We’ll have to get our hands on it to find out if those perforations have as much of an impact on overall comfort as they do on weight. Razer
Almost from the day of its release a few years ago, two things have remained true about the Razer Viper Mini Gaming Mouse: It was hugely popular thanks to its impressive feature set for its sub-$50 price tag, and everyone and their brother wanted a wireless edition.
Today, Razer finally unveiled its response to all of these requests: the Razer Viper Mini Signature Edition. What Razer has created is one of the most intriguing mice to come out in years, but it might not be for everyone.
Even the internals have been clearly designed to look premium, which makes sense given their visibility. Razer
The first thing you’ll notice is that the use of a perforated shell for weight reduction has been taken to extremes here. While there aren’t any holes on the side panels or the parts of the main buttons where your fingers rest, the entire rear of the mouse is mostly holey. This, combined with the switch from standard plastic to a magnesium alloy, has allowed Razer to reduce the weight of the model to just 49 grams, down from the 61g of the original Mini, even with the battery and the additional hardware required for wireless operation.
The white and yellow feet use a more standard PTFE material, while the black ones are Corning Gorilla Glass 3 and should offer a smoother glide. Razer
In addition to being the lightest mouse ever created by Razer, the new Viper Mini Signature Edition also comes with a Razer 4000Hz Wireless HyperPolling Dongle and an extra set of mouse feet in Corning Gorilla Glass 3 material. More mundane packs include two sets of adhesive mouse grips, a charging cable, a second set of PTFE feet, and two alcohol prep pads to swap out all those adhesive feet and grips. The overall package speaks of a premium shopping experience, and therein lies the catch: the price.
Even at launch, the Viper Mini sold for around $50 or less, a fraction of the roughly $200 of the starting price flagship mice like Razer Viper V2 Pro or Logitech G Pro X Superlight launched in recent years. In the months that followed, it became common to find a Viper Mini available for $35 or less. So many of the more vocal seekers might have expected the Wireless Edition of the mouse to be an equally budget-friendly alternative to the Viper V2 Pro. It’s not. It’s $280.
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On the one hand, asking for a price for this mouse that would be enough to buy around eight of its wired predecessors might seem like folly. But, Razer is clearly positioning this not as a standard wireless update to an existing wired mouse, but rather as an entirely new class of premium mouse that just so happens to leverage the ultra-popular Viper Mini shape. Essentially, it might look like a mini Viper, albeit heavily punched, but it’s not…it’s something new. Don’t be surprised if we see Signature Edition versions of the full-size Viper and other Razer mice if this company does well.
The box looking like something a Swiss watch might come with should give you a hint that this mouse wouldn’t come cheap. Razer
It remains to be seen how Razer’s most premium mouse will sit with fans. There will likely be outrage, but I strongly suspect that Razer will have no problem selling every unit it has on hand, especially since the company doesn’t run it like a normal release. Instead, it makes “drops”. Anyone who thought “They use magnesium, and so does Finalmouse” when they read the information above should be familiar with drops. They are timed, usually quickly sold out stock packages that are split to help ship products in small batches.
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While Razer hasn’t shared its expected production volumes, its use of drops certainly indicates that supplies are lower than a typical flagship release. If you want to try and grab one, the first drop is currently scheduled for 8:00 a.m. PT on February 11, exclusively on Razer.com. There will definitely be more drops to come, but we don’t know how long you’ll have to wait for the next one.
Keep your eyes on ZDNET for more coverage of the Razer Viper Mini Signature Edition.