ROG Harpe Ace Aim Lab Edition mouse review: ASUS is finally getting serious
As long as your hands fit it, the Harpe Ace feels pretty good
The ROG Harpe Ace Aim Lab Edition mouse is ASUS's latest gaming-focused wireless mouse in their lineup. Revealed at the Consumer Electronic Show 2023 (CES 2023), it is now ASUS's flagship ROG mouse that is catered towards esports players and gamers that are looking for a 'competitive advantage'.
While this is not ASUS's first foray into the wireless 'lightweight mice' category, the Harpe is ASUS's lightest mouse to date, at 54g, while also packing top-of-the-line tech and a good battery life.
However, to achieve this, ASUS had to sacrifice the thing that made their mice so unique.
No, not the RGB; the ability to hot-swap the mouse switches.
It was present in most of their mice like the Keris and Gladius Aimpoint that we reviewed recently, but it is totally absent from the Harpe, probably to reduce the extra weight from the hot-swap sockets.
But the result? This thing feels way lighter than any of the flagship ambidextrous mice from Razer or Logitech, while still having top-tier wireless connection and great response times.
What's in the box?
Mouse
Wireless receiver
Wireless dongle
Charging cable
Grip tape
Extra mouse feet
Stickers
User manual
Build quality
Despite being only 54 grams and a medium-to-large size mouse, the build quality on the Harpe is excellent. There are no rattles and the body of the mouse feels extremely robust.
The mouse does sound a little hollow, especially when you click the left and right mouse buttons, but feels great during usage.
The scroll-wheel is also nice to use, it needs moderate force to move and has defined steps.
The side buttons are also some of the best I have used in my years of owning and testing mice.
Wireless connectivity
I personally do not have anything as advanced as an Nvidia LDAT to test the latency on these things, but in usage, it doesn't really feel any different from using another wired mouse, or a top-tier wireless mouse like the Logitech G303 Shroud Edition or the Razer Viper V2 Pro.
ASUS has definitely mastered this part of their kit, and I do not doubt that they have one of the best wireless implementations in the market.
How long is its battery life?
After using this mouse for a week (7 days, to be exact) with the RGB turned off, for a good 7 to 8 hours a day, it is still at 47 percent at the time of this writing.
This is impressive battery life, and it feels like it can last about 90 hours, as advertised.
Mouse shape
I will admit, I will never use this mouse as a daily driver.
The mouse is admittedly too long for me. As you can see in the pictures, my small hand barely reaches the mouse buttons in a claw grip, which is what I usually use while gaming.
There is a little bit more button tension at the rear of the buttons as well, taking a little more effort for me to depress it when I click.
Everything is great at the rear though. The hump is geared towards the back, making good palm contact for both claw and palm grip.
If you have hands that are bigger and longer than my 17cm x 10cm ones, this will be a great fit.
A shame for me because the Harpe feels so effortless to move around.
Aim Lab integration
Aim Lab collaborated with ASUS to create the Harpe, which is why they have their brand plastered all over the mouse.
If you are not familiar Aim Lab, it is a game that solely focuses on aim training. Users can download it for free to practice various training sequences that can help improve your aim in the first person shooter genre.
Because of this collaboration, Aim Lab has some device-specific sequences that you can use to tune the Harpe.
You are able to find your 'optimal' DPI settings, lift-off distance, and also angle tuning using the program.
These settings can also be tweaked manually in ASUS's Armoury Crate software that you can download on your PC.
Sad to say, these 'setting optimiser' sequences are nothing but a gimmick.
Let me explain.
Aim Lab already has a 'setting optimiser' sequence for non-Harpe mice in the program. It is a sequence that you can use at a static DPI on your mouse (for example, a set 800 DPI). Aim Lab will then recommend the optimal in-game sensitivity that you should be playing at that you set individually in those games.
The Harpe-exclusive version of this sequence determines only your mouse DPI, and does not give you any recommendations on what you should use in a game.
If you somehow use this function, you will need to find the individual DPI for each game that you play, and this doesn't even take into account what the initial in-game sensitivity should be at.
Not only that, the set DPI also affects your mouse while using your computer in Windows. This is something that will annoy every user because your mouse cursor will be moving at different speeds every time you change to a game to play.
The angle-tuning sequence... should just not exist. I'm glad there's the option to do it, but no one should ever introduce any kind of angle-altering function on the mouse.
It will make your aim inconsistent, especially when trying to make precise movements with your mouse, as the 'angle-tuning' will introduce some kind of artificial smoothing to the mouse movement.
The only sequence that is remotely useful is the one that tunes the lift-off distance of the mouse.
Even then, I would argue that you should be using the most minimum lift-off distance the mouse has to offer, so you do not have any kind of unnecessary movement if you do not lift your mouse high enough to adjust it.
All-in-all, sad to say, the current Aim Lab sequences bring no value to the Harpe, and the collaboration on the program side is questionable.
Final thoughts and conclusion
At S$219, this mouse is by no means cheap, but just to put it out there, the retail price for the Razer Viper V2 Pro was S$229 and the Logitech G Pro X Superlight was S$239, albeit you can get them much cheaper now.
You can also get something like the Lamzu Atlantis for S$179, and there are still much cheaper options out there.
But ASUS's wireless implementation has always been top notch, especially with their Aimpoint series, and it is no different for the Harpe.
If your hands are big enough to hold this, the ASUS ROG Harpe Ace is a very good mouse to use. The build quality is solid, and I cannot really find any kind of fault with this mouse.
Well, except with the odd Aim Lab collaboration.
The release date is still unconfirmed, but ASUS Singapore has given me an estimate of early February. We will update this when we have a confirmed date.
Dominic loves tech and games. When he is not busy watercooling his computer parts, he does some pro wrestling.
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