MAY 2020 PCWorld 95optical mouse switches. And hey, they’ve
started marketing them correctly! Sure, there’s
still a mention of optical switches being “three
times faster” than boring ol’ mechanical
switches (a near-meaningless metric), but
that’s no longer the central part of Razer’s
sales pitch.
Instead Razer’s focusing on the aspect that
matters, i.e., durability. Optical switches are
less prone to wear and tear than traditional
metal circuits, because a laser won’t break no
matter how hard or how often you mash on it.
As I said when reviewing the DeathAdder V2,
I don’t think optical switches are a rush-out-
and-buy upgrade. The current models are stiffsubstantial
weight off the
design here.
Given the
reduction in
footprint, a .30
ounce difference
actually seems
fairly tame.
But the Viper
Mini only suffers
in comparison to
the Viper, and
that’s not fair.
Both have
incredibly
impressive specs
if you’re used to
standard (read:
heavy) gaming mice and you’re on the hunt
for something lighter. The Viper Mini is almost
as light as mice like the Air58 Ninja (go.
pcworld.com/ar58), at a fraction of the price
and without the honeycombed chassis
common with ultra-lightweight devices.
Me? I prefer a heavier mouse, and find the
Viper Mini a bit insubstantial. But as with the
size, that’s personal preference. Razer set out
to make a lightweight mouse, and then did it,
and it’s not up to me to condemn the Viper
Mini for that.
What can I judge the Viper Mini on, then?
First of all, the switches. Like the
DeathAdder V2, the Viper Mini uses Razer’s