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
S