Thanks to Razer for providing GWW with this Deathadder V2 mouse.
I have owned one mouse for the past three years. Moreover, I love that mouse so much that I bought two: one for gaming at home and one for my desk at work. The Logitech G502 certainly made a lasting impression on me. Quite frankly, the entire package – looks, feel, number and placement of buttons – seemed perfect to me. Heck, I tried to sell my wife on getting one, but she “settled” on the Logitech MX Master instead. So, when Joe suggested that I try out Razer’s new version of its most famous mouse, I was very skeptical. Never more so than after opening the shipping box and seeing what lay in store for me…
The Feel
Honestly, out of the gate I was a skeptic. The package felt very light in my hands – usually a sign of cheapness in my experience. I enjoyed the heft of the fully weighted G502 which felt similarly to a plastic brick and just as durable. Taking Razer’s Deathadder V2 out of its package, I couldn’t help but cringe at how light the mouse felt. I know that some people dig that, but not me… not at the time. The one thing that I was immediately impressed by was the braided cable. Razer’s Speedflex cable certainly has a luxuriously smooth feel and touts “minimal drag and smooth control”. After plugging it into my tower and routing the cable, I finally placed my palm on the Deathadder and… well, it felt good. Except for the missing thumb rest.
The Buttons
I also immediately noticed that there were more than a few less buttons than on my beloved G502. I count 8 programable buttons on my “favorite” mouse, in addition to a button to lock the free scroll wheel and a button to change the sensitivity of the sensor on the fly. The Deathadder only has a mere 5 buttons and two sensitivity adjusting buttons behind the notched-only scroll wheel. Razer (correctly) claims that there are 8 buttons in total… but I don’t count the profile selection button on the bottom of the mouse and the two sensitivity buttons since they are locked and one is unreachable during gameplay. The buttons that are usable during gameplay, however, are very nice. The two thumb buttons have a better placement than my beloved G502 and the two main buttons have a nice, light, tactile click when pressed. The two main buttons on the G502 feel rigid in comparison. The Deathadder V2 was beginning to win me over.
The Comfort
Ultimately, if a mouse isn’t comfortable then it won’t be staying on anyone’s mousepad long. I found myself in the position of wanting to play through The Outer Worlds and, with a mouse to review, I thought that the stars had aligned. I ended up playing through the entire 45 hour experience using the Deathadder without really even considering that I was using a review mouse to do so. The mouse felt… well it feels good to use and I really began to enjoy the lighter mouse.
The Lights
One thing that really made me excited at the prospect of switching from a Logitech mouse was the chroma. It sounds ridiculous, right? But I love my Razer Huntsman Elite keyboard and using Razer’s Synapse software to manage my keyboard and Logitech’s G-Hub for my mouse… was annoying. The Deathadder also features an extra lighting zone compared to the G502 – if you’re into that sort of thing. I am! I’m also into not having too many programs running in the background while working or playing, so that was a plus.
The Price
The price of the Deathadder V2 at the time of this review is $70. That’s… a little steep for what’s on-offer here. Then again, I’m positive that I didn’t (and wouldn’t) pay the full MSRP for the Logitech G502 at $80 either! If you can wait for a sale, I’d recommend doing so. For $50, the Deathadder V2 would be a no-brainer. Pay anything less than $50 and consider it a total steal.
The Less Than Ideal
Part of what makes me so hesitant to come out and say that I love this mouse is simply the lack of a place to rest my thumb. My mouse grip style is somewhere close to a claw-style. However, I like the idea of palming my mice… so I tend to float between the two. The Deathadder nearly forces me to use a claw-style grip or drag the left side of my thumb up, down, and around my mouse pad. I also must point out that fewer buttons that most mainstream gaming mice out there leaves me wanting more. I didn’t always use all 8 of the G502’s buttons but having them there for when I wanted to use them was nice.
The Conclusion
Having said all of that… I plugged the Deathadder V2 into my PC earlier in April and only looked back a few times! There was a week where I had both the Deathadder and the G502 plugged in for comparison purposes… but I eventually unplugged the G502, lovingly placed it back in its box after a nice cleaning, and have been using Razer’s mouse ever since. I like the look of it, I like the feel of it, and – gosh darn it – I’m here to tell you that it’s a great mouse. Different from what I’m used to, sure, but a great mouse, nonetheless. If you’ve never used a Razer mouse before – or want a slightly larger option – be sure to give the Deathadder V2 a look. Seriously, it may not be perfect, but you absolutely won’t regret it.