Razer SW:TOR Edition Wireless Gaming Mouse Review

As per usual, we’ll throw a battery of tests at the SW:TOR Naga to see how well it performs both wired and wireless. Normally we run the mouse through several games genres including RPG, so for this particular genre we will include the game it was actually created for – Star Wars; The Old Republic. On top of this, we’ll use the mouse like we would every day in the office, doing non-specific tasks.

When we first put our hand on the mouse, with the battery connected, we noticed that it weighed a fair amount compared to other wired gaming mice we’ve tested. Whilst some people prefer heavier mice, we do not. By removing the battery and using the mouse wired, it substantially reduced the weight.

RPG/MMO

Normally we start the tests off with FPS, but since this mouse is aimed at one particular genre we’ll start off with that. When we first fired up SW:TOR, we noticed how smooth the general feel of the mouse was. It glided effortlessly across the mouse pad and the movement of the cursor was crisp and precise in both wired and wireless mode – with no noticeable lag (something you often get with the cheaper wireless mice). It was nice for Razer to include a unique colour crystal also, allowing us to stand out on the battlefield.

Jumping into action, the addition of 12 buttons down the side of the mouse made it perfect to cast spells as each button represented a different spell and ability. It did take a while to get used to the layout, as it’s not particularly intuitive, but we eventually got to grips with it. This allowed us to play the game without having to use the keyboard at all! Which also meant we could drink our coffee with the other hand whilst having a long session. During these long sessions however, the angular shape did play it’s part in being quite uncomfortable, although this was only really noticeable after many consecutive hours of use.

We also fired up Diablo 3 to see if it performed just as well. Whilst the game does not have as many abilities, it did allow us to cast them quicker than on the keyboard, so freeing up the other hand to type abuse to your teammates.

FPS

Now we get to the main test for all wireless mice, FPS, which requires fast reactions and quick movement of the mouse. For this we launched the classic Counter Strike: Source, and jumped straight into a friendly clan war. Immediately we noticed a little bit of lag when really pushing the mouse across the desk – this wasn’t ideal, although with a bit of tweaking in the settings we managed to reduced the amount until it was bearly noticeable (of course this wasn’t an issue when it was connected via a cable). The weight also made it fairly difficult to through around, mainly when sniping, that said, this is just down to preference. The movement however, was very good when there was no input lag, it was smooth and accurate, making it great for banging out those headshots.

RTS

The keyboard is used a fair amount when it comes to real time strategy games, making full use of unit and command shortcuts. This meant the SW:TOR edition Naga is ideally suited with all those extra buttons. We quickly mapped the buttons out in Supreme Commander’s options and jumped into a game. Once we got used to the layout of the buttons, we quickly excelled in repelling the first wave of the enemy’s attack, to follow up shortly after with our own counter attack. The high DPI meant we could traverse the large map with easy and select our units quickly.

General Use

For general use there was no noticeable lag, so the wireless mode meant it was great for everyday use. The lack of cables cluttering up the desk, made everything look neater and the mouse was not restricted at all. When editing images, the on the fly DPI changer meant we could reduce the sensitivity right down, so we could make small precise modifications. We also mapped the side buttons out so we could navigate through the web with ease, using commands like back, forward, refresh, end and home.

The battery life  lasted for hours, in fact there was never a time when we actually ran out of juice, as at the end of each day we simply dropped the mouse onto it’s dock and left it to charge over night. If it did run out of battery, it’s simple to reattach the cable and let it charge whilst you continue to use it.