A quality gaming mouse can sometimes mean the difference between getting that Victory Royale, or getting that last hit in against a tough raid boss. Glorious, the makers of some, well, glorious PC peripherals, has recently released its next iteration of a lightweight wireless gaming mouse, the Model I 2. Does this mouse belong in the conversation of your next upgrade?
Specifications
- Total Weight: 75 grams
- 9 buttons (with 16 programmable functions)
- Switches: Glorious Switches rated for 80M clicks
- Mouse Feet: 100% PTFE G-Skates
- Battery Life:
- 2.5 Ghz - 110 hrs
- Bluetooth 5.2 LE - 210 hrs
- Sensor: Glorious BAMF 2.0 Optical
- Resolution: 100 - 26K DPI
- Max Polling Rate: 1ms (1000 Hz) with Motion Sync
- Lighting: 16.8 Million Color RGB
- Charging cable: Ascended Cable (2 m / 6.5 ft) USB-A to USB-C
- Software: Glorious Core
- Compatible with Windows, MacOS and Linux
- Price: $99.99
Glorious Model I 2 Wireless First Thoughts
If you're familiar with Glorioius' line of gaming mice, the Model I 2 Wireless will look, and feel, familiar. The mouse is effectively the same as the wired variant of the Model I, though the Model I 2 Wireless offers a bit more functionality overall.
I love the way the Model I 2 feels in the hand, as someone who uses a claw grip on most mice, this feels perfectly comfortable here. Honestly, it's a bit weird as the wired variant of the Model I sees me reverting to a fingertip grip as the most comfortable for me, versus the Model I 2 Wireless allowing for a full claw, something that I've grown accustomed to using with my tried and trusted Logitech G502 Pro Wireless mouse over the years.
It's not fair to say that the two Glorious mice are identical despite sharing most of a model name. The Model I 2 Wireless feels a hair wider with a more comfortable hump compared to the Model I Wired variant. It just feels more solid in the hands compared to the wired Model I, in my opinion. The overhang for the thumb on the Wireless model is a bit wider and a bit more comfortable to rest on as well, which might help in enabling a full claw for my hand.
If you're a fan of the lattice of honeycomb holes on mice, then Glorious has you covered here too. It helps to shave some weight off the mouse, clocking in at just 75g, but also allows for some internal glow from the two RGB lighting strips that flank the body of the mouse itself. Unlike the wired variant, the mouse wheel does not light up, which is actually a good thing as the RGB drains the battery like nobody's business.
The Glorious Model I 2 Wireless has two different wireless modes of connectivity: a 2.5Ghz mode that syncs with an included USB adapter, as well as Bluetooth 5.2 LE. I appreciated the added Bluetooth functionality, as I ended up using the mouse on the go a lot over the course of the review, syncing it to myriad devices, from my MacBook Air, Steam Deck and the ASUS ROG Ally with ease.
The Model I 2 is also programmable with the free Glorious Core software. While I'm generally not a fan of software to use devices like this - everyone has their own and wants you to install it - I do appreciate that this is optional. That said, the Glorious Core software is rather light on the system and easy to use, and pretty much required if you want to make use of the new Action button functionality on the mouse itself. the Model I 2 Wireless also allows for three saved profiles on the mouse's onboard storage, which helps when moving between devices like I do.
Glorious Model I 2 Wireless Performance
As to how the mouse feels in motion, it's definitely got a smooth glide to it, much like the rest of Glorious' line of mice. While I love the ergonomics and the weight of the Logitech G502 Pro Wireless mouse I've used for gaming over the years, the mouse never felt quite as smooth as the Model I 2 Wireless across the table.
And this is huge when you consider many want a lightweight mouse for fast and precise flick motions, whether in a first-person shooter, MOBA and so on. It's effortless to turn around in Valorant with this mouse to expertly line up a headshot, and I never felt like I had to struggle when throwing the cursor across my 32" Gigabyte 4K Monitor to click on something in Baldur's Gate 3. It simply required a gentle nudge of the wrist.
The Glorious Model I 2 Wireless is also immensely comfortable, even after long use. This isn't the sole domain of the Model I 2 Wireless, as I don't usually feel fatigue from my Logitech or even my old Corsair MMO mouse from back in the day, but it's a marked improvement over the Model I Wired for me. It might simply be down to the change in grip the latter mouse forces on me, but I'm so much happier with my claw versus feeling like the mouse is slipping out of my fingertips.
It might also come down to the weight of the mouse. At 75g total, the Wireless Model I 2 is slightly heavier than the Model I Wired (65g). While still ultra-lightweight, it does make a difference in the grand scheme of using the mouse feels substantial.
