- Manufacturer: Razer
- Category: Mouse
- Price: $149.99
- Review copy provided by the manufacturer.
The mouse is perhaps the most intimate part of your gaming experience. It's the one device that breaks the real/virtual barrier to actually let you interact with games themselves. It's vital, then, that your mouse works perfectly for you and can do so for as long as you need it to without failing.
Everyone's hands are differently shaped and we inevitably interact with the world differently enough that even mouse shape is very much an individual preference. And one that you ultimately have to experiment with in order to get something truly comfortable.
Mice are like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get. Until you try it.
Razer has been making mice geared specifically towards gamers since 1998, 17 years as of the time of writing. That's not insignificant at all. In that time they've evolved their manufacturing processes and have refined their products gradually to become a very common brand among gamers of all genres and generations. The Deathadder is the mouse most are familiar with, with an ergonomic right handed grip, classic design and a first-rate sensor. Some initial quality concerns aside, it's a very good mouse. And Razer has a lot of human interface device niches covered as well, with the Naga filling the MMO-specific mouse and the Abyssus providing their entry-level optical mouse solution. They're even bringing back the highly regarded Diamondback as well for an ambidextrous mouse that'll tickle your senses.
But what about wireless mice? Sure, even the notion of a mouse not properly tethered to your PC to be able to seamlessly, and unobstructed, send your precious movement data to be translated. The latency is assumed to have a hugely detrimental effect on how you play. It can kill your game. So clearly wireless mice can't be associated to gaming in any real way, that's blasphemy!
And it can have a real effect if there’s interference or the distance is too far. But mostly it's imperceptible. With the G700, I couldn't have the receiver in the back of my PC, lest it actually lag and the connection cut out frequently. It wasn't very fun, plus the Avago laser sensor isn't quite my favorite either.
Enter the Mamba
The Razer Mamba is not a new mouse in the stable, having first been released in 2009, but this is an evolution of the previous design, a refinement of an already good platform into something more. Razer listened to feedback from complaints, and praises, to fine tune a good mouse into the specimen we have before us now.
| Product Specs |
|---|
| Ergonomic right-handed design with textured rubber side grips |
| 16,000 DPI 5G laser sensor |
| 210 inches per second / 50 G acceleration |
| Dual wired/wireless gaming grade technology |
| 1000 Hz Ultrapolling / 1 ms response time |
| On-The-Fly Sensitivity adjustment |
| Battery life: Approximately 20 hours (continuous gaming)* |
| Adjustable Click Force Technology mouse buttons |
| Nine independently programmable buttons including the tilt-click scroll wheel |
| Chroma lighting with true 16.8 million customizable color options |
| Inter-device color synchronization |
| Razer Synapse enabled |
| Approximate size: 128 mm / 5 in (Length) x 70 mm / 2.76 in (Width) x 42.5 mm / 1.67 in (Height) |
| Approximate weight: 125 g / 0.27 lbs (without cable) |
The new Razer Mamba is being marketed as a wireless gaming mouse. The base station was a first of it's kind in 2009, and here it is still the answer to the problems with range, line of site and thus interference, the things that can contribute to bad impressions of using wireless mice in gaming. The great thing is that it also doubles as the charging dock and it looks pretty good too.That novel charging dock and powerful receiver is actually quite tasteful and understated, even with the lights on some garish color. It's definitely not out of place, and actually looks quite good, understated even. And it's this combination that helps to alleviate the issues that plague the typical wireless mouse. For gaming duty at least. I cannot stress just how annoying it has been with my G700 and the ever prevalent lag and unresponsiveness due to latency and interference. I've got so far as to provide my own solution by have a USB extender plugged into the back, moving the receiver closer to the mouse, within line-of-site, to make it usable.
Compared to the original we have very much the same shape though with the buttons along the top left edge gone. These were sometimes accidentally hit during frantic gaming sessions, causing whatever bound action to be accidentally activated. Along the sides have been added the Chroma lighting solution that can be adjusted to nearly any color you can imagine and also programmed with different patterns of lighting as well. Though the press shots might make it seem somewhat gaudy with the rainbow of color, it's actually well integrated and a very nice, and subtle, touch.
The base station is the same, with an upright charger that the mouse can attach to, though now Chroma lighting that can be adjusted to any number of different patterns has replaced the green LED's on the bottom. The base-station, while it does take up space, is classy and useful in many different ways. The lighting can be as garish or as subdued as you'd like, so as to not detract from your own setup.
