Long story short, why the xornet? It's a cheap, but solid mouse with an unique shape. Although CM Storm profiles mostly as a gaming brand, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this particular model even for office use.
Packaging
Xornet comes in your typical show-off electronics box. Nothing to write home about. There isn't anything apart from the mouse anyway, only the usual incomplete "guide" for completely stupid, eh, users.
If you have more mice and store the unused ones in their respective boxes, the CM Storm mouse packaging is annoying, because there's very little space for the cable.
Design/shape
The mouse is very short, wide and rather flat. It's also clearly designed for right-handed use, with thumb buttons on the left and a rest on the right side. The shell is matte hard plastic with large rubberized primary two buttons, the sides are simply grippy thick rubber (i.e., not just rubberized finish). CM Storm Spawn is exactly the same, only with red instead of black plastic. Fortunately, there are no annoying lights (one of the few things I absolutely despise about CM Storm Alcor).
You're supposed to claw-grip it, but fingertip grip works fine too, at least at first; there isn't enough space to rest the whole palm in case of palm grip though. However, there's one issue. Fingertip/claw grip requires one finger on the right side to oppose the opposable thumb for perfect control. Therefore, you can't have three fingers on top (middle finger on the wheel), because the right-side rest gets in the way. This is especially true, if you have average or smaller hands. The buttons are too wide for two fingers on top then, while three fingers can be accommodated just fine. I'd love to see an ambidextrous version without the side rest. Another problem, especially with three fingers on top again, is wrist pronation, because the mouse is almost flat.
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Xornet weighs only 85 g and it's very easy to lift, thanks to the rubber side grips. However, it's not perfect, because of a stiff, thick (and heavy) cable that I'll criticize later.
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The mouse itself feels sturdy, surfaces are nice to touch (well, if you like rubber), but what about the rest? Soldering looks fine, but I'm a bit torn in regards to interfaces, to be honest.
There are ordinary Chinese Omron microswitches (D2FC-F-7N) under the primary two buttons, which are also large and separated from the rest of the shell, thus act as levers and make clicks very soft and quiet. That's kind of unique and even though more durable omrons could be used, I can't complain at this price level. Another good news is that the wheel is decent, soft and rubbery, just like the primary buttons. It utilizes an ordinary microswitch for clicks, and so do all four extra buttons (a pair of thumb buttons, a pair of DPI controls). They're TTC, but much softer, crisper and easier to replace than the overly stiff, tiny square garbage used by many other companies, Logitech included. The extra buttons themselves are made of the same material as the shell (sturdy plastic with a matte finish) and work as neat levers. My only problem is with the front DPI control. That button is a great example of cutting costs in the wrong place, because it's not just a small button—it incorporates a slat around the scroll wheel, thus wiggles a lot.
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Speaking of reliability, I've owned and actively used three xornets. As I've mentioned, the first one came with a cable issue, but has been working just fine ever since. The second one worked fine for about three months, until I resold it. However, the third died during casual office work after about three months; symptoms were the same as in case of the cable disconnect: the mouse was powered (sensor light was on), but didn't report correctly to the system and nothing (clicks, movement) registered. I didn't open it, but successfully opted for RMA instead. Granted, this sample obviously isn't big enough, but I'm starting to think there's something seriously wrong, although the xornet is great, when it works. (By the way, I've had to RMA one of my two alcors as well, because of a wiggly wheel.)
Software/firmware
CM Storm Xornet is just a mouse. No special drivers required. They don't even exist. If you want to remap buttons or anything like that, do it on the OS side. (I'd appreciate an on-board memory with open-source configuration software just like Roccat though, because I prefer "middle click" on some other button than the wheel, and often use more pointing devices.)
However, it's possible to update mouse firmware at the very least. There were two updated bundles available until recently at the CM Storm website: v50 and v70, with the respective latest firmware being v55 and v75. Both reduce sensor lift-off distance and prediction. They're supposed to improve button latency as well, but only v55 does it in actuality. Therefore, v55 is recommended. Bad news is that the firmware image is embedded in a Windows-only tool, and it's apparently disappeared from the official site.
Sensor/tracking
CM Storm Xornet is equipped with a common optical sensor Avago A3050. Compared to sensor specifications and, say, Roccat Lua, only 500, 1000 and 2000 dpi steps are enabled.
Officially, the polling rate is 1 kHz (or 1000 Hz, if you're into marketing or lack basic education), and so it is in actuality. However, you can reduce it to 500, 250 or 125 Hz, although it isn't documented anywhere on the packaging or printed guide, and I haven't found it at the official website either. Simply hold both thumb buttons and press one of the DPI buttons just like if you were changing DPI.
Now tracking… I tried quite a few mousepads, and the xornet always tracked; in particular, I've used SteelSeries QcK (black cloth), Icemat I-2 (black matte glass) and 4HD (rough plastic), Mionix Propus 380 (very smooth, a bit "sparking" plastic) and several others, and a friend has theirs on an old wooden desk. How does it track though? I've recently tested one xornet with v55 firmware on the previously mentioned qck and mionix mousepads.
- Lift-off distance is only barely over 1 CD on the QcK, and under 2 CDs on the plastic mionix.
- There's noticeable, but not extreme prediction.
- The 2000dpi setting is completely unusable. It's enabled only for marketing. 1000 and especially 500 dpi works fine though.
- If you care about maximum tracking speed, take a look at some other reviews. I haven't been able to make the xornet malfunction at low/mid sensitivity, but maybe it's just me.
Spoiler:
When I successfully returned the last xornet so far, I was offered me a replacement mouse… However, I couldn't find anything in the same price range (about €20) on par in terms of solid feel and all that jazz! I considered A4Tech Bloody something for a second, but dismissed it, because of bloated proprietary software, gimmicky design and shape more suited for palm grip. So yeah, CM Storm Xornet certainly has its place, although it isn't flawless…