Razer Viper Ambidextrous Wired Gaming Mouse review: Lightweight but powerful
Razer's first mouse with optical switches impresses with speed and accuracy that puts it up there with the very best, but it's absolutely a mouse that some gamers will love while others will loathe its lack of overall mass.
The good
- Optical switches provide speed and durability
- Flexible cable gives it room to move
- 8 programmable buttons
- Almost ridiculously light
The bad
- Driver install requires a Razer login
- Light weight may feel odd to gamers used to heftier mice
- Relatively sedate on the RGB front
Many high-end gaming mice make a virtue of their mass, and in some cases their variable configurable mass. The Razer Viper Ambidextrous Wired Gaming Mouse goes in the absolute opposite direction, with a total mass of just 69 grams. It's astonishingly light for a pro gaming mouse, but that's an approach that will essentially define whether you think this is a great mouse, or an annoying one.
Design
- Insanely light
- 8 programmable buttons
- Ambidextrous design
- Just the one RGB section
- Soft, snag-free cabling

Performance
- Up to 16,000 DPI
- Default DPI button won't suit on-the-fly switchers
- Optical button mechanisms work very well indeed

Features
- Razer's Synapse software is highly tweakable
- Annoying having to give up your email address to get it though

Verdict
- Nicely built and very responsive
- Is a light mouse the right type for you?

The Razer Viper Ambidextrous Wired Gaming Mouse is a very well built mouse, and one that I've very much enjoyed testing for both everyday boring office tasks – not the point, but you'll inevitably end up at least browsing the web with it anyway – as well as gaming action. Its optical switches are highly responsive, but I'd need a few months of testing to properly see how they stand up under repeated finger bashing.
Still, that's not going to be the most divisive part of the Razer Viper Ambidextrous Wired Gaming Mouse. That's the overall weight of the mouse, which is deliberately shaved as light as it can possibly go. If you want more heft and resistance when you're deep in battle it could be a hindrance, but if you want a mouse that comes perilously close to feeling like it's not even there at all, it could be a postive boon.
Pricing and availability
The Razer Viper Ambidextrous Wired Gaming Mouse sells in Australia for around $134.95.
Specs
Sensitivity |
Physical dimensions |
Features |
Maximum DPI | 16,000 |
---|---|
Polling Rate | 1,000Hz |
Number of Buttons | 8 |
---|---|
Length | 126.73mm |
Width | 66.2mm |
Height | 37.81mm |
Weight | 69g |
Cable Length | 2.1m |
Wireless | No |
---|---|
RGB Lighting | Yes |
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