In the hand, the Mamba is very comfortable, provided that you're right handed. The subtle arch very well suited to the palm grip and the downward angle with the slight indent of the buttons also make it suitable for the claw grip as well. In fact, whatever grip you happen use, the Mamba is well suited for it. For most sized hands, the fingertip grip will work just fine as well. It's a very comfortable mouse to use. It feels natural and like my hand belongs there. I've always been a fan of this particular shape, though the Deathadder itself is actually too large for me, so it's nice that that shape is being scaled down so well here.
The new Mamba has a very nice heft to it without being overly weighty. The internal battery, which has lasted up to 24 hours with constant mixed gaming and office work, is likely a leading cause of the density, but for the average person this won't be a problem in the slightest, it was never fatiguing at all.
Build Quality
For a lot of people, build quality has been a concern with Razer in the past. I'm one of those that has been skeptical. I've had two Deathadders develop the double-clicking issue and a Blackwidow Chroma suffer some serious issues after only a few weeks. I understand the concerns intimately, so I was understandably skeptical when reviewing this mouse. Thus I decided to wait to see if it was plagued by any issues after more rigorous use, just to be sure. The slightly rubberized and textured grip is easy to hold and seems to do well when sweat starts getting in the way. So far, it exceeds my expectations in quality by a large margin.
The build-quality itself is top-notch. The buttons and entire construction is very well put-together. The buttons are firm (and can be adjusted!), and there is an audible click and a clear actuation point that's easy to feel, with just a small amount of slack. The new feature that this new Mamba brings to the table is that of adjustable click force (dubbed Click Force) from 45g to 90g of force, depending on your preference. Everyone has different wrist, and thus finger, strength and might prefer something lighter as opposed to something a big more difficult to press. Maybe different games necessitate different profiles based on how itchy your trigger finger is and how quick you need to pop-off that shot.
Changing the required click force is surprisingly simple, just use the provided tool on the two small corresponding port on the underside of the mouse. There are a total of 14 separate positions that can be chosen, and the difference between the lowest and the highest setting is actually quite distinct. It makes a difference.
The logical thought is that by loosening the, or lessening, the force needed that the button would have more slack, but that isn't the case. The novel mechanism they used actually keeps the actuation point of the button just as far away, but it just requires more force to move it.
In-game there is an actual real effect. I opted to try the lighter actuation because I tended to move the whole mouse with the higher settings, making it hard to actually right click on anything. But once adjusted, it worked like a charm. That lighter button force made a difference, letting me a bit quicker on the trigger than with it higher or with other mice.
It's great because it allows adjustment for something that normally requires a whole new moues to change. I still have concerns whether this new mechanism will have an effect on durability. Razer assures me that the testing procedure for mice (and keyboards) has been similarly upgraded to make sure that their durability ratings are representative of the real-world, and beyond. At E3 this year I was able to see one of the hydraulic machines used to torture test buttons, and though seeing a large imposing machine that repeatedly presses buttons doesn't mean the procedure to rate is up to snuff, it's a huge leap forward from the quality control that was iffy at best in the past.
Testing the Sensor
The Razer Mamba has a 16,000 DPI custom laser sensor that's capable of tracking at a speed of up to 210 inches/second. The sensor itself is a new Philips Twin Eye PLN-2034 sensor. Philips Twin Eye uses Doppler shift to measure movement, and has two lasers that measure the x and the y axis independently. These sensors are prized for their high-speed accuracy, high actual DPI and increased adjustability of DPU and the small size that such a sensor and PCB can be packed into. There are drawbacks, though, to the design. There's a z-tracking issue that happens mostly on soft surfaces, where vertical movement can sometimes be translated into horizontal movement. Low-speed accuracy is less than with other comparable sensors and they are very picky about what kind of mousing surface you use.
But overall, the PLN-2034 has mostly fixed the z-tracking issue and is very accurate at even low-speeds. The graph below shows a low-speed circular motion being tracked. The plotted dots should be relatively smooth and linear, to indicate smooth and accurate tracking.
To test we'll use MouseTester to log the mouses ability track acceleration and the counts-per-inch. The more smooth the plot is, the more accurate it is. But keep in mind that no mouse is absolutely perfect, and some anomalies will exist for any mouse.
