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eSports mice are a special breed. Optimized for performance, they generally place speed, weight, and accuracy above all else, even at the expense of ergonomics, extra buttons, or in the case of PC Gaming Race’s Glorious Model O, a chassis that fully covers all its parts.

That’s not a dig, even if it kind of sounds like one. The Glorious Model O (See it at the PC Gaming Race website) makes good on the promise of the simple eSports mouse – It’s incredibly light and performs well in all kinds of games – and does so while offering a cool aesthetic touch with it’s “honeycomb” shell, which has small holes all over the top and bottom of the chassis. There's even a little gamer flare with some RGB lighting.

PC Gaming Race Glorious Model O – Design and Features

The Glorious O Model is a pretty simple peripheral. It’s a wired six-button, right-handed gaming mouse. The buttons are exactly where you’d expect: Left and right click, a clickable scroll wheel, and a middle button on top that by default cycles your DPI settings. On the side, there are two more buttons for forward and back. If you’ve ever used a gaming mouse, you’ll feel right at home.

Despite offering a traditional design, the Model O stands out due to its details. The first thing I noticed using it is that it’s light as a feather. It's only 67 grams in the matte finish, and 68g if you go glossy. That’s a little more than half the weight of the Zowie’s large right-handed mouse, the EC1-A. As a palm player, it floated around my mousepad with no resistance. The weight differential is likely even more essential for fingertip- and claw-style players, who may opt for competitive mice because the low weight makes it easier to make nuanced movements with only their fingers and wrists.

“ The first thing I noticed using it is that it’s light as a feather

To get the super low weight, the Glorious Model O gives up a lot in its design. At 66mm wide x 128mm long x 37.5mm high, it was large enough to support my average-sized hand, but compared to most right-handed mice, it’s surprisingly low-profile. There’s almost no hump in the base to create a well-supported fit for your hand. All the honeycomb cutouts also certainly shave off some grams. These are the kind of tradeoffs you have to expect from a “competitive” mouse.

The result, though, is high performance, and the mouse’s internals allow the Glorious O to keep up with the freedom its low weight provides. It features a Pixart 3360 sensor, which goes up to 12,000 DPI and supports up to a 1000Hz report rate. While the max DPI is not as high as top-of-the-line gaming mice, it is still high enough to satisfy most gamers. All in all, I found it to be incredibly accurate when playing games that require twitch reflexes like Rage 2, or games that demand precision, like Mordhau. The sensor, when paired with the light hardware, felt very swift and responsive.

I think the Glorious O works extremely well, but the thing that sets it apart, especially in the eSports/competitive mouse scene, is its chassis.The PCGR website says “honeycombs” are “the key to achieving feather-light weight while maintaining its ultra-durable shape,” but I like the design, the way they let you see the parts inside, and how the mouse’s RGB LEDs shine through the body. Most competitive mice look quite plain: While its shape is simple, the Glorious O looks distinctive.

I also really dig the Model O’s RGB lighting. There are two solid RGB strips, one on either side and two round lights in the scroll wheel. The lighting customization options are kept to a minimum: There are eight patterns, including choosing a single color, and all of the lights act as a single element – no elaborate light shows here – but they are well-placed. Again, the glow from the side panels shines through the honeycomb in the base of the mouse, giving you a lot of color and letting the light show take center stage. (If that sounds like too much, of course, you can always turn the lights off).

PC Gaming Race Glorious Model O – Software

Speaking of customization, the Glorious Model O does have its own customization software. It’s very no frills – just a single screen with expandable boxes – but it’s very easy to use. You can set up and switch among up to six DPI settings, create macros, and change its lighting.

If you don’t like using customization software, the Model O allow you to do a fair amount of tweaking without it. Using multi-button hotkeys (which you can find in a guide that comes with the mouse), you can change the lighting and cycle through four pre-set DPI levels, from 400 - 3200. (There’s a small light on the underside of the mouse that shows which setting you’re using). If you set new ratings using the software, the mouse will remember your settings if the software is off, so can just set it and forget it.

While it’s a nice effort, there are enough things you will need to change that it’s hard to avoid downloading the software. I certainly wouldn’t recommend skipping it. There are other mice that get by with no configuration software, and while I appreciate the effort to minimize the need for it, you will still need to use the software.

PC Gaming Race Glorious Model O - Gaming

Since the Glorious Model O is an eSports/competitive-style mouse, its strengths and weaknesses come down to core competencies – speed, accuracy, weight, and comfort. I primarily tested it with the two games I mentioned earlier, Rage 2 and Mordhau, both of which require lots of quick movements. In Rage 2, the Model O’s low weight allowed me to snap from target to target with ease. The low weight also made a difference when lining up more precise shots at smaller targets.

“ In Rage 2, the Model O’s low weight allowed me to snap from target to target with ease.

The Model O was similarly helpful in Mordhau, where you want to constantly make smaller aim adjustments to direct the swing of your sword. Making these short gestures can feel strenuous over the course of a full match on many mice, but felt easy and painless on the Glorious O. Again, I would attribute that to its low weight, which makes it easier to make nuanced, natural movements.

Since I keep mentioning about how light it is, it’s worth pointing out that Glorious Model O also feels well-balanced and sturdy. Through all of my testing, including less twitchy games like City of Brass and SteamWorld Quest, as well as nearly a week of everyday, non-gaming use, I never felt like the mouse shell was going to collapse in on itself, despite the fact that the base is not solid. Its light weight is apparent when you push it across a mousepad, but isn’t so extreme that you’re going to accidentally send it flying across the room. It is very light by gaming mouse standards, but it doesn’t need to be treated with kid gloves.

Purchasing Guide

The PC Gaming Race Glorious Model O has an MSRP of $49.99 for the matte models and $59.99 for the glossy models. As of June 2019, however, it does seem to be on backorder at most sites.