Razer Deathadder V3 Hyperspeed Gaming Mouse Review: Third Time's The Charm

Summary

• Subtle design, highly responsive: Razer Deathadder V3 is sleek, fast, with killer battery life.
• Feels light, lacks DPI switch: A bit flimsy, needs better sensitivity control.
• Razer Synapse customization: Precision-focused mouse, no flashy distractions, perfect for gamers.

Despite being something of a maximalist and/or hoarder in my wider life, when it comes to PC and gaming peripherals I am firmly in the minimalist camp. Whether it’s a keyboard, a soundbar, or a mouse, I don’t want flashy lights and gimmicky shapes – give me something that works and looks as unobtrusive as possible.

The Razer Deathadder V3 Hyperspeed definitely fits that bill. For a brand normally known for the garish GamerTM aesthetic it almost single-handedly developed, this is a slick, responsive piece of kit, even if it lacks a few creature comforts.

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Coming in at just $70, or £50, the Deathadder V3 is one of the cheapest mice in Razer’s lineup. It keeps costs low by doing away with the oodles of macro keys, RGB lighting, and other ‘gamery’ trappings, and instead focuses on pure performance. It’s got an 1,000 Hz polling rate buffed to 8,000 by Razer's 'Hyperpolling' feature, 100-hour battery, Razer’s usual, great-feeling optical mouse switches, and all packed within just 59 grams.

Razer DeathAdder V3 Pro Gaming Mouse

Razer's high-end DeathAdder V3 boasts a lot of features that promise to improve your time using a mouse. Super lightweight, ability to track on multiple surfaces, and available in three colors. Not to mention a 90-million click life cycle meaning it will be a long time before you need a replacement.

• Subtle design
• Highly responsive
• Killer battery life

• Feels a bit too light
• No easily accessible DPI switch

I'm Really Good At Valorant

The responsiveness of the mouse is impressive. Shortly after getting my hands on it, I started playing Valorant, and somehow my 30-year-old reflexes withered by age managed to go 11-0. I don’t know if I was just channeling esports gods at the time, but I feel like the responsiveness and the smooth polling rate of the Deathadder helped.

This entire review was a ruse to include my brag about Valorant.

The battery life is particularly impressive. I’m forever forgetting to plug peripherals in, and find myself wrapped in charging cables galore when I’d rather be working unimpeded. I’ve not had that with the Deathadder V3 yet; it just keeps going and going and going on a single charge, before it gently reminds me to maybe consider plugging it in for some juice at my earliest convenience.

As it’s a Razer mouse, you get access to Razer Synapse to finetune it to your needs, with the only thing you’re lacking being the Chroma RGB suite. It does have two rebindable macro keys on the side, and another button on the underside, but most of your configuration is for performance, like sensitivity, rotation, and power saving modes. The result is that this feels like a mouse for precision and accuracy that you could spend hours tinkering with, rather than a flashy one that looks good on a streamer’s desk but wets itself at the first frenzied gunfight.

A Few Drawbacks

But this does lead to the first big problem: the bizarre lack of a dedicated sensitivity switch. Most gaming mice these days have an easily accessible button to help you flip from the lower sensitivity needed for precise headshot aiming and the more loosey-goosey high sensitivity of everyday use, and its absence here is sharply felt. You could bind the functionality to one of the flank macro buttons, but there are more exciting things I want to use them for.

There is a button for it, but it’s the one on the underside that doubles up as the mouse’s power switch. I’m not picking up my mouse, flipping it over, and fiddling with its undercarriage just to reduce the sensitivity mid-Valorant match. I may have already mentioned this, but I’m really good at Valorant now.

The other problem comes from that 59 grams. It feels incredibly light, bordering on flimsy. It’s stood up to a few weeks of intense use with no problems, and Razer has usually been a reliable brand when it comes to build quality in my experience, but I like my mouse movements to feel intentional. It feels like a stiff breeze could send the Deathadder V3 off course.

The Deathadder V3 trades in the usual Razer flare for an unassuming design that packs a lot of punch. By balancing price and functionality it makes a few misguided cuts, but for those who just want a mouse that does its job and does it well, it’s an easy recommendation. Especially if you want to get as good at Valorant as me.

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