M3K
Purchasing links
You can buy the M3K either here on our website or via the iPhone/Android shop app from Shopify.
The price of the M3K remains at 340 Euros (includes world-wide express shipping).
Current waiting time: two months
Due to high demand and a tricky production the current waiting time for the M3K is two months. If you order in August we currently estimate that you will get the M3K end of October. We are working hard to shorten that waiting time, but the M3K is largely handmade and nearly every component that goes into it is hard to work with: be it the 33 percent space-grade cable, the precision-blasted carbon fiber shell or the miniaturized PCB.
If you have any questions stop by our weekly AMA (Sunday, 19:00 CEST/10:00 PST) in the Zaunkoenig Discord: discord.gg/d8V7vZa
What is the M3K all about?
The tl;dr of the M3K is that with a weight of just 24 grams (same weight as M2K) it still is the worlds lightest production gaming mouse. And thanks to a wired 8,000 hertz connection it still has the worlds lowest latencies as well. In fact, thanks to an upgraded sensor, the latency is even less than that of the M2K.
The biggest upgrade however is the new 33 percent space-grade cable, which is significantly lighter and more flexible than the M2K cable.
33 percent space-grade
The M3K cable uses a space-grade insulation called ethylene tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE). Thanks to the ETFE insulation the M3K cable is 20 percent smaller as well as 29 percent lighter than the M2K cable.
A weight reduction of 29 percent is nothing to sneeze at, by the way. Do not take our word for it though. This is what 3clypz from our Discord said about the M3K cable:
«This is just my personal experience - I went from the GPX Superlight (gen 1) to my M3K and the cable is so incredibly light that it feels wireless. I have a vaxee orza, but the cable is too thin to fit into it. IMHO, you dont even need it though. Its just that light.»
The M3K cable jacket is made from the same silky-smooth medical-grade polyurethane (PUR) the M2K cable jacket was made from (since the jacket is medical-grade, but not space-grade, and since the wires inside the M3K cable are not space-grade either, we arrive at an overall space-grade percentage of 33 :P).
Despite making the M3K cable lighter and more flexible, we improved the electromagnetic shielding, which means that 8,000 hertz will work even on PCs with picky USB ports.
Military drone MCU go brrrrrrrr
For the M2K we infamously used a powerful MCU commonly used for military drones. For the M3K we essentially are using the miniaturized version of this MCU.
Our gaming mice are known to have the lowest latency in the game. Or as the famous gaming mouse reviewer «optimum» put it in a recent video:
«The current fastest mouse that I have tested, and probably in the world, for click latency, is the Zaunkoenig M2K. … The clicks on that thing are practically instant.»
These ultra low latencies are no accident. The firmware of the M2K and M3K has been meticulously optimized not just to the millisecond level, but to the microsecond level.
Same story for our PCBs.
Most gaming mouse PCBs look like their components were placed randomly; probably because the PCB was designed by an external contractor who does not understand the value of a small gaming mouse PCB. At Zaunkoenig we design our PCBs in-house. And we scrutinize every single trace and every single component on them. Even if that component is just a capacitor.
The result: our PCBs are extremely light (the M3K PCB weighs in at 6.7 grams; weighed with the lens, but without the wheel) and they look like they have actually been designed, not just thrown together:
Where the M1K and M2K have previously used the PixArt 3360 sensor, the M3K is equipped with the 3399 sensor. The 3399 has slightly less latency and a much higher frame rate than the 3360, which is especially useful if you like using 8,000 hertz and want the smoothest possible cursor movements.
As always we use no energy-saving features whatsoever. Wireless gaming mice have a battery to worry about, and thus they throttle the sensor to save energy. There is no battery inside the M3K, and thus the 3399 is running at maximum performance all of the time.
Think about it this way: would you rather play with a laptop that clocks down the GPU as well as CPU to make the battery last longer; or with the overclocked dedicated gaming PC in which every single energy-saving feature has been disabled?
