It's not often a new peripheral makes me screw my face up at the sheer thought of using it, but here we are. The Turtle Beach Command Series MC7 is an 8K gaming mouse featuring a 30K sensor and several features that look promising—but it also has a 2.25-inch touchscreen wedged next to the left mouse button.

To be honest, the design is giving me the slight ick. Partly, that might be because I religiously clean all of my screens, touch or otherwise. The idea of continually running my thumb along a smooth, grease-displayting glass surface is enough to encourage small palpitations.

The usability issues of an 8K gaming mouse with a touchscreen

I have long moaned about the "screen-ification" of gaming hardware, as I don't think it adds much functionality. Touchscreens on gaming mice? Not even once. For a start, you usually use your mouse without looking at it. Even if you have trained your muscle memory, touchscreens don't traditionally work well when you aren't staring directly at them.

While you can apparently check your CPU temps by looking down at the screen, I find myself asking: why? Additionally, the ridge created where the screen meets the chassis is quite pronounced. I dislike edges on gaming peripherals, and this design feels a bit sharp.

The weight is also a concern for competitive play. The MC7 comes in at a porky 135g. While I can accept that in a pure productivity mouse, even heavy-mouse-enjoyers might find it a bit much for gaming.

Battery life and design features of the Command Series MC7

I know I am judging this before I have even used it, which is somewhat unfair. On the plus side, the MC7 has one major feature I really like: a hot-swappable battery system.

The mouse includes several impressive technical details:

  • Dual 1000 mAh batteries that can be swapped out from the rear.
  • An included charging dock for easy power management.
  • Up to 10 hours of playtime (or 15 hours with LED and LCD lighting turned off).
  • A handsome bronze/black contrast design.

The battery system is a darn good idea, even if turning off the lights to save power defeats the point of having a touchscreen. From certain angles, the chassis actually looks rather handsome; I just don't care for the honking great screen wedged into the side.

Pricing and competition

The "touchy-feely" mouse is currently available to pre-order at an MSRP of $160/$140. This price point means it is knocking on the door of our new best gaming mouse pick, the Razer Viper V4 Pro.

Given the premium cost, this hardware had better be really, really good.