I reckon I’m supposed to at least attempt to base my mouse review verdicts on the most objective things—specs, performance, features, price—as well as some of the more objective of the subjective elements (click feel, build quality, and so on). Because those are the things that most of you reading will also agree about, regardless of personal preference. But I really can’t discount the subjective elements with the BenQ Zowie EC2-DW, because they are what keep bringing me back to this mouse, making it my absolute favourite to use right now.
Shape, despite being the most important aspect of a mouse, is at the bottom of the list of objective factors because of how subjective a preference mouse shape is—some like dinky fingertip mice, some like big ergo ones, and there’s no impartial way to arbitrate. However, I’ll be damned if I let that stop me from influencing my recommendation here, because my God, this thing feels fantastic as a palm gripper who mainly plays tactical shooters.
The Razer Viper V4 Pro, for instance, is the most technically perfect mouse I’ve ever held, and the Logitech G Pro X2 Superstrike offers the best performance for competitive gaming thanks to its super light actuation clicks with rapid trigger. So oh, how I wish I loved the shapes of those two mice as much as this Zowie—but I don’t.
EC2-DW specs
Buttons: 5
Connectivity: 2.4 GHz wireless, USB-C wired
Sensor: PixArt PAW3950
Switches: Mechanical
Feet: Teflon (PTFE)
Max DPI: 3,200
Weight: 60 g (measured at 59 g)
Polling rate: Up to 4K
Battery life: 80 hours @ 1,000 Hz
RGB lighting: None
Included extras: Cable, dongle, enhanced receiver, 2x spare skates (slow and fast)
Price: $150 / £130
If you’ve already used an EC-shaped mouse then you’ll know what I’m talking about. But if not, let me explain: if you have regular-sized hands and use a palm grip or even a relaxed claw grip, the Zowie EC2-DW should sit under your palm incredibly snugly thanks to its ergonomic design.
I previously sang the praises of the Pulsar X3 CrazyLight Mini for its sway in this ergo direction, and I thought that slight tilt was as far as I’d go. But I was wrong. The EC2-DW has much more of an ergonomic tilt with the left side raised higher than the right (and less of an aggressive hump), and after I allowed my hand to settle into more of a palm grip than a relaxed claw grip, I was pleasantly surprised to find the Zowie is even more comfy to use.
It might go without saying that a mouse with ergonomic tilt is more comfortable to use than one without—that’s kind of the point, as it tilts your wrist and arm in a slightly more natural orientation—but the trick is to also be able to maintain your accuracy and precision. If you go for a full-on vertical mouse like the Keychron M5, you’re bound to miss some of those headshots.
Not so with the Zowie EC2-DW, though. I’ve found my accuracy, at least in tactical shooters like CS2, to be just as good as it is with any other competitive mouse. In fact, I reckon the ergo shape here actually helps a little because it keeps my hand relaxed, preventing me from tensing up too much.
That being said, it’s not the lightest mouse on the market, at 60 g (59 g for my model, according to my scales, but there could be a rounding error). That’s about as heavy as I’d go for a competitive gaming mouse these days. It’s the same as the Superstrike, but others like the Viper V4 Pro beat it by quite a margin, and we even have sub-40 g mice these days like the Corsair Sabre V2 Pro. But for palm gripping in tactical shooters, as well as day-to-day use, I’ll take it.
Build quality is great, too. There’s nary a creak to be found, even when I squeeze quite hard, and everything feels incredibly sturdy. The side buttons feel responsive, and although the main clicks and scroll wheel don’t match up to, say, the Viper V4 Pro (what does?), they do feel pleasant. There’s a little pre-travel, but not much, and clicks feel light and spammable. The scroll wheel, too, is plenty defined and still easy enough to, well, scroll. The installed PTFE skates are plenty smooth, and if you prefer something slower they come with a couple of replacements, including some slower black ones if you prefer a more controlled experience.
Probably my favourite thing about the EC2-DW’s build, though, is its surface texture. I’ve nothing against the more matte coatings that most mice go for these days as they do feel nice under the palm, but the slightly glossier coating on the Zowie here helps keep the mouse firmly in place. It does make it a bit of a fingerprint fiend, though (check the photo above).
When it comes to actual performance, things are fantastic thanks not only to the PAW3950 sensor but also Zowie’s ‘enhanced’ receiver. This receiver is a chonker (see the image below), but it’s worth that size for two reasons.
First, it presumably allows for a bigger antenna, and I’ve had no connection or latency issues. But second, it allows for wireless charging, as you can place the front of the mouse onto the receiver and its pins will slide in to charge. It slots into place easily and is an incredibly convenient way to keep your mouse charged; I never worry about its battery, now, because I simply place it on the receiver as I leave my PC whenever I remember to do so.
The receiver also gives you the option for 4K polling. This mouse’s predecessor, the CW version of the EC2, only reaches 1,000 Hz. It also has a worse sensor, and is heavier.
The specs even for the DW version might seem a little low by today’s 8K, 30,000+ DPI standards, but don’t be fooled by all that. 8K is absolutely overkill even for pro gaming, and the mouse is limited to 3,200 DPI only because it’s driverless, ie, lacking software.
That’s intentional: people buy Zowie mice in part because they lack drivers and software and simply work very well out of the box—a fact that gives some peace of mind if you’re travelling to different LAN parties and tournaments and using different systems, for instance.
You have a few different DPI settings to choose from via the underside button, but Zowie had to set the limit somewhere. The sensor should technically be capable of more if it weren’t for that artificial cap, but who needs more? Most CS2 and Valorant pros play at 400, 800, or sometimes 1600 DPI, and that’s all that’s needed.
You can also change a few things via different button combinations, which I didn’t expect. These things include DPI and polling, of course, but also LOD, motion sync, and click response. I haven’t had any issues with just running the mouse on its default settings, though, after ensuring I’m at 1,000 Hz to save some battery and 800 DPI, which is my preferred setting.
Buy if…
✅ You want the perfect palm grip for tactical shooters: If games like CS2 and Valorant are your jam and you like to keep your palm flush to your mouse like me, the experience here is fantastic.
✅ You want to plug-n-play: This mouse requires no driver (other than a default OS one) and has no software. You simply plug it in and play, and you can change the most important settings with button combinations.
Don’t buy if…
❌ You play tracking-heavy games: If you mainly play games like Overwatch or Apex Legends, you might want a less ergonomic mouse that allows for easier fingertip adjustments to track enemies.
❌ You love ultralight mice: 60 g is fine for competitive gaming, but it’s starting to be a little on the heavy side compared to some ultralight mice today.
That being said, it’s definitely not the mouse to go for if you like to delve into your mouse settings and mess with all kinds of things, such as sensor rotation.
It’s also not the mouse to go for if you play tracking-oriented games such as Overwatch and Apex Legends. For those kinds of games, I much prefer slipping into a slightly more relaxed claw grip using a less ergonomic mouse. That lets me use my fingers a little more to move the mouse under my palm and keep my crosshair tracking smoothly over moving targets. With this mouse, though, you’re forced into more of a palm grip with less fingertip range of motion.
For tactical shooters like CS2, though, which require a lot of precision, stability, and occasional flicks, the BenQ Zowie EC2-DW is perfect. If those are the kinds of games you play, I wholeheartedly recommend it, as CS2 is my main shindig and I keep returning to this mouse even ahead of more technically impressive ones.
If you’re not interested in those kinds of games, though, I’d probably only recommend it if you love a good palm grip, regardless, and also like the sound of a driverless mouse with easy wireless charging.
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