Microsoft Arc Touch Mouse Review – Road Warriors

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I travel quite a bit. Last year I did around 100,000 kms so you can say that I’ve become quite acquainted with airports, airplanes and their respective ways. With this amount of travel, I’ve also come to appreciate that old axiom “Travel light”. Following this golden rule, saves you from a lot of stress, money for paying for excess baggage and of course your body will be thankful of the lessened burden too. “Light” therefore is an important prerequisite when it comes to gadgets that I take with me. If I had to choose one mouse that was light, functional and also had a bit of style, it would be the Microsoft Arc Touch Mouse that I was recently provided by Microsoft to review!

microsoft arc touch 21 Microsoft Arc Touch Mouse Review –

There is no doubt that the key feature of the Microsoft Arc Touch Mouse is it’s ingenious arc design. To switch on the the mouse (assuming you have batteries installed), simply bend the Microsoft Arc Touch Mouse into the curved position. Within seconds, your cursor comes alive on the screen. Simply bend back to the slim flat position and the Microsoft Arc Touch Mouse turns off conserving battery power. This method of powering on a mouse is much better than trying to find an obscure little switch. The arc of course also has ergonomic thought put into it. It fits quite snuggly into the palm.microsoft arc touch 3 Microsoft Arc Touch Mouse Review – Road Warriors Will Love This

I was slightly disappointed with the wireless USB adapter. It’s small, but if you’re going to design to make something micro you may as well go all the way – compared to other mini wireless USB adapters, like Logitech’s, the Microsoft Arc Touch’s one protrudes a little too much. Ideally you’d want it as flush as possible with your laptop sides so that you can just keep it stuck in the port. Having said that, I like the way that the wireless USB adapter attaches magnetically to the underbelly of the mouse. When it’s attached it’s quite secure. I’ve tried shaking it off and failed to dislodge it. This is a win for people out there like moi who seem to lose gadget bits and pieces!


It took me a couple of minutes to get used to the mouse especially the touch-to-scroll pad, but after a couple of scrolls through Word documents, I was again mousing like a ninja. I liked how the mouse emulates a real physical scroll wheel by providing a scrolling sound when using the touch-to-scroll pad. In terms of performance, I found it more than adequate to handle my daily clicking through documents, spreadsheets and image editing. One other suggestion I would make for future releases is perhaps a side button that automatically associates itself with the back function on the internet browser.

photo27 Microsoft Arc Touch Mouse Review –

Features of the Microsoft Arc Touch Mouse

USB wireless receiver
Orientation: Right & left handed
Dimenions: Width 2.3 inches, Depth 5.1 inches
Interface: Wireless 2.4 GHz
Max Operating Distance: 30 ft
Movement Detection Technology: Optical
Features: Touch-sensitive scroll, on/off power switch, Microsoft BlueTrack Technology
Compatible with Windows 7/ Vista/ XP
3 Years Warranty
Battery Type: 2 x AAA batteries

So what’s the final verdict? I like it a lot! I highly recommend this mouse for people on the road who want something super portable, stylish and functional.

You can read more about the Microsoft Arc Touch Mouse at the Microsoft website.