At first we would like to thank Razer for offering us samples of their DeathAdder Elite Gaming Mouse for testing and 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 world’s most advanced optical sensor

 

Equipped with the new eSports-grade optical sensor that has true 16,000 DPI and true tracking at 450 Inches Per Second (IPS), the Razer DeathAdder Elite gives you the absolute advantage of having the fastest sensor in the world. Engineered to redefine the standards of accuracy and speed, this incredible mouse sensor crushes the competition with a Resolution Accuracy of 99.4%, so you can land more killing blows with pinpoint precision.

 

Gaming-optimized Razer™ Mechanical Mouse Switches

 

Engineered to give you the unfair advantage in intense gameplay, the Razer DeathAdder Elite comes with all-new Razer™ Mechanical Mouse Switches. Co-designed and produced with the leading global mouse switch supplier, Omron, the new switches are optimized and tweaked for the fastest response times for gaming and for extended durability up to 50 million clicks.

 

AWARD-WINNING GAMING ERGONOMICS PERFECTED FOR eSPORTS ATHLETES

 

The Razer DeathAdder Elite features the iconic ergonomics that top eSports athletes swear by and are proven to stay incredibly comfortable even during those long high-octane battles. Together with two rubber side grips, you’ll always have complete control of your gameplay.

 

Lighting Effects

 

The brand-new DeathAdder Elite is equipped with the Razer Chroma lighting which opens limitless personalization options for the user to work with.

 

 

Product Specifications:

 

True 16,000 DPI optical sensor

Up to 450 IPS / 50 g acceleration

Razer Mechanical Mouse switches

Ergonomic right-handed design with textured rubber side grips

Gaming-grade tactile scroll wheel

7 independently programmable Hyperesponse buttons

Razer Chroma™ lighting with 16.8 million customizable color options

Razer Synapse enabled

1000 Hz ultrapolling

On-the-fly sensitivity adjustment

Gold-plated USB connector

Seven-foot, lightweight, braided fiber cable

Approximate size: 127 mm / 5 in (Length) x 70 mm / 2.76” (Width) x 44 mm / 1.73 in (Height)

Approximate weight: 105 g / 0.23 lbs

 

With the release of the DeathAdder Elite, Razer has resurrected their highly-acclaimed mouse model once again; last time we have taken a look at a DeathAdder mouse was while reviewing the Razer Chroma Set, which incorporated the Chroma version. The previous revision did arrive with 4G 10000 DPI optical sensor lens (Avago 3989) and besides the configurable RGB lighting it did also sport a comfortable shape along with rubber side panels for long gaming sessions.

The Elite does not make serious changes to the exterior, but the trained eye will be able to spot the subtle differences right away.

 

While the Elite does not have “Chroma” in its name, rest assured that full support for this feature is offered, as we can also see from the frontal area of the cardboard packaging:

 

 

 

On the back side of the box, Razer mentions the main product highlights, which are the upgraded optical sensor, the inclusion of the new Razer switches but also a reminder of the utilized ergonomic form factor:

 

 

 

The system requirements along with the approximate size and weight of the product can be checked out on the bottom area of the enclosure:

 

 

 

The box is also provided with a handle, for display purposes:

 

 

 

After removing the top packaging layer, we will be able to see that the mouse is protected inside a cardboard and transparent custom mold, but we will also receive a set of documents:

 

 

 

The semi-transparent leaflet which welcomes us to the Razer club is accompanied by the installation guide but also a set of stickers:

 

 

 

The manual is filled with all needed instructions in order to get “your game on” right away!

 

 

 

The set of chromed Razer stickers is perfect for installation on our gaming laptop or desktop:

 

 

 

The DeathAdded Elite resembles the shape of its predecessors and comes with an approximate size of 127 mm x 70mm x 44mm (LxWxH):

 

 

 

Designed for right-handers, one of the first upgrades which can be seen versus the Chroma version is the inclusion of two extra buttons near the scroll wheel, which are programmed by default for DPI switching:

 

 

 

The curved back of the Elite features one Razer logo which looks good even when the RGB LEDs are not operating:

 

 

 

If we do take a look on the left side panel of the mouse, we will be able to spot two programmable buttons, but also a rubberized layer for resting our thumb:

