Zowie ZA11 Review

[SeriouslyMikey]

Zowie ZA11 Mouse Review

 

Spoiler

 

I have owned the Zowie ZA11 Professional Gaming Mouse for a little under a week now and I believe that I have played with it enough to give my final thoughts on the product. I will be putting up images of the mouse compared to my Zowie EC1-A throughout my review.

 

Specifications

 

Spoiler

 

• Weight – 90g.

• Height – 40mm.

• Width – 67mm.

• Length – 128mm.

• Number of buttons – 5, including one DPI toggle button on the bottom.

• Plug and Play. No drivers required.

• DPI settings – 400/800/1600/3200

• Adjustable USB polling rate – 125/500/1000Hz.

• Lift off distance – 1.5~1.8mm.

 

Packaging

 

Packaging was as expected from a 2015 Zowie product, it was clean, professional and simple, nothing more, really. The box is on the smaller side, though thick cardboard to keep your product protected in shipping or in storage, with the inside consisting of a sleek, black second box with a plastic “shroud” for the mouse. Nothing overly special, and nothing really that adds to the overall product, which is how I like it. Gives an impression that all, if not most of the money gone into the product actually went into the product and not the packaging.

 

 

Spoiler

 

In the box we find the mouse, spare Teflon feet, instruction manual and a Zowie sticker. The instruction manual is pretty simple and only consists of one page and a small diagram to show the different DPI settings and which colour the DPI setting is assigned to, that's it, no drivers, nothing overly special. Overall when it comes to the packaging, it was identical to the EC1-A that I also have.

 

 

Spoiler

 

Build Quality

 

From a Zowie mouse, I expect near perfection, and unfortunately upon first receiving the mouse, I wasn't happy, honestly. The scroll wheel has a tendency to rattle and the left mouse click doesn't seem to be as secured as the right, leaving the mouse to seem like a bit of a rattly mess. Though, these were my first impressions and the ones I had as I carried the mouse back to my room after unboxing it. A little sceptical of whether it would be as well built as my EC1-A, I plugged it in and immediately noticed that the scroll wheel and left click weren't effected by the distinct rattle, in fact, I don't even notice it anymore. Only when I actually shake the mouse does it bother me. And nothing to mention on the wire, it's a standard, light weight rubber cable that doesn't drag or seem to tangle, however, I do have a Zowie Camade mouse bungee to help with the cable.

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

Other than the slight rattle in the mouse wheel and the left click, the rest of the mouse is built to the same standard as my EC1-A. It feels solid, no creaking when I squeeze the mouse and the side buttons on both sides of the mouse feel outstanding and have a solid tactile feedback when clicked, something that I tend to do a lot both in game and out of game. The left and right click are no different. Though a little lighter to press than my EC1-A, they are both stiff enough for me to be able to rest more than the weight of my finger onto each one, which is very important to me. Heck, even with the rattle of the scroll wheel, the click is superb too, and by far beating that of my EC1-A.

 

In Game Impressions

 

Much like my very first impressions of the build quality, I felt as if the width of the mouse was going to annoy me, even though the length and height of the mouse fits my palm grip with perfection, which is probably one of the first mice to ever do so. Originally holding the mouse, it felt odd, as you'd expect from a new, alien peripheral. A little annoyed that the first impressions of both grip, comfort and build quality, I honestly wasn't looking forward to playing with the mouse. Though, pushing on, I found the mouse to perform identically to my EC1-A, which came as no surprise as they both are running the same sensor.

 

 

 

 

As I kept playing, I found myself falling in love with the shape of the mouse and the overall comfort. It wasn't as comfortable to hold as the EC1-A as I have never been a huge fan of ambidextrous mice, but it was very close. The .7mm lip on either side of the mouse, along with the cores coating allowed me to easily pick up the mouse, even with slippery palms after a longer gaming session and it didn't take long until I was out performing my other mouse. I don't really feel that there is much that I can say about the performance as it's near perfect. It tracks like a dream and glides on my XTRFY XTP1-L4-NiP-LI mouse pad amazingly too, helping me hit most headshots in a CS:GO game.

 

I tried the mouse with both tapping and spraying in Global Offensive to see if there was any inconsistencies with the mouse buttons, and I am glad to say that they are working wonderfully too, as I have seen nothing out of place with the buttons. Here's a quick video of what I tried. Please keep in mind that on the second attempt at the tapping, the double shot was caused by human error and not due to the mouse double clicking:

 

 

What I tried:

• Spraying. 6 times.

• Tapping. 90 shots.

• Tapping and flicks. 90 shots.

 

 

Conclusion

 

The Zowie ZA11 is one of the best mice that I have ever used, not to mention that it fits my hand next to perfectly, if not a little thin. I'd recommend this mouse to anyone who is looking for an ambidextrous mouse but they are wanting something somewhat large and they are able to palm.

If not, Zowie sell the FK1 which is, what I'd like to say as the claw grip alternative. As for which is better between the ZA11 and EC1-A, I cant 100% decide, so I have chosen to stay with the ZA11. 

[ZetZet]

Zowie knows what's up when it comes to gaming mice.

[Shoob]

Great detailed review.

I love how they included a replacement set of mouse feet. It's an indication that they want their product to last.

[JoaoPRSousa]

That's one big review. Dayum son.

[Flurr]

Nice review!  This mouse looks amazing just like all of the other Zowie mice, I want an FK1 myself.