The Razer DeathAdder is possibly one of the most popular, simple, E-Sport mice that have graced the gaming scene. I used on for years as did most of my friends that I gamed with. It had a great shape, worked reliably, and wasn’t bogged down with all sorts of extra features. I found myself excited to find out that a reboot was coming though simultaneously apprehensive that all the things that made the original great would somehow be lost. Razer was kind enough to send over the DeathAdder V2 before embargo and I’ve been using it for the past few weeks for my gaming needs - to good effect. If like me you loved the original DeathAdder, or were at least curious about it - read on.
Specifications
- MSRP: $69.99
- Razer Optical Mouse Switch
- 0.2ms response time
- 70 million clicks
- Razer Focus 20,000DPI Optical Sensor
- Razer SpeedFlex Cable
- Lightweight, Smooth and Flexible
- 8 Programmable Buttons
- 5 On-Board Memory Profiles
- Ergonomic Palm-Grip Shape
- RGB Chroma
- Pure White PTFE Mouse Feet
- 1000Hz Polling Rate
Design wise the V2 feels exactly the same when I’m using it. I’m a palm-grip type of gamer and the mouse fits perfectly and comfortably in my hand. Some of the materials used seem to have been updated, however. The area your palm wrests on is still the same old Razer black plastic that we all know, but the sides are a rubberized material with texturing on either side to help with grip. I mostly notice this texture with my thumb as it sits right below the side buttons adding a nice feeling of comfort and quality. The scroll wheel features the same kind of rubberized material and has a decent amount of resistance to prevent accidently scrolls but not so much that scrolling feels like a chore. The switch on the scroll wheel also has the perfect amount of resistance - it’s simple to push the middle button without accidentally scrolling which is the perfect balance to strike.
The two mouse buttons feature mild finger indents that allow my fingers to rest perfectly in position and remain where they should be. The optical switches feel roughly the same as the standard Omron switches you find in most mice and boast a 0.2ms response time, which according to Razer is 3x faster than mechanical switches. I don’t really have any solid way of measuring this but my performance in Overwatch didn’t change which is a good thing. Usually I have to get used to a new mouse and find my hitscan to be off for a bit while I get used to the new feel. Being able to seamlessly change the DeathAdder V2 was a pleasant surprise and in my opinion a boon to great craftsmanship. The best thing about this refresh, in my humble opinion, is easily the new soft-braided USB cable. Gone are the days of the annoying cable that hinders your mouse movement because it’s so stiff. The Razer SpeedFlex Cable feels more like a strip of cloth and avoids all the icky kinking issues I’ve ran into with standard braided cables.
Software-wise, you either love Synapse or you hate it. I used to hate it but I find the new version being packaged is much easier to use, not nearly as buggy as the old Chroma I was forced to use five years ago, and intuitively designed to keep all the guess-work out. Setting up the various sensitivities was as easy to navigate to the performance tab and adding in the two buttons below the middle mouse button to toggle between them is a great standard feature that Razer has included. In addition you can set up multiple profiles to be stored on the mouse itself which are cycled by a button on the underside. Though I tend not to use on-board profiles much since I don’t move my mouse between computers, it’s nice to have all my settings stored in the event I have to reformat or run into some other problems. Tuning a mouse right where I like it can be a tedious process - it’s relieving to know I won’t have to (hopefully) in the future.
Final Thoughts
It can be hard to talk about a mouse as simple as the DeathAdder V2 but it’s simplicity is it’s greatest strength. Razer doesn’t make an effort to reinvent the perfect wheel. They struck gold with the DeathAdder and the V2 simply improves upon an already great product. Optical switches are a great features at this price point and I’d pay a little extra premium for the new SpeedFlex cable alone. The DeathAdder V2 is a fantastic all-purpose mouse that can be utilized for gaming of any type as well as daily driving. You can’t go wrong by picking one up.
The product discussed in this article was provided by the manufacturer for the purposes of review.
