Custom PC - UK (2020-02)

T

he Razer Tartarus Pro isan
the company’s gamepadp
you’re unfamiliar with theT
devices are basically standalone gami
would use primarily in place of a norm
provides a more ergonomic shapefor
and it’s more compact than a normalk
topositionina waythatfeels comforta
keylayoutputsmorekeysintocloserr
normalkeyboard.
Yougeta totalof 19 keysthatsitunderyourfingers,with
anotherbuttonunderyourthumb.Inbetweenthemis a D-pad
thatyoucancontrolwithyourthumbanda scrollwheelthat
sitsnexttoyourindexfinger.It’sa smartlydesigneddevice
thatprovidesa muchmorecomfortablewaytogoaboutPC
gaming.Weparticularlylikethewaythekeysalllineupin
columns,makingit fareasiertotapkeysthatareaboveor
belowthefourcentralWASD-equivalentbuttons.
Thewrist-restsectionis particularlywelcome,providinga
softpadatthebaseanda gentlycurvedmiddlesectionon
whichyourestthepalmofyourhand.Buildqualityis decent
too,withthenewopticalmechanicalkeysbeinga big
upgradeovertheTartarusV2,althoughthescrollwheelis
a bitindistinctwithitsnotches.
Moreover,it takesa lotofusetogetthehangofusingit,
particularlyasthekeysarejustlabelled01-19,soyoucan’t
glancedowntocheckwhichbuttonyou’repressing– you
findyourselfasking‘whatnumberwas‘R’mappedtoagain?’
andsoon.Youcanexpecttospenda coupleofweeksat
leastofregularusebeforeit startstofeelnatural,andthat
learningcurvecankickinagainif, forsomereason,you’re
forcedtousea normalkeyboardforgamingagainfora while.
Allofwhichbringsustothekeynewinnovationwiththe
ProversionoftheTartarus:itsanalogueswitches.These

p g y y

itsheight,allowingyoutocontroltheintensityofyour

inputacrossa 3.6mmspanoftotalkeytravel.Basically,

youcontroltheresponseofthekeysbyhowhardyou

pressthem.

Forthelikesofracinggames,flightsimsandevensome

first-personshooters,thisfeaturecanadda veryuseful

analogueelementtoyourinputs.However,therelatively

smalltraveldistancemeansit’sstillsomewayoffthetruly

precisefeelofa propersteeringwheel,a setofracing

pedalsora joystick.

However,a potentiallymoreusefulapplicationis thatyou

canassigna secondaryfunctiontobeactivatedwhena key

is pressedtoa certaindepth.Forinstance,youcanseta key

tosenda Wsignal(walk)whenpressedlightlyorShift+W

(run)whenpressedfully.

Again,it’sexactusefulnesswillvarygreatlydependingon

thegameyou’replaying,butthe potentialis there.Crucially,

though,witha priceof£129incVAT,you’llreallywanttohave

a fewapplicationsinmindfortheseextrafunctionsif you’re

thinkingofbuyingthiscontroller.

Conclusion

TheTartarusPromakesfora versatilegamepad/controller

thathasthepotentialtorevolutioniseyourgaming.It could

beparticularlyusefulforlaptopgamerslookingfora space-

savingkeyboardupgrade.However,itsappealis verymuch

dependentonthetypesofgamesyouplay,andyou’llneed

sometimetogetusedtoit.

EDWARDCHESTER

VERDICT

Aversatilegamepad,butitsanaloguekeyshavenicheappeal.

OVERALLSCORE

78 %

DESIGN

15 / 20

FEATURES

17 / 20

PERFORMANCE

24 / 30

VALUE

SPEC^22 /^30

Dimensions (mm) 202 x 145 x 60 (W x D x H)

Buttons 32 programmable keys, scroll wheel, D-pad

Cable 2m, braided

Extras Analogue press tracking, dual-actuation keys

TARTARESAUCE

+ Compactand

versatile

+ Analogue controls

great for some

games

+ Well built

TA R TA R

• Steep learning
  curve


• Pricey

SUPPLIER razer.com

RAZER

TARTARUS P

/£130 inc VAT

GAMEPAD

REVIEWS / PERIPHERALS

intriguingupdateto

roductline.In case

Tartarusline-up,these

ingkeypads thatyou

alkeyboard.It

restingyourhand,

keyboard, soit’s easier

able.Meanwhile,its

reach than with a use an optical tracking system in each key to monitor TARTARE SAUCE

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