Review: Razer SWTOR Mouse

Today I got my hands on the Star Wars: The Old Republic mouse made by Razer. Now, if you've read my previous posts on the topic, you'll know I generally find the concept of licensed hardware for specific games to be a bit silly. But, I figured I'd give at least one a chance.

On paper, this mouse is basically a reskin of the Razer Naga Epic. It is a right-hand ergonomic mouse marketed towards the MMO crowd; in addition to the usual left + right clicks and scroll wheel, it has an auxiliary button under the wheel, and 12 (yes, twelve) thumb buttons. The main differences are all physical; this mouse ditches the usual black rubber coating and blue lighting of Razer mice for a light gray body, more angular shape than typical Razer mice, and a backlit faction logo that you can swap out, depending on your personal preference of Republic vs. Empire. (hint: the correct answer is clearly Republic. )

Just like the regular Naga Epic, the SWTOR mouse is capable of wired or wireless connection at a full 1,000Hz. The wireless transmitter is a dock attached to a removable USB cable, similar to that of the Mamba. Sorry for those of you hoping for a Logitech-style micro receiver. However, given the fact that this type of mouse is generally intended for relatively stationary desktop use, I personally prefer the dock-style receiver, as I can charge the mouse just by dropping it on top of the dock whenever I walk away, instead of having to plug it in.

On that note, the actual cable is much easier to insert and remove than the one on my Mamba, but it still stays in firmly unless you actually pull it out. The dock is significantly smaller than that of the Mamba, and it's weighted to better anchor it to your desk and prevent it from sliding around.

The laser is the same 5,600 DPI laser sensor used by the first-generation Mamba and Imperator, as well as the Lachesis and Naga series. Not necessarily the highest quality sensor, but you really can't notice. Lift-off tracking is virtually negligible, and frankly, due to the shape and weight of the mouse, it's not the kind of mouse you'll be picking up and re-placing a whole lot anyway.

The twelve thumb buttons are arranged in a grid with 1, 2 and 3 being the furthest away from your thumb towards the tip of the mouse, and 10, 11 and 12 being the closest to the base of the mouse. The mouse has two "modes" by default that directly affect the twelve thumb buttons, controllable via a physical switch on the bottom of the mouse. In the default position, the thumb buttons act as the top row of number keys on your keyboard, with buttons 1 though 9 being...well, numbers 1 through 9, and button 10 being 0, and 11 and 12 being - and =, respectively. In the other mode, the buttons act as the numeric keypad instead, with the numbers all being the same, button 11 being the - on the keypad, and 12 being the + on the keypad. In this mode, the buttons are subject to Num Lock, just like the numeric keypad on your keyboard. This is all at the hardware level, with no driver software required to configure.

The software itself is a pleasant surprise; it uses Razer's new "Synapse 2.0", which allows you to sync settings to your online account. Compared to my Mamba's software, this program is much more responsive and fast. You can control your DPI settings, polling rate and all the usual stuff, as well as lighting (the scroll wheel lighting and dock lighting can be made any color), and power options like sleep timer.

Physically, the SWTOR mouse is more comfortable than it looks. I've given companies a hard time in the past for making mice and keyboards that sacrifice ergonomics in order to maintain a visual theme for whatever game they're tied to. This mouse has a very angular look to it; the body itself is curved overalll, but the edges where the side meets the top are very defined and sharp-looking. But the way my hand rests on it, my hand is not bothered by any of these lines, and it's surprisingly comfortable to hold for long periods of time. That said, I've used the original wired Naga, and it's significantly more comfortable and natural-feeling, so my prediction wasn't entirely off.

Also, the buttons are unpleasantly stiff, requiring more pressure than they ought to in order to click. I've had the right-click in particular fail to register on several occasions today because I pressed hard enough to make it click, but not trigger the signal. The thumb buttons are more reliable, but I still feel like I have to squeeze the sides of the mouse harder than I should. Good for preventing accidental button presses, I suppose, but it's still too stiff to me.

You're obviously not going to get too much benefit from this in everyday browsing or most shooter games, so I put it to the test in its intended environment - Star Wars: The Old Republic. The default thumb button setup (the number row, 1 through =) coincides with the default in-game bindings for your bottom skill hotbar, so I rearranged my skills to put my most used skills in that single bar. The way my hand naturally rests on the mouse, the middle two rows, 4-6 and 7-9, are the most easily pressed, while I have to move my thumb a bit to get 1-3 and 10-12, so I put my most common abilities on those middle slots. It takes a bit of getting used to in order to be able to feel which button you're hitting without looking, and it cost me a few misplaced skills over the course of the day, but I'm more comfortable with it now. It's definitely handy for healing in PvP, being able to cast heals and buffs on the fly without having to click the icon in the bar or move my hand from WASD to the number row. And the bonus black-green color crystal that you get in-game from this mouse looks wicked awesome.

tl;dr - this is a good mouse. Not the greatest I've had from Razer, but if you're really into SWTOR and want your mouse to match, it's certainly not a bad choice. It's solidly built and it's definitely convenient as hell in-game, but the stiffness of the buttons and imperfect ergonomics won't let it replace my Mamba as my daily everything mouse. Unless you really want the exclusive color crystal, I would recommend the Naga Epic over this.

A couple of photos:

Spoiler

Hopefully this proves useful to someone, and thanks to anyone who takes the time to read it.

 

Do you buy anything that is not Razer?

Seems that is all you get & recommend these days....

 

I keep buying what I like.

Most of the stuff I use currently is Razer, yes, though I've also had Logitech MX518 and G9 mice, G15 keyboard and I currently use their Z-2300 speakers, as well as the Plantronics GameCom 377 headset, Thermaltake and Steelseries mousepads, and probably some other stuff I'm forgetting. I don't exclusively recommend Razer gear; I just happen to personally enjoy their products the most. I'll still recommend a G400 in mouse threads, for example.

 

They should have updated the sensor...as it is, just the extra buttons alone aren't going to make me change a 2012 Mamba.

Also not a huge fan of angular mice.

P.S. Everyone knows Imps are better. Imps shoot lightning. Pubs toss pebbles.

 

Is that a wig on your wrist

 

Schweet schweet mouse.
And hairy hairy hands.

A shame Razer ergonomics are invariably not my bag, so it'd likely be an ornamental dustmagnet pretty soon - and I've already got one of those in the form of the Contagion. But still, would be nice to have...