The Taiwan-based ASUS revealed their first-ever gaming mouse under the ROG brand way back in 2014 – the ROG Gladius. But recently, the company released their ROG Gladius III, which we’ll feature here in our ASUS ROG Gladius III review.
With this new addition, we can see that ASUS emphasises and innovates the classic design of the original Gladius. The company also continues their trend of providing outstanding, quality products for us to take advantage of.
The ROG Gladius III offers us a couple of interesting features, such as a decreased weight and interchangeable switches. Plus, it’s designed to be competition-ready with its 19,000 DPI sensor to give gamers a full package.
In this ASUS ROG Gladius III review, let’s see if this product is one of the best today.
ASUS ROG Gladius III Packaging
The ASUS ROG Gladius III came in the typical-looking ROG package that sports the red and black theme. The front displays an image of the gaming mouse, while the product’s name is set below it. On the upper left corner of the box, ASUS’ ROG symbol is present.
The Gladius III is set in place with other items like two Omron 5-pin optical switches inside the box. There’s also a set of extra mouse feet, a quick start guide, tweezers, a warranty guide, plus ASUS ROG stickers.
Now, we’ll discuss the design and functions of the headset in our ASUS ROG Gladius III review.
ASUS ROG Gladius III Review – Design and Functionality
This gaming headset has a braided paracord-like cable. It’s soft, flexible, and is 2m long.
Unlike the original and Gladius II, the Gladius III features a couple of changes to its shape. The front, including the primary buttons, is set higher compared to other right-handed mice. This setup leads to a much fuller and more secure feel in your hand. On its left, there’s a lot of space for your thumb since it’s almost fully straight vertically.
The back flares out slightly towards the right, while the front portion has lost most of its flare. This gives you a narrower portion than the Gladius or Gladius II.
For its hump, it’s centred yet gradually tilts down towards its ends. Despite this design, the front portion still stays tall. To put it simply, Gladius III’s form is more flexible when it comes to hand sizes.
When we speak of the mouse’s feet, these are entirely made from PTFE with a few rounded edges. Its glide is excellent, while the ring around the sensor guarantees the CPI’s consistency when vertical pressure is applied.
In addition, ASUS included a set of replacement feet in the package, which is extremely handy and convenient.
Let’s talk about the buttons on the Gladius III. They’re excellent with low pre-travel plus moderate to low post-travel, giving you a satisfying and firm click response.
The Micro Switches from ROG are installed by default. These can be replaced with the Omron S2F series or the Omron D2FC series switches. Furthermore, the 2nd gen push-fit sockets are electrically and mechanically compatible with the 5-pin Omron switch series.
The Gladius III’s switches offer a unique click feel that’s firmer, stiffer, and louder. We like its mechanical-sounding reverb on release, so great job on that.
The side buttons are good too. Both the post and pre-travel are minimal, where the actuation point is across their entirety. With that, you’ll experience a firm and extremely satisfying button response.
The mouse’s top features a single button for cycling the CPI steps. When you’re looking at the bottom, you’ll see it has a button for cycling the set profiles.
Scroll Wheel and Coating
The scroll wheel moves smoothly and quietly, while its tactility is excellent, resulting in controlled and tight scrolling.
This time, let’s talk about the mouse’s coating. The main and top button pieces feature a smooth matte surface that isn’t like the Keris and Keris Wireless. On the right, it has riffle lines, while the left features a non-ordered pattern.
We liked that the mouse’s top surface isn’t a fingerprint or dirt magnet, and it’s easy to clean too. But for its side patterns, these attract a bit of dirt but are easy to clean, nonetheless.
Overall, ASUS used excellent materials for their Gladius III.
Build Quality
The ROG Gladius III overall has an amazingly solid build. No rattles can be heard when shaking the mouse, and that’s something we greatly appreciate. Applying lateral pressure won’t give you flexing or creaking on the shell, which is another big plus.
You can activate the side buttons simply by squeezing their sides. And even in remote spots, doing so is possible. However, you should note that activating the buttons requires you to put in a bit of force.
Now, our ASUS ROG Gladius III review will discuss the different features of this gaming mouse from ASUS.
Key Features of the ASUS ROG Gladius III
Classic Asymmetrical Style
The classic design of the Gladius III is perfect for different grip styles, offering outstanding comfort that lasts. It’s much lighter compared to the earlier Gladius mice, allowing for smoother and faster control.
