96 PCWorld MAY 2020REVIEWS RAZER VIPER MINI
and loud compared to mechanicals. I do think
they’ll eventually become standard though,
because why not? I’m not prone to breaking
mice, but the added resilience is still
welcome.
The Viper Mini also uses Razer’s new
SpeedFlex cable, easily the best cabling
option around today. As I wrote in our
DeathAdder V2 review:
“At this point I’ve completely changed
over to wireless mice for day-to-day use,
thanks to Logitech’s PowerPlay charging tech.
That said, if I were still using wired mice, this
cabling is what I’d want on every single
mouse I own.
“It’s supple, both the fabric sheathe and
the wiring inside. It doesn’t kink. It doesn’ttangle. It doesn’t catch on anything. It’s the
best cabling solution I’ve tested short of, you
know, not having a cable at all.”
So yeah, high praise.
The only real downside to the Viper Mini
is the sensor. Whether to cut down on price
or on weight, I don’t know, but Razer has
opted not to use its top-tier PMW 3360
spinoff, the 3389 sensor (also known as the
Razer 5G Optical).
Instead, the Viper Mini uses a PMW
3359—which, as far as I can tell, was invented
specifically for this mouse. Numbers aren’t
everything, but they do indicate this is a
budget sensor. Where Razer’s 3389/5G
Optical sensor hits 16,000 DPI, the 3359 tops
out at 8,500. Maximum speed has also taken
a hit, with the Viper
Mini capped at 300
inches-per-second
compared to the
3389’s 450.
Does it matter?
Probably not.
Having tested the
Viper Mini and the
3359 both with
some basic
benchmarks and
in-game, it seems
every bit as capable
as the 3360/3389
(up to the DPI cap
at least). That’s