No one can argue that Razer has lately been on a roll. Gone are the days when their products are dismissed as “overpriced” or “flash over substance”. Sure, they still come with somewhat of a price premium, but more often than not, they also offer a lot of bang for your buck. This is especially the case when it comes to their keyboards and mice where they seemingly can’t go wrong. Their latest flagship mouse – Razer Viper Ultimate is one such case that brings a whole host of features and excellent performance on top of being completely wireless. So are there even any flaws to this beast or did Razer create the perfect gaming mouse? We dive in to find out.
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DESIGN
Razer Viper Ultimate is the natural evolution of the original Viper. When it comes to design, it’s a no-nonsense, minimal, and instantly recognizable mouse that screams e-sports. In, that regard, the first thing that I want to mention is how surprisingly light the mouse is. Most previous gaming wireless mice I used frequently went over 100-gram mark which, in recent months, made me switch over to using the insanely light Glorious Model D. My worries of Viper Ultimate being too heavy were quickly dismissed the first time I handled the mouse. It’s mere 74 grams coupled with the fact that it’s wire-free immediately puts it in front of many wireless mice out there – and we’re just getting started.
Most of the mouse is made out of plastic that features a smooth matte finish which makes it a bit more impervious to scuffs and scratches. The only exception to this is the textured rubber featured around the side buttons. While this makes the mouse somewhat more comfortable to grip, it’s important to note that rubber has the potential to degrade in the long run. I definitely didn’t get to that point with the Viper Ultimate, but if my previous SteelSeries Rival 650 is any indication, the rubber is bound to degrade within a year of intense usage. Now you might say that that is a normal life span for a gaming mouse, but it’s still a shame knowing that a mouse this expensive could degrade in any aspect after such a short time.
Minimal, almost perfect design
Other than that, the Viper Ultimate’s design is almost without flaw. It comes in at 117 mm in length, 71 mm in width, and is 38 mm tall at its highest point. The latter fact makes it a very flat mouse which makes it comfortable to use for both the claw and palm grip with both of the side buttons being easily accessible without you needing to dislocate your thumb. They are featured on both sides of the mouse, which when combined with its symmetrical shape makes the Viper Ultimate completely ambidextrous.
When it comes to buttons, the mouse has 8 in total. On the top, you have the two main ones, the scroll wheel and two macro buttons on each side. Underneath, you have the DPI button under which is the power switch. The scroll wheel, while offering a good tactile feel can be somewhat stiff, especially if you’re used to other mice where the scroll wheels offer minimal or no resistance whatsoever. It’s not something that’s negative and definitely won’t hinder your usage of the mouse, but you’ll surely notice it and it could require some time to get used to.
PTFE feet make the Viper Ultimate a smooth glider
One area that has seen a massive improvement over the original Viper are the mouse feet. This time you have the PTFE feet that make the mouse smoothly glide across any and all surfaces, ensuring that there’s not one weak link in terms of external components that could hinder the performance in any way.
Then there’s the charging dock which showcases how Razer really thought of everything. While you can buy the Viper Ultimate without the dock and charge it via the micro USB port in the front, the convenience of using the dock and its implementation really makes it worthwhile. Every time you get up from your PC, you simply place the mouse on the dock, and not only do you have a hassle and cable-free way of charging it, but you also have a nice way of displaying your expensive new toy. Furthermore, the dock has a passthrough USB port that fits the receiver dongle so you don’t lose an additional port when using the Viper Ultimate. To ensure the dock stays firmly in place, it even has sticky rubberized feet so you don’t need to worry about it shifting when placing the mouse upon it.
The dock is expensive but insanely convenient
The last thing to mention in terms of the design is the RGB. Since Razer is known for oversaturating their peripherals with colorful lights, it’s a genuine surprise how it tastefully and thoughtfully its implemented here. The dock, which is connected to the PC and constantly powered features a thick, beautiful RGB strip across its edges while the mouse where the battery is of concern only has a subtle Razer logo on its backside. Placing the mouse on the dock, you get a nice visual indicator with red, orange, yellow, or green lights signifying the battery level. There are no different light zones and both the dock and the mouse only have around 5 basic effects which, in all honesty, is just enough, especially when you consider the positive effects on the battery life.
PERFORMANCE
When it comes to what’s under the hood, this mouse definitely has it all. (First up, the sensor) Viper Ultimate is equipped with Razer’s own Focus+ optical sensor that goes up to a whopping 20,000 DPI and has a 650 IPS tracking speed. On paper, that’s more than many of the competitor mice and I certainly appreciate the wider range of customizability, but in practice, it’s an unnecessary overkill than not many players, if any at all will actually use. With that being said, the Viper Ultimate is still a top-notch, highly accurate mouse and easily one of the best mice for competitive play, let alone something casual.
In that regard, one concern many players might have is the fact that the mouse is wireless. Are there any signal interruptions that might cause the mouse to slow down, lag or otherwise be inferior to a wired one? Well, I’m glad to put your mind at ease by saying that the Viper Ultimate doesn’t suffer from any such issues.
The dock is the RGB centerpiece of the package
As mentioned, the mouse connects to your PC via a 2.4ghz USB dongle with Razer’s Hyperspeed wireless tech which promises a latency of less than 0.2ms. Big marketing names and statistics aside, the mouse really feels and performs as if it was a wired one. This fact, coupled with low-click latency of Razers optical switches makes the Viper Ultimate the best wireless mouse experience we’ve had to date.
All of that would be for naught however if it wasn’t for the battery which is one of the best aspects of this mouse. Officially, it’s rated for 70 hours of continuous usage and our testing proved that to be true. We did a combination of productive work and gaming with RGB turned on for 5-6 hours each day and the mouse kept going for 7 straight days. Even if you completely run out of battery and still want to use it, you can simply connect the cable from the dock directly into the mouse to quickly charge it that way. However, that probably won’t happen in the first place if you have the dock due to how convenient it is to just place the mouse on it whenever you’re not using it.
This is the ultimate wireless gaming combo
Then there’s the Razer Synapse software where you can customize the mouse to suit your every need. Synapse is generally regarded as an easy to use, robust software with a well-designed user interface and that all holds true when you use it for the Viper Ultimate. You can customize the sensitivity and function of each button, set up macros, fine-tune the DPI and pooling rate, change RGB and battery settings, and much more. The Viper Ultimate even supports Razer’s hypershift that enables you to designate a button that when pressed will add an additional layer of different controls and commands on each button. You can also store 5 up to five profiles in the internal memory of the mouse and of course, sync its lighting with other Razer peripherals.
The last thing to take note of is the pricing. Viper Ultimate costs 130 US dollars by itself and 150 US dollars together with the dock. While that’s definitely a hefty price for a mouse, Razer really didn’t cut corners and packed it with so many features, ultimately delivering one of, if not the best gaming mouse on the market. Summed up in one sentence, the Viper Ultimate is a highly customizable wireless mouse with a long-lasting battery that performs as if it was wired. I mean, what else could you ask for?
