It hasn’t been that long since Razer’s Min Liang Tan started a campaign to see just how many people wanted a left-handed Naga which immediately garnered a lot of attention. What that campaign ended up proving is that there’s plenty of lefties out there hungry for a gaming mice but to create a left and right handed version of a single product provides a challenge for any manufacturer and the most viable course of action is to provide a solution that caters to both left and right-handed users. Enter the Razer Taipan. We’ll check out this latest ambidextrous offering from Razer and see if it’s worthy of its tagline. Let’s make this showy!
Razer’s been hard at work lately introducing a ton of new products for the gaming crowd and even venturing into newer territories inserting itself into other endeavors. The last Razer product we had in our lab was the SWTOR mouse which despite the fate of its co-branding, is still top tier gaming pedigree and along with that was the NagaHEX, certainly one of the best mice we’ve ever used. Fast-forward to today and we have a slew of new products from Razer. Today we have the Razer Taipan, an ambidextrous gaming mouse intended for both left and right handed users (yes, that’s what ambidextrous means.) Let’s get some specs and images out before we get to testing.
FEATURES & SPECIFICATIONS
- 4G Dual Sensor System – 8200dpi
- Ambidextrous form factor
- Razer Synapse 2.0 enabled
- 9 programmable Hyperesponse buttons
- 1000Hz Ultrapolling / 1ms response time
- Up to 200 inches per second / 50g acceleration
- Approximate size: 124 mm / 4.88†(Length) x 63 mm / 2.48†(Width) x 36 mm / 1.42†(Height)
- Approximate Weight: 132 g / 0.29 lbs
Being an ambidextrous mouse, the Taipan uses a uniform design to suit varying users. Razer prides itself in its ergonomic design capabilities and the Taipan culminates what Razer has done for it’s left- and right-handed products. Back to the Taipan’s physical appearance, the Taipan features Razer’s matte black finish on the body with the signature logo adorning the center.
Looking from the sides, we can see the new side grips as well as the slim side buttons. Another refresh is the texture on the scroll wheel. One of the most distinct physical feature of the Taipan are the front vents which are mostly for style rather anything functional. It still looks wicked sick though.
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Checking out the underside of the Taipan, we see the 4G sensor rated up to 8200DPI tracking.
[singlepic id=8867 w=550 h=450 float=center]The Taipan features the usual 1.5m braided cable with the gold-plated USB plug.
[singlepic id=8876 w=550 h=450 float=center] [/tab] [tab] [one_half last=”no”][singlepic id=8858 w=270 h=225 float=center][/one_half][one_half last=”yes”][singlepic id=8859 w=270 h=225 float=center][/one_half]The Razer Taipan comes packaged in Razer’s typical mice packaging: black box with green accents with a shot of the image in middle. A stylized naming logo is written below. Moving on to the back we have another angle of the product with multiple marketing text and feature highlights.
[one_half last=”no”][singlepic id=8860 w=270 h=225 float=center][/one_half][one_half last=”yes”][singlepic id=8861 w=270 h=225 float=center][/one_half]As Team Razer continuously add more teams to its roster of professional gaming teams, Razer has more insight in designing their products by collaborating with these individuals. Aside from more marketing text and feature bullets, we got team logos adorning the side of the Taipan’s packaging.
[singlepic id=8862 w=580 h=500 float=center]The Taipan’s front cover flips open to let potential buyers a glimpse of what’s inside. It’s no Mamba crystal case, but it’ll do.
[one_half last=”no”][singlepic id=8865 w=270 h=225 float=center][/one_half][one_half last=”yes”][singlepic id=8866 w=270 h=225 float=center][/one_half]The package inlet has changed a bit which is now slimmer along with the documentation and leaflets.
[/tab] [tab] [singlepic id=8908 w=550 h=500 float=center] [one_half last=”no”][singlepic id=8907 w=270 h=225 float=center][/one_half][one_half last=”yes”][singlepic id=8909 w=270 h=225 float=center][/one_half] [one_half last=”no”][singlepic id=8906 w=270 h=225 float=center][/one_half][one_half last=”yes”][singlepic id=8903 w=270 h=225 float=center][/one_half] [one_half last=”no”][singlepic id=8904 w=270 h=225 float=center][/one_half][one_half last=”yes”][singlepic id=8905 w=270 h=225 float=center][/one_half]The Synapse 2.0 configuration panel for the Taipan isn’t anything special. We got the standard Button editor, Sensitivity options, Macro editor and lighting options. For all those unfamiliar, Synapse 2.0 is Razer’s unified driver and configuration architecture.
