The ASUS ROG Gladius III Wireless mouse is filled with many gaming functionalities, black aesthetic, RGB lighting, asymmetric ergonomic design, and hot-swappable switches that has a lifespan of 70 million clicks. The mouse can also switch to three different modes from wireless, wired, or Bluetooth. It features a zero-click latency, 1,000Hz polling rate, and up to 26,000 DPI perfect for competitive gaming.
With these tons of features in mind, the price might be higher than a regular gaming mouse, and it has a retail price of PHP 5,995 in the Philippines.
Contents
- Packaging
- Look and Feel
- Hot-Swappable Switches
- Battery
- Performance
- Software
- Conclusion
- What’s inside the Box
- Specification
In this review, we will run down all of the best features of this wireless gaming mouse, some tutorials on how easy to swap the mechanical switches, and see if it passes our benchmark experiment.
Packaging
For someone who likes to keep boxes of their peripherals, this section is for you. The ASUS ROG Gladius III Wireless is securely kept in this sturdy packaging with its iconic color branding (Black/Red) of ROG. It shows the mice itself, the AURA Sync badge label, and the connectivity information for 2.4 GHz wireless and Bluetooth.
At the back, it shows more detailed specifications of physical parts along with the compatibility of the mechanical switches. For the side, the right corner shows its brand name printed in metallic ink, and the opposite side (not in the picture) shows some multi-language translation about the highlight feature motto of the mouse “Classic ROG Gladius wireless ergonomics with revolutionary upgrade.”
Flipping the cover reveals the mouse and its wired components, the unique shape contoured to the foam for a secure fit. Closing back the package is easy with its snappy magnetic flip cover.
The rest of the items (Instructions manual, free switches, stickers) are placed beneath the foam, making it shake-proof for potential scratches from being transported or even accidentally dropped.
Look and Feel
Asymmetrically designed for right-handed, the ASUS ROG Gladius III Wireless mouse cover is made with a lightweight plastic black matte with no other rubbers; it weighs a total of 89 grams. If you’re a right-handed person, you will feel the comfortability and featherweight difference on the spot, especially when playing intense video games.
As per experience, small hands suit better using the palm and claw grip, as they may struggle to reach the buttons when using fingertip grip. At the same time, bigger hands can freely use all three grips (claw, palm, and fingertip grip). The detachable cable for a wired connection is easily accessible at the front. As for those who are noise conscious, since this is a mechanical switch, the click noise made from both the left and right buttons is a “crisp tactile clicking sound” that is not louder but not also silent. For gamers, it’s an eargasm.
Both sides of the mouse feature plastic grills where it gives much better control and ample grip. However, one of the problems that we have encountered is it may hold a speck of dirt over time, especially with sweaty palms and gamers who love to eat in front of their PC. You will surely need to add this to your cleaning chores with toothpicks.
Aesthetic RGB rig setup is not complete without an RGB for mouse; the ASUS ROG Gladius III wireless has three distinguish lighting effects that will fill out your RGB rig. It is customizable via ASUS Armory Crate software and can be synced with the existing ASUS RGB ambient effect using the Aura Sync. The RGB on the grip side is stylishly added in subtle laser-engraved letters that look like it is from the Matrix film universe. It reads “ROG”, “DARE TO PLAY”, “ROG GLADIUS”, “GAMER”, and “REPUBLIC OF GAMERS”.
However, on the right side – there is no RGB lighting. Instead, a grill-like pattern that allows your ring finger to rest comfortably.
You’ll find the laser-engraved ROG logo with the RGB backlit on the on palm rest.
Lastly, the RGB on the scroll wheel. We consider this one the best place for an RGB because this is the only RGB Zone on the mouse visible to eyesight while playing.
Aside from the RGB effect on the grip side, the extra two buttons are conveniently placed at the top corner for your thumb. By default, it is set for forward and backward. Useful for skill-based games like MOBA where you can change its function for keyboard shortcuts like skill attacks. All of the buttons mentioned can be re-configured using the Armory Crate.
