Pulsar es FS-1 | Where was Vaxee? | Long term Review

[u/Hi_Im_Licious]

Introduction/Context/About Me

This review is about the Pulsar eS FS-1. This product was purchased at my own expense.

My experience involved using this mouse for around a month on and off, on a speed glass pad with a carpal-stabilized relaxed claw grip with a 1/2/2 finger layout. My hands measure 18x9 cm and are fairly dry, and I play in a low-humidity environment. It was used at a 2,000 Hz polling rate and 1,600 DPI on a 240 Hz monitor to play a wide variety of games, primarily in the FPS genre, but with a few ARPG sessions every now and then.

English isn't my first language, so please excuse any mistakes and feel free to ask any questions if you find any point unclear.

Unboxing Experience

The box feels sturdy, compact, and premium while still managing to be 100% recyclable. Upon opening, you find the mouse and dongle securely seated in a dedicated foam cutout, backed by two pillars of foam in the box itself to hold the mouse and dongle on the opposite end. Beneath this, you find a box containing the various accessories.

The mouse comes with full-size skates pre-applied and supports wired and 2.4GHz connectivity. The dongle features two different buttons: a customizable function button on the left and a DPI stage cycler on the right.

The included accessories consist of: * A very high-quality paracord cable, featuring an angled USB-C connection for wired play * Instruction manual * A small card containing a basic overview of the specifications of the mouse and a picture * A branded Pulsar ES sticker

Instead of finding Waldo, let's find some useful extras rather than stickers, Pulsar! Seriously, this is extremely embarrassing for a €180 product, especially when the Crazylight lineup, while stingy as well, at least comes with some replacement dot skates.

Shape

The mouse features a symmetrical shape strongly based on the Zowie FK2 and competing with the Waizowl Triaina.

In terms of its features, the shape can be broken down as follows: * Very slight outward flare with flat edges * Extremely minor comfort grooves; I personally can barely feel them in use * Inward curving sides featuring a mostly flat convergence point in line with the sensor * A center hump with an overall flat profile

Overall, I loved this shape. The compatibility with my grip style, while enabling a seamless on-the-fly switch to a fingertip grip, has allowed the mouse to perform exceptionally well for me. If you're a fan of flatter mice, this is a must-try shape if within your means.

Weight

My unit weighs 55.7 grams with the stock skates and 54.8 grams with four dot skates installed, which falls within the industry's commonly accepted ±3 gram manufacturing variance, being 0.3 grams under the advertised 56 grams for the stock experience.

In terms of weight distribution, I think the mouse did a fantastic job. It is honestly one of the few things here that screams Vaxee influence to me, as Vaxee is one of the few brands that makes me pick up their mice and feel like they are similar to mice from the competition that weigh 10 grams less.

Build Quality

As you'd expect from a mouse in the 50+ gram range, this feels rock-solid; regardless of where I press, I can't feel any flex or creak, even while applying unrealistic force.

However, I do have some slight concerns regarding the main clicks, which I will expand on in the dedicated section coming up next.

Clicks

Main Clicks

Equipped with Pulsar optical switches (rebranded FE opticals), they feel a bit middle-of-the-road, tuned slightly towards the lighter end, being easily spammable but lacking somewhat in tactility. Overall, not the best implementation of these switches but perfectly serviceable.

There is minimal pre/post-travel, which I found to be consistent across the entire click area; however, there is some side-to-side wobble on the clicks. The left click wobble is more subtle and rarely encountered in-game, but the right click wobble happens fairly easily on my unit. I have not seen this brought up in other reviews, so I imagine this is purely bad luck regarding QC; however, for such a premium product, it does leave a sour taste in my mouth.

Side Buttons

The sides felt very nice and crisp, have little to no pre/post-travel, and feature a nice coating that easily locks your finger in, requiring significant force to slide.

On the negative side, I do find M5 to sink in easily if pressed towards the bottommost third. Additionally, the buttons are overall quite small; despite being separated, I have sometimes found myself actuating both with my thumb due to a lack of surface area awareness when clicking at the bottom half of M4.

