At first I would like to thank Razer for offering me a sample of their Naga Epic MMO Gaming Mouse for reviewing.

 

About Razer:

"Razer is more than just the world's leading brand in gaming.

We were founded in 1998 in San Diego, California by our CEO Min-Liang Tan and our President Robert “Razerguy” Krakoff in a tiny shared office with a couple other gamers. We have grown today to hundreds of employees worldwide with offices in seven cities, including San Francisco, Hamburg, Seoul, Shanghai and Singapore.

Our vision from the very beginning was to be the world's greatest gaming brand and we've set out to achieve that by designing the best gaming products that any gamer has ever seen.

We believe that truly great products are based on technology, designed with extensive human factors and user ergonomic studies and then tested by the top professional gamers. In simpler terms, our own world class scientists and engineers develop cutting edge technology in-house or with partners, design phenomenal products around core technologies – and test the hell out of them in the field with our pro-gamers before we launch them.

We are the only gaming hardware company in the world with dedicated gaming user interface research and development labs, and our technology and designs are incubated in three dedicated design centers located in facilities in California, Singapore and Shenzhen. No other company boasts of technology like we do – because we're the only guys who have what it takes under the hood.

We tell it like it is: some can pretend to co-develop products with professional gamers, but gamers don't develop technology: scientists and engineers do (and ours just happen to be gamers as well).

We develop and design our products in our own labs and then put them to the test with top professional gamers who use them in pro-level tournaments and then provide us with feedback. Then we iterate on the product, refining it with the feedback – over and over and over again. That's how it's done, that's how a Razer product is built from ground up. No marketing BS and no hype.

We pioneered the eSports movement with the world's first $100K tournament back in 2000 and we have continued to give back to the community by sponsoring top eSports athletes who give back to Razer by beta-testing our products. We remain one of the largest sponsors of eSports community sponsoring top global eSports teams worldwide.

The people that work here at Razer are gamers just like you – some amateur, some ex-professional gamers, some just play for fun, just ask our CEO who will lay the smack down on you in Quake Live or our President, who has over ten level 80's on his local server. Hell, he will even take you on a raid in the middle of the work day.

We are the same gamers who are told by the suits that we need adult supervision and we need a professional CEO or management team – and we're the same gamers who tell the suits exactly where to shove it because we like doing what we do – and we do it on our own terms.

We hope our passion for gaming speaks to you like it does to us, through our products and we hope you enjoy the competitive edge we bring to your game."

Product Features:

The Razer Naga Epic MMO Gaming Mouse is the upgrade to the original award-winning and massively popular Razer Naga that shifts the balance between the keyboard and mouse with its 17 MMO-optimized buttons.

The Razer Naga Epic takes it one step further by combining this with the dual mode wired/wireless functionality and interchangeable side panels, designed by the world-acclaimed Razer ergonomics team, which provide an optimal fit for various hand sizes and grip styles so you can raid in comfort for hours on end. With the Razer Naga Epic, prepare to Get Imba again.

From the casual MMO gamer to the serious hardcore raider, the Razer Naga Epic will take you to the head of the pack in both PVE and PVP action.

Buff it with the Razer Anansi MMO gaming keyboard to use the Razer Naga Epic's 12-button mouse keypad seamlessly with the keyboard's 7 thumb modifier keys, giving you an unprecedented level of battle control while dual-wielding the world's most phenomenal weapons for MMO gaming dominance.

 

17 MMO-optimized buttons

Effortlessly access more abilities and macros than ever before with 17 mouse buttons including the revolutionary Razer Naga thumb grid. The Razer Naga Epic’s driver software allows you to easily organize your key binds and character abilities for any game by enabling you to fully remap and assign macros to all 17 buttons. In addition, the Razer Naga Epic also features downloadable in-game addons or integrated in-game support for the most popular MMO games. (Available for World of Warcraft™ and Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning™, City of Heroes™ and more)

 

Dual mode wired/wireless functionality

Experience true gaming-grade wireless connection that allows you a greater variety of movement without any sacrifice of mouse control or accuracy. The Razer Naga Epic’s dual mode wired/wireless functionality allows you to switch between a wireless mouse mode to wired mouse mode – with zero downtime as your mouse charges while in wired mode.

