Razer Viper Mini Ultra-Light Gaming Mouse Review

Mice & Keyboards by stefan @ 2020-06-05

The Viper Mini can be thought of as a mainstream product from Razer, given the sensor choice but also the price point. After firing a few games of different categories, we did not feel disappointed with its tracking while operating on a 1440P display; the sensor performance is great and most casual gamers, content creators will not feel disappointed by it. One thing to keep in mind is that this mouse was not designed for people with large hands, in which case the positioning will be a little cramped.

Introduction

 

At first we would like to thank Razer for offering us their Viper Mini Ultra-Light 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

61G ULTRA-LIGHTWEIGHT DESIGN

 

The ambidextrous chassis has shaved off more weight, so you can enjoy even swifter swipes, yet remains as durable and solid as ever. Recommended for gamers with small to medium hand sizes, this ultra-lightweight gaming mouse is best suited for those who favor claw or fingertip grip styles.

 

RAZER™ OPTICAL MOUSE SWITCH

 

Utilizing an infrared light beam to register every click, the switches in this light gaming mouse actuate with an industry-leading response time of 0.2 milliseconds. Because it no longer requires traditional physical contact, this form of actuation removes the need for debounce delay and never triggers unintended clicks, giving you closer control and flawless execution.

 

RAZER CHROMA™ RGB UNDERGLOW

 

With 16.8 million colors and a range of dynamic lighting effects you can program or create from the ground up via Razer Synapse 3, the Razer Viper Mini displays no shortage of character and personality as part of your battle station.

 

RAZER SPEEDFLEX CABLE

 

The Razer Viper Mini’s cable has greater flexibility and is designed to produce minimal drag, so that you can perform quicker, more fluid swipes for a higher degree of control.

 

8500 DPI OPTICAL SENSOR

 

With a sensor that flawlessly tracks your movement with zero spinouts, you can expect nothing but pixel-precise accuracy that’s sharp and responsive.

 

6 PROGRAMMABLE BUTTONS

 

Fully configurable via Razer Synapse 3, the mouse has 2 side buttons on its left and one next to the scroll wheel, giving you access to macros and secondary functions so every action can be executed with ease.

 

100% PTFE MOUSE FEET

 

Enjoy slick mouse movement across any surface with mouse feet made from the purest, highest grade of PTFE—a material used to coat non-stick pans.

 

ON-BOARD MEMORY PROFILE

 

Access your custom DPI settings, button configs and more without the need for software installed once you have your favorite profile saved via Razer Synapse 3.

 

Product Specifications

True 8500 DPI high-precision optical sensor

Up to 300 inches per second (IPS) / 35G max. acceleration

Razer Viper derived ambidextrous design optimized for small hand sizes

Razer™ Optical Mouse Switches rated for 50 million clicks

Large 100% PTFE mouse feet (0.8mm thick).

Gaming-grade tactile scroll wheel

On-The-Fly Sensitivity Adjustment (Default stages : 400/800/1600/3200/6400)

On-board Memory Profile

Razer Chroma™ RGB lighting with true 16.8 million customizable color options

Six independently programmable Hyperesponse buttons

Razer Synapse 3 enabled

1.8 m / 6 ft Speedflex cable

Approximate size: 118.3 mm / 4.66 in (Length) x 53.5mm / 2.11 in (Grip Width) x 38.3 mm / 1.51 in (Height)

Approximate weight: 61g / 0.13 lbs (Excluding cable)

 

Packaging, A Closer Look

After trying out the flagship Viper Ultimate mouse from Razer, it is time to look at the more compact Viper variant, also named as “Mini”. The mouse is noticeably smaller when compared to the original Viper or the Viper Ultimate, measuring 118.3mm in length, 53.5mm width and having a height of 38.3mm. One other interesting aspect about this mouse is its weight, only 61 grams without the USB cable, which is quite impressive!

 

The product is shipped inside a small cardboard enclosure, with the product photo in the middle, but also the supported Razer Chroma RGB pictogram and some product highlights:

 

 

 

On the side of the packaging, we will learn of the physical dimensions between the original Viper and the Viper mini, side by side, but also of the used optical switches for the left and right buttons and flexible cable:

 

 

 

Some more details are available in the back as well, in multiple languages; this product is backed by a 2-year warranty:

 

 

 

The bottom area of the packaging does feature the product hardware and software requirements, but also the serial numbers:

 

 

 

Razer does employ a very simple packaging model with the Viper Mini:

 

 

 

The multi-language leaflet we are receiving does contain the necessary info regarding the main interfaces of the mouse:

 

 

 

The Viper Mini is offered without any other extra accessories:

 

 

 

While maintaining the ambidextrous design lines of the Viper Series, the Mini was thought for people with smaller hands, while being a bit taller. Given its shape, the product will be mainly used with claw or fingertip grips:

 

 

 

In the front, we’ve got the left and right buttons, but also a rubberized scroll wheel, which is not RGB enabled. One aspect that is borrowed from the high-end model is the use of optical switches for the main buttons, with an industry-leading response time of 0.2 milliseconds, which is about three times faster than regular mechanical switches. Besides this fact, the optical switches are more durable, as no mechanical contact is needed for the transmission of the electrical signals. These are also rated for an incredible 70 million actuations!