Back to the top, you’ll find the left and right-click buttons equipped with hot-swappable mechanical switches. The one-click DPI switch triangular button is in between where you can cycle to 4 pre-defined DPI settings: 400, 800, 1600 up to 3,200.
At the bottom seats the secret of its smooth gliding experience. The 5 White PTFE feet or known as Teflon, allow the mouse to effortlessly glide in any direction as it cuts down the friction against the mousepad or any surface. ROG also has some extra spare Teflon stickers that you can use for replacement in case one of them gets worn out.
The wireless USB dongle is also placed underneath where you can easily snap it back to its magnetic dock, a toggle switch for Bluetooth, wired and wireless 2.4 GHz, and the pairing button where it can be paired up to three devices. The profile switching button at the bottom is for the RGB effect profile, and it allows you to switch through 5 effects (the default are: Rainbow, Color cycle, Breathing, Reactive, Comet). Using these three connectivities and the pairing button allows you to conveniently switch to different devices like your Home PC to doing outdoor on your laptop.
Hot-Swappable Switches
One of the ROG Gladius III Wireless mouse highlights is its Hot-Swappable mechanical switches. In the long run, mouse switches tend to wear off and become faulty, like double-clicking or becoming unresponsive because of heavy use. Having the ability to replace this on hand without soldering is a significant plus for a gaming mouse. Though it takes decades before the default switch of ROG Gladius III Wireless likely fails, it guarantees an enormous 70 million clicks lifespan. According to research by DigitalCitizen, an average gamer makes 7,985 mouse clicks per day, or equivalent to 2.9 million clicks per year. 70 million clicks would mean it will last for up to 24 years.
A pair of extra mechanical switches are available in the box if the pre-installed switch fails. But suppose you decided to change it with another model to try a new experience or maybe a new next-gen mechanical switch. In that case, it is compatible with both 3-pin and 5-pin optical micro switches for the push-fit switch socket II.
If you decided to buy the ASUS ROG Gladius III Wireless gaming mouse or already have it, below is a quick tutorial on swapping the mechanical switches.
How to Replace the Mechanical Switch
Beneath the mouse, two black rubber covers the Philip screws. You can safely get it by pushing the tip of your fingernail. Don’t worry; it won’t be deformed as it is squishy, and back to its original shape. After that, unscrew both of the Philip screws.
Then at the back below the ROG logo, find the edge and slide it open with your fingernail or any plastics like guitar pick (Do not use metal to open it as it may scratch the plastic cover). Then pull the body by slowly wiggling it until you pop the whole cover.
Use the FREE tweezers to replace the mechanical switch and pull it up. Then add the new switch and align it with the pins. Tap it gently with your fingertip until it makes a click sound and ready to go.
Now, put everything back together and try the new switch installed.
Battery
ASUS ROG Gladius III Wireless is powered with a 500mA rechargeable lithium battery, a lightweight option compared to bulky and weighty AAA batteries. If you wonder how long this mouse will last, as advertised, it will last up to 55 hours via Wireless and 85 hours for Bluetooth for continuous use, that’s if the lighting effects are turned off.
What we liked with ASUS ROG Gladius III Wireless is its ability to automatically turn off when it is not in use which will save a lot of battery juices. The mouse could last for weeks or even months before recharging and being capable of using the mouse while charging with the USB type-c breaded cable is an option.
Though this is not advisable, the other interesting part is its replaceability. However, finding a suitable battery will be harder for DIY as we tried searching the li-on serial number (YU10659-20002) on the internet and found nothing. So good luck on finding one.
If you run into problems with the battery in the future, the best way to deal with it is to have it repaired via ASUS service center.
Performance
To this the performance of ASUS ROG Gladius III Wireless gaming mouse, we will be doing three types of test for the polling rate, click latency for wireless and specially for the Bluetooth that are dependent to computer’s Bluetooth system and a rough testing for DPI. For this test we are using the built-in Bluetooth of a motherboard (TUF Gaming B550M-Plus – WI-FI).
Polling Rate
For those of you who have not heard about the polling rate, it is where the mouse communicates its every point of movement (coordinates) into your computer; the more the polling rate, the more accurate it is and smoother when moving the mouse cursor. It is advantageous when it comes to FPS games for aiming and best when paired with high refresh-rate monitors.
