Review of the ASUS ROG HARPE ACE Aim Lab Edition: Light, fast, precise and with eSports genes – pure marketing or game changer?

Look and feel

The ASUS ROG Harpe ACE Aim Lab Edition is available in black and white. Depending on your preference. On the one hand, the Harpe is kept very simple and clear. On the other hand, the design is symmetrical so that right-handers can use it to its full extent and left-handers can only use it to a limited extent – as the thumb buttons are only on the left-hand side. This distinguishes the Harpe from the Zowie U2, which has an asymmetrical design. The Harpe is not as comfortable to hold as the Zowie.

To ensure the necessary grip on the hand or fingers on the mouse, ASUS has coated the Harpe with a type of nylon. It almost feels like grip tape. In fact, the Harpe practically sticks to the hand. The Harpe thus equalizes what the Zowie achieves through its shape. Haptically, it basically fits all grip types. Whether palm, finger tip or glaw grip. Whereby palm grip is of course dependent on the size of the hand.

I can reach the thumb buttons very easily, although I had to get used to the mouse a bit. I practically switched from the palm grip to the finger tip. The fact that ASUS hides the button for the DPI settings at the bottom could be annoying for some. I always set the DPI to 1200 for my 34″ UWQHD, or 1600 for 32″ UHD. Otherwise, you don’t really need the button – you can also use the software.

Software

I’ll keep this short with regard to the software. If you are only considering the mouse as the only ASUS product, you should only use the “small” software package (Armoury Crate Gear) in my opinion. This allows you to control everything: RGB lighting, macros, button assignment, DPI etc.

 

If you own more than one ASUS product, you should install the “big” software package. That’s all you need to say.

Latencies

So far, ASUS has been the undisputed leader in my latency measurements. In this sense, ASUS can only prove something to itself today. There is a separate article on the test setup, so I won’t go into it in detail. However, I must mention this as a hint: That my system latency here is measured as a whole in terms of end-to-end latencies. This results in a relative comparison – not an absolute one – as we don’t all have exactly the same system.

The test setup is ready, my reference measurements with the ASUS ROG Chakram Core are done. Incidentally, the BenQ Zowie U2 was here at the same time. You can see the Enhanced Dongle in the picture.

Comparison ASUS ROG HARPE Aim Lab with and without cable

This really surprised me, because until now there hasn’t been a single mouse that was as fast with a dongle as with a cable.

You also have to take into account that the ROG Falchion RX was connected to this dongle at the same time. Whatever ASUS has done here in detail, it works. The latency in Bluetooth mode then increases as expected.

Comparison with other mice

The latencies speak for themselves. Not only is the Harpe Aim Lab extremely fast, it also shares the dongle with the Falchion RX. You have to hand it to ASUS at this point: Whoever has – can! The Harpe Aim Lap is currently the fastest wireless mouse, it simply blows everything away – including ASUS’ own products. Please take a closer look, because the Harpe ACE Aim Lab is almost as fast in Bluetooth mode as the Zowie U2 with dongle. Ouch!

That already answers the question: Was this all pure marketing on the part of ASUS? No, it’s not. The Harpe delivers like no other mouse before it! And that’s all for today. On the last page there is a small audio sample and the conclusion.