Razer DeathAdder V3 Review – 8K Hz Ultra-light gaming mouse!

Razer’s latest version of their long running Deathadder mouse, the new V3, is an incredibly impressive bit of kit. The V3 is wired, unlike the very similar ‘Pro’ model which mostly just adds wireless support, but it gets Razer’s HyperPolling 8,000 Hz polling rate. Razer have also sweetened the deal for me here with their new Strider Chroma mouse mat. It’s a mix of a soft, rollable mat, and a hard surface finish for a bit smoother gliding. It also squeezes in RGB lighting around the perimeter, which is surprising to see in a rollable mat!

So, the Deathadder V3. Shape wise Razer has strayed from tradition with a new “ergonomic form”, raising the arch up for better palm support, moving the two side buttons up a little, and made more room for your ring finger on the right side. This is definitely suited to larger hands, as even my relatively large hands only just about fit comfortably on this. I found palm gripping was the most comfortable, although you can claw grip it if you’d prefer. You’d need extra large hands to try and fingertip grip this though. One thing you might notice is the new smooth touch finish – while Razer will tell you this makes it easy to grip, personally I found it a little tough. While I can’t say I had any problems while actually gaming, if I’m being picky, I did notice I had to put a little more force into holding onto the Deathadder while gaming. That could very well be personal preference though so I wouldn’t be too bothered by that.

You’ll be happy to know that you can apply as much force to it as you want, as despite this only weighing 59g – making it one of the lighter mice I’ve tested – it’s rock solid. Well, it doesn’t sound rock solid especially when pressing the DPI button on the bottom – have a listen. But it doesn’t creak or crack, and all the buttons are well supported. The side buttons have a good tactile feel to them and I think are in a pretty good position – out of the way enough to not get accidentally pressed, but near enough to be easily pressed. The left and right clicks feel good too – they don’t feel too sensitive, but don’t feel like they have much pre-travel before the actuation point. Since these are Razer’s optical switches, when you combine that with the 8,000 Hz polling rate (that you’ll have to enable in Razer’s Synapse software by the way), you get insanely fast click latency times, making for a more responsive gaming experience. 

Speaking of gaming, this feels great. The distinct lack of weight makes for a great, fatigue free time of flicking like mad. The “speedflex” cable is incredibly light and really doesn’t get in the way at all, plus the lack of a battery to charge or need replacing is actually pretty nice. The Focus Pro 30K sensor tracked incredibly well in my testing, feeling smooth and accurate for me. One of the more interesting features of it is asymmetric liftoff distances, as in you might lift it 1.2mm up before it stops tracking, then it doesn’t start tracking until you are 0.5mm from the mat. That’s not something I think I’ve seen before personally and is a rather interesting option for those that are good enough to make use of it – of which I’m quite clearly not one! 

It’s also worth noting that if the 8,000 Hz polling rate isn’t working for you, you can change that in Razer’s Synapse software. By default it’s actually set to 1,000 Hz and you’ll need Synapse installed to set it to 8,000 Hz, or a few inbetween options like 2,000 and 4,000 Hz. You can of course tweak things like DPI – you can have up to 5 levels that you can cycle through with the DPI button on the bottom of the mouse, coupled with an RGB LED (the only one on the mouse!) to show you which mode you’re on. 

As for the Strider Chroma mouse mat, that’s pretty nice too. The RGB effect is definitely best in darker environments and by default works with pretty large chunks so the wave effect isn’t the most smooth. I did try tweaking it in Chroma Studio, but it was way more hassle than it was worth. The underside is rubber coated so it doesn’t slip around, and the top side is that fairly hard surface. Personally I’m partial to a softer feel, but if you like ‘em hard this might be for you.

The new Deathadder design is bound to upset long time users, but it’s still plenty comfortable, easy enough to grip and feels good in the hand. The build quality seems top notch despite the light weight, the 8,000 Hz polling rate is a nice touch, as are the optical switches. The sensor tracks incredibly well and makes for an excellent gaming experience. At the current £70 price tag I think it’s fairly hard to argue that it’s not an impressive bit of kit and worth considering if you’re in the market for a lightweight wired mouse. Good job Razer.