When they released, both the Glorious Model I and Model O 2 Wireless had their fair share of issues. Being an amalgamation of the two, it is no wonder that the Model I 2 Wireless shares this fate, though some improvements have been made at least.

Though the Model I 2 Wireless still utilizes the same Kailh GM 8.0 main button switches as the Model I, the button design has been completely revised, and with great success. Whereas on the Model I, the right main button suffered from a rather unpleasant "thunk" sound upon actuation, coupled with a dull and muted button response, no such thing is present on the Model I 2 Wireless. The main buttons are pretty much perfectly uniform, lateral button movement is low even when provoked, and button response firm and snappy. In fact, some may argue it is a little bit too firm, as button stiffness borders on heavy. The side buttons were another aspect that received criticism on the Model I, but here improvements are more sparse. The design is largely unchanged, and the switches still are from Huano (green plunger), with the only meaningful difference being which buttons are bad. On the Model I, every single side button suffered from massive post-travel, coupled with significant pre-travel on the middle button. On the Model I 2 Wireless, the front button is actually decent this time around, as pre and post-travel could be described as moderate, but the middle button once again suffers from copious amounts of pre and post-travel, leading to mushy actuation, and while the back button doesn't have quite as much post-travel, pre-travel is still noticeable. The "sniper" button once again is the exception, as both pre and post-travel are under control. Overall, I'd say the side buttons are a bit better, but still well below par. The scroll wheel encoder once again comes from F-Switch, and even though the model is a different one, it performs quite similarly to the one found on the Model I, as tactility is very nice, with clearly separated steps allowing for precise scrolling, and noise levels only go up when scrolling up. The feet retain their size and shape from the Model I, and still are made of pure PTFE, resulting in good glide.

At 74 g, the Model I 2 Wireless is only marginally heavier than the wired Model I, and compares very favorably to the Model O 2 Wireless at 71 g, too, which has fewer buttons, a less complex design, and the same 450 mAh battery. Looking at the design more closely, it becomes clear where the weight reduction comes from. Clearly, Glorious has taken a couple of pages out of G-Wolves's and LAMZU's books, as even though the plastic is thinner compared to the Model I, the PCB has been extended to the sides such that it aids in preserving the structural rigidity of the shell. The result is a mouse that neither flexes nor creaks when applying lateral force, and the side buttons can only be actuated by pressing below them if excessive force is used. The only build-related flaw I could find on my unit is a rattle coming from the main buttons, though this never becomes apparent during actual use, as the rattle is insignificant enough to be completely neutralized by the weight of one's fingers.

Of course, the Model I 2 Wireless retains the magnetic side buttons from the Model I. Once again, the "sniper" and back side button are magnetically attached, and can be swapped with several alternative buttons included in the box, such as lower or higher profile variants. However, I have to admit that the purpose of this feature continues to elude me. The lower-profile buttons effectively prevent these buttons from being usable, which I consider self-defeating, as there is no reason to buy a mouse whose main selling point is the number of buttons, and then proceed to disable two of them. In the same vein, the default buttons already stick out a good amount, so installing variants that stick out even more won't be something most people would want to do. In summary, the ability to disable the sniper button may be useful, but other than that, I fail to see the point.

Where the Model I 2 Wireless truly falters is performance. Much like on the Model O 2 Wireless, Glorious has opted for an MCU from PixArt, along with PixArt's latest PAW3395 sensor. A similar MCU has been used on VAXEE's wireless releases, which shined with great performance, but on the Model I 2 Wireless, we're seeing the exact opposite. On the positive side, CPI deviation is nonexistent on the Model I 2 Wireless, but that is about it. A recurring issue from the Model O 2 Wireless is polling stability, or rather the lack thereof. On the Model I 2 Wireless, 1000 Hz in wired operation at least proved to be stable, but on the Model I 2 Wireless, even that is no longer the case, as there isn't a single polling rate not suffering from various amounts of instability. For what it's worth, polling stability at least no longer goes from bad to worse when enabling RGB lighting, but it being bad of course is still, well, bad. In addition, the tracking irregularities observed on the Model O 2 Wireless also make a return, especially the one whereby, when moving from a standstill, counts registered by the sensor are suspended for a short time, and upon being resumed are reported in a single update. As a result, responsiveness suffers, and in addition, there is also the issue that at any point during the motion, motion delay randomly increases by a multiple of the set interval. Taken together, we're seeing an above average degree of inconsistency, to where I actually found myself unable to determine the exact motion delay in testing. What I can say for certain is that enabling MotionSync increases motion delay by 0.5–1 ms at 1000 Hz, and without MotionSync, the motion delay differential relative to the Logitech G403 (control subject) is anywhere between 0.5–1 ms.

The story continues with click latency. Again, much like on the Model O 2 Wireless, results will vary greatly depending on what the interval between each sample is. At 200 ms or below, the numbers are quite formidable: At a debounce time of 0 ms, 2.6 ms are averaged in wireless (2.4 GHz) operation. However, as soon as the interval is increased to 300 ms or more, the tides turn, and the average now is 6.1 ms, with a near-absurd standard deviation of 2.51 ms. Essentially, what is happening here is that in order to save battery life, the RF signal is suspended whenever there is no sensor and button activity for more than 200 milliseconds. Upon being resumed, various amounts of latency are added, resulting in a worse average and huge standard deviation. Of course, during actual use, there will be sensor activity during clicks most of the time, which is why the former value applies, but when playing games such as CS2 or VALORANT, it is not uncommon at all to not move the mouse for 200 ms, for instance when holding an angle. In these cases, the latency of the next click latency can end up anywhere between 2 and 12 ms, adding a layer of inconsistency that is essentially impossible to account for. Thus, I consider the Model I 2 Wireless not suited for competitive gaming.

Battery life is another interesting topic on the Model I 2 Wireless. When I tested the Model O 2 Wireless, the indicator in the software basically didn't work at all, which made estimating battery life a most difficult task. On the Model I 2 Wireless, the indicator works now, and from what I can tell, Glorious has decided to implement a fuel gauge IC, as the readings are consistent and accurate. Using the Model I 2 Wireless in 2.4 GHz wireless operation, at a polling rate of 1000 Hz, and with RGB lighting enabled at 60% brightness, for every three hours of continuous use the indicator went down by roughly 20%. Hence, estimated battery life with these settings would be around 15 hours, which of course is a far cry from the 210 hours of battery life claimed. That said, it is safe to say that the 210 hours cited by Glorious are, if at all, only reached when using Bluetooth and no illumination, and without illumination, 70 to 80 hours at least can be reasonably expected. The charging cable is flexible enough to allow playing while charging without much impairment, and charging itself is decently speedy at around 0.281 A. The only thing that still has me wondering is the cable connector, as its anchor design prevents plugging in the connector in either orientation, which is one of the main perks of USB Type-C over other USB types.

Overall, the Model I 2 Wireless isn't catastrophically bad, but it falls short in several key areas, while not impressing in others. As a lightweight alternative to button-heavier competitors such as Logitech's G502 series and Razer's Basilisk series, the Model I 2 Wireless still has a place in the market, though those who do not value weight that much will likely be better served by said competitors.