Orbitalworks - Pathfinder

*I’ve been in this hobby for a long time like many of you, and over the last year or so I think the peripheral industry has felt pretty boring as far as mice go. In the past, a modular mouse had been attempted by a brand named Ninox with the Astrum, which was a bit of a mess to say the least. Then many years later, Orbital with their first mouse Pathfinder made its first appearance on 03/26/2024. Orbital in their own words, consider their customers to be their friends, not to make a product merely for profit, but for their passion for the peripheral industry.* *“To help their passion reach new frontiers”. There was fear that Orbital could have just been all talk and no product to show for it, but the day of release is finally here. The Orbital Pathfinder is now in the hands of the people who’d been waiting so long for this day. From the start, when I’d seen that first video of the team introducing themselves, I knew something just felt right here. There was no guarantee, but there was hope, there was a passion for the industry you could only feel in so many other people deep into this hobby. With 3000+ possible configs, this is just the beginning. While Orbital takes one small step for mouse-kind, we can only hope the rest of the industry is looking to the stars.* ***ORBITAL WEBSITE:*** https://orbitalworks.co/ **Hand Size:** 18 x 10 **Grip:** Pincer Claw ***[PHOTO GALLERY](https://imgur.com/a/kR82Tnq)*** ***[Additional Photos](https://imgur.com/a/ORgmQ6D)*** **Packaging:** The Pathfinder packaging upon receiving it, first reminded me of the Zowie shape testing kit, while not nearly as massive in size, it’s quite a long box but remains low in its profile. For those who’s yet to receive a Pathfinder, the naming schemes can seem quite alien, as there’s so many configurations, they had to go with single letter type “codenames”. The packaging includes paperwork giving you a good rundown of how it all works though. My personal configuration at the moment is APM-220 with the thickest side spacers on both sides. I will now list all the pieces included with the Pathfinder. Left Side - Latch: L Claw: C Pinch: P Average: A Side Spacers: 2 thin, 2 thick. Right Side - Average: A Pinch: P Claw: C Right Hand: R Xtra Claw: X Slash: S Wave: W Back Plate - Low Hump: L Medium Hump: M High Hump: H Right Hand Hump: R 2 back hump spacers M4/M4 side buttons M,L sizes to accommodate thicker/thinner side profiles.

**Mouse Packaging:** Includes the mouse, cable and 8K dongle. 1 set of X-Raypad Obsidian skates,1 set of X-Raypad Obsidian Pro air skates, and 1 set of Pure PTFE skates. **Sensor:** The Orbital Pathfinder uses a PAW3950DM paired with a Nordic nRF52840 MCU, capable of 8K wireless. Tested at both 1k, 4k, and 8k. I did note that occasionally when I'm gone from my PC and come back that I've found the mouse not responding for some reason. Usually turning the mouse on/off again fixes this though. At the time of writing this review, I was unable to find any new firmware updates, as its been the same since release to my knowledge. There are however rumblings of a new FW dropping via Discord at some point. **Software:** I believe Orbital is working on a release for a web driver for the mouse but the software is required to be downloaded in order to change your settings. Though personally, I do prefer an offline software, as a opposed to an online web driver. It is still great to have options as always. The Pathfinder software appears very similar to that of the Darmoshark mice. It’s very basic, but allows you top change multiple things. The first tab allows you to change keybinds of your mouse. The second tab allows you to adjust DPI and polling rates. From 100-30000DPI, and polling from 125hz-8000hz. The third tab allows you to create macros. The fourth tab allows you to adjust LOD, enable/disable motion sync, or turn off/on esports mode, and adjust debounce time. **Modularity:** The Pathfinder’s coolest feature is being able to swap out back plates and sides with ease. I think the system they have made here works great. Once it's all assembled, it truly feels like a solid mouse; those pieces aren’t moving or going anywhere. I do wish, however, that a tool of some sort was included for pulling off the sides, as it doesn’t always feel great or easy to be prying at the sides to slide them off. I have noticed on my left side of the mouse that, depending on how I grip the mouse, the left side will move slightly.. This movement is maybe 0.5mm or even less than that. It does not affect my gameplay, but it is something I’ve noticed, and I do think the movement of the mechanism is intentional. If you intentionally grip a side piece and wiggle it up/down horizontally there is a very tiny amount of movement to allow easy removal of the pieces with how the mechanism works, but you don’t actually feel this movement in use. I’m unsure if it's just something with my unit, but based on what I’ve seen inside of the mouse, I may just have slightly more play in my side rails causing some kind of extra movement in the triangular shaped pillars of their catch system for the side pieces. **Buttons:** An important feature to note, is that you do have the ability to swap the optical switches for mechanical switches with a bit of soldering work. M1/M2 have low pre-travel and medium post-travel, with zero side play on the triggers. Side buttons have low pre-travel and medium post-travel. My closest thumb side button does seem a little wobbly/unsecured compared to the furthest one, as running my thumb along it I can feel the plastic tilting forward or back, as opposed to the furthest side buttons, which feel firm and in their place. I don’t think this issue is big enough to affect gameplay in use, though; it's just something I noticed, and I do feel it hurts the premium feel of the product only slightly. I never mentioned this to support, though, as I hadn’t noticed it until recently. It does appear that Orbital is aware of this though, as it was something of a first batch issue, and it seems like a tape mod can fix this for the time being. Upon first using my Pathfinder, I noticed my right trigger felt a bit creaky/squeaky. During this time, though, I was in contact with customer support, and they did provide a replacement M1/M2, which fixed this issue for me immediately. After a week or two of use, though, this disappeared on my old M1/M2 and became normal. I imagine the plastic trigger was rubbing against something and just needed a light amount of wear/use to go silent. Orbital does provide a 2-year warranty for cases such as this, though. In the case your M1/M2 has a squeak similar to mine, though, I would suggest giving it 1-2 weeks of intense use for it to dissipate as it has become a non-issue, but something I still thought was worth mentioning. **Scroll Wheel:** Using a TTC Gold encoder, the scroll wheel, to my surprise, is metal. I’ve always been a fan of metal scroll wheels, as I do think it can elevate the look and feel of a product. At first, I wasn’t sure about how the scroll wheel felt in terms of grip, but I do think it's grown on me, and I never had any issues with my finger slipping or misinputs. It was a solid scroll experience overall, and the middle click is light and spammable for easy use for in-game pings or binds.

