Razer Deathadder 2013 Ergonomic Gaming Mouse Review

Razer’s ‘Deathadder’ was launched in 2006 and enjoys the reputation of being the world’s bestselling professional gaming mouse. The original edition received critical acclaim for its build quality, praise for its 3.5g optical sensor and an enormous fanbase on merit of its stylish design. 7 years later, Razer have offered an ergonomically enhanced model of this popular gaming accessory, complete with a new 6400dpi 4g optical sensor.

However, this is the first gaming mouse that I have been invited to review for Techstrike and naturally, I was sceptical about the value of investing between £50-75 for such an accessory, especially if you happen to be a casual gamer, a console gamer, or (like myself) a Mac user. What tasks would the Deathadder be good for outside of gaming? Is the sensor too powerful for the untrained hand? Would the ergonomic enhancements seriously boost productivity in some of my day to day tasks, or is this another gimmick?

Thankfully, all of my fears were cast aside the moment I opened the box and plugged in the mouse for the first time. This is without a doubt the single greatest device that I have tested over the years for Techstrike. Read more to find out why…

Build quality:


The Deathadder build quality is just fantastic. Although light in weight at 299g, the mouse feels reassuring and comfortable to hold and with dimensions of 12.7 x 7 x 4.4cm is perfectly sculpted to fit medium to large hands. The inclusion of textured rubber side grips really adds to the overall comfort of the device and its ease of use.

The mouse features a 7 foot lightweight braided fiber usb cable, the connector of which is gold-plated. The cable is smartly presented and looks durable enough to last years of intensive use, although at 7 feet long, it seems excessive and a little messy for what are (in my case) often short and agile movements when playing games, editing a video or mixing a music track.

Response:

Taking the jump from a standard 800dpi office mouse to 6400dpi is absolutely huge! The immediate cursor response from the lightest of touches is surprising at first and takes some getting used to. Thankfully, these adjustments can be made easier by the 1000Hz (1ms) Ultrapolling technology, built into the mouse. For beginners, Ultrapolling effectively provides super smooth and authentic movement tracking by increasing the number of tracking data reports sent to the computer.

Ergonomics:

As discussed earlier, the mouse has been exquisitely designed to boost ergonomic productivity, or in other words, to allow the user to achieve more on-screen, with more comfort but significantly less physical movement. For instance, I found it quite fun simply shifting the cursor from the far corner of my laptop monitor to the opposite far corner of my widescreen external monitor with only the most minimal of movements, whilst maintaining accurate control of the direction. This sensitivity combined with the comfortable ergonomic architecture of the mouse makes long hours of operation completely effortless. This is not only a wonderful device for fast and accurate gaming but an extremely alluring buy for anyone using those uncomfortable ‘devices’ in the office workspace.

Everyday benefits:

So how does all this talk about ergonomic enhancement and dpi resolution translate when carrying out those boring everyday tasks? Scrolling through web pages, for example, is much faster and smoother than a double-touch drag gestures on a Macbook Pro trackpad. Dragging to highlight an area of a photo for editing (a notoriously slow and careful action on most mice) is accomplished in a swift and precise split-second movement. Notation input on music software is flawless even from low magnification settings.

Gaming:

I have talked extensively about the vast number of benefits that this mouse offers to the casual computer user and how well it functions with everyday tasks, but how does it actually cope with gaming? It is a gaming mouse, after all! I decided to test the Deathadder’s response with the mother of all RTS titles, Age of Empires 2 HD and I was thoroughly impressed.

Individual character and command selection was an intuitive and timeless process, opening up a wealth of opportunities to refine strategy, speed up resource gathering, enable swift map exploration and grant the freedom to maintain the town centre while being able to swiftly jump to a battle on the opposite side of the map. This agility, with the accuracy it provides, is simply impossible to achieve on a standard desktop mouse.

Conclusion:

Before testing the Deathadder, I was unsure that gaming mice represented good value for money and at £50-75, it’s easy for the casual user to understand why. Don’t let the price put you off, it took little more than unboxing the device and plugging it in to convince me otherwise. In testing this device for Techstrike, I realised the Deathadder’s response, accuracy and comfort offers far more than an essential gaming accessory. It offers a comfortable and effortless method for massively increasing productivity in everyday computing tasks. If you are still unsure, try it out at a shop first. You won’t be disappointed.