The Razer DeathAdder ranks high among the most excellent gaming mouse lines of all time. It is arguably the most iconic and easily recognizable gaming mouse of its time. The DeathAdder series first came out more than a decade ago. Since then it has been a constant companion of the world’s most well-known pro gamers out there. The fact that it is the choice of pro gamers galore means that budding players tend to pick it up early in its career as well.
The Razer DeathAdder Elite is the mouse this article is going to talk about specifically. Easily recognizable due to the traditional DeathAdder ergonomics and the Razer logo. The mouse boasts one of the most accurate sensors in the industry, along with newly designed switches and the razor chroma lighting.
Let’s talk in detail about Razer DeathAdder Elite
The specs
The DeathAdder Elite is an optical gaming mouse; its design has become iconic through the ages and is very easily recognizable. One new addition to the design is the rubber grips on the sides; the grips are also textured to allow for greater control. The mouse is larger than your average gaming mouse; it is approximately 5 inches in length, 2.76 inches in width and 1.73 inches in height. One of the most impressive specs of the mouse is the DPI range, with the optical sensor capable of tracking up to 16000 DPI.
Additionally, the mouse has seven programmable buttons along with the ability to support the acceleration of up to 50g. Razer also made changes to the cable for this mouse. The DeathAdder Elite has a wire that is seven feet in length and is braided fiber. According to Razer, the mouse weighs approximately 105 grams but several people have conducted tests to dispute this matter. Several people claim that the mouse weighs less than the magical 100g but let’s go with the official weight. Lastly, the mouse has a tactile scrolling wheel as well for optimal performance.
Sensor
The Razer DeathAdder elite comes equipped with the Razer 5g advanced optical sensor. The new sensor is terrific, and the DeathAdder is behind no other mouse in terms of responsiveness. Capable of mouse acceleration of up to 50Gs, the razer also allows you to control the mouse acceleration completely. In addition to this, the new sensor enables Razer to measure speeds of up to 450 inches per second, inches per second is the most common way of measuring mouse speed. The ability to track at such speeds makes the mouse very responsive. The DeathAdder also features a DPI of 16,000 which allows gamers to play at sensitivities that were previously inaccessible.
Razer is a company that has been around for a long time, which is also evident in the technological brilliance of its sensor. Upon using it, it became apparent that this was something used by pro gamers. If you’ve never jumped up to this level before it starts to feel like the mouse is an extension of your arm. The movement is as responsive as it possibly could be. In addition to this Razer has achieved near perfection in its resolution accuracy. Such a high-resolution accuracy ensures that the mouse may never let you down. If you’re always feeling like you’re losing in FPS games in spite of having a solid aim, your mouse may not have the required resolution accuracy to support your gameplay. Any high-end gaming mouse needs a solid sensor, and the Razer DeathAdder offers one of the best around.
Design
The Razer DeathAdder Elite has one of the classiest designs in the industry. Unlike the usual gaming mice with outlandish designs and mercurial color combinations, the Razer DeathAdder Elite is a delightful change of pace. The matte black finish ensures that the mouse always looks classy and the Razer logo makes the DeathAdder instantly recognizable. The mouse has a very classy finish, and at first glance may not seem like a gaming mouse. Furthermore, the mouse comes with a threaded 7 feet long cable, the cable is a lot more flexible than previous iterations of the DeathAdder series, and this allows for better movement. The mouse also comes with seven buttons, including those that will enable you to change the DPI settings directly from the mouse itself.
Another aspect of the mouse’s design is the ergonometric shape. The DeathAdder Elite indents in such ways that it fits perfectly into your right hand. The right side of the mouse is slightly raised higher compared to the left which drops. The mouse isn’t mainly designed to be used by people that are left-handed, however. The mouse is slightly larger than your average mouse which means it may not be suitable for players with small hands. The DeathAdder Elite has seven buttons on it, and each of the buttons feels very high end and well thought out. The two buttons on the side are firm and can be configured according to the user’s desires. The two buttons on top are also designed keeping ergonomics in mind. Both buttons contain ridges in between them which allow your fingers to rest in entirely, the ridges even stop your hand from slipping as much as it would. It doesn’t end here though.
The left side of the mouse has a grip that allows your thumb to rest as well, and this grip effectively helps prevent you from pushing the side button accidentally. The other two buttons are the scroll wheel and the DPI adjustors. The scroll wheel also has several tiny bumps on it what the bumps are fundamentally placed there to increase the level of grip. Many people didn’t like the grip on the scroll wheel however, it does help you have a lot more control. Control is perhaps the essential aspect for any gamer and to address this Razer has ensured that their mouse fits into the hand perfectly.
