[section_title title=”Real World Performance”]
As usual for mice, I will split the real world performance side of things into the three sections which I feel deserve an equal and thorough mention.
ErgonomicsÂ
For this EC series refresh Zowie have both the EC1-A which we have here and also the slightly smaller EC2-A. Whilst they are both for palm grip mainly the EC2-A is also a good option for a hybrid style grip due to being compact but still having a nice height to it.
Back to the mouse we have here though the EC1-A and for me as someone with big hands I found it to be perfectly viable in a palm grip and despite the fact the shape looks basic it is actually very refined and I found the contact points for my third and fourth fingers (often a sticking point for me) were ideal thanks to the curved right-hand side.
There is also a nice dip in the 1 and 2 mouse buttons which helps with balancing your grip pressure and the thumb buttons are positioned just right so that you don’t have to change grip to press them. Overall as a palm gripper with big hands I had no ergonomic issues at all with the EC1-A, it’s a nice comfortable mouse.
Buttons
The buttons are probably the let down in the package, the left and right mouse buttons are pretty good in a standard OMRON clicky fashion but the scroll wheel and the side buttons do leave a little to be desired.
The scroll wheel was a sticking point on earlier EC mice and it hasn’t really been remedied here, it somehow manages to be stiff yet still lacking in feedback which is a bit of a shame but on the positive side of things it is nice and big which makes it easy to grip.
Now my issue with the side buttons is they have a fair amount of pre-travel which I think makes them less responsive but this more of a subjective thing as some people prefer switches with a bit of pre-travel so it is just something to bear in mind more than a negative per se.
Tracking
As you all must certainly know by now, it is my opinion that the A3310 is the best sensor on the market right now and Zowie’s masterful firmware and packaging only further highlights its excellence.
Due to the fact that Zowie don’t feel the need to run the sensor at higher DPI levels artificially you get the smoothest possible response from the sensor which coupled with a nice low lift-off height makes the EC1-A a real pleasure to use.
From a sensor performance point of view, the only mice that match the EC1-A are ones that Zowie also make, if you play CSGO or any other aim dependant shooter you should accept no substitute.
