[section_title title=”Introduction & Closer Look”]
Introduction & Closer Look
Manufacturer: ASUS
Model: ROG Spatha
UK RRP Price: £139.99
US RRP Price: $169.99
When ASUS unveiled their latest gaming mouse concept at Computex 2015 in Taiwan last year, it not only peaked the interests of gamers, but it also peaked ours too. Although we are now in 2016, we are happy to announce that the SPATHA is here; the ASUS ROG Spatha gaming mouse that is.
So what excites me personally about the Spatha? Well, it’s built with the performance MMO/MOBA gamer in mind which fits me perfectly as an ex World of Warcraft addict and frequent League of legends player. In addition to this, the Spatha features a magnesium alloy chassis which houses 12 programmable buttons. The most interesting feature about the Spatha’s aesthetics is the ability to customise the LEDs on the 3 different zones of the mouse itself; the thumb buttons, the ROG logo and the scroll wheel.
Taking a look at the Spatha itself, as previously mentioned it has 12 programmable buttons in total. Here we have 6 of them which reside on the left-hand side which resembles the ROG eye; beautiful. Aside from the ROG eye thumb buttons in the centre panel, there are an additional 2 buttons next to the left mouse button which like the aforementioned ones, can be fully programmed using the ROG Armoury software suite.
On the flip side, we have no buttons on the right-hand side, but it is worth noting that the ASUS ROG Spatha is very versatile in terms of usage. First off, the magnesium alloy casing has a very nice feel to it and secondly, the ASUS ROG Spatha suits not only users with a palm grip, but it’s also very adequate for those with a claw grip too.
Looking at the front of the Spatha, we have a stylish looking front grill which cleverly hides a USB connection to use this mouse wired if you wish too; to perform any firmware updates to the mouse, it must be plugged in so bare this in mind.
A gaming mouse wouldn’t be complete with a left and right mouse button, but the Spatha does include 2 extra buttons to the left-hand side, as well as a DPI switch present just below the mouse wheel. This not only acts as a scroll wheel, but it doubles up as a middle mouse button. It has a very nice rubberised texture and each roll has a subtle clicky feedback which I adore.
The underside of the mouse has relevant information relating to the brand (ASUS) and model (Spatha), but there’s more than meets the eye. First of all, there is an on/off switch as this mouse is a wireless/wired hybrid gaming mouse. Secondly, below the on/off switch, there is a small button which allows for pairing with the wireless charging station; this doubles up as a charging dock and a wireless receiver.
Inside the incredibly premium looking/feeling packaging supplied by ASUS, the Spatha comes with a cool, but the useful Republic of Gamers themed storage bag for all of the accessories and cables the mouse comes supplied with.
Aside from the Spatha mouse itself, the wireless receiver and charging dock deserves some attention to. Not only does it simply connect via USB, but it adds a certain touch of class to our testing desk; most mice don’t have the presence to do this, but the Spatha certainly has something about it…
The dock features a large Republic of Gamers logo across the centre with small charging elements which match the ones on the back of the mouse itself. The mouse does have an inbuilt magnet which helps keep the Spatha secure when charging and as you can see below, it looks great when on charge!
Here is a short unboxing video I did of the ASUS ROG Spatha gaming mouse in which I show the contents of the bag and show a little bit of the Spatha itself off in all its glory.
