The full-sized version of the Smartfish Whirl mouse does a good job of balancing ergonomics with aesthetics, but its smaller sibling, the Whirl Mini laptop mouse ($50), is definitely the model to get. This mini mouse includes the sweet Ergomotion pivoting action of the Whirl, but in a lighter, tighter, punchier package.
DESIGN
Before I laid eyes on the Whirl Mini, I thought that the desktop-class Whirl mouse looked just fine. It has a glossy black plastic design and a curved, almost pebble-like shape that’s easy to palm. The Whirl Mini took a slightly different (read: better) approach and made the whole package look a lot more professional, so much so that the desktop Whirl mouse looks and feels like a prototype in comparison.
The Whirl Mini features a plastic middle section that’s just shiny enough to look hi-tech, but doesn’t show any fingerprints. Both the left and right mouse buttons have a very satisfying little click to them, and the mouse itself is small enough that I simply tend to rest my hand on it, instead of palming the whole device. It also helps that the sides of the mouse are rubberized, making it very easy to grip and gently move around the desktop. The mouse is light, easy to click and hold, and is effortless to use.
A big part of that ease-of-use is, of course, the Ergomotion design, which puts the entire top half of the Whirl Mini on a pivot. Truth be told, the Whirl Mini actually pivots a lot less than the Whirl due to the difference in size, but it still makes for a very comfortable notebook mouse because of the extra height. Most laptop mice are very small and very short little rodents, but the Whirl Mini stands high above the rest thanks to its pivot, and it is this extra height that makes it so usable.
BETTER MAC SUPPORT, PRETTY PLEASE
The Whirl Mini comes standard with two AAA batteries and a nano USB receiver that works with the PC and Mac, so it’s good to go out of the box. However, I still think that the Whirl Mini, much like the larger Whirl, is really missing out in the Mac driver department. The scroll wheel works, but the middle click and tilt left/right functionality are completely unsupported on Mac OS X. It’s just strange to have the hardware functions there, but inaccessible for lack of software support.
CONCLUSION
The Whirl Mini may not have the big feature bullet points like frictionless scrolling (Logitech) or a “magical” touch surface (Apple), but it’s probably one of the most simply usable peripherals I’ve ever had the pleasure of using. Comfortable is underrated, and the Whirl Mini makes it look good.
You can pick up a Whirl Mini from the Smartfish website or from Amazon.com (or other online retailers) for about $50.
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The Whirl Mini mouse was provided by the Max Borges Agency for review on iSource. For further information regarding our site’s review policies, please see the “About” page.
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