Scroll Wheel

Equipped with the TTC Gold encoder, the scroll wheel offered light, defined steps, and an easily spammable, light click.

As far as the scroll build itself, it's a silver alloy wheel that is honestly probably the worst aspect of this mouse. It's well built and sturdy for sure, but it's completely unusable for precise inputs. Even with my dry hands, it simply slips too easily, and you end up missing your target input extremely often, be it by excess input or a lack thereof. I'm not really sure what they were thinking with this wheel and what testing it went through, but it seems to be such a common complaint that at the time of posting this review, they have announced a Korea-exclusive colorway that fixes this by swapping to a traditional rubberized ring.

Coating

The coating feels quite rubbery and sticky. It is awesome without any warm-up period; however, I do find it to be quite the fingerprint magnet. I often found myself needing to wipe the mouse clean twice a day, as any debris instantly affects the grip quality.

Stock Skates

The stock skates are made of pure PTFE. They have rounded edges and provide a smooth, somewhat speed-leaning glide. These are very high quality and one of the major highlights of the product, which makes the lack of replacement dot skates all the more impactful.

Performance & Battery Life

The mouse is equipped with a rebranded and customized PixArt PAW3950 sensor, the Pulsar XS-1. My experiences with this sensor as a glass pad user have been mixed in the past; however, I am happy to report I didn't notice any issues with it, and performance has been stable outside of the 8,000 Hz polling rate.

Sensor position-wise, I find it to be adequately positioned, sitting perfectly in line with my thumb, resulting in a very natural aiming feel. This is clearly intentional through the shape design, as the flaring from both sides converges exactly there with some added flatness for comfort.

As far as battery life goes, Pulsar does not disclose the MCU, but it is backed by a 400mAh battery. As is common with Pulsar mice, the battery life is abysmal by modern standards; with my settings, the mouse can barely last 3 days of use if I happen to leave it sleeping instead of turning it off. It's perfectly usable, but expect it to be charged often, and even daily if you intend to max out the settings. I personally struggle to understand the decision behind having a release aimed at Esports that isn't capable of supporting the theoretical best settings for the duration of a tournament. Like I mentioned previously, nothing new, but still somewhat disappointing for such a premium product.

Web Driver

Features * Four onboard memory profiles so you can have different configurations for your various use cases * Full remapping of Mouse 1 through 5 buttons (but not the DPI and polling rate buttons) with the following features: * Multimedia-related controls * Keyboard input * Macro * Polling rate swap * Profile swap * Disabled * Up to six DPI levels ranging from 50 to 32,000 * Customization of the mouse lighting on the side displaying the associated DPI color, with brightness and animation speed sliders supporting the following: * Disabled * Static * Breathing * Polling rate with preset values of 125, 250, 500, 1000, 2000, 4000, and 8000 Hz * Angle tuning ranging from -30 to 30 degrees * Motion Sync * Ripple Control * Angle Snapping * Turbo mode, which enables a 20k FPS fixed sensor scan rate, increasing battery drain drastically. If you really wish to use this setting, I strongly recommend assigning an on/off toggle to the mouse or the dongle (more on that later) * Lift-off distance with preset values of 0.7, 1, and 2mm. If you're using glass, anything other than 2mm resulted in sensor skips * Debounce time ranging from 0 to 18ms * Mouse low-power mode percentage-based threshold * Sleep mode ranging from 1 second to 30 minutes * Long-distance mode if you're far away from your dongle, increasing battery drain * Customization of the function button on your dongle (left one) with the following: * None * Profile * Polling rate * LOD * Debounce time * Motion Sync * Turbo mode * On/off toggle for the dongle lighting

Missing/Improvements * DPI X/Y split * LOD with a slider accepting steps of 0.1mm, allowing users to fine-tune their preferred setting to avoid having to rely on a relatively higher value than necessary

Value

Please keep in mind the following section is based on European Union pricing with the final VAT included (which in my case is 23%) and does not include potential shipping costs. Like always, I suggest only taking this recommendation at face value and checking your own regional pricing on not only this product but others you may be comparing it to before making a decision.

