Zowie EC1 Mouse Review

Playing with the Zowie EC1

Well, since the model doesn’t allow any configuration, nor come with a software to create user profiles and macros, we went right to the action. Made to be used in FPS games, we put the EC1 through the grind playing Call of Duty: Black Ops and Battlefield Bad Company 2. We found the peripheral to be a little lightweight – a weight adjustment system would be great. The huge Teflon flee allowed for some swift sliding over a good playing mat.

The fact that the EC1 features three fixed levels of resolution is questionable – after all, who playhs with only 500 DPI? For that matter, that’s not good even for regular Windows usage. With such waste, the user only has two effective options – either 1000 or 2000 DPI. It’s enough for less demanding players to have a good performance on the virtual battlefield, but still Zowie could have distributed the DPI setting in a better way – 1000, 1500 e 2000, for instance.

Another problem concerning the resolution is the fact that the DPI selection button is located underneath the EC1. This makes it impossible to change the sensibility on the fly, which is something we do quite a lot during gaming sessions – we use a lower DPI value to get more precision out of sniper weapons and up the level for action-packed incursions. It would be no big deal to put another button near the thumb buttons to change the sensibility as featured in other models. At least those buttons are big and responsive as is the scroll wheel.

As pure inovation, the EC1 features the lowest lift-off distance currently available on the market – 1.5 mm (1/16 inch). That is how much the mouse can be lifted while maintaining the pointer fixed on the same spot.

Another thing that got us thinking was why would Zowie sell such a simple model for such a high price? See: according to Newegg.com, the EC1 costs around USD 59 which is actually USD 5 more (!) than the Mionix Naos 3200 – a full-fledged gaming-grade mouse with several features. Honestly, the EC1 is a good and well-rounded peripheral, but is a simple model and should cost less.