For years, people have been begging Zowie to release wireless versions of their mice, especially of the S2. Since that has yet to happen still, it comes as no surprise that other companies are stepping in. One of them is AQIRYS with the T.G.A., whose shell is shared with the T.G.A. Wired.

When it comes to customization, the T.G.A. surpasses even the T.G.A. Wired. On top of the three differently colored sets consisting of a main-button piece, perforated back cover, and solid back cover each, along with button spacers of various thickness, the T.G.A. even adds a set of grip tape for the main buttons and sides, which can also be used to cover up the holes. Unlike the T.G.A. Wired, the T.G.A. has holes on the sides to offset the weight added by the battery. At 76 g, the T.G.A. weighs a decent bit more than the otherwise comparable offerings from Glorious, for instance, which all stay below 70 g, albeit without being modular. To be fair, the T.G.A. does have a larger battery at 580 mAh, which of course adds to the weight.

Speaking of battery life: AQIRYS cites 50 hours if used at default settings, which are 1000 Hz and with AutoLED, the latter of which disables lighting when moving the mouse. For comparison, the Pulsar Xlite Wireless is said to last for 70 hours without any lighting, while using similar internals and a battery of half the size. Unfortunately, the battery indicator is of little help when it comes to gauging anything as it shows either 0 or 100% charge status. Be that as it may, at least charging is fast on the T.G.A., quite a bit faster than on the offerings from Glorious, for instance. Unfortunately, the charging cable itself isn't quite as good, as its flexibility leaves a lot to be desired, so playing while charging isn't the greatest experience. Interestingly, the T.G.A. allows one to enable or disable the RGB lighting directly on the mouse with the on/off slider. Further adjustments can be made in the software, which is pleasantly light on resources.

This brings me to wireless and sensor performance. As mentioned, the T.G.A. is using the same MCU and firmware package as the Pulsar Xlite Wireless, which did very well in my testing. This continues to be the case on the T.G.A.: CPI deviation is appreciably low, motion delay minimal across the board owing to the lack of smoothing, and wireless motion delay is stunningly low at 1 ms at most. A wireless extender is also included, which isn't always the case in the sub-$100 price range. The only area where the T.G.A. falls short is polling stability. Polling rates below 1000 Hz already weren't stable on the Xlite Wireless, which too is the case on the T.G.A. Yet in addition to this, three of the six lighting effects available on the T.G.A. introduce major polling instability at any polling rate, including 1000 Hz. Furthermore, merely switching CPI or polling rate too can lead to short periods of polling instability, which gradually disappears over the course of a couple of minutes. Accordingly, if one wants perfect polling in wireless mode, one has to stick to three specific lighting effects or no lighting at all at 1000 Hz. Alternatively, the other lighting effects become usable by making use of the software option which turns off lighting while moving the mouse. A similar option is present on recent SteelSeries releases, and its inclusion is welcome on the T.G.A. The overall strong sensor performance is complemented by the equally low click latency, which can be lowered to the same level as on the Pulsar Xlite Wireless. For the record, my findings regarding polling stability are currently being looked into by AQIRYS.

As for the buttons and overall build quality, the T.G.A. is very similar to the T.G.A. Wired. The main buttons once again are outfitted with Kailh GM 8.0 switches, delivering snappy and firm actuation as expected. The scroll wheel encoder too is unchanged, and turns out to even be slightly better on my sample than on the T.G.A. Wired, providing pleasingly tactile and controlled scrolling. While the side-button construction is similar to the T.G.A. Wired, and the switches themselves identical, the side buttons on the T.G.A. feel much better, with minimal post-travel and even actuation, including the back button. The feet are the same as well, still glide fine, and a set of replacement feet is again included.

The fact that the T.G.A. is using an OEM shell allows us to compare it directly to its main competitor, the Pwnage Ultra Custom Wireless Symm 1. While the T.G.A. goes for $85.60 including all the shells, button spacers, replacement feet, and grip tape, the Ultra Custom Wireless Symm 1 only starts at $93.95, and one would have to purchase the extra shells ($11.95), grip tape ($4.95), and additional feet ($3.95) on top of that, only to get what is essentially the same mouse. In short, value for money is incomparably greater on the T.G.A., and also stays competitive in comparison to the aforementioned Pulsar Xlite Wireless at $74.95. In terms of performance, the T.G.A. is just as impressive for all but the wireless polling woes, which can be circumvented, and the wireless motion delay in particular is nothing short of excellent. Accordingly, the T.G.A. earns both our Recommended and Budget awards.