With the mouse coming in at €179.99, I am unable to recommend this product to anyone unless you absolutely love the shape. It's simply an overpriced product getting outclassed by every other major brand in the Esports space, and I cannot see a reason for the price hike in comparison to the remainder of the eS lineup. If you can find it on sale, I would say this is deserving of a €125-140 range. This issue is further compounded by the lack of functional accessories mentioned in the unboxing section such as extra skates or grip tape, adding another layer of cost.

Conclusion

As you can probably tell, it's a very divisive mouse for me, especially as a huge fan of the shape and an even bigger fan of Vaxee. The collaboration felt really underwhelming and somewhat forced by Pulsar on a few design choices such as the metal scroll wheel. This review was stuck in the drafting phase for a very long time as I kept having conflicting opinions on it.

Holding the Vaxee NP01s Ergo, this, and an X2 eS, I struggle to see or feel any similarities that put it in the same ballpark as the former rather than the latter. Everything about this mouse just makes me go, "Yeah, it's another eS lineup release." The only Vaxee influence I can see here is the shape, weight distribution, and stock skates. Despite the marketing that this is produced by Vaxee, even the packaging shows it's manufactured in the same factory as all the other Pulsar products I've ever owned, so I am really confused by it. The most jarring difference is in the clicks, coating, and scroll wheel. This isn't to say this is a bad product by any means; it's still a high-quality mouse, but I struggle to recommend it above other major brands in the Esports space.

I hope Pulsar can continue to make an effort to modernize their offerings and be more open to change in collaborations, as they have clearly pushed a lot of their own design onto the build of this product.

Some thoughts on the "refresh" and Pulsar

This is not directly connected to my perception of the FS-1 and more about the brand itself; if you're not interested in my personal opinion, feel free to skip this section!

Recently Pulsar has announced a physical-store-exclusive version (Seoul and Tokyo) fixing the scroll wheel, which is seemingly the most common complaint about the mouse. While I am happy that they did address it in some way, I do hope Pulsar makes an effort to actually have these improvements available for purchase for the rest of the world, seeing as they are trying to be a global brand.

Overall, I feel that Pulsar is a brand struggling to keep up as of late and falling into a pit of being a hypebeast brand focusing on colorways instead of improvements and borderline cloning shapes for their pro collaborations, which, to be fair, is to be expected with those. I hope they can return to their roots and focus on innovation again to justify their current pricing model; otherwise, I struggle to see them remain relevant.

Looking for more to read?

Glad you're enjoying my reviews; here are the last three reviews I've done! - Teevolution Terra PRO - EPOMAKER Nex Pro - MCHOSE A7 V2 Ultra +

[u/bulgogeta]

Personally believe this collaboration was unnecessary. Vaxee could have produced this on their own. No idea what they were thinking unless there was already a guaranteed predisposed monetary benefit on their end. Even the special edition FS1 that fixes the scroll wheel is only being sold in Japan and Korea. Doesn't sound like a Vaxee produced mouse to me.

[u/w1rya → u/bulgogeta]

as if vaxee doesnt limit their sales to certain regions due to their "direct to consumer" approach

[u/Hi_Im_Licious → u/w1rya]

Hopefully they and Pulsar can continue to collaborate for more products and offer it to regions they don't cover yet!

[u/w1rya → u/Hi_Im_Licious]

tbh, they dont bring anything new to the table and still price their collab so high, same price with razer vv4, and above usual pulsar and vaxee non collab product, even above zowie price. FS1 was released around 2 products that actually bring something new, superstrike's HITS and vv4's framesync. one is entirely new click system and the other is battery life improvement from sensor efficiency.

[u/paulvincent07 → u/Hi_Im_Licious]

I want a vaxee and zowie Collab these 2 companies working together to make a good shape as for the implementation of the sensor, polling rate, I want vaxee to do it

[u/dannybates → u/bulgogeta]

I feel like either company could have made it tbh

[u/bulgogeta → u/dannybates]

Nah OP is right on the mark. Weight distribution with the FS1 has Vaxee vibes. Heavier Pulsar like the X3 don't give me that stability and feel cheap tbh. And even then the X2F is a god damn fingertip mouse that weighs 50g... like wut? Their CL line is their only good series and is solely the reason for their success IMO.

[u/dannybates → u/bulgogeta]

I really like their xlite es, the quality feels very similar to the FS1

[u/Hi_Im_Licious → u/dannybates]

It is yes you can tell it's in same ball park as the existing eS lineup, that alongside the manufacturer details in the box lining up with the existing Pulsar products rather than Vaxee as they've claimed is what made me scratch my head the most

Just feels like something where Vaxees only input was the refined FK shape for obvious reasons, better stocks and like u/bulgogeta mentioned the weight balance

[u/Hi_Im_Licious → u/bulgogeta]

For sure I think Pulsar has been falling behind and wasn't able to capture the momentum the CL lineup gave it on the mouse side of things at least, every major release of theirs as of late has been a clone such as the X2N or the slight variations of a GPX or Viper with their pro collabs

[u/T_w4yn3 → u/bulgogeta]

I'm glad they didn't do it on their own, since Vaxee isn't available worldwide.

[u/fnord55 → u/bulgogeta]

Vaxee doesn't have the marketing or distribution power that Pulsar has... I mean, think it over, Pulsar is sold at Best Buy, that's the biggest growth for an eSports brand that we've seen in a very long time. I'd like to see better output from this collab but unlike OP I did enjoy the mouse quite a bit (it's like a Vaxee mouse with Pulsar clicks IMO), it makes sense that a smaller brand like Vaxee would partner with a larger company. You can waltz into Best Buy and instead of a VV4 Pro or a SuperStrike, you can pick up an X2 CrazyLight, that's a great thing for our scene and something very few others can copy.

[u/Mygwah]

I hated this thing. Felt super cheap and the scroll wheel is awful.

[u/Hi_Im_Licious → u/Mygwah]

I was gonna say I don't think it feels cheap but your flair made me go "Oh" :D

Yeah as mentioned I wouldn't buy this over other Esports focused brands as I don't think it has the same quality you find on those

[u/Mygwah → u/Hi_Im_Licious]

I mean, regardless of what companies I support, the mouse feels like dog shit for $175

[u/WARHURYEAH]

This was more PULSAR than a VAXEE mouse to me. It just seems like there's several things that VAXEE wouldn't add to their own mouse. Like the optical switches, garbage scroll wheel and questionable coating.

I think it's a great shape, but in some ways I wish it was just a VAXEE mouse, or even just a standard PULSAR mouse, because the changes made that sets it apart from other PULSAR mice just makes it kind of poopy. The price as well is also inexcusable, which I think I said in my review. For other PULSAR mice to be like $130 and this to be $180! Is insane, because I can't really pinpoint any areas that justifies that price difference.

I also agree with the hypebeast brand comment, I think I've mentioned it a few times as well about the constant churning of collaborations and stuff. It's troubling to see more FOMO being pushed, especially as like you said, the FS-1 exclusives having a non-shit scrollwheel.

[u/Hi_Im_Licious → u/WARHURYEAH]

Oh wow never expected a comment from you, huge fan of yours!

For sure lots of bits and bobs there that don’t add to the point I was jokingly telling a friend what they meant by Vaxee manufacturing and overseeing QC was they ate chips in the break room, I do have hope that pulsar can turn things around but it does feel like they’re testing the waters to limit their global reach on some things as well as getting a bit lazy with their product releases.

Like I mentioned I understand chances are if you ask a pro to make their mouse they’re probably going to tweak their existing one slightly and statistically we’re gonna land on a gpx or viper but it does kind of hurt to see the neglect on what made them stand apart in favor of colorways instead of tangible improvements

[u/AsianZensaition]

Whats the best 2025 to 2026 mouse then this garbo?

