Turtle Beach Burst II Air Gaming Mouse Review

Turtle Beach has been in the gaming peripheral space since the early 2000s, but has been making other PC hardware for much longer. The Turtle Beach Burst II Air is the latest and greatest example of that history. With the Burst II Air, Turtle Beach is consolidating the recently acquired Roccat brand, targeting competitive gamers and those looking for the lightest possible gaming mouse without sacrificing any performance or build quality. Game Rant has been using the Burst II Air for a little over a week and found that it is a great entry in the lightweight wireless gaming mouse space.

Turtle Beach came to be known primarily for its headsets and controllers, but established itself as a strong player in the gaming keyboard and mouse space as well. In 2019, the company acquired Roccat, another popular brand in the gaming peripheral space, and has since been releasing new products under the Turtle Beach banner.

The Unboxing Experience

Right from first glance, you can understand what Turtle Beach is going for with the Burst II Air. It comes in a deceptively heavy box that, once opened, reveals the Burst II Air gaming mouse, which itself feels like it weighs nothing. One of the unique aspects of this mouse is that it weighs just 47 grams and the moment you take it out of the box, the weight, or lack thereof, becomes apparent. The USB dongle is also placed outside the mouse, even though there is a slot for it underneath, to give the user the lightest possible first impression.

With the mouse and USB dongle aside, the box contains a braided, lightweight PhantomFlex USB Type-A to USB Type-C cable, a USB Type-A to Type-C Transmitter adapter, a set of extra feet, grip tape, and a quick start guide. The cable can also be used as an extension for the USB Type-A to Type-C Transmitter adapter to bring it closer or in line with the mouse. Of course, it charges the mouse as well.

Turtle Beach recommends installing the Swarm II software to get the most out of the Burst II Air, but it should be noted that the app is only available on Windows. More on that later.

Specifications

On paper, the Burst II Air is a beast. Boasting the Owl Eye 26K sensor, a reporting rate of 1,000Hz, on-board memory, an IPS tracking speed of 650, and support for Nvidia Reflex, the gaming mouse is up there with some of the best performers from Razer, Logitech, and other top-tier manufacturers. For connectivity, you get a 2.4GHz wireless connection, Bluetooth, as well as wired operation. The switches are the company’s Titan Switch Optical and are rated for 100 million clicks. It has a claimed battery life of 120 hours on Bluetooth and about 40 hours on a 2.4GHz connection. On top of all that, Turtle Beach has managed to pack this much performance in a relatively compact form factor that weighs just 47 grams.

Design and Features

The Turtle Beach Burst II Air is a right-handed symmetrical gaming mouse that comes in black or white colors. As the images show, we got to spend time with the white model and noticed the lack of any RGB lighting almost immediately. These days, every time you plug in a new peripheral, it usually lights up with vibrant RGB lights, but that’s not the case here. The company decided to go with a minimalist look, which works well for this mouse.

It is a symmetrical mouse with two extra buttons, as well as a DPI button on the left side. Even though it is a medium to small-sized gaming mouse, the position of the DPI button makes it challenging to press it without repositioning the grip. Gamers with bigger hands will not face this issue and should find the Burst II Air to be comfortable for most grip styles.

The arch on the back fits well in medium to small-sized hands, allowing for a comfortable palm/hybrid grip over long gaming sessions. The buttons are, of course, customizable through the Swarm II software and so is the DPI from 50 to 26,000. Turtle Beach has managed to pull this lightweight gaming mouse off without perforating the shell, but there are two small chunks cut out of the bottom, presumably for saving weight. Speaking of the bottom, the Pure PTFE feet are smooth and glide well on most surfaces, including an XL cloth mouse pad. The power switch is also located at the bottom, and it is a three-function toggle with the middle position being for power, the top for 2.4GHz mode, and the bottom for Bluetooth mode.

Build Quality

In some cases, especially with lightweight mice, there is some creaking of the shell, but for the most part, the Burst II Air is not one of those mice. It feels solid with no undesired gaps anywhere, but you can hear some sounds when trying to squeeze the mouse hard. Other than that, the clicks feel consistent, soft, and tactile, the scroll wheel has no wiggle, and the solid shell lends a comfortable grip.