Razer clearly wasn’t done with designing there and the Razer DeathAdder also uses the Chroma lighting technology. Razer has been doing this for a while now and over time their lighting has improved steadily. Apart from the incredibly wide variety of colors, you can set from, you can also change the animation of the lights. It’s all incredibly wonderful and the lighting does make the DeathAdder look iconic but apart from the aesthetic value on display, there’s not much substance to the lighting feature.
Build Quality and Buttons
Due to the company’s long-standing association with making high-quality products, the Razer DeathAdder Elite falls in the same category. The build quality of the mouse is immaculate and every organization is a risk of selling a faulty piece. However, for a company like Razer, this is incredibly rare and they also offer a 2-week safe return and exchange policy. The new Razer DeathAdder Elite also features high-quality switches that they’ve designed with Omron and are supposedly able to get through 50 million clicks. It’s hard to put into exactly what the effect could be on the DeathAdder at this point because 50 million clicks is an insane amount of gameplay.
The two main rigger buttons are placed slightly above the base of the mouse leaving a slight gap, this gap helps add to the feeling when you push down on the button. The button offers a very satisfying click, and it feels like you’re doing something significant. Continuing with the two main buttons, both the right and the left button feel the same. The buttons even sound the same on being pressed. Compared to specific other mice the keys are very sensitive to being touched, yet Razer managed to find an incredibly healthy balance. Both the buttons are sensitive but not enough that you may accidentally press them, mouses that are too sensitive can be a massive no for gamers, but luckily the Elite has no such problems. The DeathAdder has five more buttons, the two on each side are the extra buttons. These buttons can be configured to perform specific tasks from the Razer software(more on that later). The buttons are firm and unlike most extra buttons feel as if they were a part of the original design instead of merely being an afterthought. The buttons on the side are incredibly responsive as well with there being almost no delay in any command. The next button to be discussed is the new and improved scrolling wheel. The theme with the DeathAdder series is to provide the player with greater control. Razer follows the same idea in the new and enhanced scroll wheel. Instead of being a smooth infinitely scrolling wheel, the new scrolling wheel has a lot of small ridges that help provide greater grip and control. The scrolling wheel is also not endlessly scrolling, and some users may find this annoying, but it goes with the whole providing the player with greater control theme. Lastly, the other two buttons are the DPI adjustment buttons. These buttons essentially allow you to adjust the DPI straight from the mouse; the DPI scale shows up on the computer letting you go up to settings of 16000 DPI.
The Razer DeathAdder Elite is a product that has been built to perfection; there are no annoying quirks that you have to get used to. The mouse is soundless when you use it, and no button has any tweaks or anything that would show an inferior build quality. Razer wasn’t kidding around when they named this mouse the Elite.
Performance
The DeathAdder series is notable for their consistent performance, and it’s no surprise that it’s the choice of so many pro gamers. Having a resolution accuracy of 99.4% ensures that all your actions play out entirely accurately. Such a high-resolution accuracy means that your bullets will go precisely where you’re aiming, its stuff like this that makes a massive difference in competitive gaming where the margins are incredibly thin. The DeathAdder use of tactile buttons also helps improve the response times significantly, the fact that the buttons are more sensitive compared to regular ones makes them more comfortable and quicker to press. In addition to this, the optical tracking of the mouse is second to no one, at whatever speed you move the mouse it will respond and effectively track the movement. Furthermore, the ability to add acceleration of up to 50gs also helps you adjust it according to what you require. If you invest in the mouse, there is minimal chance of it adversely affecting your performance, and it is bound to be an upgrade on any mouse.
However, the DeathAdder Elite is a mouse of substantial size. It being a large sized mouse means that it may not be suited for people with smaller hands. The shape of the mouse ensures that if you have larger hands, it will fit your grip much more comfortably. If you have little hands, you may have to adjust your grip to get used to the dimensions of the mouse and take advantage of its superb features. Even if after changing your grip, the mouse feels awkward to use then your hands may be too small for the Elite. You would be better suited to buying a smaller mouse however if you are looking for a large sized mouse that weighs below the magical 100g look no further.
Chroma vs Elite
The previous installment in the DeathAdder series was the Chroma; the two mice are similar in terms of appearance. Yet in performance the Elite does much better than the Chroma, the Elite has a DPI of 16,000 whereas the Chroma can only go up to 10,000. Having a higher DPI gives the Elite the advantage, allowing it to support a much broader sensitivity. The newer sensor also fixes the tilt slamming issue that was so persistent with the Chroma, tilt slamming is when you lift your mouse to switch directions rapidly and occasionally the sensor fails to track the movement causing your cursor to spin out. Fixing tilt slamming is not the only reason why you should buy the Elite instead of the Chroma.
