To the editorial board of the portal Gamemag.ru the test got a fresh computer mouse from the company ASUS – model ROG Keris Wireless… This lightweight wireless gaming mouse comes with three connectivity options, interchangeable parts and RGB– backlight. The cost of the mouse in the online stores of the Russian Federation at the time of this writing began with 5700 rubles…
COMPLETE SET, APPEARANCE AND INTERIOR
ROG Keris Wireless comes in a black and red cardboard box with logos and product images. The back side lists the main features and characteristics of the mouse. Inside, the device is packed in a casing, and is also protected from all sides by a cardboard mold. The package includes two pairs of interchangeable side buttons “forward” and “back” (gray and black), a pair of Omron D2F-O1F switches, interchangeable triangular glides (4 pcs), a USB-C to USB-A cable, a set of stickers Republic of Gamers, warranty card and quick start guide. Out of the box, a pair of pink forward and backward buttons is installed on the mouse.
The dimensions of the device are 118x62x39 mm, and the weight is 79 g. Another gram is the 2.4 GHz radio transmitter, which the manufacturer placed at the bottom of the mouse in a special compartment. The bundled cable for charging the device weighs only 34 grams. The cable is 2 meters long, and the braid of the cord is made of a soft fabric material, reminiscent of the laces on sneakers. It is connected in front of the mouse to the USB Type-C connector.
The mouse has an asymmetrical shape, designed for right-handed use. The design of the mouse, despite the gaming orientation, at ASUS turned out to be quite strict. ROG Keris Wireless is available in black only. The back housing, where the palm rests, is made of smooth plastic. It houses an RGB lighting element in the shape of the ROG logo. The rest of the body, including PCM and LKM, consists of PBT plastic. This material is good for its durability, and the matte finish does not allow fingers to slide on it.
With five glides on the bottom (4 at the edges and one around the sensor in the middle), ROG Keris Wireless easily floats above the surface, whether it be a table or a dedicated rug. If they wear out over time, then four at the edges can be replaced. Also, below to the right of the optical sensor, there is a switch for selecting the operating mode. By default, it is in the middle position, that is, off. In this mode, the mouse can be used in wired mode. If you slide the switch up, you can activate the radio connection mode, which works in tandem with the connected transmitter. When you slide the switch down, the mouse will enter Bluetooth connection mode. To the left of the sensor there are two more buttons – the top one is responsible for switching the sensor resolution profiles, and the second is for synchronizing ROG Keris Wireless via Bluetooth.
There are also 2 screws on the bottom, hidden behind the rubber plugs. They allow you to quickly and easily get to the insides of the mouse. Out of the box, ROG Keris Wireless is equipped with proprietary ROG mechanical micro-switches in a red translucent case, the resource of which is designed for 70 million clicks. They are easy to pull out and can be replaced with the complete gray Omron D2F-O1F or others that you can find on the Internet. The upper part of the mouse’s body is dotted with many honeycomb holes to keep the body both light and strong. The installed 500 mAh lithium battery is located exactly in the middle of the case above the sensor, and to the left of it there are two Kailh switches for the “forward” and “back” buttons. To operate the wheel, the Kailh 12 encoder is installed in the mouse.
BUTTONS
All the main buttons are conveniently located under the fingers and squeezed quite easily without applying any effort. There are only 7 buttons in the mouse, including one built into the wheel and two on the bottom: to change DPI and enable search for use via Bluetooth protocol. In addition, the DPI button in combination with the forward, back and LMB buttons allows you to toggle between three pre-programmed profiles, which by default allow you to change the RGB lighting effect between breath, color cycle and reactive.
Traditionally, there is a wheel between the PCM and LMB, which also has built-in RGB backlighting. Thanks to the translucent rubber texture, the entire working surface of the wheel is illuminated, and the embossed surface is quite pleasant to the touch and does not irritate the skin of the fingers during prolonged use.
As for the side buttons, they are all made of PBT plastic, so they should also be resistant to wear and tear. The side keycaps are attached to the mouse with magnets, which are easy and quick to install, but to pull them out, you have to poke something in the middle, for example with a knife.
