Razer DeathAdder V2 Pro wireless gaming mouse review

The pitch behind the Razer DeathAdder V2 Pro is simple: what if the original DeathAdder V2 was wireless? Keep the comfortable contours, the responsive switches and the precise optical sensor but remove the USB cable tethering you to your PC.

Unsurprisingly, this approach works very well. Taking an already excellent mouse and adding wireless functionality is a winning formula, making the DeathAdder V2 Pro a top choice for gamers looking to cut the cord.

Design

Design

• Comfortable curves provide ergonomic support over extended play sessions
• Grooved buttons and textured grips afford more control over clicks and aiming
• Thumb buttons are large and easy to reach

Razer has stuck to the "if it ain't broke" approach for the DeathAdder V2 Pro, retaining the same basic design of the original DeathAdder V2. Soft contours trace a profile that feels immediately natural to wrap your hand around. These curves provide ergonomic support that kept my hand comfortable and strain-free throughout hours of continuous testing. Textured grips on either side help maintain control and stability even when whipping the mouse frantically back and forth. They feel great to the touch, too.

Further control over the mouse comes thanks to the slightly concave left and right mouse buttons. Both buttons feature a shallow groove that helps to keep your fingers centred for fast and accurate clicks.

The original DeathAdder V2 had two of the best thumb buttons I've used, and they're both present and accounted for on the DeathAdder V2 Pro. Sitting just above the natural resting position of the thumb, each is large and easy to hit without being overly sensitive.

The underside of the DeathAdder V2 Pro hides a surprising number of extra features. There's a sealable compartment for storing the included USB wireless dongle so you don't lose it when travelling or simply when it's not in use. A small toggle lets you switch between Razer's custom 2.4GHz HyperSpeed wireless connection and a regular Bluetooth connection as well as one for turning the mouse completely off. Lastly, there's a button for switching between the different mouse profiles you can set up in the Razer Synapse customisation software.

From an aesthetic perspective, the DeathAdder V2 Pro is simple and sleek. The standard Razer all-black colour scheme blends into most desktop environments, and the smooth curves are far more pleasing on the eye than the sharp edges favoured by some gaming mice – at least, in this reviewer's humble opinion.

In addition to the mouse itself, Razer packs in quite a few useful accessories with the DeathAdder V2 Pro. There's a 1.8m USB cable for charging, and it's wrapped in the impressive Speedflex coating Razer recently developed. I'm a big fan of Speedflex cables as the soft coating drastically reduces friction and prevents the cable from getting caught on the edge of a desk or tangled around other objects.

For folks who sit a ways away from their PC while gaming, Razer has thrown in a USB adapter for extending the range of the wireless dongle. Plug the dongle into the adapter, connect the adapter to your PC using the included Speedflex cable, and you can position the dongle much closer to where you're sitting for less chance of wireless interference.

Performance

Performance

• Focus+ optical sensor delivers top-notch tracking
• Responsive and reliable switches
• Flawless wireless performance
• Plenty of battery life

With the same hardware at its core, the DeathAdder V2 Pro delivers similarly excellent performance as its wired predecessor.

The lightweight design, though a few grams heavier than the DeathAdder V2, allows for swift, sweeping mouse movements with minimal effort. This is aided by the PTFE mouse feet which glided smoothly across multiple different mouse mats during my testing.

Tracking is top-notch thanks to Razer's Focus+ optical sensor. It supports sensitivity options ranging from 100 DPI all the way up to 20,000 DPI. Razer claims the sensor delivers 99.6% accuracy, and in my experience testing not just the DeathAdder V2 Pro but also numerous mice that feature the sensor, it's been flawless.

Cursor movement was fast and precise across all the games I tested. I could swiftly snap my aim from enemy to enemy in Destiny 2, rattling off headshots with exacting precision. Tracking incoming enemies in Gunfire Reborn was effortless, even as they zigged and zagged between cover. Similarly, I had no trouble keeping pace with the agile demon hordes in DOOM (2016).

Click performance is equally impressive. Razer's optical mouse switches respond swiftly and reliably to each press, allowing for rapid clicking while still delivering clear, unambiguous feedback. Razer rates the switches for 70 million clicks, and that feels like a fair claim. Each button bounces back firmly and without any play or wobble that could hint at potential issues down the line.

Sticking on the speed train, the scroll wheel is designed for fast, low-effort scrolling. Resistance on the wheel is dialled down, and while I personally prefer a little more stiffness when scrolling, it's still precise enough for switching weapons or adjusting zoom levels without error.

