The ASUS ROG Pugio II is the fully ambidextrous (i.e., side buttons on both sides) brother of the ASUS ROG Chakram, which was able to snag an Editor's Choice in our review. The Pugio II can't quite compare in terms of features, but it's significantly more affordable and right up there when it comes to performance.

Let's take a look at the good things first. Button quality is high across the board, the scroll wheel is fine, components are fine, the feet glide nicely, and the rich selection of RGB lighting options and well-working software with plenty of settings should satisfy most needs. Additionally, the feature set is still nothing short of impressive: triple connectivity (wired, 2.4 GHz wireless, and Bluetooth), hot-swappable main button switches, CPI adjustment using the scroll wheel, detachable magnetic side buttons, an accessory box including replacement switches—ASUS really went the extra mile there. Due to its size and fully ambidextrous design (side buttons on both sides) the Pugio II is also an interesting mouse for left-handed users with large hands, for whom there aren't many options on the market.

Wireless quality is a bit of a mixed bag. ASUS promises a battery life of up to 69 hours while using 2.4 GHz mode and more than 100 hours in Bluetooth mode, which is very good. Tracking performance is great as well, and after a recent firmware update click latency is now nice and low, too. The only issues I could find were polling outliers in wireless mode (same as on the Chakram) and the somewhat unstable 1000 Hz polling. Furthermore, wireless delay is above average, which may be due to the lack of a wireless extender. Build quality is a mixed bag as well. The first copy I received had a loose part which caused a very audible and ever-present rattle. While it's possible that other copies don't suffer from this exact issue, it is something I cannot let go unchecked. In fact, the second copy didn't suffer from this issue, but instead had an issue where the screw securing the main button cover could not be unscrewed. Similarly, the wireless mode slider on the first copy was of poor quality, but not on the second one.

Still, the good greatly outweighs the bad on the Pugio II. Looking at the competition, the Pugio II looks pretty good. Both the Logitech G Pro Wireless and Razer Viper Ultimate beat it handily, but at a much higher price ($149.99). The same goes for the Logitech G903. The much more affordable Logitech G305, on the other hand, isn't really comparable since the shape and size is vastly different. All in all, the ASUS ROG Pugio II earns a Recommended from me.