Simple, Light, Nearly Perfect – Glorious Model D Mouse Review

I’ve tried a lot of gaming mice over the years and have slowly developed a particular set of criteria that have to be satisfied. The Glorious Model D by Glorious PC Gaming Race (yeah, it’s a mouthful) checks almost all the boxes on my list. Its overall design is similar to that of many of its competitors’ base models, but its unique features make it my current gaming mouse of choice. Let’s dig into it.

Keeping it Simple

The Model D’s honeycomb design allows it to remain lightweight and cool.

The first thing that stands out about the Model D is its unique honeycomb design. The idea behind this is that it keeps the weight of the mouse down to a mere 68 grams. The glossy version adds on gram on top of that. I’ve never considered my previous mice particularly heavy, but once you get used to the near weightlessness of the Model D, it’s hard to go back to anything heavier ever again.

Alongside the light body design, the Model D sports a set of four G-skates, which are incredibly slick, and in the three months I’ve been using it, have yet to gather any of the typical dust or gunk under them. It also comes with a set of larger skates in case you prefer even more surface between the mouse and desk or pad. The braided cable connecting the Model D is not only extra long but also lighter than many others. This becomes noticeable as one of the most significant drawbacks of a wired mouse is the potential drag and pull from its cable. No complaints here at all.

It may seem trivial, but the Model D’s cable is the best I’ve seen on a mouse.

On the technical side of things, the Model D comes equipped with a Pixart PMW-3360 Sensor providing up to 12,000 DPI, tracking speed of 250+ IPS, and polling rate of 1000hz (1ms). Its main buttons are rated for 20 million clicks, and it comes with full 16.8 million color RGB support and a built-in DPI switch button. Technically, the mouse has six buttons, though you’re likely to only use a maximum of five, including the clickable wheel.

No Software, No Problem

The matte white version of the Model D stands out among the many black options.

Perhaps one of the greatest benefits of the Model D is that it runs perfectly fine without any additional software. Its RGB lights can be adjusted into eight different patterns, and its DPI can be rotated through four different settings. If you desire more functionality, the available software is about as good as any other, but I chose to run without it for the entirety of my testing period.

The Model D is available in four different colors, featuring a combination of matte or glossy white and black bodies. I’ve been using the matte white version, and it’s a beautiful addition to my gaming setup of mostly black and white devices. I’m also happy to report that the white surface has been holding up well to many sweaty gaming sessions and is showing no signs of staining or discoloration.

The Glorious Model D comes with your choice of skates.

As it came time to write this review today, I considered switching back to the mouse I had been using previously, but as soon as I picked it up and felt its weight, I changed my mind. The Model D’s lightweight design is hard to ever come back from. If there are any shortcomings that I found, it’s that I wish it had at least one more button. The two thumb buttons on its left-hand side are well placed and useful, but I miss having a third on that side to use with my thumb. Frankly, it could pretty easily have had two additional buttons on the right side, which would have turned it into an ambidextrous mouse as well. The mouse wheel, a frequent failure in gaming mice, is merely okay. For the most part, it scrolls well and succinctly, but I still miss some of the precision offered by Razer’s mouse wheel, for example. It is, however, far better than Roccat’s wheel.

It’s so Close to Perfection

Take your pick from one of four color variations.

In summary, the Glorious Model D is an excellent gaming mouse that focuses on its lightweight design and speed over features. It does so without sacrificing too much functionality over its competition, and given its very reasonable sub-$50 price point, it’s easily the best gaming mouse to recommend to anyone so far this year.