If you were to give me a wireless mouse right now and tell me to use it in one of my gaming sessions, I would respectfully decline (all the while thinking you’re a noob.) Its a typical mindset of serious gamers that wireless is equal to weak performance in terms of response times and the ever looming battery is dead problem.
This week we have the Razer Mamba to take it for a spin in the Back2Gaming test lab. Razer bills the Mamba as a gaming grade wireless mouse capable of delivering 1ms response both on and off the cord. Razer claims years of research went into this rodent and we’ll see today what its really capable of.
PACKAGING
Words cannot describe what can simply be summarized as the boldest and most praise inducing packaging that is the Mamba’s acrylic glass casing. Resembling Ikea’s Detolf line, the acrylic glass case showcases the Mamba in all directions. It just oozes with awesome whichever way you look at it… unless you’re blind or something.
Checking out what’s on technically the back of the case are the specifications of the Mamba as well as general features translated into 4 other languages. Let me just put in the specs here:
- Gaming Grade Wireless Technology – gaming grade means its gotta be fast, responsive and damn sexy
- Dual Mode Wired/Wireless Functionality – oohhh a hybrid
- Razer Synapse On-board Memory – that means you can carry it around without having to reconfigure your macros and settings
- Seven independently programmable Hyperesponse buttons – you can basically change all the buttons to do whatever you like aside from clicking
- 5600DPI Razer Precision 3.5G Laser sensor – supahfast
- 1000Hz Ultrapolling / 1ms response rate – supahresponsive
- Up to 200 inches per second*/ 50g acceleration – supahfast
- Approximate size: 128mm x 70mm x 42.5mm – supahsexay
- Battery Life: up to 14hrs (continuous gaming); 72 hours (normal gaming usage) – my my that’s a long time, we’ll see how long it really handles
*Depends on surface used – get yourself a good hard mat… don’t expect this to glide on the backside of your free mousepad you got from that telco you used to work for like I’ve seen you done so many times… yeah, I’m talking to you
CONTENTS
Peeling of the sticker seal and taking off the bottom cover we get to see what’s underneath that glass case. Inside we’ll find 3 boxes stacked on top of each other with the documentation leaflets tucked away in a sort of envelope stacked perpendicular to the main 3 boxes. Covering this is a flap welcoming one into the cult of Razer.
Opening up the 1st box we get a heap of documentation and leaflets.
The main boxes inside contain the Charging Dock, the USB Cable, and the battery and battery port cover. The USB cable is of typical of Razer construction: braided and gold-plated.
Gold-plated USB header.
THE RAZER MAMBA
So getting right to the Mamba itself, the mouse features a rubber coated top case with super-sized buttons and mouse wheel. Pretty reminiscent of its brother the DeathAdder less the glowing logo to extend battery life. Its got a good mix of gloss and flat in it. One thing I would’ve changed here though is the logo color its practically invisible on the butt of the Mamba.
Comparing to the other Razer mice we’ve had here in Back2Gaming, the Mamba is a pretty large mouse comparing to the likes of the Naga with its huge butt or the Imperator’s wide base.
Flipping the mouse on its side, we check out its base. On closer inspection, you’d notice that the base is translucent but doesn’t render much of the inside visible in typical room lighting thought the USB connector is clearly visible. We see the On-Off Switch, the Pairing button, the laser eye and beneath all those is the battery port where you slide the battery in. A little to the side of the hatch are two copper contact points for the charging dock to meet with.
Plugging the Mamba in, we get to see its blue glow. The Charging Dock has a glowing base as well which really adds a nice touch to any desktop… or monitor-top if you’re still into those CRT ones.
PERFORMANCE, COMFORT, RELIABILITY
To start things off… we have to charge the Mamba. And charge it we did. I actually had problems getting the battery to fit but that was just me not snugging the battery cover in so those who get this make sure the battery sits in place and the battery cover is snap closed and tight.  Plugging the dock in and nesting our Mamba on top, we waited. Razer states that full charge capacity is reached in 3 hours charging time if the mouse is in the Off position and 4-5 hours when charged on the dock when set to On. Wired mode also charges the battery of the Mamba. True to Razer’s word, we achieved maximum charge in 3 hours and a couple of minutes of initial charging.
Where do I start? This mouse is just pure sex on the palm to hold. The rubber top prevents slip on the palm and the ergonomic design makes it feel so natural. The side buttons I find a bit out of reach for the size of my hand, also I’m a clawer so I was forced to palm the Mamba to use the side buttons. It felt uncomfortable at first but the excellent ergonomic design really made it feel fine for me even in contrast to my natural position.
On to performance, this one is a killer. With practically no difference in wired and wireless performance, the Mamba just set itself in stone as the best wireless mouse in the universe. Exaggerations aside, the Mamba does not fail to deliver its advertised performance. Using it on different surfaces, it still gave out perfect precision. The ability to change DPI settings on the fly is one feature I’d always like to see, and the Mamba’s DPI switch buttons are well within reach when the situation calls for it. Buttons are very responsive and the jitter bug we’ve seen on the Imperator and Spectre were absent on the Mamba.
Battery life is a bit hard to predict but the advertised 72 hours is a bit of a longshot in my opinion since I’ve used it in the office in full charge and managed to get by 16-17 work hours before the Mamba’s batteries went dead. It did manage to stay alive during my gaming session switching from a ton of games in a span of 6-8 hours.
As for drawbacks, technically there isn’t any. The Mamba is sheer performance perfection and I honestly feel there is nothing else to improve on in terms of performance aside maybe from wishing the battery to last longer, like a week or so. As for looks, I would’ve wanted a bit more life on the Mamba’s exterior. Lights are nice but to conserve battery power, Razer could’ve opted to color their logo a blue shade or they’re standard lizard green color.
CONCLUSION
After reviewing the likes of the Imperator, Naga and Spectre, all of which much favoured wired mice of great performance, I would expect no less from Razer with the Mamba. This mouse delivered on its promise of performance on par with Razer’s top of the line wired offering all the while being unbound by wires.
From its grand packaging to its versatility, the Mamba is one high performance rodent that will not slow you down. All these performance will come at a premium, though. The Mamba is easily Razer’s most expensive mouse offering along with the Naga Epic but considering that wireless mice almost never offer the degree of performance the Mamba delivers, the price is well worth it. So in closing, if you’re looking for a mice that can be both wired and wireless that has performance on the top tier of the game and you’re willing to shell out for it, by all means get it. Nothing better than a clear desktop with no cables snaking around while you smoke haters in your games, right?
