Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review

The ROG Harpe Ace Mini is the cousin of the carbon fiber ROG Harpe Ace Extreme, only far less extra. It's just 2 grams heavier than the 47 gram Ace Extreme, though rather than carbon fiber it uses its minimal size to stay light and easily flingable.

Marketed toward pro FPS players, and anyone who needs absolute pinpoint accuracy in the games they play, the Harp Ace Mini uses the same immense 42,000 DPI ROG AimPoint Pro sensor, to prove without any question that your mouse isn't the thing making you miss all those headshots.

In hand, the Harpe Ace Mini feels almost nonexistent compared to the more MMO focussed mice I'm used to. Next to the Razer Naga Pro this thing feels like it's filled with helium. That's partially thanks to the miniscule size, but also the lack of buttons. Where an MMO mouse might have buttons in the double digits, the Harpe Ace Mini packs just seven.

That's your standard two left and right clickers, a clickable scroll wheel, plus two buttons on the right side, and two on the underside. All have a satisfying click and most don't sound too hollow, bar the one on the back left side which resonates a bit within the body. It's to be expected on a mouse this light, since there's next to nothing absorbing sound on the inside. And while it can make a mouse feel cheap, the Harpe Ace Mini manages to come off as sturdy. Pair it with the lovely finish and it's certainly a quality-built little rodent.

The Harpe Ace Mini is mostly ambidextrous, in so much as it's semi-symmetrical. The side buttons still live on the left, so lefties will have to use their pinkie or whatever wizardry they perform to deal with our righty-dominated world.

There's definitely some thought that's gone into keeping the shape less curved to one side, at least. That may be better for lefties, but it means there's less ergonomic specificity for either. Pit it against something like the Logitech G502 X and its superior ergonomics and it comes up a little short, but then some will prefer a less curvy mouse design.

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This thing is inoffensively small, which makes it great for my little hands, though I imagine players with bigger grippers would struggle a little with it. Not greatly, but if you're a palm grip user with large hands you might want to think twice before buying something so itty-bitty. That said, the size does go toward making this mouse all the more portable.

Speaking of portability, I've been really impressed with the Harpe Ace Mini's battery life. Using it for 12 hours on the 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi without charging or letting it go to sleep the charge indicator still showed green.

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Above: Tested at 1,000 Hz — The more erratic the dots are, the worse the tracking on the mouse.

A week of 3-4 hour gaming sessions a day later and it was still at more than half charge, even with the RGB lighting on. I don't have enough time to drain the battery but, by my calculations, it would take me four weeks at this pace to fully drain it, minimum.

As for the software needed, it requires Armoury Crate Gear to play with button assignments, performance and power settings, but if you want to get going with scenario profiles and design your own macro settings you'll have to download the full Armoury Crate & Aura Sync.

Frankly the latter is a little much just to access macro options. Even the lite Gear version is quite a large file to download and install which is a shame, and I've had a couple of issues with connection and setting changes being met with errors. Having to restart my machine at several junctures just to get the software to work isn't a good look, though when it does work it does all the basics well and the interface is nice and clean.

Performance-wise, the ROG Harpe Ace Mini is a stellar mouse. Hardly a waver when it comes to accuracy, and consistent tracking points all across the board show that this is one accurate rodent. Does it need to be this accurate for everyday use? Probably not, but with no tradeoff in terms of weight for a more impressive sensor, it's easy to appreciate the effort in this department.

The Harpe Ace Mini goes hard where accuracy is concerned, and while its attempts to stay ambidextrous cost it the more specific ergonomics of a right-handed mouse, I can really see it taking off for pro gamers and claw grippers who prefer light mice, as long as they don't mind downloading the huge Armory Crate software just to mess with macros. With impressive battery life, anyone wanting to take the Harpe Ace Mini on the go will be best pleased they won't have to charge it for ages. Sure there are cheaper wireless gaming mice out there with similar battery lives, but not many that also match the Harpe Ace Mini's impressive accuracy and weightlessness.