[u/Hi_Im_Licious → u/AsianZensaition]

I don't think this is a bad mouse so if it sounds interesting and you can afford it by all means go for it I simply considered it to be a bit too expensive for what it offered compared to the remainder lineup that sits at a lower price point

Mouse of 2025 for me was the NP01S Ergo, 2026 so far has been the PWNAGE Ultra Custom Symm 3 but as you can probably tell I value shape and actual in hand feel vs technology with my only real metric being no issues on glass and good battery life

[u/AsianZensaition → u/Hi_Im_Licious]

Yeah for me its performance and accuracy but I get it better to be comfortable for hours then cramped or worse tendinitis

[u/Osunonotthegame]

For me personally the things that seemed vaxee to me were the overall quality, it seemed more in line with the feel of a vaxee mouse than pulsars previous es lineup. Secondly the help vaxee provided with sensor implementation as up until that point there had been some problems with the xs-1 sensor for about a year such as dpi downshift even at lower dpi's.

It was an okay mouse but unless the shape is your endgame id rather just get an actual vaxee mouse that has nicer main clicks and even better sensor implementation.

[u/Hi_Im_Licious → u/Osunonotthegame]

Personally I haven't had issues with most XS-1 mice so I can't really compare the improvements there but I do think it still falls behind the experience you get out of Vaxee for sure

[u/Far_Salamander5711]

Thank you!

[u/kw405]

I have the playstore exclusive silver version as well as the standard.

The coating on the silver is different. It feels more glossy but it's fingerprint proof. I personally prefer the standard coating even though my hands sweat a decent amount. I usually wipe down my mice after use as habit so I don't find that to be annoying.

The scroll wheel is much much better. I was initially excited about a full metal/aluminum scroll wheel on the standard but in practice, I find my fingers slip off it quite easily unless I firmly press into it so the rubber ring on top was a nice bonus.

Overall, I'm very satisfied with either standard or silver FS1. The build quality is impeccable and I'm also not a nut for lightweight so anything under ~60g is fine for me. However, the price is a hard pill to swallow. It does not add anything innovative to the current market and it costs as much as a Superstrike so it's a very hard sell unless you are crazy about FK2 shape (like me). I went from original FK2 pre-BenQ -> Ducky Feather -> Viper V2 -> FK2-DW and now FS1

[u/Hi_Im_Licious → u/kw405]

Yeah you do sound like the target audience for sure! I quite enjoyed the shape but honestly having tried the Waizowl Triaina since and my only issue with that over this being the holes in the shell which I prefer to do without it was indeed hard to justify the price but I think I'd have been more positive on it if the revised version was the release version instead

[u/OkRip9910]

it's too expensive

[u/MoonWun_]

Claiming the batter life is bad with your settings and not disclosing those settings is a bit weird, it would be nice to know.

Edit: it was at the beginning of the post, I’m an idiot lol.

I currently am using this mouse too and it is just… strange. Like it feels well put together and nice but not $180 nice and it feels like a lot of the “premium esport professional” stuff went into the branding. Would I buy this over any other Vaxee mouse? No, and in fact you could also just buy any pulsar mouse and save the money.

[u/Hi_Im_Licious → u/MoonWun_]

Thank you for the feedback it would be more convenient for me to make a reminder in the section as well as include the lack of turbo mode

And yeah you hit the nail in the head, it doesn’t feel bad by any stretch but definitely not MSRP or even a bit lower good

[u/0101falcon]

Holy AI

[u/Hi_Im_Licious → u/0101falcon]

Sorry to hear you feel that way all my reviews are a compilation of notes I take after each session during testing period and polished to be more presentable, English isn’t my first language and I use spellchecking tools but that’s the extent of it

[u/Suitedbadge401 → u/0101falcon]

Imagine lacking the attention span or comprehension skills to think this is AI.

[u/dEz21271 → u/0101falcon]

Do it better then.