonably understandable manner in the multilingual and properly translated instructions.

An optical Pixart sensor works in the mouse, the PMW3325 with up to 5,000 DPI. There is nothing to complain about, Pixart sensors work precisely and reliably and hardly any player needs higher DPI numbers, at least not at normal resolutions such as 1080p or 1440p. We did not get warm with the ergonomics of the mouse and the additional thumb button, but at least the rodent does a pretty reliable job while playing and does what it should: it serves its purpose. You can hardly expect more at the price. You can feel, or rather hear, that the material and keys are not of such high quality. No two keys sound the same, here and there you can clearly hear the springs of the keys.

That leaves the mouse pad. The same is more of a mouse carpet with a full 900 x 420 mm. Rubber as the base material, polyester as the cover and a rubberized underside along with neatly processed seams provide a good base for gaming. When you unpack it for the first time, you notice a slight smell of rubber, which evaporates quickly and is not unusual for a mouse mat. We already had much stinkier specimens. So that's okay from our point of view.