Razer Viper Ultimate Review

The Razer Viper Ultimate stands apart from the class as it is a highly featured, ultra customizable, easy-to-use wireless mouse. The unit is packed with the highest quality hardware and its performance is at the highest level for any mouse, wired or not. With specs like these, it's no wonder that the only real distinction between wireless and wired mice is the need for charging and the price tag.

Performance Comparison

Performance

The performance metric is an assessment of the mouse's hardware and specifications. Specifically, we look at dots/counts per inch (DPI/CPI), sensor type, switch type, tracking speed, polling rate, weight, and the glide facilitated by the feet on which the unit rests. Without mincing words, the Razer Viper Ultimate represents the highest level of mouse technology available and it shows its quality with on-screen results.

It's one thing to heap praise at the feet of some impressive-looking device, it's another to put some factual meat on the theoretical bones. First off, the Viper Ultimate uses a Focus+ flawless optical sensor that has an adjustable DPI/CPI that spans 100 - 20,000. The sensor also has an adjustable polling rate (125, 500, 1,000 Hz) and a tracking speed of 650 inches per second. While these specs are all well and good, the Viper Ultimate has even more to offer.

Perhaps the most impressive — might we say, gaming changing? — performance feature that the Viper Ultimate brings to the table are its optical switches. These little devices not only limit latency to imperceptible levels but also remove the risk of button bounce that has plagued their mechanical counterparts. Essentially, one gets a button switch that operates at the speed of light and doesn't require debounce firmware. Pretty awesome, right? However, when you add on feet that have almost no resistance and a total unit weight of 77 grams, you might be wondering if this is the greatest mouse ever created. Spoiler alert, there's a strong argument supporting that notion.

Customization

On par with performance is the customization metric. This evaluation assesses the ability to make changes to the mouse that meet the user's needs and wants. Specifically, we look at the lights, button remapping, adjustments to scroll wheel resistance, weight, and whether the unit's shape accommodates both right or left-handed users. While the Viper Ultimate is certainly no slouch in the customization department — quite the contrary — it does lack a few minor customization options.

Although the Viper Ultimate lacks weight and scrolls wheel resistance adjustment, it is pliant where it really counts, particularly if you are a left-handed gamer. Our handedness assessment highlights the Viper Ultimate as one of the few models in the class that has a shape that will accommodate all users. That's right lefties, the Viper has got your back. In addition to the symmetrical design, this mouse has Razer's RGB Chroma lighting which essentially means that one can make the logo on the shell light up with any of 16 million plus colors and nearly countless gaming-related light effects. More importantly, all 8 of the unit's buttons are fully remappable, and Razer's Synapse software allows one to get very precise with their macros as well as setting up 5 profile configurations that can be accessed with the push of a button using the Hypershift feature.

Ease of Use

Regardless of the performance and customization features on offer, no one will long tolerate a hard to operate mouse. With this in mind, we took pains to assess the difficulty of setting up and using the mice under review. This assessment covers the software, on-the-fly adjustments as well as the cable length and design. Without a doubt, the Viper Ultimate knocked it out of the park, making it one of the easiest mice to operate ever! Or, at least among the mice we've tested.

The lack of a cord on this mouse is perhaps our favorite ease of use feature for the simplicity it brings to the operation — there is no cord to route and no hang-ups when moving the unit around. However, the lack of a cord poses the problem of having to remember to charge the mouse. Yet, this issue is mitigated with the convenient charging cradle with a 6-foot power cord. Additionally, we have nothing but good things to report on Razer's Synapses software as it makes programming the lighting, macros, and profiles of the mouse as easy as 1-2-3. Finally, the Viper Ultimate does not limit on-the-fly adjustments though their range is dependent on the game being played.

Scroll Wheel

The last of our evaluations is the scroll wheel assessment. This metric takes stock of the button action, scroll wheel resistance, and the sound produced when these components are actuated. The Viper Ultimate came in below average here primarily due to its stiff and rather tactile scroll wheel. The unit is also on the louder side of the spectrum. Interestingly, button action, or the physical feeling derived from pushing the button, is pretty much the same across all the models we tested. Happily, we found the action to be pretty much spot on, though this is admittedly a preferential assessment.

Value

The Viper Ultimate is an expensive mouse. However, the hardware that makes this unit functionally competitive with its wired counterparts is certainly high-quality and, at least for now, necessarily costly. As such, we think that this model warrants the price, though we would not describe it as a great deal.

Conclusion

This review of Razer's Viper Ultimate covers all aspects of this high-end gaming mouse. Namely, we evaluated the performance of the hardware, the range of customization, the ease of set up and operation as well as the buttons and scroll wheel action. All told, this review will provide one with all the pertinent information to make the best possible decision on whether this is the right gaming mouse for their gaming needs and aspirations. If you value wireless over gaming features, you might consider choosing the best wireless mouse instead.