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It has never been a great time to be a left-handed PC gamer. Peripherals for those of the sinister conviction are usually subtle, expensive, or completely absent. That’s why it’s the reason for a party if we get a real, perfect two-handed mouse. The Razer’s Viper Ultimate ($150) fits the bill, with impeccable wireless performance, excellent design, and long battery life. This is our Razer Viper Ultimate Review.
The Viper Ultimate has one major competitor in its price range: the near-perfect Logitech G903, whose interchangeable buttons place its two-handed design just ahead of Viper Ultimate. For the asking price, the Razer Viper Ultimate doesn’t have as many bells and whistles as it could. But if you’re a left-handed gamer who wants to invest in something beautiful – or you’re a right-handed gamer who just needs an excellent all-around mouse – then Razer’s new offering is worth checking out.
Razer Viper Ultimate Review: Design
The Viper Ultimate is a hermaphroditic mouse, which is already a feather in his hat. Add to that a surprisingly comfortable design and a beautiful wireless setup, and the re’s nothing to blame for the way the peripherals look and feel.
In terms of physical design, the Viper Ultimate is low to the ground, medium (5.0 x 2.6 x 1.5 inches), and completely symmetrical. Most of the mouse is dedicated to a palm rest with a luminous Razer logo, which suits players with a palm and fingertip grip very well. There is a small plastic dip in the middle, then the right-click, left-click, and scroll-wheel buttons at the top.
As I mentioned in my wired Razer Viper review, the mouse looks a bit weird, but it is much more comfortable than it looks. I’ve played for days without any cramps or discomfort in my right hand, and I can imagine that any left-handed gamer would have about the same experience.
I also prefer the four thumb buttons – two on each side. That way, you can program two for your first hand and deactivate the other two. The included mouse dock also deserves mention, because it can brighten up a boring desktop. Besides charging the mouse when not in use, the dock has a nice RGB LED strip at the bottom, which you can synchronize with your other Razer equipment. The dock stays firmly in place thanks to friction; the feet are not sticky, which means you can pick up and move the dock as often as you like.
Features
Viper Ultimate’s wireless performance and battery life are the biggest reasons to invest in this mouse. I’ve been playing with the Viper Ultimate for days, making it my regular game mouse, both in the office and at home. During that time, I haven’t seen a single signal drop, no overdue command, or a delayed click. The battery lasted for about five days playing hard and fast, with all the lights turned on as much as possible. Charging via the dock took a long time – about 4 hours – but this is not such a problem if you charge at night or when the mouse is not in use.
This brings up one of my remarks about the Viper Ultimate: Unless you plug the dock directly into an electrical outlet (no adapter included), your mouse won’t charge after you turn off your PC for the night. I’m not sure what would have been an elegant solution to this problem, but that beautiful dock needs a lot of juice to do its job.
The mouse runs on Razer’s Synapse software. I have all kinds of experience with this software, from the unusable to the excellent. This time everything worked fine, I was able to reprogram (and deactivate) buttons, adjust lighting and link profiles to individual games. The Synapse interface isn’t as simple as it could be, with lots of tabs, options, and menus to sort, but once you’ve mastered it, it works pretty well.
Razer estimates the battery life of the Viper Ultimate to be 70 hours if you turn off all the lights, but if you’re anything like me, you don’t want to do that. I had spectrum-cycling active and a charge of about 75% before I went gaming for a couple of long days. I’d estimate that I had at least 15 hours of gaming, plus a few more productivity, so I’d pin the battery life to about 20 to 25 hours with all the lights on.
Razer Viper Ultimate Review: Performance
The Viper Ultimate performed well in several genres. Rather than being optimized for a particular style of game, the mouse was accurate and responsive for Overwatch (a competitive first-person shooter), Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition (a real-time strategy game), Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales (a map-based role-playing game) and Final Fantasy XIV (a massively multiplayer online RPG). I’ve spent most of my time with AoEII: DE, and I’ve enjoyed conquering my way through Europe for hours without getting in the way.
It is worth mentioning that the Viper Ultimate uses a high-quality optical sensor that promises 99.6% resolution accuracy and a DPI rating of up to 20,000 that you can customize via the Synapse software and manipulate via a button at the bottom of the Viper. I never had to increase the resolution above 1200 on a 22-inch 1080p monitor, but this would be useful if you were planning perhaps the most significant multi-monitor setup in the world.
Razer Viper Ultimate Review: Conclusion
It’s worth comparing the Viper Ultimate directly with the Logitech G903 because the latter allows you to customize and charge the physical button layouts while you play. I think these features ultimately make the G903 the more durable mouse of the two – but the Viper isn’t a slouch. The Viper Ultimate’s beautiful design, convenient docking station, and outstanding performance make it a valuable investment, especially if you’re in the market for something two-handed.
Admittedly, not everyone is willing to pay $150 on gaming mice – even a high-end wireless option. In that case, the wired Razer Viper is probably a better investment, at $80. And for more options, check our list of Wireless Gaming Mouse