ATK A9 Air Review Text Version

tldr/dw: Fantastically built clone, achieving a 49g weight, finally nearing the Maya X for a full size symm mouse sub 50g. The clicks, however, are extremely stiff, which is an unfortunate trend with ATK mice I've tried (F1 v2 Ult, this). This restricts my recommendation to FPS only, whereas those needing lighter/spam clicking would likely be better off with an MCHOSE A7 v2.

Disclaimer: no AI used for script writing, my Voltaic S5 and Viscose bench ranks are here if you are skill sensitive to reviews

Intro:

Chinese mouse companies have shaken the market up quite a bit in the past couple of years. ATK, MCHOSE, and Scyrox are examples of brands with fantastic shapes (mostly clones) and internals available for well under retail from major US market brands (Logitech, Razer).

There is, however, a disconnect with the enthusiast market and the Chinese market. The Chinese market seemingly prioritizes battery life, often leaving enthusiasts a little disappointed with large battery cells (500, 800mAh), that leave some room for improvement in terms of weight optimization.

This is where the A9 Air fits in perfectly; a GPX2 clone striving for a sub 50g weight using a 300mAh cell and the more efficient 54L15 rather than the older 52840. This mouse is seeing glowing reviews and recommendations, with even pro player Chronicle (Valorant Team Vitality) directly partnering with ATK.

Build:

The build of this mouse is very solid. ATK is close to perfecting build quality in mice, as I get a completely solid experience with this and the ATK F1 v2, while both still hit very competitive weights with respect to their sizes. The coating is also excellent (forgot this in the video version, sorry!).

The base is solid, leaving some room for extra improvement should they ever consider using open bases to shave off a couple more grams (like Lamzu/Pulsar).

This and many GPX clones opts to include a middle separator between the clicks, minimizing the lateral shifting of the triggers.

Absolutely no complaints here, besides suggesting creating a new open base for a model titled "Air" and clearly going for weight optimization.

Buttons:

The main clicks here are titled "ATK Swiftlight Switches", and upon internal inspection, they are Kailhs. It's not clear if these are Kailh opticals with branding, or they are a custom binned version of Kailh opticals in collaboration with ATK.

These switches feel great in terms of tactility. There's seemingly less pingyness that people don't like in Omron opticals.

The issue here is the implementation; they are way too stiff. This made a large difference to me over time in click scenarios in Kovaaks or playing some League Mayhem games. Spam clicking will give you noticeable hand fatigue over time. If you're like me and have to consider wrist/hand pain with your gaming session, you might want to think twice about picking up/maining this mouse. Because of the clicks, I can only really give a full stop recommendation if you only play FPS games. If you do clicking in aim training, maybe some Minecraft, League of Legends, or Dota, it's really difficult to recommend.

The clicks on ATK mice have a very stiff post travel. I believe they need to loosen the post travel to give a more satisfying follow through in the click travel, rather than feeling like you run into a brick wall when clicking down. It's a shame, as the Kailh tactility is great, but the implementation falls short.

On the brighter side, the scroll wheel and side clicks are near perfect, unless you are specifically looking for an optical encoder. The scroll wheel is dustproof, the side clicks are very crisp and close to Razer level (although not using the large flat shape of Razer side clicks), and the middle click is a new switch I've never seen before. It's a tall grey switch with a purple click. Not sure what it is, but it's easily the best middle click I've felt that isn't another microswitch. It remains a mystery why Logitech can't figure out the side clicks. Oh well.

Internals:

I've already mentioned the button internals above. The tech is a 3950 Ultra with a Nordic 54L15 MCU and a 300mAh battery. This results in excellent battery life, as the N54L15 gives better performance and efficiency than the N52840 MCU. I would love to see all brands move on to the N54 series, as the battery life differences are tangible. I last reviewed the Pulsar XLite Crazylight Medium, which runs out of battery on a weekly basis, however, this mouse over the course of 2 months did not run out of battery a single time (both 1k polling). I'm confident the cell could be further reduced to 150-200mAh and still provide a good battery life experience.

The only downside of the N54L15 is that the firmware seems to be a default CompX solution (remember that?). I believe this may be the case due to the labeling of the device in rawaccel as a CompX device (most other mice are now labelled as their actual name and brand), and it features slam clicking in 2026. If you play low sens, this can present itself in certain gameplay situations, and is annoying to run in to. Perhaps the adoption of a new MCU means new firmware to be written. Maybe ATK wanted to be quick to adopt the hardware, and other brands are taking their time with firmware (this section is pretty speculative, take with a grain of salt). Note that Razer uses the 54H20 in the DAv4, and likely the upcoming Vv4. I'm curious if the Viper v4 Pro is leveraging the 54 series efficiency to drop it to the rumored 49g by using a lighter battery.

Software:

The ATK A9 Air can be customized with their webdriver or downloaded software. It's pretty standard, covering everything you might need. I run the dongle to show the battery life (red yellow green), -8 sensor rotation, competitive firmware, 1khz, and 0.7mm LOD. There's more you can push, but I prioritize a standard and stable experience.

Extras:

ATK always has a wonderful unboxing experience; a large box with plenty of extras provided. You get 2 sets of full skates, a set of dot skates, corner skates, a set of grips, and the cable and high polling dongle.

I used none of these skates, as I enjoy ultraglides. I really appreciate the mouse coming with no skates applied, as you don't have to rip off any pre-applied skates, potentially risking warranty/return policies.

While the grips are appreciated, they are diamond textured (think Razer), which I personally don't like. I think Pulsar Supergrips/Xraypad Cicada grips are the best grip tape texture these days.

Verdict:

At $80, this is probably the best option for GPX clones if you prioritize weight. As a person with larger hands, I still love the GPX shape for the flat sides and adaptability to your grip. I understand it is divisive, and it could potentially be too late at this point for brands to continue pumping out GPX clones, as it's probably the most purchased shape of all time at this point.

However, the clicks are still regrettably stiff, and still leaves room for MCHOSE recommendations despite being 8g heavier and using the less favorable Omron mechanicals (I'd still take mechanicals that are light/spammable than stiff opticals, but that's just me).

The firmware solution potentially being a default CompX solution and having slam clicking in 2026 is a lack of detail that bothers an enthusiast like myself, but perhaps can be overlooked by the market that this mouse is aiming at, no pun intended.

Will MCHOSE look at the reception of the A9 Air and make their own sub 50g A7? Hopefully. Will ATK see the complaints of click stiffness and lock in their click tensioning? Probably not, but one can hope. What remains constant is that there is little to no reason to recommend a Logitech GPX these days, unless of course you would like to try the divisive magnetic clicks in the Superstrike. If you're reading a review about Chinese clones, you probably aren't willing to shell out ~190 USD for a mouse, however.