As advertised by ASUS, the polling rate of 1,000Hz is indeed possible with ASUS ROG Gladius III Wireless. We tested the mouse on a benchmark program, Mouse Rate Checker and we effortlessly got an average polling rate of 1,086Hz for both Wired and Wireless. It can also be configured to 125Hz, 250Hz, 500Hz, and 1000 Hz to save some batteries when using the wireless.
However, there is a downside for the Bluetooth connection as it is limited to the 125 Hz polling rate.
Even using a 144Hz monitor, the cursor movements are still smooth and barely distinguish the difference.
Click Latency
Generally, a wired connection has the best click latency than wireless and Bluetooth. That is why most gamers opted for the wired mouse because of its cheap and uncompromised zero latency. But with the help of wireless gaming mice that improved significantly in the last decade, most of these problems have been solved. One of them is the ASUS ROG Gladius III Wireless which has an advertised latency of zero ms. So let’s check if we can achieve these speeds.
To make this experiment possible, we use an audio editor program Audacity, a studio-quality microphone, and a macro program built-in from the Armoury Crate App. The experiment is to measure the click latency by recording the moment when the mouse button was clicked (press down), and the time the input was registered to the computer. For us to know if it was registered, we will trigger the click as a stopper for the recording. The only problem we have in Audacity is that the stop button is waiting for the “press release” which adds additional delay depending on how we quickly press and release the mouse. To eliminate this delay, we use a macro to create a keyboard shortcut for the “stop recording” that will mimic the “press release” when the mouse is presses down. We can then get the total click latency by measuring the time difference between the first mouse-clicked and the last captured recording.
Based on the experiment, the Bluetooth connection has a delay of 2.5ms on average. While the Wireless connection flawlessly eliminates the delay to 0ms, it instantly stops the recording right after the clicked and barely captures any click noises. However, the result for Bluetooth still varies on how fast your system’s Bluetooth is. But given the 2.5ms, it is considerably fast enough to register most of the action on any video game instantly.
DPI
Depending on how you quickly slide your mouse when playing your favorite video game, the mouse’s sensitivity became an important role in helping gamers aim precisely and faster. If you’ve played the old PC games like Counter-strike, you probably encounter this mouse sensitivity at the settings or in the cheat console. Those old mouse sensitivities are all programmed via software level that usually tricks gamers to achieve fast sensitivity by skipping some pixels. Today, sensitivity is built-in via hardware level through DPI (Dots Per Inch), where sensitivity is based on the amount of DPI; the higher the DPI, the faster the mouse moves, the lower the DPI, the slower it moves. For example, a 400 DPI means it moves 400 pixel per 1-inch mouse movement. The ASUS ROG Gladius III Wireless has 4 pre-defined DPI settings from 400, 800, 1600 up to 3,200, and you can max out up to 26,000 DPI useful for high-resolution monitors. Depending on the task or games, you can easily switch to these different modes with a single button.
For the meantime, we do not have the right tool for testing the DPI and get every decimal of an inch. But upon rough testing with the 400 DPI settings on different surfaces like on glass, cardboard, mousepads. All surface get the same result of a very close 1-inch when our mouse moves for 400 pixels. This means, the DPI of the mice is accurate and a little to no calibration is needed to sync the DPI with the surface.
Software
With the various features of the mouse and its RGB lighting, ROG Gladius III Wireless is paired with ASUS proprietary software Armoury Crate. A one-stop app for all your ASUS hardware configuration where you can tune your mouse to suit your gameplay from the performance, calibration settings, lighting effects, and many more.
Buttons of the mouse can be configured up to six different buttons, and you can assign either of the following: mouse function, keyboard keys, macros, multimedia functions, windows shortcut, preset text, screenshot, or even stealth where you can minimize all opened programs and set the volume to mute. They also implement lock-up prevention by requiring the left-click to be assigned to at least one button. Imagine you couldn’t click anywhere because you forgot to set the left-click.
