Tuesday, September 4th 2018
ASUS Intros ROG Gladius II Wireless Gaming Mouse
Wireless gaming mice are back in vogue as manufacturers are powering them with lightweight lithium-ion rechargeable batteries or induction current; and as gamers are beginning to care less about the added input-lag of wireless peripherals. To compete with the likes of the Logitech G Pro, which launched to generally positive reviews, ASUS launched a wireless variant of its Republic of Gamers (ROG) Gladius II. The new ROG Gladius II Wireless retains the shape, button-layout, and grip of the original Gladius II, but is wireless, lacks the bottom RGB LED diffuser, and weighs 130 g, just 20 g more than its wired sibling. It also packs a more powerful sensor.
The ROG Gladius II Wireless uses a combination of 2.40 GHz RF and low-latency Bluetooth BLE to achieve input latencies as low as 1 ms. The mouse packs a 16,000 dpi optical sensor (compared to the wired original's 12,000 dpi). At any point, if you're not sure about playing wireless, you can switch to the wired mode on the fly, by simply plugging in the included USB cable to its micro USB connector located up front. The mouse is remapped as a new device by Windows, and USB is used for both input and recharging the battery. We expect the ROG Gladius II Wireless to be competitively priced to the Logitech G Pro Wireless (around $140).
The ROG Gladius II Wireless uses a combination of 2.40 GHz RF and low-latency Bluetooth BLE to achieve input latencies as low as 1 ms. The mouse packs a 16,000 dpi optical sensor (compared to the wired original's 12,000 dpi). At any point, if you're not sure about playing wireless, you can switch to the wired mode on the fly, by simply plugging in the included USB cable to its micro USB connector located up front. The mouse is remapped as a new device by Windows, and USB is used for both input and recharging the battery. We expect the ROG Gladius II Wireless to be competitively priced to the Logitech G Pro Wireless (around $140).
8 Comments on ASUS Intros ROG Gladius II Wireless Gaming Mouse
Li-ion usage is very bad, because it removes users' ability to replace battery, or buy a replacement from basically any store nearby.
Furthermore, i use Eneloops everywhere i can, because they are the best batteries out there.
More like manufacturers have finally started to focus on eliminating that lag. Battery packs are replaceable last time I checked.
You either have AAA or AA tradiniotal batteries.
There are thousands of various shapes and sizes of li-ion batteries, which means that for every device, you need to look for a seller who actually sells that type of battery.
At least they were reasonable enough to not charge a full $200... The only difference is that in most cases you need to disassemble the mouse in order to replace the LiPo/LiIon pack. If you ever owned a cordless phone, then you are already familiar with the Lithium cell and the replacement process. Most rechargeable mice have the exact same 2-pin low-current pack.
Another thing to remember is that you don't need to replace the rechargeable cell once a week/month. You'll only need to make a trip to electronics store about once every 3-5 years depending on the cell quality. In case of ASUS I'd say every 3 years seems just fine (considering how much time and money you'll save on those AA/AAA batteries).
I used to have a very-very old Logitech wireless combo (I think it was MX5000). I've used it for around 3-4 years and never-ever had to disassemble that Logitech MX mouse, never had battery issues, and I did not even notice a dramatic charge degradation (it was noticeable, but definitely not higher than 20%). Nonsense! Even the most advanced wired USB gaming mouse has an input lag of no less than 1ms.
Even those ridiculous 2000Hz gaming mice, that were once so popular, still have a 1ms lag, cause they are basically 2x USB HID endpoints working at 1000 packets/s (e.g. big fat pile of marketing bullshit).
It can be fitted perfectly into an original weights cartridge, if I just cut out the insides.
Another thing that A4Tech incidentally did right, was not implementing the USB HID mode. USB is only used for charging and firmware updates, so if you are in the middle of the gaming session, you can plug-in the USB and continue playing without re-initialization or interruptions, cause it still broadcasts the wireless signal. You can even plug it into your smartphone charger or powerbank, and just keep going :roll: