At CES this this year, ASUS showed three mice and a mouse mat of their newer gaming peripherals. The ASUS GLADIUS that I looked at last issue has been joined by the SICA. Later on in the year it looks as if ASUS will release another addition to the family, the SPARTHA.
The SICA is the budget mouse of the family. At the time of writing I didn’t have retail pricing but suffice to say that together with the WHETSTONE mouse mat, the combo will set you back about $50. Not bad, at all. In fact that is really good pricing given just how much has gone into the WHESTONE and to a lesser extend the SICA. However I’ll get to the mouse mat later, but first I must admit that I was initially unmoved by the SICA until I actually used it for for a significantly longer period.
Things improved dramatically since my initial impressions, thus, I had to use it to game in two separate stints before I could make up my mind as to how I felt about it. You see, had I tested this mouse first, then the GLADIUS, it would have been a natural progression from the low end, mid-range and subsequently the high end with the SPARTHA eventually. However, I started with what is in reality a damn good mouse in the GLADIUS. As such the SICA’s job was made ever more difficult as a result. For starters this is a relatively small mouse. It isn’t as long, wide or as tall as the GLADIUS. It is, as the literature says built for the smaller hands or those who use a claw grip. I do not have small hands nor do I use a claw grip which makes me the worst person to test this mouse. None the less there’s merit to me giving my opinion, because if I’m able to live with this mouse and game with it, then it should in theory be even better for those who have the aforementioned characteristics.
The SICA is simple mouse, with only two buttons and a scroll wheel. That’s it. There are no side buttons and ASUS states in the FAQ that the reason for this is because side buttons could be depressed by left or right handed users by mistake during game play, thus they were not implemented. There’s merit to this argument, however I believe this has everything to do with cost as this is a budget mouse. I would pay even $15 more just to have at least a single button on either side, but once again this would then put the SICA in a different price bracket, where it would compete with other mice that are not in its range.
The mouse is made of plastic and even towards the rear where there is the familiar Mayan pattern, it is also plastic. Thus it doesn’t help much with grip. The mouse is also fairly light even though it does tip the scales at 117g with the chord. This is also due to the chord being longer than on other mice. Movement wise it’ll cause no fatigue and even though it is light, it just manages to escape the $10 electronics bin at your favourite computer store.
To its credit, the SICA features changeable switches, thus you may customize or upgrade them to your desire. However, I do wonder how many people buying within this budget will have the inclination or money to spare for additional switches. Regardless, it’s a feature that I’ve not seen on any other mouse at this price range and I’d rather have it than not at all.
As with the GLADIUS, the mouse uses two separate buttons that are separate from the body as well. Again this is to ensure quicker actuation as the travel it shortened. Given that this is a MOBA orientated mouse, I’m unsure how much of a benefit this is, but once again one would rather have this than not at all.
With a maximum DPI of 5000, 130 IPS movement tracking and up to 1KHz polling rate, the SICA ticks all the right boxes optically. It uses the same Armoury software package as the GLADIUS, but obviously much simpler in layout. With that you can still load a profile on to the mouse by simply dragging it to the left of the window pane under PROFILE 1 by default. Simple, straight forward and convenient. Again I’m impressed by the Armoury software and it remains the best software suit I’ve used to date.
What then of the WHETSTONE mouse mat? This is surprisingly the most impressive part of this combination for me. That is especially because I used it with the GLADIUS and that combination is even better than the one with the SICA. This mouse mat unlike the vast majority of foldable mats on the market is made from silicone fabric combination. The base is silicone and the surface is a water resistant fabric. It’s quite thick at 2mm, but this allows an even surface for which you glide your mouse unhindered by small dips and bumps that would be on some surfaces. Unlike the more traditional mats and as a result of the silicone used, it doesn’t have that rubber mouse mat odour that can take a while to get rid of. As the mat is also water proof there’ll be no build-up of impurities within the fibres that result in a pungent mouse mat after extensive use.
The WHETSTONE has the same Mayan inspired pattern as the mouse but you’ll not suffer in precision for it. It’s a textured surface however all the mice I tried on it glide perfectly and I’ve since changed to this mat as my primary gaming surface. It’s the only mouse mat I’ve come across that has gained my favour immediately upon first use. It also doesn’t hurt that in the context of mats it is pleasing to the eye, far more in person than in pictures or on video. As far as mouse mats are concerned this is easily the best one I’ve ever used so, I’m comfortable saying this is the best or at the very least amongst the best mats you can buy.
Overall, this combo works for a number of reasons, primarily because of price. From where I stand it's as if I'm paying $50 for the best mouse mat on around, which so happens to ship with a mouse that isn't too bad at all, especially for a travel mouse. Ultimately, while I have my reservations about the SICA, the WHETSTONE scores a perfect score from me and the combination of the two at this price makes for a very attractive deal. You’re not likely to do better than this combination at this price and as such it is deserving on the value award.