Razer Deathadder V4 Pro Gaming Mouse Review – Razer's Best Yet

Razer’s Deathadder lineup has immoderate of the champion competitory gaming mice of the past decennary and, thankfully, the Deathadder V4 Pro continues that tradition. While it looks identical to the V3 Pro – the aforesaid assemblage shape, nary frills, nary extraneous buttons – practically each constituent has changed, That includes a caller 45,000 DPI sensor, an optical scroll wheel, caller optical rodent switches, and updated Hyperspeed wireless tech alongside an 8000Hz polling rate. This is simply a top hits of Razer’s tech, a due flagship rodent focused connected axenic performance, and with a terms to match: astatine $169.99/£169.99 it’s $20 much than the V3 Pro, and $10 much than the top-of-the-line Viper V3 Pro.

Many players volition hardly consciousness a difference. The bigger numbers are, I’d argue, partially a selling ploy to amusement however Razer is up of everyone else. Higher polling rates connection diminishing returns (and a fewer compromises) with 8000Hz being overkill that galore players whitethorn not adjacent notice. And fixed astir gamers, adjacent pros, seldom usage thing higher than 3200 DPI, wherefore would you request this caller sensor? But aft investigating the Deathadder V4 Pro for a week, I cannot contradict its brilliance. Without the cutting-edge tech it’d inactive beryllium a sleek, comfortable, light, responsive, sturdy rodent – with the incremental improvements of the caller tech it’s arguably the champion Razer has ever made.

Razer Deathadder V4 Pro – Design and Features

The Deathadder V4 Pro keeps the aforesaid tried-and-tested signifier arsenic the V3 Pro, and I’m gladsome Razer didn’t tinker. The mouse’s hump, which peaks conscionable down the near rodent button, fits snugly successful my palm, and it inactive felt comfy aft five-hour sessions. It is simply a comparatively large rodent astatine 128mm (L) x 68mm (W) x 44mm (H), making it a tad larger than the Viper V3 Pro, which was already heftier than most. But immoderate presumption I enactment my manus successful – moving guardant oregon back, wide grip oregon constrictive – it felt great. I favour a substance of a thenar grip and a fingertip grip, and the rodent suits some (claw users study that the identically shaped V3 Pro was comfortable, too).

It helps that it’s airy astatine 56g, which is 10% lighter than the V3 Pro. Combine that with PTFE feet that screen a larger aboveground country and you get a rodent that glides similar liquid crossed your mousemat. The rodent coating is the aforesaid worldly Razer has utilized successful different caller mice; it’s creaseless capable that it ne'er chafes, but sticky capable that my manus ne'er slipped. It decently grips your fingertips, which means you tin determination it with precise small pressure.

It is besides a remarkably survey mouse. I really tried to marque it flex oregon crook but I couldn't, and it was wholly soundless erstwhile I shook it violently, suggesting choky internals. Whether it volition past for years is intolerable to accidental but the Deathadder bid has, connected the whole, stood the trial of clip – I person utilized my Deathadder V2 connected and disconnected for 5 years with nary problems.

One flaw of the Deathadder V3 Pro was its scroll wheel, which felt mushy and escaped with age. The caller scroll instrumentality is optical, alternatively than mechanical, which reduces the friction betwixt components and should trim deterioration implicit time. I can’t committedness that, but I tin accidental that it feels taught and precise, with nary side-to-side wobble. I didn’t person a azygous scroll jump, wherever the instrumentality goes further than intended, and I ne'er got caught betwixt scroll increments. The scroll instrumentality property itself is mechanical, alternatively than optical, but it excessively felt reliable: I utilized it loads erstwhile playing the precocious released Rematch (you property the scroll instrumentality to telephone for a pass), and it ne'er fto maine down.

The near and close rodent clickers person brand-new optical switches, and I deliberation they’ll beryllium divisive. Not due to the fact that of however they feel, since they are responsive and necessitate precise small unit to press, which makes accelerated clicks easy, but due to the fact that of however they sound. They are large with a high-pitch ‘ping’ that I’ve seen others telephone inexpensive and tinny. I personally similar a louder click, and to maine it sounded crisp and satisfying. Crucially, they enactment flawlessly. I ne'er misclicked, and each azygous property registered instantly.

That goes for the broadside buttons arsenic well, and dissimilar successful the V3, there’s a tiny spread betwixt them, which makes it easier to separate 1 from the different successful an aggravated firefight, for example. There are lone 2 of them, truthful if you similar tons of buttons connected your mouse, past this isn’t for you. Even the DPI fastener (which galore mice enactment connected the top) is connected the bottom, truthful you person to crook the rodent implicit to set it. That doesn’t fuss maine due to the fact that erstwhile I’ve picked a DPI for a crippled I usually instrumentality with it, making insignificant adjustments utilizing the in-game settings.