I honestly think I'm a dying breed with gaming mouse users as I don't usually like ultra-lightweight mice. I have used the Glorious Model I Wired for most of the last year, though not necessarily for most of my gaming. I truly love the weight of the G502, and with the Model I 2 Wireless being a bit heavier than the wired variant, I tend to prefer it as well.
And I'll say at first, I really didn't like the weight of the Model I 2 Wireless. But using it over the course of the last month, it's grown on me. Now, the G502 Wireless feels a bit too heavy, funnily enough.
What I don't like about the Glorious Model I 2 Wireless is down to battery life. I'm notoriously bad in my house for leaving the wireless mice on when I'm done at my desk for the day. While the battery life on the Model I 2 is rated for 110 hours on 2.5 Ghz wireless, I don't think it's lasting as long, thanks to the RGB strips on either side of the body. I've had to turn the lighting off in the Glorious Core software to preserve battery life, which is a shame. I also question why there needs to be two whole strips, especially since one of them will forever be covered up by my hand when in use. It's nice that, thanks to the holes in the top of the body, the lighting spills into the internals for a cool effect, but I'd almost rather the lighting be either a tiny accent or missing entirely here for the battery life gains.
Glorious touts the Model I 2 as an MMO mouse, and it does fulfill that somewhat. I would stop short of describing this to someone as an MMO-specific mouse, though. Where that billing is coming from is the Action Button on the side thumb button on the mouse itself. While you can use it to act as a DPI Lock, which brings down the sensitivity to help line up accurate shots in a first-person shooter (this has come in handy while playing Cyberpunk 2077 recently), it can also be mapped in the software as a Layer Shift button.
Layer Shit effectively allows you to reprogram the mouse buttons on a different layer, turning those other eight programmable buttons into 16 programmable ones effectively. This does require a bit of muscle memory to practice as it's less intuitive than having a number pad next to your thumb like other MMO mice tend to do, but thankfully it feels more natural with time.
Playing The Lord of the Rings Online, I no longer had to reach to the shift, control or alt keys to access my different skill bars. Holding down the Action Button, I could turn a few of the other buttons on the mouse into those keys, making it a bit more intuitive overall.
I will say, though, that the placement of the Action Button as the thumb button and the fact that it must be held instead of acting as a toggle makes remapping the three other side buttons useless, as I wasn't able to use those as accurately as, say, the scroll wheel click. It also requires a bit of retraining on how many of us have played MMOs our whole life, which may not necessarily be ideal for some of us older gamers out there. Hopefully, a firmware update can add the option to turn this into a toggle to free up the thumb to use the rest of the buttons on the mouse itself.
Glorious Model I 2 Wireless Mouse Verdict
All told, though, the Glorious Model I 2 Wireless mouse is definitely worth a look, especially if you're in the market for a wireless ultra-lightweight mouse. At $99.99 and comes in two colors (Black and White), it's a solid upgrade over some of the cheaper wireless options out there. Even compared to the Model I Wired by Glorious, I feel the extra money is worth it for a more comfortable mouse with wireless functionality.
It's been so nice to be able to throw the mouse in my bag while traveling the last month or so, with the Model I 2 Wireless serving me well during trips to PAX West, Los Angeles, and more. Its lightweight design really adds to its portability, and while it might be heavier than some of the other options on the market, I feel the 75g is a great Goldilocks zone in which to abide.
I do wish there was less RGB on the mouse overall to help with battery life, though, as I'm finding myself charging this one much more frequently than my other wireless mouse options. And while I wouldn't call this an MMO mouse myself, the Layer Shift functionality helps it act as one to a degree. The three different onboard profiles that can be stored help to customize the mouse based on the game being played, swapping that Layer Shift for the DPI Lock function when needed as well.
While I think overall I still prefer the Logitech G502 Lightspeed Wireless thanks to the weight and slightly better ergonomics for my hand, the Glorious Model I 2 Wireless is the first mouse to make me question going back to it. It feels great to use, glides effortlessly, each mouse click is satisfying, and I think the software from Glorious is just so much easier to use. That said, the battery life when using the RGB gives me pause, and I hate that in order to extend it I have to effectively turn off one of the cool ways the mouse stands out among the crowd - its lighting strips.
All that said, you can't really go wrong here with the Glorious Model I 2 Wireless mouse. It's comfortable, ultra-lightweight, and, most importantly, performs admirably even under the most intense gaming circumstances. This mouse carried me through the entirety of Baldur's Gate 3 - never a strain on me during the whole 130-hour playthrough. It's built for long gaming sessions and gets through them with utter ease.
Full Disclosure: The product discussed was provided by PR for the purposes of this review.
