Razer Viper 8KHz review

Our Verdict

86%

Performance gaming mouse perfection, even if the 8kHz polling rate isn’t a huge benefit.

We’ve been impressed with recent iterations of Razer’s Viper mouse, with the newest ambidextrous shape proving very comfortable to use. However, the first iteration of that design was hampered by a couple of issues with its buttons, which held it back from greatness. With the Razer Viper 8KHz, though, Razer has fixed the button problems and added a new 20,000DPI optical sensor and the ability to poll at 8kHz, up from the typical maximum of 1kHz. The idea is that a faster polling rate reduces the potential for a split-second delay in a mouse report, which could end up being the difference between hitting a shot and not.

In reality, though, the 8K polling doesn’t amount to much. For a start, many games simply don’t support it, resulting in stutter and other mouse response oddities. Moreover, for those games that do support it, the difference is all but impossible to detect.

You’re talking about a change from a 1ms delay to 1/8th of a millisecond, which is an impressive leap but when (on average) it takes dozens of milliseconds for a mouse click to register on screen – as shown by the latency analyser tool in the Asus PG279QNR monitor – such a tiny saving is basically undetectable.

The same can largely be said of the uprated optical sensor. Sensors have been ‘good enough’ now for years, so again we couldn’t detect any improvement with this mouse compared to the previous Razer Viper during games testing. The improvements here may not be ground-breaking, then, but the Viper’s tracking and gaming performance is flawless, and there are many other attributes of its design that are similarly praiseworthy.

For a start, it’s looks great, with its aggressive lines, all-black livery and that ever-snazzy Razer logo glowing from its rear. It has a classy symmetrical shape too, and it’s also a truly ambidextrous mouse. So, like the Logitech G Pro Wireless (and unlike the Logitech G Pro X Wireless Superlight), this mouse has Back and Forward buttons on both sides.

Such a setup can lead to the unused buttons occasionally being pressed accidentally, but we’ve not found this to be a problem with either the previous version of this mouse or this updated version.

Another great addition is the thick rubber used on the side sections, which provides superb grip no matter how dry or sweaty your hands become during gaming. Add in the tiny 71g overall weight (technically 2g heavier than the previous Viper) and generally well-balanced, compact shape and you have a truly great piece of mouse design.

Meanwhile, the cable is of the modern low-resistance type, with a very flexible braided sheath ensuring that it doesn’t push back against your movements.

In terms of features, joining the four side buttons are your standard array of Left, Right and scroll-wheel click buttons, while on the underside you’ll find a DPI (dots per inch) resolution button with an accompanying RGB LED to indicate which of the five DPI settings is in use. You change the number of DPI settings and the DPI itself in software, along with the polling rate, lighting effects, left or right handedness and button assignments (including disabling the unused side buttons) in Razer’s software.

Said software is generally very good though it’s irritating that it insists on you creating a Razer account to sign in to it.

Razer Viper 8KHz pros and cons

Pros

• Very lightweight
• Great shape
• Truly ambidextrous
• Solid performance

Cons

• 8kHz polling is rather pointless
• Quite expensive
• Basic feature set

Razer Viper 8KHz specs

The Razer Viper 8KHz specs list is:

Razer Viper 8KHz price

The Viper 8KHz’s launch price was very high but it’s now available for a very reasonable price considering how good it is.

Price: Expect to pay $50 (£50)

Razer Viper 8KHz review conclusion

The Razer Viper 8KHz is a truly fantastic performance gaming mouse, and one that can be comfortably used by both right and left-handed gamers to full advantage, thanks to its truly ambidextrous design. It provides superb tracking performance, it’s really comfortable to use, it’s very light and it looks great too.

The new 8kHz polling rate and 20K DPI sensor don’t amount to particularly meaningful upgrades over the previous version of the mouse, but that hardly matters when the fundamental design is so good. That’s why this mouse earns a place in our place on our best gaming mouse list.