 

3 Interchangeable side panels for ergonomic fit

Three interchangeable side panels designed by the world-acclaimed Razer ergonomics team provide an optimized fit for different hand sizes and grip styles, giving you maximum ergonomic comfort to last through those marathon gaming sessions.

 

Product Specifications:

17 Fully-programmable MMO-optimized buttons (including 12 button thumb grid)

Wired/Wireless dual mode capability

3 Interchangeable side panels

Charging dock (also functions as a wireless receiver unit)

Unlimited character profiles with AddOns

Optional MMO-specific software AddOns

16 million color backlight illumination

5600dpi Razer Precision 3.5G Laser Sensor

1000Hz Ultrapolling™ / 1ms response time

Approximate size: 116L x 77W x 41H (in mm)

Battery Life: 12hrs (continuous use); 72 hours (normal gaming usage)

 

Hardware Requirements:

PC or Mac with USB port

Windows® 7 / Windows Vista® / Windows® XP / Mac (OS X or higher)

Internet connection (for driver installation)

At least 35MB of hard disk space

The Naga Epic Gaming mouse from Razer is another product aimed at MMO gamers, like the Anansi, by offering lots of configurable buttons. On the front of the box, we can find a nice photo of the product, along with the Razer and product name logo:

 

 

 

On the top left corner, we are informed that this mouse operates on wireless and comes with 3 interchangeable grips:

 

 

 

The back of the box, reveals us the main product features, along with the included interchangeable grips:

 

 

 

The box is fully sealed, to prevent any intruders inside the box:

 

 

 

Inside the outer box, we can find another black box, with the Razer logo on top and a very nice design on the laterals:

 

 

 

 

By lifting the top, the mouse along with its dock will be revealed:

 

 

 

Along with the previously mentioned items, in the box we can also find an envelope and another small box with the rest of the accessories:

 

 

 

The black envelope is filled with documentation: Razer Product Catalog, Master Guide, a Quick Start Guide, Grid Trainers, Product Registration guide and a set of stickers:

 

 

 

The Razer logo stickers look very nice and are the same design as we could find in the Ferox and Anansi product boxes:

 

 

The Razer Product Guide gives us an insight over the previously launched and most recent items released from the company, from headsets to keyboards and mice:

 

 

 

By following the information from the “Razer Guy”, we can go ahead and register our product on the website, and become a member of the Cult of Razer:

 

 

 

The Quick Installation Guide gives us enough information to set up the mouse and start playing in a matter of minutes:

 

 

 

Inside the Master Guide, besides the information that we could also find in the Quick Installation Guide, we can find described the software interface and how to operate it:

 

 

 

The Naga Epic does also come with two sets of trainers, that help gamers to accommodate with the thumb button grid. These are some small pieces of rubber that can be placed on the buttons on a pattern of our choice:

 

 

 

 

The second small box contains the rest of the accessories, in protective material:

 

 

 

Here we can find the data/charger USB cable, the rest of the interchangeable grips and the removable rechargeable battery:

 

 

 

The small battery that comes with the mouse is rated 3.7V, 1100mAh:

 

 

 

The top of the mouse is rubberized, giving an nice feel and grip; between the mouse wheel we can find two extra buttons:

 

 

 

In the back of the mouse, we can find a small, shiny and black Razer logo:

 

 

On the left side of the mouse we can find the thumb button grid, which represents an unique feature of this mouse model; these keys can be used to access the keyboard number keys, or the numeric pad keys (this feature is very useful in MMOs, to access the spells or customize the attacks):

 

 

 

 

When the mouse is operating, the white parts of the scroll wheel are lighted up by LEDs, along with the thumb button grid, with the color of our choice. This gives the mouse a very nice effect:

 

 

 

On the right side we won't find any extra buttons, but the plastic lateral is easily removable (held fixed with magnetic force), and can be replaced with the other two side panels from the accessories box:

 

 

 

 

On the bottom of the mouse, we can find the Ultraslick Teflon feet, two small contacts for the charging dock and the 5600dpi Razer Precision 3.5G Laser Sensor:

 

 

 

Upon a further inspection, we can also find a Wireless on/off button, a Pairing button to synchronize the mouse with the dock on wireless, and a thumb button grid function switch:

 

 

 

After the removal of the right side, we can find the battery compartment:

 

 

 

 

The battery can be easily inserted and secured with the switch on the left side of the compartment:

 

 

 

The small dock helps us to charge the Naga Epic mouse, but we can also place the mouse on it when not using it, to save extra space:

 

 

On the back of the dock, we can find a hole where we can insert the special designed USB connector:

 

 

Here is a look of the small USB port inside the dock:

 

 

On the bottom of the charging dock, we can find a rubber ring, to keep it properly fixed on the table, along with the pair button and the rating of the charger:

 

 

Here is how the mouse does look when it is inserted into the dock:

 

 

The USB connector is designed in such a way so it would fit in both dock and mouse body:

 

 

Under the scroll wheel of the mouse, we can find the small USB port, where the USB connector can be plugged in:

 

 

 

After plugging in the USB connector, we can transform it into a fully functional wired mouse:

 

 

 

 

The other side of the cable ends with a gold-plated USB connector:

 

 

 

Here are some examples of the mouse light effects:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Before installing the software application, I have first ran the Naga Epic Firmware Updater, which guides us on how to proceed, for updating the mouse firmware to the latest version; the first screen tells us to connect the mouse on the wired interface and proceed:

 

 

 

The application will first execute the boot-loader and after that it will flash the firmware; the process will end with a firmware verification:

 

 

 

 

The software application comes with a similar design like the one we have seen when taking a look on the Anansi; the interface is split into multiple tabs, each one used to create or edit different settings. In the Assign Buttons tab, we can set various functions to each button located on the top of the mouse body:

 

 

 

By pressing on the Thumb Grid View option, we will gain access of the 12 buttons on the lateral;

on the same screen, we can switch between the basic [123] and advanced [num] configuration, to assign different sets of functions for the buttons:

 

 

 

 

Here are the extra functions we can set for the buttons:

 

 

 

In the Tweak Performance tab, we can set the current DPI, the mouse sensitivity, the acceleration and the polling rate of the mouse:

 

 

On the same tab, there is a “Sensitivity Stages” button, where we can define the sensitivity steps DPI and the number of steps that we can swap on-the-fly:

 

 

 

In the Manage Profiles tab, we can create, import, export or delete user created profiles:

 

 

 

 

The Manage Macros tab is very similar with the one on the Anansi; on this screen, we can enter the name of the Macro, specify delays between the keystrokes of our macro or insert basic commands:

 

 

 

 

 

Basic Commands

 

 

 

Additional Commands

 

 

 

In the Light and Power Tab, we can choose one of the 16 million colors to adjust the color of the mouse lighting; by choosing the Spectrum Cycling option, the colors will change indefinitely; in Wireless mode, we can also adjust the Power Management options like LED light brightness, the Sleep Mode or customize the Low Power mode (we can set the battery power percentage at which to activate the flashing of the scroll wheel):

 

 

The Razer Naga Epic is an improvement over the original Naga, with the addition of the wireless capability and interchangeable grips; the extra buttons on the left side are very accessible, but it may take a while until we get familiar with their placement; to help the gamers, Razer has included a set of trainers, that can be installed in a pattern of our choice, for an easier button identification.

Many other manufacturers choose to include only a cable with the wireless mouse, for charging purposes; with the Naga Epic, we also get a nice looking dock, where the mouse can be placed when it is not used and will automatically recharge when the dock is connected to a computer.

On wireless mode, we can also customize the power saving mode for the integrated lighting, but we can also specify at what battery percentage the mouse should signal us to recharge it. The light effects tab on the application is similar to what we could find on the Razer Anansi, so we can choose one from the 16 million available colors; the scroll wheel has a nice light effect, so it looks like a wheel from a Tron Movie motorcycles.

The mouse was tested in both games and Internet browsing or productivity applications; the rubberized top gives a very nice overall feel and with the ability of switching between the three versions of the right side of the mouse, it is like having three mouse versions in one. The mouse is very responsive, and in wireless mode we get a very good liberty of movement on the pad; we can also use the mouse in wired mode with the same freedom if combined with a Mouse Bungee, like the one from ROCCAT.

When paired with the Anansi keyboard, we can get almost a perfect combination for people that play a lot of MMOs, or simply need a lot of programmable buttons to ease up their work in productivity applications.

 

Razer Naga Epic MMO Gaming Mouse Recommended For:

I would like to thank again to Razer for offering me this sample for review!