**Shape/Coating:** There are so many configurations for this here that I will likely only focus on the configuration I use, which is APM220 including the two thickest side spacers. For me I was trying to replicate something similar in feel to the X2H but a little less wide/aggressive toward the back hump. I thought my configuration choice was interesting here because I’ve been known to prefer thinner mice, and my config here was around the thicker end in terms of grip width. I’m unsure if I will stick with this config long term, but I am enjoying it a lot at the moment. The coating for the Pathfinder feels quite good, a bit slippery if you have dry hands though, I’ve seen people compare this coating to the EGG white coating but I would probably say it's a little less grippy than that, still quite good though, the moment my hands start to sweat even a little bit my grip becomes locked in place and without issue. Definitely a solid coating here. **Sidenote:** For the side pieces I DO wish they extended a little further toward the front end of the mouse, as many of the side pieces combined with how short I like my mouse end up finding my ring/pinky finger resting on the very edges of the sides, but thankfully there’s no sharp edges to hurt you here, it’s all very smooth. I would say an extra length of 2-3mm extending toward the front end would be great here if possible. **Grips:** None included **Cable/Feet:** The included cable here feels solid while angled upward to reduce drag, and should provide a usable paracord-like experience. The included feet are great, you get many options from slow to fast, and I think the selection you get here is definitely top tier across both cloth and glass. **Weight:** My config is around 53-54g According to Orbital, the weight ranges from 52-55g depending on your chosen config. **Build Quality:** Despite so many pieces of this mouse being removable wirth all its different internal mechanisms, I think Orbital did an amazing job here. While I did list a few things I noticed with my unit, I think only one truly affected my game play, which was the M1/M2 creaking for click timing intensive games like Valorant, but as mentioned prior, it “should” stop with use based on my personal experience with the mouse, and support was quick in assisting me with a replacement M1/M2.

**Product Support:** Orbital provides in depth walkthrough videos on how to assemble and disassemble your Pathfinder which is great to see. This is not only good for DIY-folks but also great for repairs or buying and modding for new colorways Orbital plans to sell later. Orbital does also plan to sell new shape pieces on top of offering 3D printing files for community use, though this has yet to be seen, so I cannot confirm it until it happens. *So many things could have gone wrong here, but Orbital pulled through, delivering their product to the end. Picking up the torch where Ninox originally fell, Orbital created their own path of light for others to follow. I can’t imagine how difficult it was for a product like this to become reality, but I’m glad that somebody was able to do it, especially at the quality it was executed in. The possibilities are endless with Pathfinder, and I hope Orbital as a team never loses those smiles they showed, along with the spirit and fire they had to back it in those initial team introduction videos. Not just another faceless brand, but a team of dedicated enthusiasts looking to achieve what others have yet to accomplish.*

man i love orbital pathfinder but my wallet and my money hates it :(

Yeah it’s definitely an investment, but due to it being modular and their stance on open-sourcing printing for it, I personally believe it’s worth it.

