INTRODUCTION

   Most people I know define a good gaming mouse from two things, shape and the type of sensor used and honestly for the most part so do I. Of course, some serious gamers I happen to know also look at the number of available buttons and looks (primarily RGB lighting nowadays) but I happen to place reliability above those (not that I wouldn't like to have all of the above if possible). Still even though compared to even just a decade ago the market is currently filled with gaming mice that do offer most of the above not many offers all and that's what some of the leading manufacturers have been trying to accomplish lately. The brand new GLAIVE RGB PRO MOBA/FPS Gaming Mouse by CORSAIR is scheduled for release today and based on our review of the GLAIVE RGB model a while back it actually seems to deliver on everything mentioned.

   Founded in 1994, CORSAIR has grown from pioneering the high-performance DRAM market into one of the world’s leading providers of high-performance PC peripherals and components. CORSAIR offers a complete range of products to equip gamers, enthusiasts and e-sports athletes, including mechanical keyboards, precision gaming mice, wireless headsets, high-performance components that gamers use to build gaming PCs, and the CORSAIR ONE fully-integrated gaming PC. With a company-wide commitment to quality, innovative design, advanced features and high performance, CORSAIR products have won thousands of media and industry awards, earning their place in gamers’ hands and PCs following years of development and engineering by a team dedicated to building great products they themselves would want to use.

   Just like with the IRONCLAW RGB model released by CORSAIR earlier this year the brand new GLAIVE RGB PRO is also outfitted with their custom PMW3391 optical sensor by Pixart which features a maximum native resolution of up to 18.000DPI (dots per inch - adjustable in single DPI increments), maximum speed of 400IPS (inches per second) and 50G's maximum acceleration. The GLAIVE RGB PRO also features 7 programmable buttons, 3 interchangeable thumb grips (magnetically attached), 3-Zone dynamic RGB backlight system (13 available lighting effects), OMRON switches for the primary buttons (up to 50 million clicks), aluminum scroll wheel and front bracket, maximum refresh rate of 1000Hz, 5 DPI presets (6 with the Sniper preset), rubber coated body and thanks to CORAIR's iCUE software it can also be calibrated for ultra-accurate and high-speed tracking on any surface. The GLAIVE RGB PRO is covered by a 2-year limited warranty.

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

CORSAIR has once again used their latest yellow and black box which has a large product picture at the front right beneath their logo and above the model name and iCUE software logo.

The Control Freak tagline is once again printed on the right side of the box.

The contents of the package along with 2-year warranty logo and the product serial number and barcodes are all placed at the base of the box.

The product features and the system requirements are listed at the rear of the box in 4 languages right next to 3 product features.

Inside the box you will find the GLAIVE RGB PRO FPS/MOBA Gaming Mouse, two interchangeable thumb grips, warranty guide, waste management guide and the user manual.

THE GLAIVE RGB PRO

The 124.9mm long, 68.5mm wide and 45.5mm tall body of the GLAIVE RGB PRO is rubber coated and features a front aluminum bracket.

Two programmable buttons are located on the left side right over a rubberized textured surface.

This thumb grip is magnetically attached to the main body of the mouse and can be replaced with one of the two bundled ones to provide better support for your hand.

The DPI selection LEDs are placed just over the thumb grip and right next to a light bar.

Typically, the company logo is located at the rear.

Moving to the right side of the GLAIVE RGB PRO we find another rubberized textured area.

As usual the DPI selection buttons are placed just over the scroll wheel.

The scroll wheel used in the GLAIVE RGB PRO is made out of aluminum and is of course rubber coated.

At the base of the mouse we find the PMW3391 optical sensor along with two very large and two medium sized PTFE feet.

A regular (not gold plated) USB plug is located at the end of the 1.8 meter long braided cable.

CORSAIR also released the MM350 Champion Series premium anti-fray cloth mouse which is available in XL size (450x400x5mm) and is a great companion to the GLAIVE RGB PRO.

ICUE SOFTWARE

As always you can download the latest version of the iCUE software from the CORSAIR support page.

Once you install and launch the program it will detect and list compatible devices on the right side.

To enter the settings screen for the mouse just click on its picture on the right side of the software tab.

Just like with previous mice by CORSAIR from the actions tab you can program all 7 buttons with actions, macros and software shortcuts.

Everything related to the tri-zone RGB lighting system is placed in the lighting effects tab so from here you can change colors and set effects (13 available ones).

From the DPI tab you can assign a color for each of the 5 presets (6 including the sniper one) and set the preferred DPI levels.

Inside the performance tab you can enable angle snapping and adjust the pointer precision.

The surface calibration tab is very useful if you want the mouse to behave as best as possible with your mat.

From the top menu the iCUE software allows the end user to monitor the status of the system, use instant colors, perform firmware updates and adjust various secondary settings.

Here you can see some of the colors of the tri-zone RGB system.

CONCLUSION

   CORSAIR released the GLAIVE RGB Gaming Mouse almost 2 years ago and we actually still remember just how impressed we were not only by the tracking performance of the PMW3367 optical sensor by Pixart but also because of its shape, RGB lighting system and its 3 interchangeable thumb grips. Of course, it wasn’t perfect so back then we did point out that a single DPI selection button was not ideal so we were glad to see that CORSAIR fixed that in the new GLAIVE RGB PRO model. That’s not all they changed however so just like the extra thumb grips the default one also features a rubberized textured area (the one used in the GLAIVE RGB did not) and as for the RGB lighting system the front area expands all the way up to the scroll wheel (in the GLAIVE RGB illumination was not visible from the scroll wheel). The Pixart PMW3391 optical sensor is also clearly improved compared to the PMW3367 both in terms of “raw” performance (18k/16k DPI) and in accuracy so it actually makes sense that CORSAIR waited for 2 years in order to upgrade the unit.

   The GLAIVE RGB PRO MOBA/FPS Gaming Mouse was just announced by CORSAIR and can be found for USD69.99 inside the USA (Amazon.com - click on 18k DPI) and for 80Euros in the EU (Amazon.co.uk) so it’s actually priced well (always compared with how much the GLAIVE RGB retailed for at launch). Overall largely thanks to the improvements CORSAIR brought to the table (new optical sensor, two DPI selection buttons and the default rubberized textured thumb grip) the GLAIVE RGB PRO is even better compared to its predecessor (alas not worlds apart) and that’s why it also gets our Golden Award.

PROS

- Very Good Build Quality
- Design
- Grip (3 Interchangeable Thumb Grips)
- PMW3391 Optical Sensor (18000 DPI / Excellent Tracking)
- OMRON Switches (Primary Buttons / 50 million clicks)
- 3 Zone RGB Illumination System
- iCUE Software

CONS

- EU Price (For Some)