Software

Much like the Glorious Wireless range, the Model I is compatible with Glorious Core. In terms of functionality, nothing has changed. Resource usage, on the other hand, has gone through the roof. Aside from a very large RAM footprint, the latest version of Core also has an appetite for CPU time. CPU usage is highest when Core is opened, but even when sitting idly in the system tray, some CPU usage remains. This is a clear step back compared to previous versions. Furthermore, the RGB lighting at times randomly disables itself without any user input.

The first tab houses the lighting settings, which are detailed below. The second tab includes button remapping. All buttons can be bound to mouse, keyboard, media, or macro functions. The third tab has performance settings. CPI adjustment ranges from 100–19,000 CPI in increments of 50 from 100–10,000 CPI and increments of 100 from 10,000–19,000 CPI, for up to six color-coded levels. CPI values can be entered manually on the slider. Any non-native values are automatically truncated to the next native value. Lift-off distance can be set to either 1 or 2 mm. "Debounce time" effectively controls click latency. It ranges from 0 to 16 ms and can be adjusted in increments of 2, with 10 ms being the default. Setting debounce time to 0 ms gets rid of debouncing virtually altogether, leading to eventual double-clicking. Polling rate can be set to 125, 250, 500, or 1000 Hz. Lastly, macro support and profile management are included, too.

All setting changes, including macros, are saved to the on-board memory, so the software does not need to be running (or be installed) all the time. On my system, the software had a RAM footprint of 425 MB on average when running in the foreground, which doesn't change when minimized, be it to the taskbar or system tray, along with considerable CPU usage, which goes down when minimized. Upon exiting the application, all processes are terminated, as they should be.

Lighting

The Model I has three physical zones for RGB lighting: the scroll wheel and two LED strips on the sides. A total of eight pre-defined lighting effects are available in the software: Glorious Mode, Seamless Breathing (RGB), Breathing, Single Color, Breathing (Single Color), Tail, Rave, and Wave. For most effects, brightness and the speed of transitions can be adjusted. Of course, the lighting can also be disabled altogether.

Color accuracy and vibrancy are excellent throughout. Below is a short demonstration video in which I go through Glorious Mode, Seamless Breathing (RGB), and Tail. Please note that illumination was set to 100% brightness: