Of the fourteen gaming mice which have swished throughout my desk this 12 months, six of them have been made by Corsair. With the Glaive RGB Pro, that quantity rises to seven – which is, frankly, a ridiculous variety of mice to launch inside the house of twelve months, and far more variations on a theme than is maybe strictly essential. Some have been nice – see the Ironclaw RGB and Harpoon RGB Wireless. Others, not a lot, such because the Nightsword RGB and M55 RGB Pro. Thankfully, the Glaive RGB Pro ends my 2019 Corsair odyssey on a relative excessive, because it’s not solely one of many comfiest gaming mice I’ve ever used, however its snap-on, interchangeable thumb grips additionally give it loads of flexibility for various hand shapes. Here’s wot I believe.
In some ways, the Glaive RGB Pro seems to be and looks like a retooled model of Corsair’s best gaming mouse-grade Ironclaw RGB. Aimed on the similar MOBA and FPS crowd who favour long-term consolation and ultra-fast response occasions, the Glaive RGB Pro has the identical 18,000 DPI Pixart PMW3391 sensor as its Ironclaw sibling, and it’s additionally been designed for right-handed palm grippers like myself who like their mouse to fill the entire of their hand when shifting it round your mouse mat. Heck, even its seven programmable buttons appear like they’ve rolled off the identical manufacturing line because the Ironclaw RGB, from its two, similarly-shaped chunkers protruding the facet to its identically textured scroll wheel.
The foremost distinction between the 2 mice is that the Glaive RGB Pro comes with these aforementioned interchangeable thumb grips, which snap into place by way of magnets. There’s a full, fin-like groove that cradles your thumb in opposition to its rubbery, textured base, in addition to two flatter choices that permit your thumb relaxation in opposition to your mouse mat. Personally, I solely ended up utilizing two out of the three grips (the fin and the utterly flush choice), because the extra pronounced flat grip pressured me to maneuver my hand again and undertake a fingertip-style grip with a purpose to keep a agency maintain on it.
For me, this didn’t fairly gel with the general form of the Glaive RGB Pro, and it ended up making the entire thing really feel too huge and heavy to maneuver round rapidly whereas taking part in games. With the fin and flush grips, however, I used to be capable of maintain that hand-hogging palm grip and swish my mouse about like regular. This could be as a result of I’ve tiny woman palms, after all, however I admire having the choice to modify forwards and backwards between totally different grips as wanted – particularly if, additional down the road, one finally ends up getting extra worn out than the opposite.
On the entire, although, the Glaive RGB Pro felt very cozy to make use of each day, and it made trying to find countless Black Friday offers all day each day final week that bit extra nice. Is it extra comfy than the Ironclaw RGB, although? Probably not. Indeed, if you happen to put a blindfold on me and ask me to establish which mouse was which based mostly on contact alone, I’m undecided I’d give you the chance to take action – particularly when the Glaive weighs simply 10g extra at 115g versus 105g.
Instead, it largely comes right down to which one you just like the look of. The Glaive, for example, has three RGB lighting zones versus simply the one you get on the Ironclaw, and it additionally has 5 little light-up bars on the highest of the mouse that point out which DPI profile you’ve at the moment received enabled. For causes past my understanding, I’m actually fairly fond of those little bars, and biking up and down looks like I’m placing my mouse into some form of turbo-charged overdrive. It’s a bit foolish, but additionally extremely sensible, because it’s in all probability one of many clearest profile indicators I’ve seen on any gaming mouse this 12 months.
The Glaive RGB Pro’s DPI speeds will be programmed precisely to your liking by downloading Corsair’s free iCUE software program, too, and may fall wherever between a dead-slow 100 DPI and that aforementioned lightning quick 18,000 DPI. Want a DPI velocity of 1373? You received it. There’s none of this ‘only increments of 50 or 100’ malarkey such as you get on different gaming mice. Whatever DPI velocity you need is the DPI velocity you shall have – though I ought to word that is true of all Corsair’s 2019 mice, not simply the Glaive.
iCUE additionally enables you to remap every of its seven buttons to no matter you want (besides left click on, that’s, which is able to at all times stay left click on). This contains swapping different mouse capabilities round, in addition to your individual recordable macro instructions, media controls, utilizing them to launch sure functions, change profile or enact all types of various keyboard instructions. You may also flip one button right into a so-called ‘sniper’ button, which modifications your DPI velocity to no matter worth you want for so long as you maintain it down – normally one thing gradual so you may line up these all-important headshots and the like whereas taking part in competitors games.
Personally, I’m at all times happy to see this sort of performance in a gaming mouse, however the place of the Glaive RGB Pro’s two facet buttons makes this sort of function fairly troublesome to make use of with any diploma of consolation. The farthest facet button feels a contact too slippy to maintain a agency grip on it, for instance, whereas the closest requires the form of suppleness my aged thumb joints merely don’t possess. This could also be much less of a difficulty for these with bigger palms, however for me, the Glaive RGB Pro might be the primary mouse I’ve examined this 12 months the place its sniper function is extra of a hindrance than a assist.
Still, for all my quibbles concerning the Glaive RGB Pro’s button placement or its single-oddly formed facet grip, it truly is a really nice mouse to make use of on a everyday foundation. Indeed, I’d in all probability be completely glad to hold on utilizing it in its flush facet grip kind if it weren’t for the sheer price of the factor. With present costs standing at £67 / $63, the Glaive RGB Pro feels only a bit too costly for a mouse that’s not utterly good, irrespective of how cozy and splendid it feels underneath the hand.. For that form of cash, I’d need every grip to really feel nearly as good as the opposite, and I’d additionally need to have full use of its varied button capabilities.
It’s particularly galling when the equally cozy Ironclaw RGB will be had for significantly much less – simply £35 / $53 at time of writing, though that UK value is probably going to return up nearer to £50 as soon as the Black Friday / Cyber Monday offers are lastly over. Still, even £50 is extra preferable for what’s just about the identical mouse beneath, and I could make higher use of that sniper function, too. I’ll be sorry to lose the Glaive’s DPI bars, however except you’re determined for that interchangeable fin grip, I don’t actually see a lot cause to decide on this over the Ironclaw. The Glaive RGB Pro could also be miles higher than the Corsair Nightsword RGB I examined the opposite month, however the Ironclaw RGB continues to be king in relation to total worth for cash.
