Price When Reviewed

89.99

Best Prices Today: Asus ROG Gladius III

$89.40

Most mice unbox with one thing distinctive within the pack, like grips, stickers, or an additional adapter. But not many include interchangeable micro switches and slightly pair of tweezers because the Asus ROG Gladius III does. I need to admit, it appeals to the tinkerer in me, the internal baby that also will get excited by plaster dinosaur eggs and fancy DIY ship kits.

That mentioned, this little bonus has a really sensible utility. The Gladius III sports activities Push-Fit Gen II Sockets appropriate with both Asus 3-pin Mechanical Switches or 5-pin Omron Optical Switches as a way to customise its left and proper predominant buttons.

That means in the event that they’re worn out, or simply to not your liking, you may repair them up. My evaluate unit got here with two 3-pin mechanical switches rated for 70 million clicks already put in, with two extra crimson 3-pin mechanical switches offered within the field.

Further studying: See our roundup of the best gaming mice to find out about competing merchandise.

Dominic Bayley / IDG

Asus ROG Gladius III design

Beyond the ingenious hot-swappable switches, the Gladius III can also be fantastically formed. Its right-handed design sports activities a excessive hump that rises from the again and peaks beneath your little finger. It jogs my memory of one other superbly-shaped mouse, the Razer DeathAdder V3 Pro, which additionally raises your index finder for speedier clicking—it’s a function I price very extremely.

The Gladius III can also be fairly a big mouse—it measures 4.86 x 2.68 x 1.75 inches. To use a soccer analogy, that makes it extra of an offensive lineman to the smaller operating back-sized gaming mice just like the Roccat Burst Pro Air.

However, it nonetheless matches most medium-sized arms. Larger arms are themselves higher catered to below the beneficiant proportions. The mouse’s excessive again additionally makes it finest suited to palm and claw grippers, however it’s in no way unimaginable for fingertip grippers to play with.

The Gladius III seems excellent subsequent to any gaming rig. It is available in simply the one elegant black colour, however has three funky Aura Sync RGB lighting zones. There’s one within the mouse wheel, an ROG emblem on the again finish, and, my private favourite, an RGB gentle zone on the left-hand facet that illuminates 5 strains of laser-engraved textual content.

Despite this, the shiny plastic end can sometimes present up oil out of your arms, so that you’ll want a fabric useful if you wish to keep a flawless look.

Dominic Bayley / IDG

If you go for the wired model like my evaluate unit, you’ll be tethered by a really easy, shoelace-like ROG Paracord, which, though it will get slightly tangled at instances, appears to glide effectively over surfaces. There’s a wi-fi model too, which has two connectivity choices: 2.4GHz wi-fi and Bluetooth. This choice weighs 81 grams, whereas the wired model weighs two grams lighter at 79 grams.

How does the Asus ROG Gladius III carry out?

The Gladius III comes with a 19,000 DPI Optical Sensor which is tuneable as much as 26,000 DPI utilizing the Asus ROG software program. Apart from that, it has a most velocity of 400 IPS (inches per second), most acceleration of fifty G and pro-grade polling price of 1,000Hz.

Flicking the curser round by means of the completely different DPI settings in video games like CounterStrike: Global Offensive and Insurgency, proved that the sensor was regular and correct at decrease settings and super-quick and delicate on the highest DPI setting. It additionally tracked fantastically with no trace of lag or stuttering.

At 79 grams, nonetheless, the Gladius III did really feel slightly too heavy for actually excellent efficiency in FPS video games. Wired mice are usually a lot lighter at present than they have been beforehand—with among the most up-to-date releases even dipping beneath 65 grams. By comparability, the Gladius III did sometimes really feel sluggish. In reality, I might hear my tooth grinding slightly every time I overswung the mark on targets.

Still, it overswung so very occasionally that it by no means turned a trouble. The Gladius III continues to be completely appropriate for many informal and aggressive play. I additionally actually just like the beneficiant assortment of PTFE toes (and the spares within the field)—they made motion easy and easy over my neoprene mouse mat.

Dominic Bayley / IDG

In regards to the buttons, I did encounter a small hiccup. For some motive the left predominant button, which in best gaming mice is clicky and mushy, felt a bit tight at first. To treatment that I swapped out the button’s default micro swap for one of many spare mechanical 3-pin choices, and that fastened the difficulty instantly. The right-hand button, however, felt completely balanced and clicky proper off the bat.

On the upside, the Gladius III’s buttons do really feel exceptionally snug. They dip down barely within the middle holding your fingers good and cushty and making certain clicks at all times register within the center somewhat than on the sides the place you’re extra liable to slippage.

Asus ROG Gladius III customization

When it involves button configuration, the Gladius III has a reasonably typical FPS model setup, sporting two predominant clicks, two on the left-hand facet, a single click on within the mouse wheel, and a tiny DPI button behind it. On the underside, an oblong-shaped button toggles you thru 5 onboard reminiscence profiles.

All these buttons are configurable in Asus’s Armoury Crate software program app, the place you may simply assign instructions and macros through a useful visible diagram. But there’s much more on provide in Armoury Crate if you wish to fine-tune your efficiency settings even additional.

For instance, you may change the polling price, DPI decision, and Aura Sync RGB lighting and results. Additionally, you may calibrate the Gladius III for chosen Asus ROG mouse mats, or manually to your individual surfaces. If you’re liable to lifting, you can too select between excessive and low lift-off distances to cut back the possibilities lifting will have an effect on your play—a luxurious we don’t at all times see in supporting software program apps.

Asus ROG Gladius III vs. Razer DeathAdder V3 Pro vs. Logitech G Pro X Superlight

There’s no denying that the Asus ROG Gladius III’s 79-gram weight turns the clock again to 2021, when such a weight would have been established order for pro-grade mice. But that was again then, and now in 2023 lighter rivals just like the Razer DeathAdder V3 Pro and Logitech G Pro X Superlight actually push the envelope on lightness, weighing simply 63 grams. That reality makes this mouse a tough promote on weight alone.

Instead, avid gamers ought to take into account the Gladius III on the steadiness of its different key options. The first is the hot-swappable switches; having the ability to swap out micro switches for higher actuation, click on pressure, and really feel, is an enormous boon for aggressive avid gamers—this one function is value its weight in gold when the distinction between profitable or shedding will depend on a mouse’s capacity to reply.

Dominic Bayley / IDG

But the Gladius III additionally has extra up-front performance when it comes to the RGB lighting and the on-top positioning of the DPI button. Indeed, neither the V3 Pro nor Superlight have these two options, which makes the Gladius III arguably the extra fashionable, higher to see in darkish environments, and positively the quickest of the three for switching DPI on-the-fly.

Finally, at its present value of simply $89.99 it’s essentially the most reasonably priced choice. The V3 Pro by comparability prices $149.99 and the Superlight is dearer nonetheless, at present carrying a $159.99 price ticket on the Logitech G web site. For avid gamers on a finances, this value saving might make all of the distinction at on-line checkouts.

Is the Asus ROG Gladius III value it?

The ROG Gladius III has a strong sensor that’s on top of things and a shapely design that gives you with a cushty and performance-inducing match. Yes, there are lighter and faster choices in the marketplace for FPS gaming, however none I can consider that give you anyplace close to the extent of button customization and up-front performance as this one, or for a value so affordable.