Build Quality

Overall build quality is very solid. There is no rattle when shaking the mouse. When applying lateral pressure, no creaking or flexing of the shell can be observed. Activating the side buttons by squeezing the sides requires excessive force. Lastly, no accidental clicks occur when slamming down the mouse.

Buttons

Main buttons on the EC3-C are very good. Pre-travel is moderate and post-travel low, but click feel is snappy and pleasant. Button stiffness is medium. A pair of Huano switches (black shell, blue plunger) is used.


Side buttons are very good. Pre-travel is moderate (forward) to low (backward), but post-travel is minimal, and the click feel is satisfying. The pressure point is even across the entirety of these buttons, though less so across the back button. Compared to the EC2-A, they are smaller and positioned slightly higher, but button placement is still good as actuation is possible quite easily by rolling one's thumb across. A set of seemingly unbranded switches (white plunger, likely Huano) is used.

At the bottom of the mouse are two buttons for CPI and polling rate control; both work just fine.

Scroll Wheel

The scroll wheel is decent. Compared to previous Zowie wheels, this one marks a significant improvement, as it has more steps (24-step instead of 16-step), but isn't as noisy (though still noisier than most others) while retaining most of the tactility. However, scrolling is notably lighter, which, coupled with the stiff wheel click, may lead to unintentional scrolling when pressing said wheel click. An optical encoder is used. The middle (scroll wheel) click requires high force for actuation. Another Huano switch (red plunger) is used here.

Coating

The EC3-C features a smooth matte surface all over. It doesn't attract fingerprints, dirt, or the likes too much. It is easy to clean, and there are no signs of wear left after doing so. All in all, excellent materials.

Button Sound Test

Disassembly

Disassembling the EC3-C is fairly easy. A single screw sits beneath the big rear skate, without which the top and bottom shell are easily separable. Inside, one finds a novel design for Zowie. Above the main PCB, a plastic assembly is erected, which holds the main and side-button PCBs, all of which are connected to the main PCB through ribbon cables. The scroll wheel sits in a casing which is affixed to the bottom shell and presses down on the wheel click switch located on the main PCB. The assembly is secured with four screws, whereas two screws are used to affix the fairly thin main PCB to the bottom shell. Curiously, the MCU is rear-mounted. A Cypress CY7C64356-48LTXC is used, whose datasheet can be found here. Production date for the main PCB is the 28th of May, 2021. It is reasonable to assume we are looking at shared tooling for an eventual wireless version here.


As for the soldering and general quality of the PCB, I'm unable to find any noteworthy flaws.