My main mouse is a Zowie EC1-B, which is mostly perfect for me. The two downsides are its weight and its slipperiness. It is the only mouse that is big enough that it doesn't hurt my palm or fingers trying to grasp it during gameplay. The Glorious Model D is very similar in shape, albeit slightly smaller, and has the same sensor, but it is about 25% lighter. For reference, my grip style is between a palm and a fingertip grip.
Pros:
1. My aim in games does seem to be slightly better and snappier. I attribute this to the reduced weight. Twenty-two grams may not sound like a lot of weight (um, actually mass), but it is very noticeable in the hand.
2. The plastic is not as slippery, so my hand sweat doesn't make the mouse slide around in my grip as sometimes happens with the Zowie.
3. The cable is a very light fabric, which I think I like more than the typical plastic of the Zowie's cable; however, I don't think this has any real impact on performance since I don't have cable snagging issues.
4. RGB if you're into that.
Cons:
1. The sensor stops tracking entirely or stutters sometimes when moving to the right. I have tried switching desk mats to no avail. Changing the lift off distance in the software from 2mm to 3mm seems to fix the problem, but I prefer 2mm. The mouse feels slightly "loose" in some games when set to 3mm, presumably because it keeps tracking when the mouse is off the mat. I have contacted Glorious's support about this. There is a dividing line in my desk where two sections meet that I thought might be contributing to this, but it know it happened at least once when the mouse was not over that section of the desk.
2. This is a personal fitment issue, so it likely doesn't apply to most people. The Model D is just enough smaller in some dimension that it causes my ring finger to hurt when grasping it intensely during gameplay. This has been an issue with every single mouse I've used except the Zowie, so it's not surprising.
3. The side buttons feel as though they are hinged on the horizontal axis rather than on the vertical axis, meaning the back button is stiff towards the rear and light towards the front; likewise, the forward button is stiff towards the front and light towards the back. I think the intention was to make the buttons feel less spongy than the Zowie, but it ends up making them less responsive unless I have my hand in a certain position and press the buttons in a very specific spot. Pressing on the rear of the button almost feels as though the button is catching on something sometimes. I don't mind the spongy buttons on the Zowie since the press resistance is consistent along the entire button. Maybe mine is not typical; I mentioned it in my support ticket as well.
4. The skates are not nearly as smooth as those on the Zowie. I didn't notice it on my main desk mat, but, on my backup desk mat, it is a night and day difference. I can't even hear the Zowie when moving it, but the Glorious produces an audible and tactile rubbing. This may not be an issue depending on the desk mat. I have not tried applying the additional skates included with the mouse, but I don't see how adding more contact surface would reduce friction.
5. The scroll wheel indices are silent and lightly tactile. This is probably also personal preference, but I like audible and almost clicking indices on scroll wheels.
Conclusion:
If my mouse is just a lemon and a replacement fixes the sensor issue and back/forward button issue, I think this will become my main gaming mouse; however, it's not perfect. I would really just like an EC1-B that weighs less and has a better surface texture.