 

 

 

Near the scroll wheel, we can also find a smaller programmable button:

 

 

 

A Closer Look Contd.

On the left side of the mouse, we will get to see two more programmable buttons; grippy plastic is used this time on the laterals and not rubber coating:

 

 

 

The arched back side of the mouse is accompanied by a RGB-enabled Razer logo:

 

 

 

The opposite side is pretty much the same, only this time we are missing the extra programmable buttons:

 

 

 

On the bottom area, we will find two large white PTFE feet (0.8mm thick), some details regarding the product code name, power rating, its serial number, but also the value of the maximum DPI. The Viper Mini is using a PixArt 3359 optical sensor, which can track between 200 and 8500 DPI, in steps of 100, while the Polling Rate can be configured up to 1000Hz:

 

 

 

One other element brought from the more expensive Viper mice is the Speedflex cable, which is quite flexible. Coupled with the very low weight of the Viper Mini, the whole setup is a real joy to use during more intensive gaming sessions or productivity:

 

 

 

The cable ends up with a Razer-branded USB connector:

 

 

 

After plugging the mouse in our test computer, the RGB lighting started the show:

 

 

 

 

 

The light underneath is linked to the top logo and cannot be configured separately:

 

 

 

Razer Synapse 3 Part I

As soon as we have connected the Viper Mini to our test PC, we were prompted to install the Synapse 3 suite. Synapse can be used with an account or in guest mode, which does not allow saving profiles to the cloud:

 

 

 

Logging in with a personal account will trigger profile sync from the servers:

 

 

 

As a unified software, the Synapse 3 does support plenty of Razer peripherals; the detected ones will be shown in the main Dashboard:

 

 

 

The Customize tab does allow the user to configure the programmable buttons as needed:

 

 

 

If we do click on a pre-programmed button, an extra menu will open from the left side and display the multitude of functions we can associate with it:

 

 

 

Keyboard Function

Mouse Function

Sensitivity

Macro

Inter-Device

 

Razer Synapse 3 Part II

Switch Profile

Switch Lighting

Razer HyperShift

Launch Program

Multimedia

Windows Shortcuts

Text Function

Button Disable

 

The Hypershift function, when activated will be able to double the number of button functions:

 

 

 

The Performance tab will allow the user to set the number of DPI steps, but also configure them independently; here we will also adjust the Polling Rate and allow the interface to open up the standard Windows Mouse Properties:

 

 

 

Razer Synapse 3 Part III

The Lighting tab enables control of the LED brightness, some light power management but also we can work with the effects:

 

 

 

The pre-programmed Quick Effects are as follows:

 

 

 

Chroma Studio is much more complex, allowing for extra pre-programmed modes and layering:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The interface does also allow the user to calibrate the sensor for the current surface:

 

 

 

The Macro area has a separate menu defined, for recording different sequences, together with delay:

 

 

 

Chroma Visualizer adds to the visual effects, transforming the mouse in an audio EQ:

 

 

 

Video Exemplification of the Chroma LED Lighting

Impressions and Conclusive Thoughts

The Viper Mini can be thought of as a mainstream product from Razer, given the sensor choice but also the price point. After firing a few games of different categories, we did not feel disappointed with its tracking while operating on a 1440P display; the sensor performance is great and most casual gamers, content creators will not feel disappointed by it. One thing to keep in mind is that this mouse was not designed for people with large hands, in which case the positioning will be a little cramped.

 

The weight of this mouse is only 61 grams and this without having holes drilled in the chassis as we have seen with models from other manufacturers; this is a real achievement and makes ideal to be used alongside gaming laptops, when traveling, without taking a lot of space.

 

The Synapse 3 configuration software needs no extra introduction: it offers easy customization for the sensor, programmable buttons but also the RGB lighting. The profiles will be saved to the cloud only if the user is logged into his/hers account but a profile can be saved on the Viper Mini’s hardware as well.

 

At the time of the review, the Viper Mini could be found online for about 44.9 Euros!

Razer Viper Mini Ultra-Light Gaming Mouse is Recommended for:

 

 

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

 

  翻译: