14 DAY TRIAL // Razer has earned a well-deserved place in the hearts of many gamers out there, and to be honest, it’s really no surprise why.
The company builds an always-expanding lineup of gaming accessories with a special focus on customization and premium quality, all without (always) stepping away from the affordable price tags that allow Razer to appeal to the masses at the same time.
From this perspective, the Razer Basilisk V3 is a device that perfectly aligns with this approach. More affordable than its predecessor, the new mouse is first and foremost aimed at gamers, though at the same time, it’s capable of doing so much more and can easily replace your daily driver even for working on a PC.
Just like the other Razer accessories, the Basilisk sports impressive build quality. And not only that it feels premium to the touch, but it also looks exquisite, and it’s pretty clear the parent company has spent a considerable amount of time to get everything right in this regard.
This is why Razer has equipped its wired gaming mouse with RGB effects and a total of 11 different lighting zones. The way the lights look is impressive, to say the least, especially in a dark room, and the mouse also comes with a special light on the underside that reminds me of the neon lights (the underglow effect) that could be installed on cars in Need for Speed Underground.
The RGB effects alone make Razer’s Synapse a piece of software that you can’t live without. And as you’ll see a few minutes later, Synapse is a must-have application especially if you want to unleash the full capabilities of the mouse. But as far as the lighting is concerned, this customization tool lets you do pretty much anything you want, from changing colors to enabling different effects in pure Chroma style.
Getting back to the design of the Basilisk V3, let’s set things straight from the very beginning. This isn’t the kind of mouse for small hands, but unless you have ridiculously tiny hands, you should be able to use it just fine. However, kids might have a hard time reaching all 10 programmable buttons, especially if they want to maintain a good grip during gaming.
If you’re a casual gamer and you’re mostly used with laptop-sized mice, it’ll take a while before you’re finally capable of taking full advantage of the Basilisk V3 design. So just try to find the best position and then stick to it until it all feels natural.
Tipping the scales at 104 grams, the new mouse isn’t light, but it’s not super-heavy either. Indeed, it’s heavier than its predecessor, which had a weight of 92 grams, but while playing CS:GO, I actually felt the need for an even heavier mouse that sticks to my pad even during sudden moves.
And speaking of gaming, let’s get to the part that’s so important: the performance of the mouse.
The V3 is equipped with an improved Focus+ sensor that maxes out at 26K DPI, and it also features a dedicated button to adjust the settings on the go. This is quite a good idea, especially because as I said earlier, you can use the mouse for a wide variety of activities besides gaming, so with this dedicated DPI configuration button, it’s possible to adjust the settings without the need for opening Synapse.
Given the array of buttons, the Basilisk V3 fits FPS games like a glove, simply because you can map each button for different stuff, such as buying different weapons, for extra convenience. Again, it takes a while until you get used to each configuration, but once you do, the Basilisk V3 becomes a must-have weapon of your gaming arsenal.
The mouse offers excellent grip, and this is extremely important during heavy gaming, especially with some sweaty hands. I’m not necessarily a hardcore gamer, but I couldn’t ignore the potential of the Basilisk V3, especially when it comes to first-person shooters.
Each button offers perfect feedback, and the clicky sensation that it offers is easily noticeable in your finger even with your headphones on.
But as I said, the Basilisk V3 isn’t all about gaming, and the improvements that Razer has made on this mouse made it just the perfect choice even for someone who’s just a casual gamer and also spends a lot of time working on their PCs (uh, who doesn’t, right?).
And the living proof is none other than its smart scroll wheel. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, just make sure you install Razer Synapse first and then try to scroll while browsing the web.
Synapse lets you enable scroll acceleration, which essentially increases the scroll speed the faster you scroll. So it’s much easier to reach the end of a long document, though it takes a time to get used to how it works and therefore stop at the right time.
The smart reel, however, is the icing on the cake when it comes to scrolling on the Basilisk V3.
So basically, what this option does is to “automatically activate the free-spin scrolling mode as you quickly flick the scroll wheel and return to Tactile Cycling when there’s no scroll wheel movement.” In other words, the mouse can adjust the feedback it offers to you depending on how you scroll.
So for instance, if you just scroll a few lines up and down, you should get the clicky effect that provides you enough feedback to let you know what’s happening. If you’re scrolling faster, especially in a large document, the mouse itself should notice what you’re doing and disable the clicky feedback, instead enabling the free spin that lets you scroll much faster without any effect.
This works amazingly well, but like the other features, it takes a while to get used to it. But now that I’ve used the device for several weeks, I don’t think I can go back to a mouse without a smart reel, especially because I typically spend a lot of time online where scrolling on large websites happens on a regular basis.
All in all, the Basilisk V3 is the kind of mouse the grows on you, and the more you use it, the more you discover it’s capable of all kinds of things. Synapse is a must-have piece of software if you want to unleash its full power and customize everything from what each button does to lighting effects, but to be honest, this isn’t necessarily a surprise in the first place.
If there’s something that should be improved on the V3, it’s the overall size. While I’ve seen people complaining about the weight, saying the mouse should be lighter, I think that its current dimensions make it rather difficult to use, especially with small hands.
If anything, it takes a while to get used to its size, but let’s not forget that you should be able to figure out where each button is located without looking at the mouse, and unless your hand has a good grip and feels comfortable on it, doing this is pretty much impossible.
But at the end of the day, Razer has created a mix with very few compromises, and at $69.99, the Basilisk V3 is one of the best decently-priced mice currently on the market. It’s not necessarily the best, but it’s an all-rounder that’s also aimed at casual gamers who want a mouse for simple things like working.