Made in Germany
At Zaunkoenig we not only do our own mechanical and electrical design. We also do a significant portion of the manufacturing in-house. And most of the parts in an M3K that are not made by us, are made in Germany.
We strongly believe that the only way to consistently make good quality products is to either do it yourself, or have someone placed close to you make it. Our PCBs, for example, are made by two German companies (one is from Saxony, the other is from the Swabian Alps).
Into the blasting chamber
Low latency and weight are crucial for a gaming mouse. But they are not enough if you cannot reliably grip your gaming mouse. Slippery surfaces are the opposite of control; just think back to the last time you slipped on ice.
Every M3K carbon fiber shell thus goes into a blasting chamber, where we carefully blast it with very small and sharp particles. The end result: a velvety-smooth, slightly rough surface that is grippy even during long gaming sessions.
A customer recently told us that his single most favorite thing about the M2K was not the low weight, the low latency or even the shape. Instead, what he loved most about his M2K was the surface. With other gaming mice he was used to repeatedly having to wipe clean the surface, to make it grippy again. With the M2K he no longer needed to do so because it stayed grippy no matter what.
We did not stop at the shell, by the way. The M3K wheel is not using a cheap silicon cover that starts collecting dirt in the crevices on day one. Instead the M3K wheel comes with a pleasantly rough (if that makes sense) ceramic coating that is very grippy. An added benefit of the ceramic coating: it is much lighter than a silicon cover.
A pure Fingertip Grip design
The M3K was designed solely, exclusively, unapologetically for Fingertip Grip. Meaning: it is optimized to be in contact with just your fingers, but not the rest of your hand. There are many gaming mouse companies out there claiming that their gaming mice are optimal for Palm Grip, Claw Grip and Fingertip Grip; all at the same time. In our eyes this is bullshit. If you want optimal performance you have to design a thing to be just this one thing, and not three things at once.
There is a reason most people do not use sporks at home, but regular spoons and forks instead.
When we launched the M1K back in 2019 it was the first gaming mouse that was designed purely for Fingertip Grip. Back then many armchair experts remarked that the M1K did not look ergonomic, since you could not properly place your hand on it.
This critique is equivalent to criticizing a chair for not being comfortable to sleep on. (Though even the most hardcore of armchair experts probably would not criticize a chair for not being comfortable to sleep on; after all, chairs are the one thing armchair experts are true experts on).
The M3K is extremely ergonomic; if, but only if, you use it with Fingertip Grip.
Do not take our words for it though. This is what gaming mouse reviewer «optimum» said about the M2K:
«One of the biggest questions I get is how uncomfortable it must be to play with it … It could not be any more of the opposite. This just feels super, super comfortable to use. You barely have to grip it, like, it is so small and light that the actual pressure of your grip is just so insignificant. So you can play for hours and hours and it basically feels like no strain on your hand at all.»
More shipping information
If you are ordering from the US or within the EU you do not have to pay duties; if you order from Canada or Japan you will have to, though. It depends on your specific country.
If, upon testing your M3K, you come to the conclusion it is too big, too small or too anything else for you, you can of course return it.
If you have any questions, join our Discord. The Zaunkoenig Discord mods (yellow name tag) as well as many other users in our Discord are happy to help. :)
Scratch that itch
Obviously you need more than a great gaming mouse if you want to dominate the competition. You need talent and you need to put in the hours.
However – if you are committed to becoming a better gamer, if you need to scratch that competitive itch of yours, you need the best equipment. And when it comes to gaming mice you should look no further than the M3K. We have used that very same competitive itch to optimize everything about the M3K for pure performance. Down to the smallest capacitor of the PCB. Down to the last line of firmware code.
In case you are wondering whether this is just marketing speak: just browse through our blog. Maybe start with our most recent article about how we designed a gaming mouse cable with the same company that made cables for the moon landing.
When we say we are obsessed with making the optimal gaming mouse, we fucking mean it.