Apparently, previewing three new Razer products at GDC 2024 wasn't enough for the legendary gaming company, as the black-and-green team sent me another new Razer accessory to review for Windows Central. This is one that has been long-awaited by Razer fans, however, ever since it began appearing in the hands of winning esports professionals across several games like Valorant and Counter-Strike 2.
The Razer Viper V3 Pro is finally here, and this redesign is actually a refinement over the Razer Viper V3 HyperSpeed I already reviewed. Superior ergonomics, a smoother glide, and some of the best and most granular performance ever available in a wireless gaming mouse make the Viper V3 Pro well worth the wait, as long as you're willing to pay the cost for the ultimate wireless mouse.
Disclaimer
This article was made possible with a review sample provided by Razer. The company did not see the contents of this article before publishing.
Viper V3 Pro hands-on: Refining greatness
• Price: $159.99 at Razer
• Sensor: Focus Pro 35K Optical Sensor Gen-2, 35,000 max dots-per-inch (DPI), 750 max inches-per-second (IPS), 70G max acceleration,
• Switches: Optical Mouse Switches Gen-3, rated for 90 million clicks
• Connectivity: Razer HyperSpeed Wireless up to 8,000Hz (HyperPolling dongle included), wired via USB Type-C
• Features: Five onboard DPI profiles, 1 DPI granular adjustment, mouse grip tape support, up to 95 hours battery life (@ 1,000Hz)
• Dimensions: 127.1 x 63.9 x 39.9mm (5.00 x 2.51 x 1.57in)
• Weight: 54g (Black) / 55g (White)
The Razer Viper V2 Pro was an excellent, premium wireless gaming mouse with a distinctive design, but Razer took a lot of feedback and criticism into account when designing the affordable next-gen Viper V3 HyperSpeed. I still use that mouse every single day with the laptops I review, and I praised it in my review for its comfortable and ergonomic design.
At first glance, the Razer Viper V3 Pro looks nearly identical to its more affordable sibling, and that's by design. Razer paid close attention to the community response to the V3 HyperSpeed and began seeding a wide variety of V3 Pro prototypes to various esports athletes across various tournaments. Months of testing and internal feedback later, Razer landed on the Viper V3 Pro, which simply refines the greatness Razer already achieved with the Viper V3 HyperSpeed.
The same curved, symmetrical design with the raised edges and separated side buttons is back, as is the lovely soft-touch texture. You'd be hard-pressed to tell the two mice apart side by side, but that's not a bad thing. Razer improved what could be improved here, including combining the DPI profile switch with the power button to both reduce weight and accidental misclicks (having your DPI change during a pivotal moment can be devastating).
The mouse feet are also considerably larger on the Razer Viper V3 Pro versus the V3 HyperSpeed, resulting in a significant improvement in gliding performance. I recently reviewed the Alienware Pro Wireless Gaming Mouse and described it as the smoothest mouse I have ever used, and the Viper V3 Pro goes toe-to-toe. The combination of incredibly low weight (just 54 grams!) and these large, 100% PFTE feet result in an effortless glide across any surface, and it's awesome.
It's greatness refined, and drops the annoying AA disposable batteries in favor of an internal battery unit and USB Type-C charging, just as players want from a premium wireless gaming mouse.
Viper V3 Pro hands-on: Ultimate performance
The biggest area where the Razer Viper V3 Pro stands apart from its more affordable sibling is in performance. Don't get me wrong, the Viper V3 HyperSpeed is still one of the best performing gaming mice I've ever used, but the Viper V3 Pro is on another level entirely. This is among the first mice to use Razer's new Focus Pro 35K Optical Sensor Gen-2, which as the name suggests raises the max dots-per-inch (DPI) capability to a staggering 35,000.
This optical sensor is more precise and responsive than ever before on all manner of surfaces, including transparent glass at least 4mm thick, and gains some unique features such as highly granular DPI adjustment and even the ability to accurately copy the DPI profile of your current mouse during setup. The mouse feels buttery smooth and instantaneous in motion, as expected. Razer's Optical Mouse Switches Gen-3 also represents an upgrade over the V3 HyperSpeed, rated for up to 90 million clicks and ensuring that each one of those clicks is consistently responsive.
The hardware is undoubtedly impressive and delivers when gaming; the synergy with the ergonomic design and smooth feet is unmatched, leading to some of the best games of Valorant I've ever had. Of course, the polling rate is also higher than the industry average. Like other Razer mice recently, the Viper V3 Pro supports up to 8,000Hz polling rates — but it does so out of the box, as Razer finally included the necessary HyperPolling dongle in the price of the mouse.
Performance when gaming or doing anything else has been exemplary, and Razer Synapse provides a lot of options to fine-tune the Viper V3 Pro and its five onboard memory profiles. I will say that the Alienware Pro Wireless Gaming Mouse does seem a little faster to wake from sleep and, on average, seems to last a little bit longer in terms of battery life, but the gains in performance and ergonomics are well worth the small trade-offs in those departments.
Viper V3 Pro hands-on: Worth the wait?
Alienware fought hard to replace Razer on my desk, but it seems that the infamous three-headed snake has reclaimed its throne with the Viper V3 Pro. Alienware's premium wireless gaming mouse is still a phenomenal product that I fully recommend, but for an extra $10, the Razer Viper V3 Pro can net you a more comfortable design and superior performance, and for many competitive gamers, that decision won't warrant hesitation.
Is the Viper V3 Pro worth a whopping $90 more than the V3 HyperSpeed? For most people, I'd argue no. The former is an excellent mouse that delivers unbeatable price-to-performance for just $69.99 at Razer, and the latter turns up that performance to a previously unobtainable level for those who desire it. I still have a lot more testing to do before I'm ready to give you my full thoughts on the Razer Viper V3 Pro, but I've had just over a week with this mouse already, and I'm already in love.
The Razer Viper V3 Pro is now available for $159.99 at Razer, and there's no doubt in my mind that it's about to become one of the best gaming mice for esports athletes and other competitive gamers. If you want to check out other recent Razer releases, I've gone hands-on with the Razer Blade 18 (2024), Razer BlackShark V2 Pro for Xbox, and Razer Kishi Ultra.