Razer makes some pretty bold claims regarding the "HyperSpeed" wireless technology powering the DeathAdder V2 Pro. It's pitched as 25% faster than any other wireless connection, leveraging techniques like adaptive frequency switching to avoid interference in the local environment. In practice, I've found this to deliver flawless wireless performance, with no noticeable latency or interference issues presenting themselves during my testing.

Battery life is a critical component of any wireless mouse, and the DeathAdder V2 Pro delivers the goods. Using the 2.4GHz HyperSpeed wireless connection, Razer touts up to 70 hours of use. This increases to an impressive 120 hours when using the standard Bluetooth connection. These claims held up to my testing. After a full week of use, switching between both Bluetooth and HyperSpeed connections, I still had more than 50% charge remaining.

Once the battery does run dry, recharging takes roughly four hours from empty to full. If you happen to own the Razer Viper Ultimate or Razer Basilisk Ultimate, the DeathAdder V2 Pro is compatible with the same Razer Chroma charging dock.

Features

Features

• Quick and easy button remapping with support for Razer HyperShift
• Onboard memory for up to five customisation profiles
• Plenty of performance tweaks for folks who like to dive deep

Like most Razer products, the DeathAdder V2 Pro is flush with features designed for folks who want to optimise their gaming experience.

Through the Razer Synapse app, you can remap each of the DeathAdder V2 Pro's buttons except the left mouse button. The interface for remapping is pleasantly intuitive: simply click on a button from the image of the DeathAdder V2 Pro in the app then select the desired function. As usual, available functions range from basic keyboard and mouse commands to system operations like adjusting the volume to custom macros built from sequences of other actions.

Button mapping also supports Razer's HyperShift feature, which lets you specify a secondary mapping for each button (including the left mouse button). You access the secondary function by holding down a predefined "HyperShift" key, which can be either a mouse button or a key on a supported Razer keyboard.

It's expected that a modern gaming mouse supports being able to switch DPI settings on-the-fly, and the DeathAdder V2 Pro allows for cycling between up to five predefined DPI stages. By default, you use the two buttons below the scroll wheel to cycle between stages, but you can remap the functions to other buttons if you prefer. For even more precision, you can specify different DPI settings for the X and Y axes, allowing for faster vertical movement than horizontal movement or vice versa.

Enthusiasts can dive even deeper by customising the lift-off and landing tracking distances for the DeathAdder V2 Pro's optical sensor. These settings dictate when the sensor starts and stops tracking after you've lifted it off your mouse pad. You can set a single distance for both lift-off and landing or opt for an asymmetric approach with a higher lift-off than landing cut-off.

Lowering the distance means less time spent without control of the cursor while the mouse is in the air, but it can lead to errant tracking in some cases. You can even create specific lift-off/landing profiles for different surfaces, helpful in cases where you're playing across a variety of differently-textured mouse pads.

The DeathAdder V2 Pro keeps its RGB lighting limited to a Razer logo on the base of the mouse where the palm rests. Nevertheless, you get the full breadth of Razer's Chroma Studio app, which lets you create complex lighting patterns from the 16.8 million colour RGB spectrum. If you have multiple Razer devices, you can even sync your lighting across them.

That Razer logo serves another useful purpose, too. When battery life hits 5%, the logo starts flashing red to alert you to plug in and charge up.

For folks who like to optimise performance on a per-game or per-genre basis, the DeathAdder V2 Pro has onboard memory for up to five profiles. Because they're stored on the mouse itself, you can take them with you and use them on PCs that don't have the Razer Synapse app installed. A button on the underside of the mouse lets you swap between profiles, with an indicator light above the button showing which profile you have currently selected.

Should you buy the Razer DeathAdder V2 Pro?

The Razer DeathAdder V2 Pro is, in a nutshell, just the DeathAdder V2 with wireless functionality. And that's just fine. The DeathAdder V2 was already an excellent gaming mouse, and the Pro benefits from its predecessor's top-notch performance, comfort and versatility.

That said, you are paying a sizeable premium for wireless freedom. If you aren't sitting metres away from your PC, the wired-only DeathAdder V2 offers equal quality at a significantly cheaper price, and its Speedflex cable reduces friction to a degree where it often feels as untethered as a wireless mouse.

Pricing and availability

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RRP: $224.95

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