ASUS ROG Harpe II Ace review: This ultralight gaming mouse is built for speed

What maketh a good (or nice) gaming mouse? It depends on who you asked. Some gamers prefers it to be super light, some prefer it to have plenty of buttons, and some want theirs to have a high DPI for faster and more reactive movements. Unfortunately, there isn’t a do-it-all gaming mouse but if you’re looking for a light and fast gaming mouse, then the ROG Harpe II Ace has to be right up there in your shortlist.

At just 48g, the Harpe II Ace is the lightest mouse we have in our lab. By comparison, the Razer DeathAdder V4 Pro that we reviewed recently was already very light at 56g. But where the ROG mouse has one up over the Razer mouse in weight, the Harpe II Ace’s DPI rating of “just” 42,000 is second to the DeathAdder V4 Pro’s 45,000. It’s arguably marginal for mortals like me, but esports gamers might appreciate that higher DPI of the latter mouse. But let’s not pretend that 42,000 DPI is normal – it’s actually still impressive.

ASUS clearly wants this mouse to appeal to competitive players, and the numbers on the spec sheet suggest as much. Thanks to the AimPoint Pro sensor, I never experienced jitter, skipping, or the odd acceleration. Tracking was steady too, even when I deliberately threw in exaggerated swipes to try and trip it up. But the biggest upgrade over its predecessor – the Harpe Ace – is that features what ASUS calls SpeedNova 8K, which supports an 8,000Hz polling rate over 2.4GHz. Where wired mice used to have superior polling, high-end gaming wireless mice like the Harpe II Ace (and similarly, the Razer DeathAdder V4 Pro) have made wireless feel indistinguishable from wired: No hint of delay when flicking around corners, no odd desyncs even in longer sessions and perhaps best of all, no more having to tug a cable.

Clicks are crisp and sharp thanks to ASUS’ optical switches too. I’ve hammered them through countless online sessions of Helldivers 2 and Counter-Strike 2 and standard office workloads and they stayed consistent. ASUS says these buttons are rated at 100 million clicks, so they are going to last for a long time before the next Harpe mouse comes along. If I have to nitpick, it’s the lack of hot-swappable micro switch sockets like the ROG Chakram X Origin does. But unless you like tinkering with switches, this isn’t something most gamers will miss.

Shape-wise, I found the Harpe II Ace most suitable for gamers who are used to the claw or fingertip grips thanks to its low hump design. My medium-sized hands had no trouble adjusting, and I liked how the sides taper inward, making it easy to pinch and lift. Palm-grip players with larger hands, however, might find it lacking in support. PTFE feet ensures a smooth glide too, with no scratchiness even on my older mouse pad.

And then there’s the software side: Like the ROG Falcata gaming keyboard, which moved away from ASUS’ bloated Armoury Crate suite, the Harpe II Ace uses the browser-based Gear Link tool for tinkerings like adjusting DPI, polling, and lighting. Gear Link is really a huge improvement and I can’t wait for the support to roll down to other ROG input devices.

Battery life is solid for something this light too. ASUS claims up to 100 hours depending on settings and from my own experience, I got anywhere between 70-75 hours before I had to charge. Ramping up the polling rate will drain the battery faster.

Here’s my verdict

I like the ROG Harpe II Ace, I really do. The ultralight body makes every flick feel effortless (which makes your wrist feel less fatigue at long gaming sessions), the mouse’s shape feels right for my hand and the battery life is impressive. It isn’t perfect, of course. The shape won’t suit everyone, and I know some of my esports friends are fussing that the switches can’t be swapped out. But those quirks didn’t overshadow the fundamentals. The Harpe II Ace is fast, consistent, and reliable. At the end of the day, these are the important things that matter most in competitive play.

At $219, it’s also priced competitively to the Razer DeathAdder V4 Pro that is going for $259. I’d say you’ll have to try both mice at the ASUS ROG and Razer stores respectively before committing to a choice. But if your hands are not fussy with a mouse shape, then I’ll lean towards the ROG Harpe II Ace for everything that I’ve lauded above.

The ROG Harpe II Ace gaming mouse is available now for S$219 at Lazada, Shopee and ASUS’ authorised retailers.

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