ZOWIE EC1 Gaming Mouse Review

PerformanceFirstly, they do claim a few things that I think to be honest do probably not hold true any more. For instance, the lowest lift-off distance, and the most durable mouse wheel. While we can’t really prove either of these, this mouse isn’t quite the cutting edge of technology. However, it is a mouse and not NASA’s latest spaceship, so we might let ZOWIE off for that.

The looks of the mouse are the first thing that you will notice, and it has to be said, it does look pretty good. The white with a small hint of black gives a perfect colour balance, adding this to the gentle and smooth curved shape it certainly looks like it should belong in an Apple Store. Even the bottom of the mouse looks like they have put some thought into the shape and design of the logos, feet and even the little button.

Comfort wise the mouse is certainly not bad, the top has quite a shiny gloss finish so your hand does slide off quite easily which might not be the best for gaming, but it does feel good to use, and that counts for a lot. The mouse is fairly long, and while I don’t have tiny hands it does still provide some support for the wrist. The two buttons on the left are also positioned in just the right place for you to press easily with your thumb.

On a performance note the 500 DPI option is extremely low, and you will find it hard to move the cursor across width of your screen in 30 seconds, let alone quickly. This may however be useful in certain games although I feel this is more of the ‘back-dated option’. The 1000 DPI is a sensible setting for any everyday mouse when using Windows as it gives you control and speed. While the 2000 DPI setting is perfect for gaming, as well as more general tasks like Photoshop. We did however find the button on the bottom a bit hard to use, and you certainly can’t locate it and press it quickly. On the other hand, it can’t be pressed accidentally.

The ZOWIE lighting system to let you know which DPI you are using is fairly basic, even crude, but it does work, and while it didn’t suit the colour scheme of the ZOWIE MiCO at least 2 of the colours do go well with the EC1 mouse. In the lowest setting you get a very small red tint, and on the 2000 DPI setting you get a dark blue colour – the setting in between is a combination of the two and is fairly faint in comparison.

The mouse certainly has high accuracy, and glides across all surfaces I tested it with effortlessly while being under control.