Be aware, too, that it’s besides not a peculiarly portable mouse: determination is nary Bluetooth connectivity, and you tin lone usage it if you plug successful the large, half-orb dongle, truthful if you similar to question with your rodent oregon power betwixt machines, this mightiness not beryllium for you.

The dongle itself is simply a fantastic spot of kit, though. I similar the mode it looks connected my desk; the embossed, shiny Razer logo occasionally catches the airy and stands retired from the creaseless matte coating of the remainder of it. It’s satisfyingly weighty (at astir 44g, it’s astir arsenic dense arsenic the rodent itself) and it has a grippy rubber underside, truthful it’s hard to accidentally displacement it connected your desk. The accompanying cablegram is stiff and improbable to tangle.

The 3 indicator lights, which bespeak your chosen settings, are agleam and I similar having the at-a-glance reminder of my setup: I ne'er had to wonderment what polling complaint oregon DPI I’d picked. My lone gripe is simply a insignificant 1 – it uses 2 shades of greenish to separate betwixt antithetic artillery levels, and they’re hard to archer isolated astatine a glance.

Most importantly, the transportation is some instant and changeless whenever you crook the rodent on. It ne'er dropped successful each my testing, and whenever I tweaked the rodent settings, specified arsenic adjusting the DPI oregon the polling rate, the indicator lights flicked immediately, giving maine other assurance that the settings had really changed.

Razer says this caller mentation of their HyperSpeed wireless tech, with an adjustable polling complaint from 125Hz up to 8000Hz, has overmuch little latency than the erstwhile one, portion the sensor is its fastest and astir close yet. We’re astatine a constituent wherever top-end gaming mice are truthful bully that it’s astir intolerable to announcement incremental differences. The Deathadder V4 Pro blows past Razer’s different mice connected paper, and it’s reassuring to cognize you’re utilizing the champion tech possible, but it doesn’t consciousness similar a generational leap erstwhile I’m playing. Faultless, yes, but not life-changing.

Razer Deathadder V4 Pro – Battery Life and Software

The Deathadder V4 Pro promises artillery beingness of up to 150 hours astatine a 1000Hz polling rate, shortening to 22 hours astatine 8000Hz, which is arsenic bully arsenic you’ll get from a top-end gaming mouse. That 1000Hz fig is successful enactment with my testing: it took maine astir 8 hours to drain each 5% truthful it’s imaginable to usage it for weeks without needing to complaint it.

At 8000Hz polling, I was losing 10% astir each 2.5 hours, which is really somewhat amended than advertised. That’s apt due to the fact that you tin deliberation of polling complaint similar a headdress – sometimes you’re not going to beryllium moving the rodent capable to “saturate” it, truthful your existent polling complaint volition beryllium little and the artillery beingness longer.

If the artillery beingness is brilliant, Razer’s Synapse software, which you usage to negociate your mouse, is little so. Plenty of bloat confronts you erstwhile you footwear it up. At the apical of the “devices and modules” paper is simply a punctual to instal Amazon’s Alexa, for example, portion there’s a tab called Exchange wherever you tin download “pre-built macros designed for AI-powered tasks”.

More than erstwhile Synapse didn’t recognise that my rodent was plugged in: I was told the Deathadder V4 was switched disconnected contempt the information I was clicking connected it (it resolved erstwhile I rebooted Synapse). Some of the features deficiency due explanation. Take dynamic sensitivity, for example, which lets you set your sensitivity based connected however rapidly you’re moving the mouse.

You tin tune it truthful that accelerated swipes determination the rodent further than dilatory ones which, connected paper, sounds bully for twitchy shooters. I don’t similar it due to the fact that I’m excessively utilized to regular aiming, but I ideate determination are pro players who recognize their purpose tendencies acold amended than maine who volition get thing retired of it. But it’s poorly described successful the app arsenic it prompts you to prime from presets, oregon customize your ain sensitivity curve, without describing what each 1 does, and there’s nary punctual to larn much information.

Thankfully the halfway features of Synapse – the astir important ones for day-to-day usage – are elemental and casual to manage. With a fewer clicks, you tin customize 5 antithetic stages of sensitivity and power betwixt polling rates. You tin besides set what accusation the hemisphere dongle shows with its 3 LEDs. I decided to forgo the “connection quality” for a airy that showed maine my existent DPI, and past I adjusted the colour for each DPI setting. As idiosyncratic who switches DPI betwixt games, I recovered it utile to ever cognize what I’d picked.

You tin besides auto-switch your polling complaint for gaming: I toggled this mounting connected and it worked each time. It means you tin enactment at, say, 1000 Hz to sphere artillery beingness erstwhile you’re working, and past automatically bump up the polling complaint for gaming. And having the complaint displayed connected the dongle means you tin beryllium definite it’s switched.

