Performance

The mouse was put to the test in a variety of games and applications. In order to test the sensor's performance we tested the mouse on many different types of surfaces right from a plain wood desk through ultra soft mats to our benchmark hard mat the 9HD from SteelSeries. The mouse performed well on all the surfaces, there were minor changes to the lift-off distance, however, it was under 2 mm the whole time so it did not pose an issue.

Since it is a driver less mouse you will have to go into the Windows mouse control software if you want to change the general sensitivity. One of the neat features of the EC2 is that it will automatically set the USB rate to 1000 Hz. This was verified via Mouse Rate Checker. Like most of the other high performance mice the sample rate is constantly above 800 Hz when you move it around quickly.

The fact that the 1000 Hz hack is implemented in the mouse is a unique feature. On Windows XP changing the polling rate is easy, however, on Windows 7 it is a pain in the back side.

The sensor itself is more than capable of producing coherent tracking at all sensitivities. We were not able to get it to stall. Like Razer Abyssus the infrared sensor in the EC2 is able to track on pretty much all surfaces so no matter what mat you get you can get close to optimum performance. The extra large mouse feet perform well on both soft and hard mats. On soft mats the size of the feet gives the mouse an edge over those equipped with small ones. This is due to the fact that the mouse distributes its weight over a larger surface thus reducing pressure and mat deformation.

The only sensor related issue is that it has a little prediction which means that it does not feel totally precise for one pixel moves in games, this could pose a major issue in competitive FPS gaming.

The only serious performance issue with the EC2 and I suspect also on the EC1 is the scroll wheel. It does not have enough tactile feedback so you cannot really use it in games for weapon switching. Another issue with it is that it skips one tick every now and then when you go from forward to backward scrolling. It has come to our attention that the scroll wheel issue might only appear on the earliest revision of the mouse see "Closer Examination" for updates.

Another minor performance related issue is the surface which is a bit too smooth. I think the one with a slightly more rubberized surface is the better option but I guess it is up to preference. Also the side button mounts seem too soft giving the buttons an odd feel. The structural integrity of this mouse is not good at all.