ASUS ROG Gladius gaming mouse review

1. Introduction2. Unboxing3. ASUS ROG Gladius gaming mouse4. Testing5. Final Thoughts6. View All Pages

When it comes to testing mice here at KitGuru, we put them through their paces in a variety of general usage and gaming scenarios, including photo editing and other work related tasks. We feel this gives you the best idea of what a peripheral is like beyond the numbers, but would always recommend that if you can, test one out yourself before buying.

That disclaimer aside, what is the ROG Gladius like to use? In short, it is excellent.

This is a gaming mouse that is above all reliable, but so much more besides. In FPS, strategy games, puzzlers, whatever genre you want to name, this mouse performed well in it. It is supremely accurate and wonderfully smooth. Much of that can be put down to the use of the Avago ADNS-S3988 sensor, which is the same one that featured in the much lauded over Razer Death Adder.

Part of the reason it is so strong a gaming mouse too, is because of the subtle ergonomics of the Gladius. I am most often a fan of ambidextrous mice as they tend to fit better in my hand (for my finger grip style), but the Gladius nestled perfectly in my hand and has never felt uncomfortable or awkward. Often times if you have a mouse with finger rests, it can take a while to get used to it – but with this ASUS mouse there was almost no adjustment period at all.

 
There are some profile and DPI options, but other mice give you a lot more to play with

Throughout testing I went through several multi-hour gaming sessions (poor me, right?) and never did I find myself in an uncomfortable situation. The same goes for those long hours I put in at the KitGuru grind stone, tapping away, editing photos and researching the latest and greatest news stories.

Overall the ASUS Gladius gives you a real feeling of refined class and a streamlined experience, without buttons and lights and extras to mess with. And the software is the same, with a very clean look that makes it incredibly easy to navigate and understand. It does lack a few of the options of more fully featured mice, even ones in the same price bracket, but most of the time with the overly kitted out gaming peripherals, you only end up using them once or twice before you find your preferred setting.

 
There is a surface material scanning feature that should make your mouse more in-tune with the mat you have chosen. 

That said, the ROG Gladius is not without back-end features. You can adjust its DPI for the two separate steps (which for most people is more than enough) and its acceleration and deceleration if you like that sort of thing. You can also adjust the polling rate all the way up to 2,000Hz, though personally I do not notice much difference and prefer to keep it at 1,000.

There are some adjustments you can make with lighting, but ultimately there is only one colour option. If you do not like a mouse that glows in the dark though, you can simply turn if all off if you wish.

Setting up Macros is very easy and there are plenty of options for fine tuning

While the back-end software for this mouse does not allow for the highest levels of customisation, the Gladius itself offers something that almost no other mice do: it lets you change the left/right click switches. This is not something the average gamer is likely to find themselves doing, but if you absolutely must have a perfectly fine tuned gaming mouse, or if you just want to extend the life of yours after many years of battling, then this is a neat option.

Doing so is actually very easy and you can even do it right out of the box if you want – since ASUS bundles a pair of Japanese Omron switches with the mouse itself. Considering it is stock-fitted with Chinese switches, that might be something you want to do – Marty McFly taught me long ago that Japan makes the best everything.

However be warned, doing so will trash your teflon pads, because to open the mouse up you need to get at four screws which just happen to be under the teflon pads. It seems a shame ASUS could not put these screws somewhere else, though I do appreciate that gamers are less likely to be replacing the switches after a week than a reviewer is.

 

Once you have the shell of the mouse off, it is actually a very simple matter to replace the switches. You pop out the originals and pop in the new ones.

After replacing everything, you are stuck with a set of lumpy teflon pads. Fortunately then, ASUS also bundled a fresh set for you to attach. Make sure you line them up correctly though as you will only have one shot to do it right.

This is a pretty unique feature and essentially extends the life of the ROG Gladius way beyond that of your average gaming mouse.

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