So, it finally arrived today, my NagerIT fair mouse. I promised a little review so here it is.
Let’s cut right to the chase and start off with what’s basically my conclusion: I’m slightly disappointed by it.
To start off, the website promised me (more or less) that this would be the mouse I’d get, but the mouse I got has green buttons instead of black and the white part of the body looks, well, cheap compared to what they showed on the picture. The right mouse button also has no perforated Nager IT logo but just simply a black picture placed in it’s position.
I’m sad to say that the mouse doesn’t feel like a high quality product. The design makes it look like a mouse from 1990 (although I like the look of the extended right-mouse button), while I didn’t really get that vibe from the picture. The USB cable is very thin. This shouldn’t matter too much but it gives it a bit of a lower quality feel and might actually be more prone to breaking. The green color of the mouse buttons isn’t smooth, it’s got swirls of white through it, which makes it look like it was liquid white plastic with a green coloring agent added to it that didn’t mix up properly with the plastic so there’s still tiny swirls of unpainted plastic in there. Even clicking the mouse buttons doesn’t have a quality feel to it. The click is too sharp. It’s hard for me to put it to words (especially in English) but it just doesn’t have that premium feel to it.
Also, the upper half of the body and the lower half of the body can be wiggled against each other just a millimeter or two. During normal use this isn’t really a problem but again, it just makes the mouse feel really low quality. The size of the mouse is also a bit on the small side. That’s probably a personal preference but for me, it makes the mouse not the most ideal one to work with.
Now you may say "oh, but what does all that matter, it’s about being fair, right?"
Sure, but I think that especially FairPhone has proven that you can make triple-A quality products while remaining conscious about and actively involved with the fairness of the product. With the FairPhone (FP1), I feel I have a product in my hand that doesn’t do under for the average Samsung, HTC or even Apple phone. The build quality is rigid, the software feels good and it feels like a high quality, premium device. Nager IT’s fair mouse, however, feels like a huge compromise.
It’s kind of like adopting a diet of nothing but potatoes and tree leaves or something because you want to minimze your impact on the eco system. That’s noble and all, but it just doesn’t compare to a juicy steak with a good glass of wine. FairPhone showed us we can have our steak and be fair (or at least aspire to fairness). Nager IT’s mouse is like eating raw potatoes instead.
At a price of almost €37 euros (including shipping) I simply can’t recommend this to anyone. €37 euros buys you a very high quality, premium built (wireless) Logitech or Microsoft mouse. They may not be as fair, but I truly believe that if you want fairness to remain sustainable, you’ll need to up your game and provide products that can compete with the (non-fair) competition. IMO, Nager IT’s fair mouse can’t, certainly not at this price point. It feels like a €10 mouse with a €25 added premium. I don’t mind paying a little extra for fairness if I’m happy with the product, but this is too much of a price hike for it to be a sensible purchase.
.)
. My point is that the NagerIT fair mouse is also a (good) step towards fairer electronic products. Yes, it is more expensive. Remember the late 90’s and the electronic goods? The market law is powerful and the manufacturing quantity definitely means something when it comes to costs. Plus, as Reent said, we don’t know many things about the true costs of the usual mice: sourcing, raw materials, labour, etc. So it is likely that
). It is not a gaming mouse (at least I would not use it for that) but does the job correctly.
together with Nager IT being one of the very few companies who are into fair electronics.)
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