SPECIFICATIONS
ROG Keris Wireless uses PixArt PAW3335 optical sensor with sensitivity from 100 to 16000 dpi. The sensor supports a sampling rate of 1000 Hz, as well as withstands acceleration up to 40G and correctly fulfills even the sharpest movements. When you switch the sensitivity on the button below, the backlight on the mouse changes color for a short time depending on the selected profile. By default, four preset profiles are available on the mouse. You just need to successively press the DPI button to select one of them: 400, 800, 1600 and 3200. If you hold the DPI button for 3 seconds, you can use the wheel to adjust the selected sensitivity profile without the need to use the application. The color of the wheel changes from cool (low DPI) tones to hot (high) in 100 dpi increments. Pressing the DPI button again saves the selected value for the profile.
As we said above, for wireless use of the mouse, a 500 mAh lithium battery is installed in it. When used through a 2.4GHz receiver, this battery should last ~ 52 hours of use with and 78 hours of backlit use. When used via Bluetooth, the mouse consumes even less power and the operating time is increased by about 30%.
In full-fledged mode, the mouse works only when connected via a wire or radio channel. When connected via Bluetooth, the polling rate is limited to 125 Hz, macros are not played, the mouse does not work with the application.
SOFT
To fine-tune ASUS ROG Keris Wireless, the proprietary Armory Crate application is used, which is offered to be downloaded when the pointing device is first connected to a computer.
In the “Buttons” section, you can configure the functions of the five main buttons on the mouse and two directions of scrolling the wheel. The function allows you to not only swap the mouse buttons, but also assign keyboard functions, multimedia commands, programmed macros, Windows commands, screenshot commands, disable keys, and enable stealth mode to hide all windows and mute the sound.
The Performance section is responsible for setting four sensor sensitivity profiles that can be adjusted in 100 dpi increments – from 100 to 16000 dpi. Here you can also select one of four settings (125 Hz, 250 Hz, 500 Hz and 1000 Hz) of the polling rate per second. In addition, there is a very convenient function of the angular snapping of the cursor, which will be useful for those who also work in graphic editors, allowing you to draw straight lines.
In the “Lighting” section, the user has access to more fine tuning of the effects. There are six types of effects to choose from, as well as the ability to synchronize Aura Sync with other devices connected to the PC.
In the Aura Creator app, you can create your own effects and adjust the synchronization of RGB-backlit devices. The most useful effect among all by default is the one called “From the battery”, which glows with a certain light depending on the charge level of the built-in battery. The backlight glows red when the battery level is less than 25%, blue – from 25 to 75%, and green when the battery level is above 75%. The app also allows you to adjust the backlight brightness level from 0 to 100% in 25% increments.
In the “Calibration” tab you can adjust the height of the mouse detachment from the surface. The adjustment slider allows you to choose between low (1 mm) and high (2 mm) lift-off from the surface.
The Power section displays a battery level indicator with approximate values of 25, 50, 75 and 100%. He also notifies about charging when the wire is connected. There is also a setting for switching the mouse to power saving mode when a certain battery level is reached. Available transition at 25 and 50% battery discharge, as well as disabling this function. There is also a function of switching the mouse to sleep mode after a few minutes (1, 2, 3, 5, 10 or never) when idle.
The “Firmware update” section automatically signals the appearance of new updates for the mouse and receiver, but you can also forcefully check the appearance of new software yourself.
The application allows you to save the settings in three built-in ROG Keris Wireless profiles and switch between them using the DPI button hotlinks with the “forward”, “back” and “LMB” buttons on the mouse.
TOTAL
Summing up, we can say that ASUS turned out to be an excellent mouse. Despite its playful orientation, it looks very strict and will not seem like some kind of foreign object even on the table in the office. ASUS ROG Keris Wireless is very lightweight, and thanks to the choice of the right materials, it will not lose its excellent appearance for a long time with active use. Contributes to the durability and high-quality switches with a long service life, which, if desired, can be easily replaced by unscrewing just a couple of screws. The speed of work also works out at a high level thanks to the time-tested sensor, and three connection options will allow you to switch ROG Keris Wireless between different devices with lightning speed, if necessary.
Author: Sergey Dyakonenko (Madnfs)
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