I’d usually balk on the concept of spending over £30 on a mouse. I’ve by no means been one for proudly owning flashy gizmos or the newest and biggest, so the considered forking over greater than double that for one thing just like the Asus ROG Gladius II (which at the moment prices simply over £70 in the UK and $95 in the US) would, ordinarily, be positively horrifying.
Thankfully, the ROG Gladius II has greater than earned its preserve during the last couple of weeks, because it’s not solely one of the vital snug mice I’ve ever used, however it additionally comes with a load of useful extras to assist justify its value, akin to a pair of spare Omron switches and two removable USB cables, one braided and one common rubber.
The additional cable will virtually actually come as a reduction for hungry cat homeowners, and the useful lock on the Gladius II’s underbelly ensures that neither cable will by chance get pulled out mid-game, both. The braided cable can also be twice so long as the rubber one, supplying you with a pleasant little bit of flexibility relying in your PC setup.
The switches are fairly simple to exchange as nicely. The default ones are assured for a large 50 million clicks anyway, however simply in case they break otherwise you desire a ‘different feel’ as Asus say on their website, you get two spare ones within the field. You’ll want one thing to prize off the 4 little rubber screw covers on the underside of the mouse, however when you’ve loosened the screws the highest simply lifts away from the bottom, giving you quick access to come out the outdated switches and stick within the new ones.
It’s all very thoughtful, however the factor that actually caught with me was simply how snug it was to make use of each day. Weighing 110g, it’s not significantly heavy, and its lopsided, right-handed design feels prefer it’s been completely sculpted to suit my palm. What’s extra, every of its three aspect buttons are inside excellent attain of my thumb, which is greater than might be mentioned for the Corsair Scimitar Pro and HyperX Pulsefire FPS.
Each button’s perform might be customised utilizing Asus’ Armoury software program, however out of the field you get ahead and backward clicks for net looking, and what Asus name a DPI Shift button, which switches to a unique DPI or sensitivity setting when it’s held down.
There’s one other button that does this with a single click on just under the scroll wheel, however having one proper by your thumb is a lot extra sensible if you’re taking part in video games, significantly in FPSs. The variety of occasions I’ve tried reaching for that prime button on different mice and missed or misplaced focus looking for it and died in consequence are too many to rely, so with the ability to management it at will with out even transferring my thumb is reasonably pretty.
As for different button customisations, these vary from keyboard features and media buttons to Windows shortcuts and your personal recordable macros, supplying you with loads of flexibility to arrange your mouse how you want. Armoury provides you house for 3 completely different mouse profiles, too, which you’ll be able to swap between at will by holding down the DPI button beneath the scroll wheel and clicking one of many aspect buttons. Armoury is actually higher than different items of mouse software program I’ve used previously, however the much less I’ve to open it, the higher.
The ROG Gladius II additionally helps Asus’ Aura Sync characteristic, which harmonises all of your varied Asus-branded RGB gadgets into one, you guessed it, synchronised gentle present. Once once more, Armoury provides you loads of respiration, cycle, comet and different such RGB choices to deck out your mouse with, however I significantly like how one can tone down the brightness of every of its three distinct LED zones, letting you may have a dimmer scroll wheel, for example, than the bottom and ROG brand.
I didn’t really feel the necessity to tinker round an excessive amount of with the ROG Gladius II’s efficiency settings, however those that like fine-tuning their mouse to the nth diploma received’t be upset. You’ve obtained polling fee settings ranging between 125-1000Hz, button response occasions going from 4ms as much as 32ms, plus acceleration and deceleration choices and angle snapping.
It’s a disgrace you get simply two DPI settings on the ROG Gladius II, however when its vary extends from a crawling 100 DPI all the best way as much as a frankly ludicrous, quicker than gentle 12,000 DPI, you’ve actually obtained loads of scope to search out one thing to fit your tastes, particularly when each might be adjusted in increments of 100. Personally, I discovered their default positions of 400 and 1600 DPI to be simply effective for on a regular basis use, so I left them as they have been.
All in all, I feel I’d be fairly blissful paying a bit extra for the Asus ROG Gladius II. Its smart buttons, comfortable grip and tasteful RGB choices make it a pleasure to make use of, and its bundled extras give it extra versatility than its barely cheaper rivals. Yes, additional Omron switches (D2F and D2FC are those you need on this case) might be discovered for mere pennies on varied element web sites elsewhere, however typically it’s simply good to have them within the field already. If you’re out there for a brand new mouse and need one thing that can keep the course, the ROG Gladius II comes extremely really helpful.