[/tab] [/tabs]PERFORMANCE, COMFORT & FUNCTIONALITY
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The Taipan is armed with dual sensor similar to the Imperator 2012 and Mamba 4G, this tech didn’t make its way to the recent Naga revamp and NagaHEX but it’s making its way to the Taipan. This sensor gives the Taipan a maximum of 8200DPI tracking which is just superhuman. Twitch gamers would likely find the higher tracking ceiling favorable but most people would never use it. Before we get fragging, we tweak our setting to 1000hz polling and tailor our DPI stepping. We test out the Taipan in multiple situations starting day to day tasks followed by some heavy gaming with some FPS and RTS. For day to day Windows and productivity tasks, the Taipan is spot and since we do a lot of image-editing and vectoring, the mouse really showed off its precision well in those applications. For gaming, the extended body of the Taipan made it much more pivot-friendly which should make twitch and palm-grip gamers feel very much at home. We loved how Razer retained the DPI switcher in a very accessible area which made the Taipan even more versatile. All in all, the Taipan keeps up with Razer’s performance standard and most importantly our standards.
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Moving on to comfort, as an ambidextrous mouse the Taipan should perform regardless of grip orientation and style. We got some left-handed gamers to try out the Taipan and got their feedback on how the Taipan felt in their hands compared to their regular gaming mice and opinions were very much unanimous: the Taipan feels right and comfortable. On the overall side of things, Razer’s choice of side grips is a very nice touch giving the Taipan a very sturdy feel in the hand. The design itself makes good use of uniform ergonomics which provides a balanced feel for both left and right-handed users. We’ll have to point out that the placement of the side buttons are a bit far from the thumb making one of the buttons out of reach especially for people with smaller hands.
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As for functionality and features, the Taipan may not look like a lot but on a closer look it’s got plenty of gaming juice. First up, we got a couple of thumb buttons which unlike past Razer iterations are more discrete and low-profile. Next is the on-the-fly DPI switcher which is programmable via the Synapse 2.0 configuration panel. Speaking of configuration, much of the Taipan’s button can be tailored for specific gaming use and if you’re nimble enough, both left and right side button sets can be used… if you can reach them all.
CONCLUSION
The Razer Taipan locally retails for around Php3,700 putting it in the upper mid-segment of the gaming peripheral market. At this price range, it competes with a lot of premium competition which the majority lacks the ambidextrous and dual-sensor appeal of the Taipan. The main consideration here is why would you purchase an ambidextrous mouse and that reason is mostly directed at left-handed gamers. A grip agnostic mouse would save Razer manufacturing cost of having to tailor a left-hand variant of every product and this also provides users the benefit of having a mice that everyone can use, and very comfortably at that if they tend to share their gaming station with other people.
[singlepic id=8881 w=580 h=300 float=center]In closing, the Taipan is one solidly built mice with excellent quality and performance we’ve come to expect from Razer. Regardless of grip preference, the Razer Taipan will satisfy to both left- and right-handed users and we can’t find anything we don’t like about it except maybe the lack of a LED variety option which we seen in the SWTOR mouse and as we’ve seen Razer has been straying from the traditional black and blue scheme, we’d have expected a bit of customizability to suit more gamers. Barring that, we find the Taipan an excellent addition to Razer’s expanding product line and highly recommend it to everyone. It’s not revolutionary or anything but it shows love to all gamers and we give it our Recommended as well as our Silver Seal of Appproval.
[one_half last=”no”]HOT
[checklist]- Smooth and solid performance
- High-quality build
- Dual-sensor design for improved tracking
- Ambidextrous for left- and right-handed users
- On the fly DPI switcher
- Programmable buttons
- Simple and stylish
- Very comfortable
[/one_half] [one_half last=”yes”]
NOT
[badlist]- LED lighting only comes in green
1 Comment
This was one of my choices before I bought my Mamba. The only deciding factor that made me say I don’t want this is that feeling that I want to fit in my ring finger on to the other side of the mouse that’s designed for the thumb of lefties. Really odd feeling but I like the shape and fitting.