Sensor and Performance

The Phylina S480 Max is equipped with the PixArt PAW3950. According to specifications, the 3950 is capable of up to 30,000 CPI, as well as a maximum tracking speed of 750 IPS, which equals 19.05 m/s. Out of the box, six pre-defined CPI steps are available: 400, 800, 1600, 3200, 6400, and 30,000.

CPI Accuracy

I've restricted my testing to the four most common CPI steps, which are 400, 800, 1600, and 3200. As you can see, there is no deviation at all, which is a perfect result.

Motion Delay

Testing is restricted to 2.4 GHz mode as Bluetooth is not suitable for non-casual gaming applications.

Wired testing

First, I'm looking at two xCounts plots—generated at 1600 and 30,000 CPI—to quickly gauge whether there is any smoothing, which would be indicated by any visible "kinks." Neither plot shows any kinks, strongly suggesting there not being any smoothing across the entire CPI range.


The S480 Max also allows enabling MotionSync, which effectively synchronizes SPI reads with USB polls, resulting in very low SPI timing jitter as seen above.



In order to determine motion delay, I'm looking at xSum plots generated at 1600 and 30,000 CPI, both without (first row) and with (second row) MotionSync. The line further to the left denotes the sensor with less motion delay. Without MotionSync, the S480 Max is ahead by roughly 0.5 ms at 1600 CPI, whereas 30,000 CPI merely achieves parity. Enabling MotionSync adds close to 0.5 ms worth of motion delay.

Wireless testing

Not much changes when running the S480 Max in wireless mode as SPI timing jitter and general tracking are virtually on the same level as when wired.


Upon enabling MotionSync, SPI timing is tightened to a similar degree at both 1600 and 30,000 CPI, though the latter shows a small outlier at what appears to be a framerate transition.



Without MotionSync, the S480 Max is ahead by 0.5 ms at 1600 CPI, whereas at 30,000 CPI, it is behind by 0.5 ms. Enabling MotionSync once again adds close to 0.5 ms worth of motion delay.

Speed-related Accuracy Variance (SRAV)

As you can see from the plot, no displacement between the two cursor paths can be observed, which confirms that SRAV is very low.

Perfect Control Speed

I've only managed to hit a measly 5 m/s, which is within the proclaimed PCS range and causes no observable sensor malfunction.

Polling Rate Stability

Wired testing

All the available polling rates (125, 500, or 1000 Hz) show bouts of elevated variance.

Wireless testing
For wired mice, polling rate stability merely concerns the wired connection between the mouse (SPI communication) and USB. For wireless mice, another device that needs to be kept in sync between the first two is added to the mix: the wireless dongle/wireless receiver. I'm unable to measure all stages of the entire end-to-end signal chain individually, so testing polling-rate stability at the endpoint (the USB) has to suffice here.


First, I'm testing whether SPI, wireless, and USB communication are synchronized. Any of these being out of sync would be indicated by at least one 2 ms report, which would be the result of any desynchronization drift accumulated over time. Bouts of elevated variance are very common, though whether these are causally related to a desynchronization drift remains unclear.


Second, I'm testing the general polling-rate stability of the individual polling rates in wireless mode. Running the S480 Max at a lower polling rate can have the benefit of extending battery life. All polling rates show bouts of elevated variance.

Paint Test

As you can see, no issues with angle snapping can be observed. No jitter is visible at 1600 CPI. 30,000 CPI with ripple control disabled (second row) shows major jitter (unusually high in fact), which is moderately lessened by enabling ripple control (third row). Lastly, there is no sensor lens movement.

Lift-off Distance

The S480 Max offers three pre-defined LOD levels. On the "0.7 mm" and "1 mm" settings, the sensor does not track at a height of one DVD. Using the "2 mm" setting, the sensor does track at a height of one DVD, but not at a height of two DVDs (1.2<x<2.4 mm; x=LOD height). I've been able to confirm through other means that the 0.7 and 1 mm settings do provide different LOD. Keep in mind that LOD may vary slightly depending on the mousing surface (pad) it is being used on.

Click Latency

In wired mode and using a debounce time of 0 ms, click latency has been measured to be 0.4 (0.37) ms, with standard deviation being 0.06 ms. In wireless mode and using a debounce time of 0 ms, click latency has been measured to be 0.4 (0.36) ms, with standard deviation being 0.07 ms. After the mouse has been lifted, the next click after landing will have the full latency added upon lift-off (~18 ms) applied.

Debounce time does not scale linearly. Polling rate has no effect on click latency.

The main button switches were measured to be running at 1.94 V. I'm not aware of the voltage specifications of the used Huano switches, but find this voltage to be rather low.