The rodent rotation mounting is not new, but it’s worthy mentioning. The thought is that not everyone moves their rodent successful nonstop close angles comparative to their acceptable up. I somewhat tilt my rodent to the near successful narration to my mousemat, but swipe successful enactment with the pad, meaning my near and close movements are, technically, somewhat off-line. Razer has a instrumentality that asks you to determination broadside to broadside and past recommends an accommodation to the sensor axis to accommodate for this. I stuck with its recommended tweak and it felt natural.

Annoyingly, that investigating instrumentality is successful your browser, alternatively than successful Synapse. This is simply a spot of a taxable with Razer tools: erstwhile you usage the rodent you’ll beryllium prompted to marque a firmware update, which takes you to your browser, and a instrumentality to trial polling complaint is separate, and downloadable from Razer’s website. Synapse is, overall, arsenic imperfect arsenic it ever has been, but it does connection a robust level of customisation and nails the basics.

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Razer Deathadder V4 Pro – Performance and Gaming

I tested the Deathadder successful 4 antithetic games, each with antithetic demands: Counter-Strike 2 for snappy first-person aiming and Fortnite arsenic my third-person shooter, wherever you tin usage your rodent for mobility arsenic overmuch arsenic fighting. I besides tested Rematch – which, erstwhile played with a mouse, requires tons of some sweeping turns and tiny adjustments – and Doorkickers 2, which is simply a slower tactical crippled wherever you’re drafting paths to nonstop units astir a level. It performed perfectly successful each scenario.

Razer’s 45K sensor is undoubtedly overkill. Nobody needs 45,000 DPI (dots per inch explained here), oregon to determination their rodent astatine 900 inches per second, the maximum that the rodent tin track. But it is surely cutting-edge tech. Every manus and digit question was reflected immediately, and accurately, connected screen. I detected nary lag, nary stutter, nary stray inputs: I felt similar I could wholly spot the Deathadder V4 Pro to lucifer what I told it to do, which is everything I tin inquire for successful a mouse.

Normally I usage 800 DPI and acceptable my in-game sensitivities accordingly: with this sensor, I felt assured that I could rise my DPI to 3,200 and chopped my in-game number, giving maine the aforesaid wide sensitivity but, theoretically, much precision from the higher DPI. I can’t accidental it really made maine play amended (my purpose remains mediocre), but it could good marque a quality successful high-level pro play.

That was existent adjacent astatine 1000Hz polling complaint (meaning it’s pinging your PC 1,000 times a second), the lowest I’d urge utilizing with this mouse. As you summation the polling rate, you theoretically get smoother, little jittery rodent movement. There is an ongoing statement astir whether thing supra 1000Hz is worthwhile. Lots of radical can’t archer the difference, adjacent erstwhile you play backmost gameplay successful ultra slow-mo, and to truly instrumentality vantage you’ll request some a precocious refresh-rate show (144hz astatine a minimum, but ideally higher) and a beefy gaming rig to get arsenic galore frames per 2nd (fps) arsenic possible.

I can’t say, manus connected heart, that 8000Hz felt smoother than 1000Hz connected my 144Hz screen. Once, aft playing for astir 5 hours connected 8000 Hz, I bumped the polling complaint down to 1000 Hz, and it felt different in the moment, but it surely didn’t consciousness worse.

Sometimes, a higher polling complaint tin adjacent beryllium detrimental. The drop-off successful artillery beingness is not a large woody to maine arsenic I person a wont of charging betwixt gaming sessions. The bigger occupation is the strain higher polling rates tin enactment connected your CPU. In Counter-Strike 2, playing astatine the highest polling complaint didn’t impact my fps – but successful Fortnite, which uses Unreal Engine, it knocked a bully 20-30 fps off, truthful it really felt little creaseless to play astatine higher polling rates (it’s for this crushed that galore Fortnite pros spell with 1000 Hz).

That said, immoderate radical bash curse they tin consciousness a noticeable quality with higher polling rates. And I’d besides reason that being capable to play with the assurance of knowing you person the fastest imaginable rodent tin lone beryllium a bully happening – adjacent if, successful reality, the gains are marginal. Thus, I settled with 2000 Hz for astir games. It makes the Deathadder V4 Pro a afloat future-proof mouse: you tin bargain this knowing that if you upgrade your monitor, CPU, oregon GPU successful the coming years, the rodent volition much than support up.

Whether it’s worthy it comes down to a question of what you value: this is, aft all, 1 of the astir costly mice that you tin buy. I can’t honestly archer you that the show volition consciousness faster than, say, the HyperX Pulsefire Haste 2 Pro, with its polling rates of up to 4000Hz, oregon the 8000Hz Asus ROG Keris II Ace, which launched with a comparable MSRP, but is present disposable importantly cheaper. You tin walk fractional arsenic overmuch and inactive get an fantabulous wireless gaming mouse, but if you’re aft the implicit champion successful performance, past this is it.