iMore Verdict
The Razer Viper V3 Pro is a phenomenal mouse. Lightweight, smooth, accurate and satisfying in use, it’s a brilliant all-rounder for work and play. It’s just a shame about the price and lack of macOS compatibility for the Synapse app.
Pros
- +
Very lightweight
- +
Glides smoothly on mouse mats
- +
Buttons are satisfying to use
- +
Accurate sensor
Cons
- -
Companion app doesn’t work with macOS
- -
Very expensive
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The Razer Viper V3 Pro is the company’s top-end symmetrical esports mouse. It offers wired and wireless modes (the latter using Razer’s HyperSpeed dongle), a Focus Pro 35K optical sensor, optical button switches and up to 95 hours of battery life at the 1,000 Hz polling rate.
Compared to the more affordable Razer Viper V3 HyperSpeed, the Pro model is more than twice as expensive, and its 95 hours of battery life can’t match the former’s 280 hours. Yet it also packs in wired connectivity in addition to wireless HyperSpeed, optical switches under the buttons versus mechanical switches, and a much lower weight. It’s probably one of the best wireless mice for Mac you can buy.
Razer Viper V3 Pro: Price and availability
The Razer Viper V3 Pro costs $159.99/£159.99 and is available from Razer’s website and third-party retailers.
Razer Viper V3 Pro: What I love
When you pick up the Razer Viper V3 Pro, you’ll immediately notice how lightweight it is. We weighed it at 55g, making it one of Razer’s lightest mice. I love how it can be quickly moved around without feeling like it’s dragging you down. I also appreciate that Razer has achieved this without poking the mouse full of holes like a cheese grater – an unfortunate technique employed by some rivals.
The experience is aided by the incredibly smooth way it glides over your mouse mat. There are two large white pads on the underside of the Viper V3 Pro, and these enable it to quickly cover ground on a variety of surfaces. It’s beautifully fluid in use.
Combined with all that smoothness, the mouse feels reliable and accurate. Its DPI rating (which essentially determines your pointer’s sensitivity) goes all the way up to 35,000. There’s no way I’d need anything remotely close to that much, but it’s worth knowing if you’re looking for that kind of rating.
Pushing the left and right buttons feels perfectly balanced – not too firm, not too soft — and they sound pleasingly clicky without being overly loud. The scroll wheel, meanwhile, is tactile and precise, meaning you can quickly turn it just one ratchet even in high-speed gaming sessions. I’d prefer it if it was slightly looser (or if you could adjust its resistance), but that’s only a minor complaint considering how good it feels.
The mouse’s wireless HyperSpeed dongle doesn’t plug directly into your Mac, but instead connects to a long USB-C to USB-A cable. That means your connection is always solid, as you can position the dongle close to your mouse. The sacrifice is that the cable clutters up your desk, and you’ll also need an adapter if your Mac doesn’t have any USB-A ports.
The Viper V3 Pro lacks any RGB lighting, even on the logo – an unusual departure for Razer. While your opinion of RGB comes down to personal taste, the lack of lighting means there’s much less drain on the battery. In my case, I’d rather take longer battery life than some shiny lights that I won’t look at anyway.
Razer Viper V3 Pro: What I don’t love
Let’s address the elephant in the room first: software. All Razer mice link up with the company’s Synapse app, and this is used to adjust the mouse’s sensitivity, create button macros, tweak its power-saving settings, and more. The problem, though, is that Synapse doesn’t work in macOS, and while Razer says compatibility is on the way, we don’t know when it will arrive. For now, you’ll have to use a third-party app to adjust your mouse settings, or just go without. It’s a real pain.
That problem is illustrated by the mouse’s side buttons. They don’t do anything out of the box, and without Synapse, you’ll have to configure them using a third-party app.
There’s also no on/off button on the underside of the mouse, and instead the Viper V3 Pro will enter sleep mode when it’s idle for five minutes (you can change this duration in Synapse … if you have a PC). You can wake it up by moving the mouse, but I feel like it would be better for battery life to be able to actually turn off the mouse when required.
At $159.99/£159.99, the Razer Viper V3 Pro is also very expensive, and unless you play a lot of games on your Mac, that kind of price is hard to justify. That said, it is a superb performer, so if you want a truly premium-feeling device, it’s a top contender.
Razer Viper V3 Pro: Competition
The Logitech Pro X Superlight 2 gaming mouse is a solid competitor to the Razer Viper V3 Pro. Like Razer’s pointer, it is feather light (weighing 60g), smooth on your mouse mat and lacks RGB. It costs $159.99/£149.
Alternatively, there’s the Turtle Beach Burst II Air, which cuts the bulk down to a measly 47g. You get 120 hours of battery life and a 26,000 DPI sensor for $99.99/£99.99.
Razer Viper V3 Pro: Should you buy it?
You should buy this if…
- You need a great all-rounder mouse
- You want your mouse to be as lightweight as possible
- You don’t like RGB lighting
You shouldn’t buy this if…
- You want an easy way to customise your mouse settings
- You don’t want to pay so much for a mouse
- You don’t want a cable that clutters up your desk even in wireless mode
Razer Viper V3 Pro: Verdict
The Razer Viper V3 Pro is a phenomenal mouse. Lightweight, smooth, accurate and satisfying in use, it’s a brilliant all-rounder for work and play. It’s just a shame about the price and lack of macOS compatibility for the Synapse app.
Bottom line:
The Razer Viper V3 Pro doesn’t have many bells and whistles, but what it does do, it does incredibly well.
