Asus ROG Gladius II

Asus’ Republic of Gamers (ROG) brand makes dependable and desirable devices for serious gamers, and its latest mouse, the Asus ROG Gladius II, looks set to continue that tradition.

When PC gaming is a serious business for you, you want to make sure you have the very best peripherals that can give you the competitive edge. Asus, and especially the folk in its ROG department, know this very well, which is why the Asus ROG Gladius II is packed with impressive features, such as an advanced 12000 DPI optical sensor, 50g acceleration and a 1000Hz USB polling rate.

This last feature in particular is aimed at ensuring that the Asus ROG Gladius II is a fast and accurate mouse. The Asus ROG Gladius II isn’t a cheap pointer, however, costing around £70 (around $90, AU$120).

This makes it one of the more expensive mice out there, with the wonderful Corsair Glaive RGB costing $69 (about £50, AU$90), and the Razer DeathAdder Elite, which costs $69 (£69, AU$119).

These are both fantastic gaming mice, which means the Asus ROG Gladius II has its work cut out to convince us the extra expense is worth it.

Design

The design of the Asus ROG Gladius II is rather subdued in some respects, though unashamedly over the top in others. It’s not covered in buttons like some other gaming mice, but it has enough buttons to make it a flexible addition to your desk.

Of course, there are the left and right buttons, and these can be removed (using the modification switch on the bottom of the mouse) and the Omron switches changed to give you a responsive click that suits your play style and tastes. The extra switches you can use are included in the box, and the ease of replacing the switches could see the life-span of this mouse increase – especially for people who like a bit of frantic clicking.

Of course, being able to change the type of switch under the main buttons is a feature that’s only going to appeal to a small audience – but if you’re after that sort of flexibility, you’ll be very pleased with the Asus ROG Gladius II.

As well as the main buttons, there are three buttons on the left-hand side of the mouse – including a DPI target button, which is useful for sniping as it quickly changes the sensitivity settings of the mouse to make it easier to aim.

On the top of the mouse is a scroll wheel, which can also be clicked, along with a DPI switch for more in-depth control over the sensitivity of the mouse.

The actual design of the mouse is rather nice, with no angular bits jutting out in a bid to look ‘extreme’. A subtle design on parts of the mouse adds patterns to the surface, matching other ROG devices, and also help give you better grip.

What’s less subtle is the RGB lighting, which gives you three areas of illumination on the mouse: the scroll wheel, the ROG icon and along the underneath of the mouse. This gives a rather pleasant effect where the light bounces off the surface of your desk or mouse mat when you use the Asus ROG Gladius II.

The lighting effects, such as colors and animation, can be configured in the ROG Armoury software, which makes it easy to personalise the look of the mouse. However, while we found the lighting effects to be quite nice, they don’t offer any gaming advantage – which could leave serious and professional gamers wondering if they're spending money on frivolous features, rather than ones that could make an impact on their games.

Overall the design is very nice, and the Asus ROG Gladius II is light enough to whizz around a desk in a frantic firefight, while the ergonomic design helps it feel comfortable to use.

Performance

If you're spending a lot of money on a gaming mouse, performance is incredibly important. Thanks to the 12,000 DPI sensor, with 50g acceleration, the Asus ROG Gladius II is fast and responsive when playing.

We used it to play a number of games from a number of genres, including the fast-paced Battlefield 1 first-person shooter. No matter what the game, the Asus ROG Gladius II performed admirably, and the buttons (with the default switches installed) felt satisfying to use.

The DPI switch helped out enormously when switching between game genres, though we found the mouse to be particularly good in first-person shooters thanks to the quick DPI switch button.

For MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role-playing games) and complicated games that require a lot of buttons, the Asus ROG Gladius II struggles, however, and you’d be better off with the Corsair Scimitar RGB or similar.

Also, while you can change the switch type of the mouse buttons, the Asus ROG Gladius II lacks other advanced gaming mouse features, such as swappable weights.

This is a shame, as although the Asus ROG Gladius II is an excellent gaming mouse, it means it isn’t quite the ultimate gaming mouse its price tag suggests.

We liked

The Asus ROG Gladius II feels comfortable to use, and each of the buttons feels satisfying and responsive. While the RGB lighting won’t be to everyone’s taste, we liked it a lot, especially the bottom lighting.

The ability to change the switches underneath the main buttons is nice, though this may only appeal to a small minority. The quick DPI switch button, on the other hand, is much more useful to a broader range of players.

We didn’t like

The Asus ROG Gladius II is a pricey gaming mouse, and while its build quality and performance are impeccable, it doesn’t feature quite as many gaming-focused features as other, cheaper, gaming mice.

Final verdict

The Asus ROG Gladius II is an excellent all-round gaming mouse – and one of the best pointers we’ve used for gaming. It has a fantastic build quality, feels comfortable to use, and performs brilliantly over a range of genres.

However, there’s no denying that this is an expensive mouse – and it lacks some advanced features, like multiple extra buttons and swappable weights. This means that professional gamers – or enthusiasts who take their gaming very seriously, may want to look at a gaming mouse that's less flashy, but comes with more features and a lower price tag, instead.