 

 

 

The right side panel of the Elite feature the same materials, minus the additional interfaces:

 

 

 

The frontal area of the mouse exposes the left and right mouse buttons, along with the LED-lighted scroll wheel; the DeathAdder misses the LED bands on the sides which we did see on the Mamba but incorporates Razers’ own mechanical switches which were built in cooperation with Omron. These are capable of lasting quite a bit, with a rating of 50 million clicks:

 

 

 

Before the first use, we will need to remove the plastic layer which is placed over the bottom layer:

 

 

 

The new Elite comes with larger PTFE pads than previous reincarnations and now we can also see a layer around the optical sensor lens. The fifth generation Razer sensor can scale up to 16000 DPI, with a minimal value of 100 DPI, in 1 DPI increments; this is a massive range which should accommodate most users out there:

 

 

 

As any high-end gaming mouse, the DeathAdder Elite comes with a braided cable:

 

 

 

The USB connector has been redesigned and now it is more compact than the one we have seen with the Chroma; the green internals can be clearly seen, but Razer seems to have dropped the gold plating:

 

 

 

 

Right after the mouse has been connected to a spare USB port, the LED light show will begin:

 

 

 

 

 

 

All which have owned Razer products or have read recent product reviews should be familiar with the unified Synapse software suite, which automatically installs necessary drivers for the peripherals and also provides a custom interface for each. The main menus on the top area are Mouse, Macros, Chroma Apps and Stats; the Mouse menu is followed by several sub-sections, the first one being Customize, from where we can remap the buttons:

 

 

After clicking on the desired button, a separate window will appear:

 

 

 

Here are the possibilities of selection for each programmable button:

 

 

Keyboard Function

 

 

Mouse Function

 

 

Sensitivity Customization

 

 

Macro Playback

 

 

Launch a Specific Program

 

 

Access Multimedia Functions

 

 

Enable Windows Charms

 

 

Work with Windows Shortcuts

 

 

We can even disable specific buttons when not needed:

 

 

 

Moving on to the Performance tab, we can enable separate X-Y sensitivity customization, adjust the mouse acceleration, but also set the polling rate up to 1000Hz:

 

 

 

The same menu comes with the ability to configure the DPI steps:

 

 

 

The Lighting area will take care of the Chroma effects; if we do have multiple Razer-compatible devices, we can also link the Chroma LED effects with all of them:

 

 

 

Here are the main modes we can work with:

 

 

 

The Calibration area allows us to adapt the sensor to the surface we are working on currently; some presets are also available for Razer mats:

 

 

 

The calibration process will be guided by a wizard:

 

 

 

The next main menu is in charge of Macros, which can be easily recorded and saved:

 

 

 

The Chroma effects can be also activated when running compatible applications or games:

 

 

 

 

The Stats menu will actually open up in a new window and does log mouse behavior from the detected game installations:

 

 

 

 

 

For testing the Elite we have used games like Doom, Mafia III, GTA V, Streamline and Paladins; we did steer away from MMORPGs since those game types usually need mice with more programmable buttons. Since we were already familiar with the DeathAdder Chroma layout, the Elite did feel right at home and thanks to the larger PTFE feet, the mouse did move smoothly on our ModMyMachine aluminum pad. Thanks to the extra top programmable buttons, it was easier and faster to switch between DPIs and monster killing became quite rewarding in Doom (Arcade Mode).

 

The mouse can be also easily used for office tasks and Internet browsing when needed; thanks to the high-DPI sensor, it is a breeze to work with on large high-end displays. The Synapse software is quite robust and saves our profiles in the cloud for easy access when moving to another laptop/desktop.

 

Razer fans which have also acquired some recent gaming gear will be happy to know that the Elite fully supports Chroma, so the effects will be synced between devices with just a press of a button from Synapse.

 

The latest Razer gaming mouse can be purchased online for about 80 Euros. The competition between gaming hardware manufacturers is over-the-top since we do have tons of models available for each price range and the current price of the DeathAdder Elite places it in the high-end segment.

Razer DeathAdder Elite Gaming Mouse is Recommended for:

 

 

We would like to thank again to Razer for making this review possible!