The change in amplitude of the wave was because of the small change in speed when I was tracking. The outliers are what we look at for being inaccurate. No mouse or sensor is perfect, and neither is this one. But it's a mostly smooth and linear experience.
But let's take a look at high-speed tracking, where I make faster circles.
Not such a bad result at all. As we speed up the PLN-2034 in the Mamba is able to track very linearly and smoothly. The anomaly with the amplitude is with my method of making circles, and isn't because of the actual tracking of the mouse. Some circles weren't as even along both axis' due to my own difficulty in going that fast. It's definitely not something you'd do in a normal situation, or really in an extreme situation.
What about the update polling? Does it actually operate at the 1000MHz rate that is advertised with nearly 1ms between updates? MouseTester also can measure that as well, so let's take a look.
Well, it mostly does. Keep in mind that the more data that's passing through, the less likely that it'll actually update within 1ms. Sometimes the data-stream is a bit congested. But, what isn't so obvious is the blue line that indicates the mean update time, which is just above 0. So yes, it does update at near 1ms all the time, regardless of how much traffic is being sent.
It's accurate in testing and it's accurate in game. I have no issues to report regarding the tracking accuracy or any anomalies of any kind. The z-tracking issues that were a huge negative for the earlier Mamba models is now gone, and because of the very low lift-off-distance, I don't think it'll be an issue in any example or for anyone.
In-game resulted in no significant changes over any other good mouse that I've used. It's accurate and smooth. There doesn't appear to be any automatic assist inherent in the sensor either, so motion is nearly true 1:1. I didn't find my FPS games magically better, but the size and comfort of the Mamba helped to make it easy to adjust to a new shape and new mouse. There was one thing that made a significant different, though. The lighter button presses helped me have faster reactions than I normally would. There's a real difference there, small as it might be for some, it's still real. Nothing will ever magically make you better, but the small changes and adjustments can add up to a lot in the end. And, really, it's a combination of luck and skill that make you good. Your equipment will help but it won't make you pro.
Battery Life
Now for the other issue, the battery. So far in pure office work it's lasted more than 28 hours at a stretch. With gaming thrown into the mix I can have it last around 24 total hours. Charging is easy to remember with the dock, just plop it on there when you're not using it. Also you can switch over to wired at any point, even having data travel over the USB cable. The batter is great so far and I expect it to remain so until the battery naturally wears out.
Software
Changing the Chroma lighting, adjusting DPI, assigning macros and assigning functions to the buttons is done through Razer Synapse. Despite needing to have a profile for cloud storage of settings, it's actually a well-designed piece of software. It's intuitive and easy to use for assigning almost anything to any button on your mouse. Plus it of course lets you adjust DPI in 1DPI increments for this mouse. It interfaces immediately and can even register it very quickly should you need warranty work done.
I understand the complaints people have with Synapse, but I still can't help but think that it's a good piece of software. It rivals that of Corsairs and Steelseries' solutions in easy of use and how lightweight it is in the background. No issues were encountered in Windows 10.
Conclusion
Razer has created a very fine mouse with the new Mamba. The customization of the mouse buttons is a tremendous innovation, one that I initially thought would be silly and almost pointless. But I found myself actually using the feature, and enjoying the results.
Build quality is top-notch, and after two-weeks it's held up remarkable well. I engage in "gaming-fitness" where I workout between deaths during a casual round of CSGO or BF4, and even with an increase in sweat coming in contact with it, the finish is near perfect and it's in perfect condition. I'm still concerned about the durability of the buttons, but so far there's no reason to think that they won't hold up based on current experience with it. Whether you've had quality problems with Razer in the past, this seems to be an example of the direction they're headed into, with much better QC processes in place.
So, them, is the Razer Mamba worth the price of entry? $149.99 is a steep price to ask for, and one that I wouldn't recommend for just anyone. The price is, however, representative of the quality you get, something that might be a point of contention among those more jaded of historical Razer owners. It fills a niche that might not be you, but it is nearly the best wireless gaming mouse that exists. It's comfortable, has understated good-looks and one of the best laser sensors to ever exist. This isn't the Avago 9800 that's in the majority of laser mice that seems to have a bad reputation.
Yes, I'd recommend it if you want to de-clutter your space and have a real wireless gaming experience. The price is high, but the actual product is good, if not great. Just remember that the perfect mouse for you is different for the one for me and everyone else. But this checks a lot of the positives and hardly any negatives. I'd say it's worth a try if you're in the market for a great wireless gaming mouse.
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