Zaopin Z2 Community Reviews
Author:esper_(community reviews)
UNBOXING
The Z2 unboxing experience is very straight forward and the same as the Z1 Pro. They include a carrying pouch, griptape, a screw driver for the hotswap feature, and 2 extra pairs of skates (1 full cover design, and one designed with accessible screws in mind). The 4K dongle is included and placed in a foam insert inside the box. The instruction manual is completely in chinese. One last thing I wanted to mention is that the sensor is just slightly raised from the center (located somewhere in the middle of the front side button), which is something I strongly advocate for more companies to do (my preference, of course)!
Specs:
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Dimensions: 123x64x39.5mm
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Weight: 65g (66g on my scale)
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Switches: TTC Gold 60M
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Encoder: TTC Gold
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Coating: Dry, rubbery matte finish
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Sensor: PixArt PAW3395
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MCU: Nordic 52840 (mouse), Nordic 52810 (dongle)
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Battery: 500mAh
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Max Polling Rate: 4000Hz (dongle included)
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Connection: Wired/2.4G/Bluetooth
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Color Options: White (black bottom), white (grey bottom), black, red, & orange
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Price: $59.99 (includes 4k dongle)
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Extras: Griptape, screw driver, carrying pouch, & extra pair stock skates (includes skate design w/ accessible screws for hotswap)
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Other: Sensor slightly raised! Swappable sockets to easily replace main switches
BUTTONS
Main Clicks
The main buttons use TTC Gold 60M switches. The clicks are light with a small crunchy actuation, very minimal pre-travel, and moderate post-travel. The clicks can feel a little "thin" when pressed front due to not having much tension before actuating, which does feel just a tad underwhelming in terms of satisfaction when spamming, but feels fine elsewhere. Overall, I still like some huano bspd implementations more (namely the atlantis mini and delux m800 ultra), since the soft-tensioned travel they have before reaching the actuation point give off a nice, tactile bounce. That's me being heavily nitpicky just for the sake of comparisons in the review though. It's a top implementation in my opinion and I have zero complaints in-use.
There is a hotswap feature which allows you to easily replace the mouse with your choice of switches. All it requires is for you to open the mouse, unscrew 3 screws using the provided screw driver, and rescrew once swapped. I don't have extra switches to showcase this, so I highly recommend checking out AimAdapt's review: here!
Scrollwheel & Side Buttons
The scrollwheel is tactile with a little more distinct separation between each notch than most ordinary implementations, which makes it feel a little more premium. The side buttons have a tiny bit of pre-travel and a satisfying amount of post-travel. They feel light and clicky. I really like them.
COATING, CABLE, SKATES, ETC.
The weight feels a little back heavy when lifting, but goes unnoticed in-use. The coating is sort of this dry rubbery matte feeling. With my dry hands, it's a bit slippery intially, and grips very well once fully warmed up–which for some reason takes me longer than usual with this finish. The cable is decent in terms of flexibility, but nothing outstanding. The skates are great for stock. They feel slightly faster than corepads in terms of speed, and aren't as resistant/grounded feeling when paired with smooth clothpads. The fully covered base skate design is used by default with an extra set in the box. They also provide a skate design with cut outs for easier screw accessibility, though I'm perplexed why this wasn't already applied out of the box.
SHAPE
My hands are 19.5x10cm and I use a relaxed pincer claw grip. Before describing the shape, here's how I grip the Zaopin Z2:
The Zaopin Z2 has a very safe asymmetrical/ergo shape. Although its appearance may remind you of the logitech gpx, it feels quite different in-hand – button height and size are in the same ballpark though. There's a very slight amount of curvature(1) on the left side of the mouse, but hardly any flairing, so it's not as flaired towards the front and back as the gpx. The length on the right side of the mouse(2) isn't as long as the left, so you'll feel the rounded corner on the front right sooner, which I like since it provides easier contact with my ring finger to pull in the mouse when tensing. The right side also has the pinky rest flair(3), so gripping it while curling your ring and pinky feels natural. The hump(4) is on the flatter side and isn't as aggressive in curvature as most ergo mice, so the left of the hump isn't as high as the right. I find this really comfortable to rest the upper knuckle part of my palm on. Overall, the shape doesn't feel as locked-in due to not having any aggressive curves, but the grippy coating really carries it in this regard, so I had a lot of control over the mouse. Lastly, the sensor is raised, which is a feature I really appreciate. As someone who mainly prefers smaller claw grip mice for their mobility, this makes the Z2 feel slightly easier to maneuver for its size.
SOFTWARE, 4K DONGLE, & BATTERY LIFE
The mouse comes at 8ms debounce by default. The software seems to tell you battery percentage while charging. The 4K dongle shines green the entire time while in use/motion, and only turns off if the mouse is left idling for a few seconds. The mouse led between the buttons and 4k dongle flashes red at around 15% battery; mouse led is purple while charging. Battery life on 4khz lasted 3-5 days, though I didn't keep track how much time was split between playtime and desktop use.
Software Link - https://www.zaopinworld.com/xiazaizhongxin.html
PROS & CONS
+comfortable, safe asymmetrical/ergo shape
+light, crunchy clicks (TTC Gold 60M)
+features hotswappable switches
+tactile scroll and soft side buttons
+dry rubbery matte coating
+very good stock skates
+slightly raised sensor!
+4k dongle included w/ mouse
+good battery life (500mAh)
+really good price for 4KHz mouse ($59.99)
+variety of color options (white w/ gray, white w/ black, black, orange, & red)
+extras: grip tape, skates, screw driver, & carrying pouch
=coating takes a while to feel grippy w/ dry hands
=can be lighter (66g on my scale)