Ultimate Performer
The mouse’s top-notch optical sensor provides the precision and accuracy that every gamer needs. It has a range of 100 to 26,000 dpi while tracking accurately at 400” per second at 50g acceleration.
A 1,000Hz poll rate in both wired and 2.4 GHz modes provide lag-free responses for immediate control.
Instant Actuation
The mouse comes with a distinct pivoted button style, which has zero gap between the mouse switch and button. This is to guarantee instantaneous actuation.
Plus, tuned firmware filters unnecessary mouse clicks for both optical and mechanical micro switches. This will give you an edge during competitive gaming.
Push-Fit Switch Socket II
This specific design lets you hot-swap classic 3-pin mechanical switches with the latest 5-pin Omron optical microswitch. Strengthened sockets lessen shaking to give you consistent and firm button clicks.
With the varying aspects and feel of the switches, the socket’s innovative design provides you with the flexibility to choose the best switch for your needs.
ROG Paracord
This fully lightweight and flexible cord is made to decrease snags while enhancing movement for better gameplay.
Omni Mouse Feet
The built-in 100% PTFE (Teflon) mouse feet sport a rounded shape to guarantee effortless glide and movement across surfaces.
Pivoted Button Technology
This mechanism decreases the distance between switches and buttons for immediate click response.
5-Profile Memory
You can save up to a total of five custom profiles by utilising the onboard memory. It’s all accessible via pressing the Profile button.
Specifications
Let’s look at the different specifications of the Gladius III in our ASUS ROG Gladius III review.
The mouse measures 123 x 68 x 44mm and weighs 76g. It has six buttons, including the wheel click with the ROG Micro Switch for its main switches.
This gaming mouse uses a mechanical wheel encoder and has a resolution of 19,000 dpi optical sensor. Its maximum speed is 400 IPS.
It comes with a 1,000Hz USB report rate, PixArt PAW-3370 sensor, and resolution of 100 to 26,000 CPI. As for the polling rate, it is 125 | 250 | 500 | 1,000Hz. In addition, the ROG Gladius III comes with a 2m braided cable, which is long enough for use.
Lastly, ASUS gives the ROG Gladius III a 2-year warranty.
Hands-on with the ASUS ROG Gladius III
This section of our ASUS ROG Gladius III review discusses the performance of the mouse and ROG Armoury Crate Software.
We enjoyed using the ROG Gladius III during our tests. It was perfect for classic eSports games, and it worked excellently in other game genres too. However, we did notice the lack of dpi clutch, which is necessary for precision.
This was missing from our perspective, especially when we tried shooting targets from a much farther distance.
Pressing the buttons great with a smooth yet tactile feel, nothing was amiss, and its grip was perfect even during hours of gameplay.
Now, we’ll discuss the Armoury Crate Software here in our ASUS ROG Gladius III review.
The ROG Armoury Crate software is well-made. It’s easy to install, is user-friendly, so you don’t need to have tons of technical knowledge to use it.
With the software, you can apply all software-based customisations to the Gladius III. These include remapping buttons for calibrating it to a new and different surface.
If not, you can also customise the mouse via ASUS’ AURA Creator. It operates like the Chroma Studio from Razer, providing you with lighting customisations as well.
For RGB lights, you’ll find them on the scroll wheel, ROG logo, and ROG marks on the sides of the Gladius III. These are built-in ROG Aura RGB Lights.
The laser-engraved side also has special flicker effects that are customisable with your preferred colours.
The Gladius III has a total of three lighting zones. These are the logo at the back, scroll wheel, and a couple of text lines on the left portion.
There are eight pre-defined light effects like Static, Pulsating, Color Cycle, Rainbow, Reactive, Partition, Comet, and AURA Sync. The latter synchronises lights with other linked AURA-enabled devices.
Setting colours, as well as adjusting the brightness, is allowed for most effects. Of course, you can also disable the lighting if you don’t want to use it.
Lastly, the colour vibrancy and accuracy are excellent.
ASUS ROG Gladius III Review Summary
The Gladius III is an excellent gaming mouse for those who love customisation. It’s fully customisable physically and via software, and competitive gamers will appreciate its features. With its 19,000 DPI sensor, zero-latency wired connection, and lightweight body, it’s one of the best options today.
In conclusion to our ASUS ROG Gladius III review, we highly recommend this product. If you want to purchase this gaming mouse, it’s available from ASUS’ official website.