Agree with what people have posted. But I want to give another view. An ergo doesn't have to contain curves and humps - it just needs to support your hand comfortably. For example, the Viper V3 Pro is one of best ergonomic mice I ever used for myself. I can use that all day and not get uncomfortable. It supports the entire hand and keeps it locked in so I can use the bigger arm muscles for movement. DAV 4 and DAV 3 HS are not too far behind in terms of comfort. Really want to pick up the NP-01 Ergo one of these days. With that said, there's some great recommendations here. I'll throw out one more too. The Orbital Pathfinder. Similar to the VV3 Pro though I stumbled upon a combination that was amazingly comfortable for me (LWR 1-2-1). And if I want to use something smaller for like Arc Raiders, I'll go APH 0-2-0. Pleasantly surprised with this mouse so far. I thought it would be more gimmicky but changing the shape to what I feel like for the day is pretty nice.

125 mm length and 56 mm width. You can use double spacer and makes it about 1 mm larger in both dimensions

Eventually we think we can make a 47-49 gram Pathfinder but that will require advances in PCB and MCU as well. Right now we are already about 54-56 grams and if you have our mouse you will see the structures is very optimized, we can make holes and save maybe a gram or two but we are not fans of holes. So where can you shave off 5 to 6 g? A lighter PCB can save you 3. And a smaller battery can save you another 3. But for that to work and has the same performance parameter you need an MCU that requires less energy. That should be coming out in the next few years. So it's not far off it's just not there now. And we are making the plug design public in the next few weeks so people can make their own grip module!

Does it NEED to be light (sub 55g)? If not I recommend the OP1W4K v2? Or if you have the budget I recommend the orbitalworks pathfinder. Its so fun and I'm having a blast with it Edit: I just saw that price is no object for you. In that case I would definitely go with the Pathfinder. Because you can change the shape so much and so easily, its damn near impossible to not find a shape that works for you. I would go with low hump, average sides with no spacers to start, then maybe trying the claw sides to see how they feel. I have 18.5 x 9cm hands (not including thumb) and I use low hump, average thumb side, slash pinky side, and 1mm spacer for the sides but not the back. I use claw/finger

The Pathfinder is 55g on the dot at max weight, and lighter in the config I suggested. I really recommend it as someone that's gone through probably like 40-50 mice and was unable to find something perfect. The OP1W4K v2 is my second choice.

I strongly recommend the Orbitalworks Pathfinder if you're like me and cant find the perfect shape

Most people find it comfortable, so there’s really no need to change things up. They would probably make a new color variation than make a shape that’s gonna satisfy a small portion of the community. That said, there are promising products like Orbital Pathfinder, or G-wolves with their clay kit. Even if those aren’t within your reach, you can still try things out with a grip tape. It’ll help with the positioning and the grip itself, letting you hold the move effortlessly.

I’ve been using the superlight shape since G Pro wireless dropped. I’ve used fingertip mice, premium fomo brands like finalmouse, hybrid mice like the orbital pathfinder but i always return to the GPX. I got the superlight 2 for 75$ during black friday and it’s the best mouse in my arsenal, i definitely perform the best with the potato shaped mouse.

Orbital pathfinder / superglide 2.0

I’ve tried a lot of big mice, currently I think the Teevolution Terra (G403) is the biggest mouse on the market atm. There’s also the orbital pathfinder, and it feels nice with the extensions, but it doesn’t reach the height of the G403 which I miss using it. The Pulsar Tenz mouse has a nice high back hump, but I found the side buttons and scroll wheel weirdly positioned and hard to use personally. The Zowie EC-1, Mchose G7, and Waizowl cloud are recommended often for large hands, but I own all and found them pretty small for my 21cm length hands. Your mileage may vary though.

I’ve tried a lot of big mice, currently I think the Teevolution Terra (G403) is the biggest mouse on the market atm. There’s also the orbital pathfinder, and it feels nice with the extensions, but it doesn’t reach the height of the G403 which I miss using it. The Pulsar Tenz mouse has a nice high back hump, but I found the side buttons and scroll wheel weirdly positioned and hard to use personally. The Zowie EC-1, Mchose G7, and Waizowl cloud are recommended often for large hands, but I own all and found them pretty small for my 21cm length hands. Your mileage may vary though.

I’ve tried a lot of big mice, currently I think the Teevolution Terra (G403) is the biggest mouse on the market atm. There’s also the orbital pathfinder, and it feels nice with the extensions, but it doesn’t reach the height of the G403 which I miss using it. The Pulsar Tenz mouse has a nice high back hump, but I found the side buttons and scroll wheel weirdly positioned and hard to use personally. The Zowie EC-1, Mchose G7, and Waizowl cloud are recommended often for large hands, but I own all and found them pretty small for my 21cm length hands. Your mileage may vary though.