The white version of the mouse, in one week of use, has not shown any signs of discoloration or oil buildup. But it is impossible to say how well it will last with heavier use over a few months. That’s a concern with most white peripherals, so it is great that Turtle Beach offers the Burst II Air in Black as well.

Performance

Spoiler alert, the Turtle Beach Burst II Air delivers solid gaming performance! The combination of the Owl Eye 26K sensor, 1,000Hz polling rate, comfortable shape, and lightweight construction lends to an excellent gaming experience, be it competitive shooters or single-player campaign games. During the many hours spent competing with friends and family on Splitgate, the Burst II Air never faltered and there were no perceptible latency or connectivity issues while on 2.4GHz. Using the mouse with the cable attached was just as seamless because of how light the cable is. You do feel the restraint of the cable though, compared to when using the mouse wirelessly.

Coming from the Razer Viper Mini, which has a comparable size, shape, and form factor, the Burst II Air felt much more comfortable thanks to its slightly bigger and rounder shell that fits better in the palm. Even though the left and right clicks are flat and not curved like on the Viper Mini, the fingers rest perfectly, and they are pre-tensioned as well, giving them a soft click feeling with a satisfying sound. They are also rated for 100 million clicks, which is incredible. While it is not as responsive as some of the 8K gaming mouse options on the market, you will not notice any latency issues with the Burst II Air.

Those who have been using the Razer Viper Mini or have used it in the past may have noticed some issues with the lift-off distance (there are some DIY fixes for that, beyond software update) but that’s not a problem with the Burst II Air.

The two side buttons are located in the perfect spot, allowing for quick and easy activation. The scroll wheel feels solid as well, with good feedback with every rotation and no skipping. The Burst II Air’s PTFE feet allow for smooth movements and even though there are rubber grips included in the box, the Burst II Air feels grippy enough without them.

The battery life seems solid as well, as over the past week, which included most days of regular office work with some gaming on the side and a few days of dedicated gaming, the mouse dropped from about 70 percent to about 35 percent. Most gamers will find the battery life on the Burst II Air to be more than sufficient. Note that Game Rant used the mouse in 2.4GHz mode only and switching to Bluetooth would have further improved the battery life.

Software

The Swarm II software can be used to customize and adjust the settings on the Burst II Air. PC users will find the software to be quite intuitive and user-friendly with the settings clearly laid out. The software is also where you monitor the battery life of the mouse and that’s one of the drawbacks of the Burst II Air. There is no indicator on the mouse itself that shows or indicates battery life, and even though it is targeted towards PC gamers, users who wish to use it with both Windows PCs and Mac will be somewhat disappointed, as Swarm II is not available on Mac, meaning there’s no way for them to find out how much of the battery is left.

There is an ongoing debate about having multiple software running in the background for the different peripherals, and, while we all look forward to the day when that won’t be the case, you will need to have Swarm II running to monitor battery life and for more granular adjustments to DPI.

Speaking of adjustments, the app not only keeps the devices up to date, but it also allows you to create different profiles for different games. This is where you can configure different macros and even set up different EQs for your audio devices.

Final Thoughts

The Turtle Beach Burst II Air is an excellent option for those hunting for the lightest wireless gaming mouse. While you can find mice that are even lighter, they usually have perforated shells, like the UltralightX series from Finalmouse. At 47 grams, it doesn’t feel like you need to go any lighter and the fact that the company has been able to achieve this form factor and weight is quite impressive. While it cannot offer the comfort of a truly ergonomic mouse, its symmetrical nature makes it comfortable for different grip styles.

The sensor is excellent, and the tracking is on point, which makes the Burst II Air a great gaming mouse for competitive gamers.

If the Turtle Beach Burst II Air doesn’t sound like the right mouse for you, here are some alternatives that are fairly similar, but may ultimately be a better fit:

FAQ

Q: Is Roccat owned by Turtle Beach?

Roccat was acquired by Turtle Beach in 2019 and the parent company has decided to retire the Roccat brand and instead release products under a unified Turtle Beach brand.

Q: Is Razer better than Turtle Beach?

Razer is generally known for more premium offerings when it comes to gaming peripherals.