Cherry Stream Mouse Ultimate tested: When good ideas fail to be realised
25/12/2025
Translation: machine translated
Pictures: Kevin Hofer
The Cherry Stream Mouse Ultimate shows promising approaches - such as a mouse wheel whose scrolling behaviour I can adjust. But in practice, the rodent is frustrating on several levels.
When I heard about the Stream Mouse Ultimate for the first time, I was intrigued. Cherry, the traditional brand for mechanical switches, wants to get involved in the premium segment with the Stream Mouse Ultimate. Where Logitech's MX Master 4 sets the tone. The Proscroll mouse wheel with countless customisation options sounds like a promising unique selling point.
The first impression is positive: the mouse feels grippy and sits comfortably in the hand. But as soon as I scroll for the first time, I hear it rattle. When I try to configure the mouse using the software, I'm disillusioned: two separate programmes are required, one of which only works with a cable. Cherry, what were you thinking?
Solid basis with limitations
Cherry gets a lot of things right with the basic shape. The ergonomic design with thumb rest and textured surface on the sides ensures a comfortable grip. The workmanship is of high quality, nothing creaks. However, the mouse is designed exclusively for right-handed users - left-handers come away empty-handed.
At 120 grammes, the Stream Mouse Ultimate is no lightweight. After a short familiarisation phase, this no longer bothers me. The mouse glides sluggishly across the table - that would be nothing for gamers who are used to ultra-light mice. But that's not what it's designed for.
The mouse has a total of seven buttons: two main buttons, two side buttons, a clickable scroll wheel and two special buttons for DPI and mouse wheel mode. The placement is well thought out and all buttons are easy to reach.
Quiet main buttons, loud side buttons
The main keys are quiet. I don't like the click sensation: it feels too imprecise and muffled. At least the keys trigger reliably.
The side keys are no better. Their clicks are audible and they give better feedback when the shutter is released. But I still don't like them. They feel and sound cheap. At least they are well positioned and I can easily reach them with my thumb.
The problematic centrepiece: the scroll wheel
The Proscroll mouse wheel disappoints across the board. On paper, it sounds fantastic: Cherry promises 288 million customisation options with finely adjustable parameters. For example, I can define the resistance, the rasterisation or the hardness of the pressure - I can even configure a freewheel if required. A graphic clearly visualises the scrolling behaviour.
In practice, this is too much of a good thing. Who needs 288 million combinations? I feel overwhelmed and stick with a preset scrolling behaviour. Logitech's Magspeed scroll wheel offers fewer customisation options, but works elegantly and intuitively. In any case, the mouse wheel of the Cherry mouse does not come close to that of the MX Master 4. The Proscroll mouse wheel simply doesn't feel good. Sometimes less is more.
But that's just the tip: the mouse wheel has mechanical problems. It has noticeable play and rattles when the mouse is touched or moved jerkily. Depending on the settings, scrolling movements may not be registered or may be registered incorrectly.
I can save up to four mouse wheel profiles on the mouse. I can switch between them using a button. Sounds practical, but it's not. Because there is no visual feedback as to which profile is active. The profiles cannot be switched off either.
Reliable office sensor
Cherry uses a sensor with a maximum of 4000 DPI. This is perfectly adequate for an office mouse. The sensor works reliably and accurately in everyday use.
The Stream Mouse Ultimate offers three connection options: via Cherry dongle, Bluetooth (maximum two devices) or USB-C cable. The connection was always stable when I tested it. The dongle can be conveniently stored in the mouse. So far, so good. The catch: when using the cable, I have to manually activate the operating mode on the mouse. Plugging in the cable is not enough. Impractical.
Double software disaster
And then the software. Oh Cherry, what were you thinking? To fully configure the mouse, I need two separate programmes: Cherry Keys for button mapping and Cherry Utility for DPI and mouse wheel. Both are only available for Windows - Linux and Mac users are left out in the cold.
But it gets worse: Cherry Utility only works when the mouse is connected via cable. So every time I want to adjust the mouse wheel or the sensor, I have to wire up the mouse. As if that wasn't enough, I also have to manually switch to cable mode in the software. That's an imposition.
In Cherry Keys, I can only reassign the two side buttons and the scroll wheel button - the two special buttons on the back of the mouse are permanently assigned. The software is rudimentary to incomplete in almost all areas. It even lacks a battery status indicator.
About the battery: How long does it last? Cherry doesn't say. In my test, the mouse lasted about one and a half weeks of daily use before I had to charge it again. That's okay, but difficult to classify without specific information. Charging is via USB-C - a cable is included.
In a nutshell
Good approaches, poor implementation
The positive: Cherry shows courage with the Stream Mouse Ultimate. The feel is right, the workmanship is solid and the Proscroll mouse wheel is an interesting approach. Unfortunately, the mouse fails in its implementation.
The mouse wheel rattles, the software is a disaster and many design decisions don't seem well thought out. Two separate programmes for configuration, one of which can only be used with a cable? No battery status display? No option to select profiles directly? These are problems that should not occur in this price range.
I cannot recommend the Stream Mouse Ultimate - at least not in this condition. If you are looking for a premium office mouse, the Logitech MX Master 4 is a much better choice. It offers more features, better comfort and, above all, functioning software.
Pro
- Solid workmanship
- Three connection options
- Textured surface for good grip
- Pleasant ergonomics
Contra
- Rattling mouse wheel with mechanical problems
- Catastrophic software situation (two programmes, cable constraints)
- No battery status display
- Overly complex mouse wheel settings
- No visual feedback for active profile
- Fixed key assignment for special keys
- Windows support only
Kevin Hofer
Senior Editor
kevin.hofer@digitecgalaxus.chFrom big data to big brother, Cyborgs to Sci-Fi. All aspects of technology and society fascinate me.
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