Razer Deathadder Chroma Gaming Mouse Review

I’ve been a gamer for longer than I can remember, I was practically born to play video games. I spend a lot of time playing things like MMOs and MOBAs, both of which require pin point accuracy and precision. For years I’ve been using Logitech products, my gaming mouse was a G9 Laser Mouse, which was the top of the line… About 8 years ago when I got it. It’s been a faithful mouse, it’s been through so many adventures with me. Just look at it.

But, as things happen, you eventually need to upgrade. My interest in Razer gaming accessories has been peaked for quite a while. Blizzard Entertainment has released World of Warcraft and Diablo themed PC accessories thanks to Razer’s technology and the buzz I’ve gotten from friends and other gamers has been quite positive. So when I got a chance to give the base model “Deathadder Chroma” a go, I practically threw myself at it.

Platform: PC
Manufacturer: Razer
Release Date: Out Now
Price: $69.99
Disclosure: Product was sent by Australian representatives for review purposes.

Now just looking at it, there doesn’t seem to be much to this green glowing piece of gaming tech; but it’s what’s below the surface that is what is of interest to most people. The Feature list describes the Razor Deathadder Chroma as: “The World’s best gaming mouse… just got better!” and the tech specs behind it show it off.

• Ergonomic right-handed design with textured rubber side grips
• 10,000dpi optical sensor
• Chroma lighting with 16.8 million customizable color options
• Razer Synapse enabled
• Five independently programmable Hyperesponse buttons
• 1000Hz Ultrapolling
• On-the-fly sensitivity adjustment
• Always-on mode
• Up to 300 inches per second*/50g acceleration
• Gold-plated USB connector
• Seven-foot, lightweight, braided fiber cable
• Approximate size: 127mm/5” (Length) x 70mm/2.76” (Width) x 44mm/ 1.73” (Height)
• Approximate weight: 105g/0.23lbs

Now that’s a lot of tech speak. Hyperesponse, Ultrapolling, what do these things mean? To be honest, not much. But here’s what I can tell you from personal use. This thing handles like a dream flowing down a silk river. Now I’m used to fast response times with my previous mouse, but if anything, the Razer Deathadder Chroma is even more responsive than I’m used to. I was making dead accurate movements in League of Legends and hitting my opponents easily 10 times better than I was before. In World of Warcraft, I was making turns with the mouse very quickly, and the slightest press on any of the 5 mouse buttons (left, right, roller/center, and 2 buttons on the thumb side of the mouse) would trigger what I wanted. Even with rapid clicking, I was finding it a lot faster and never missed a click. Being a mechanical based mouse does mean that the clicking noise that comes from it is a lot louder than usual, so using this during a podcast was something I was trying to avoid. But with each click I could hear, I knew that what I was doing was going to go through to the computer or server I needed it to.

The mouse, like all Razer products, makes use of it’s Synapse program. This program allows you to do all sorts of amazing things with it. These range from on-the-fly adjustments, to using heat mapping to optimize your play style in a game, surface calibration and the most fun of all… Change the colors!

Yeah, I’m a bit too excited for a color changing mouse… But it’s so PRETTY!! The colors can cycle through, stay as one color or pulses through the 16.8 MILLION colors available. My god that’s a lot of colors! The bonus, which I hope to test out someday, is that when you pair the mouse up with a keyboard they will work together when going through the colors. So you’ll have this wave of color sweeping from the mouse to the keyboard and vice-versa… Now only if I had a keyboard that worked with the mouse (Hint hint!)

At the end of the day, for an entry level Razer Gaming Mouse, you can’t go wrong with the Deathadder Chroma. It’s responsive as any mouse available, maybe even more so… Plus it’s very pretty!