To change your mouse sensitivity without skipping pixels, you can change the 4-preset DPI settings for the DPI switch button. To save battery, you can also change the polling rate from 125Hz, 250Hz, 500Hz up to 1,000Hz. There is also Angle Snapping, where it predicts and smooths out the mouse movement, and it is suitable for drawing straight lines and helps aim better in FPS games.
Depending on your setup, you can configure the lighting effect of the mouse in 7 different styles. If you have existing RGB lighting and have Aura Sync, you can also turn it on to sync the lighting of your rigs. LED brightness and speed can also be adjusted and turn it off to improve the battery life.
You can calibrate the surface using a mousepad, glass, books, or any surface to have smooth mouse movement. They also have a 1-click pre-defined surface calibration for all ASUS mousepad products.
To manage the power, you can check the mice battery life percentage. You can also set a lighting alert that notifies you if the battery reaches a certain percentage for recharging. If your mouse is too quick to sleep, you can always adjust the sleep mode or to never.
Updating the firmware is also in one place; you’ll get notified if there is any firmware update.
Conclusion
The ASUS ROG Gladius III is an excellent gaming mouse that comes with a comfortable asymmetric design made specifically for right-handed people, a decent battery life that will last up to 55 hours for continuous use, a good performance polling rate and a zero-click latency. From effortlessly gliding the mouse by its anti-friction PTFE feet (Teflon) and a re-calibration tool to customizing the key button functions and macros, this mouse will improve your gameplay performance. Not to mention it has a free extra Teflon for wear and tear.
One of the things that we like is its hot-swappable mechanical switches. The ability to replace it easily without soldering is a great plus. As for practicality, it guarantees an enormous 70 million clicks lifespan that will last up to 24 years for heavy gaming use and ample time to save some bucks for the next-gen mouse or a time to replace its extra pair of mechanical switches. You’ll not only get an eargasm mechanical switch, but a right to repair.
In case of a low battery, you can always charge it on its USB type-C slot at the front and still use it with its wired mode. While the wireless and wired connection guarantees a zero click latency, the Bluetooth connection varies depending on how fast your system’s Bluetooth is. In our test we were able to get an average click latency of 2.5ms which is considered fast enough and accurate to be used for playing FPS or third-person shooter game. The pairing button and multiple connection options allow you to use your mice on different devices from home PC to outdoor using a Laptop.
The prices for an high-end wireless gaming mouse is ranging from PHP 5K to PHP 9K, the ASUS ROG Gladius III Wireless has almost the same feature with the most expensive one. Given the Price of PHP 5,995, it is not cheap but justifiable for such features.
What’s inside the Box
The contents of the box is the following:
- 1 x ROG Gladius III Wireless (with Wireless USB dongle)
- 2 x Micro Switches (3-pin)
- 1 x 2-meter ROG Paracord
- 1 x USB Type-C to USB
- 1 x ROG switch tweezer
- 1 x ROG sticker
- 4 x Mouse Teflon feet
- 1 x Quick Start Guide
- 1 x Warranty Booklet
Here is the freebie stickers!
Specification
For specification, here are the full details:
| Connectivity | USB 2.0 |
| Bluetooth 5.1 | |
| RF 2.3GHz | |
| Resolution | 19,000 dpi optical sensor (ROG tunes up to 26,000 dpi) |
| Max Speed | 400 IPS |
| Max Acceleration | 50 G |
| USB Report Rate | 1,000 Hz |
| RF 2.4G Report Rate | 1,000 Hz |
| L/R Switch Type | ROG Micro Switch |
| Button | 6 programmable buttons & scroll wheel + 1 profile button + 1 pair button |
| AURA Sync | Yes |
| Shape | Right-handed |
| Cable | 2-meter ROG Paracord |
| OS | Windows® 10 |
| Software | Armoury Crate |
| Dimensions | L 123mm x W 68mm x H 44mm |
| Weight with Cable | 89g (with and without cable) |
| Color | Black |
| Manufacturing Part # | P706 RPG Gladius III WL |
| SKU | 90MP0200-BMUA00 |
| Battery Part # | YU10659-20002 |