ASUS ROG Chakram - A Great Combination Between a Mouse and a Gamepad
Has ASUS gone mad? Did they fused a mouse and a gamepad? Apperantly they did, and the ROG Chakram is the end result. Curios how this new toy works? Let’s find out in the lines below.
The ROG Chakram is like the only child that received all the attention in the world. Or at least this is how it looks out of the box. Inside the box you will find a puch to carry your new beloved mouse, a USB adaptor, a USB-USB-C cable and a nice ROG mouse lid for it. You can even find spare parts for the mouse in case you want to change something. This is something we haven’t seen before and is an awesome surprise to be sure.
ROG Chakram features
ROG Chakram seems to be the result of a long development process. We say this because the mouse comes equipped with all the crazy things possible. It seems that ROG studied the market, put on Chakram all the modern amenities and added something special. What makes this mouse stand out from other models is that it has a joystick!
Yes! You read well! There is an analog joystick on the left side of the mouse. An addition we would never have seen on a gaming mouse, but ASUS decided we needed it. Unfortunately, this proved to be a useless addition. We tried to find a meaning for it and we said that maybe we are dumb and we don't know how to use it. And trus us, it got our interest, but it seems we are not ready for a mouse joystick yet.
In its defense, this handle knows how to do more than just gaming, so we used it successfully to scroll the net and scroll through text in the editor without having to grab the mouse or use the arrows keys on the keyboard. One thing ASUS could do in the future would be to move this joystick into a more accessible position, thus making it easier to use.
Ok, so we don’t really like the joystick, but we have to admit that the ROG Chakram is a good mouse. Joystick aside, we are talking about a really serous gaming mouse.
We have a very powerful sensor (16000 DPI), combined with very precise wireless technology and virtually zero input lag. The battery was another asset of the mouse, and the overall experience was very relaxing.
ROG Chakram Design
As we said, the ROG Chakram is a huge mouse. But this gave it an advantage on the comfort side. Although it is massive, we had no problems handling it, and the difference in weight between the front of the mouse and the rear we think is intentional.
Even though at first we were about to condemn this, after several matches of Call of Duty Modern Warfare we understood. It is a mouse suitable for people who play with high sensitivity. The fact that you can only move the face, as if it were a pendulum, gives you some advantage when shooting. I noticed that it helped us especially when playing with the sniper and we needed precision, because the movement was less.
In addition to the accuracy demonstrated in wireless mode, ROG Chakram still has an ace up its sleeve. It can be connected to almost any device using one of three connection modes: wireless via the included USB adapter, Bluetooth or via USB-C cable, also included in the package.
The design of the ROG Chakram is simple, but very efficient
No good mouse is great if the design is awful. But this category was dominated by ASUS. They managed to create a massive mouse that has an aggressive look and the lighting makes sense. Yes, it still lights up the ROG logo and scroll, but ASUS did something interesting and included an RGB tape on the front of the mouse as well. The sober look feels ok, and on the comfort side, as we said, it feels great. This is especially true if you are like us and have shovels like hands.
So what is the Chakram again?
Well the Chakram is a high performing and attractive mouse that fails to motivate its price with the special features it has introduced. The joystick is something we never see ourselves using. But we must appreciate the courage of the ROG team who have tried to bring something innovative to the market.
From our point of view, it is a good try, but not all good inventions started with the right foot and I think in the future, this joystick could become really useful. Or maybe we are not the target audience. Whatever the situation, it was an interesting experience and we are very happy that we played with it.