The elite is a newer model addresses various issues that were present in the Chroma. For instance, the buttons on the sides of the Chroma had minimal grip and felt flimsy. In the case of the elite; however, the side buttons feel much more tactile and responsiveness. Furthermore adding a rubber grip allows the buttons to be much more durable and resistant to sweaty palms. Apart from this, the Elite is considerably more durable than the Chroma. According to Razer, the buttons on the Elite can withstand 50 million clicks whereas the Chroma has important durability issues. The Chroma has a well-documented history of button issues and double-clicking, the same is not the case for the Elite with the incredibly durable buttons holding out for much longer. Also, the cable drag in the Chroma is very noticeable. The Elite uses a different cable, which is much more flexible and produces minimal drag. The improvements mentioned above may seem like minor tweaks, but they make a significant difference in performance. If you are in the market for a new mouse the Elite is the way to go, both of them are available at similar price points, and cosmetically they may look similar, but the Elite performs significantly better.
The Razer DeathAdder Elite is one of the top performing gaming mice you can buy; it is incredibly lightweight for its large size and can suit various different grips as well feel comfortable in all of them. The mouse is not without its quirks however yet even this drawback is a double-edged sword.
Like every gaming company, the Razer DeathAdder Elite comes with its own software. Unlike the other companies, Razer is very particular about the whole installing procedure. There are several license agreements you need to agree to. The whole procedure feels very official and takes away from the fact that what you are using is a gaming mouse.
Razer Synapse
Synapse is the software that comes with Razer gaming mice, the software allows you to get the best out of your Razer mouse but it has several quirks. One of the things it allows users to do is customize the DPI to whatever settings you want. The original range of DPI that the Razer DeathAdder Elite comes with is a very weird range, no gamer will want to play at a DPI of more than 800. The custom settings allow you to set the DPI to any value that you want. The synapse software also allows you to select any color out of the vast variety on offer. The ability to change colors may be incredibly useful on a keyboard that allows you to color code commands on the keyboard, on a mouse however it is mainly for your own personal aesthetic. Seeing the Razer logo flash up on the color of your choice will never get old. In addition to this, the software also allows you to set up individual commands for different games. The software also saves the commands under a different profile, saving gamers the trouble of setting commands again.
The UI of the software, however, feels very outdated; neither does it scale very well with the resolution of modern laptops. It feels clunky to use in comparison to other software’s that feel modern and easy to use. Synapse allows you to make macros as well however, the software only supports simple Macros. Other companies have released software’s that will enable you to create complex Macros that puts them miles ahead of the Synapse software. Lastly, the software has several instances of crashing reported by customers. There have been various errors that force gamers to download update files that fix the software. In spite of it being key to getting the best out of your mouse, the software has several drawbacks and is one of the primary reasons why people choose other companies.
Competitors
If you don’t fancy the Razer series and the exceptional performance, there are alternatives that you can go for that perform on a level that is close to or equal the DeathAdder. One other option you can opt for is the Razer Mamba Elite, another entry in the line-up of Razers great gaming mice. The Mamba Elite is a step up from the DeathAdder Elite, and both mice have very similar prices. The Mamba has more buttons as well and comes with a few more lighting options. Razer’s biggest competitors outside of their range are arguably SteelSeries. The SteelSeries Rival 600 is a top of the line gaming mouse that can compete for the neck in neck with the DeathAdder Elite. It may not be able to offer the same in terms of DPI range but offers the range several gamers require. Additionally, the mouse has an exceptional design, and the new sensor performs well. The technology allows for even greater accuracy in tracking movements as well. There are several other mice in the SteelSeries line that would enable for outstanding performance at a lower price than the DeathAdder Elite.
Conclusion
The Razer DeathAdder Elite is genuinely one of the most iconic gaming mice of all time. It offers incredibly accurate tracking, very high range of sensitivity and the mechanical buttons have also fixed the long-standing double clicking issue. There is no time better than this to upgrade your mouse and buy the DeathAdder Elite.
Another advantage of this iconic is that it is never too difficult to find one you can borrow, so you can even try using the mouse and experience the unique shape on its own as well. It is true that due to it being a large sized mouse the DeathAdder Elite is better suited to people with larger hands. However, the issue can also be resolved by adjusting your grip, as the mouse feels comfortable in all different positions.
The only drawback with the Razer DeathAdder Elite series is the software which is a minor price to pay for top quality level gaming; it’s worth buying and using at least once in your life.
Posts you may also like: