Razer DeathAdder V3 Pro review: Legendary lightweight

If you’re shopping for a Razer product this year, expect to find a lot of “V3” revisions. Earlier this year, it was the Razer Kraken V3 HyperSense. And now it’s the DeathAdder V3 Pro plus the Basilisk V3 Pro mice, primarily targeted at gamers. If you’re in the market for a lightweight gaming and everyday mouse, the Razer DeathAdder V3 Pro is well worth weighing up.

With a $269 RRP, the price is right for the Razer DeathAdder V3 Pro next to its peers. This is roughly the same price you can expect to pay at full-priced retailers for the Logitech G502 X Plus, SteelSeries Aerox 5 Wireless and the Roccat Kone XP Air Wireless. All of these gaming mice hang around the $250 to $300 mark. Nab the Razer DeathAdder V3 Pro for under $250 and you’re laughing.

The only proviso, though, is there’s an optional Razer HyperPolling Wireless Dongle you can buy and pair with the Razer DeathAdder V3 Pro for $54.95 RRP. It’s a reasonable price for an ultimately optional albeit future-proofed upgrade, which lifts the polling rate from max 1,000Hz to 4,000Hz. Admittedly, 1,000Hz still feels incredibly smooth, and anything above that polling rate may have a negative impact on CPU-driven games.

Straight out of the box, the Razer DeathAdder V3 Pro feels great in hand. As is the trend these days, the Razer DeathAdder V3 Pro is built for right-handers only, and you’ll get five practical buttons on top plus the scroll wheel.

Flip over the Razer DeathAdder V3 Pro for a power/DPI button. While it’s nice to have a power button, the Razer DeathAdder V3 Pro is the Energizer Bunny of gaming mice: it just keeps going and going. My battery test started one afternoon, and all I did was drop the automatic ‘low battery mode’ to 5% instead of the default 30%. After dozens of hours of use and never once powering it off between uses, I didn’t get a low-battery warning until 11 days later.

In terms of charging, you’re looking at around 57% of juice per hour of charge. As for the actual setup, it’s as easy as you’d hope. Plug the braided and appropriately flexible USB-C to USB-A cable into a spare USB-A port on your computer, and the USB-C port either into the mouse directly or into the dongle port. Alternatively, you can also connect the USB-A 2.4GHz dongle directly into your computer. But keeping it in the dongle makes it an easier process to shift between recharging the mouse and flicking back to wireless mode.

At this stage, “glides like a dream” is going to be put on my headstone because of how often I use it in relation to modern gaming mice. That sentiment is absolutely true of the Razer DeathAdder V3 Pro, and this lightweight beauty helps to make that glide feel even smoother.

Admittedly, that ‘lightweight at all costs’ approach means you won’t find Bluetooth in the Razer DeathAdder V3 Pro, which is a shame on the versatility front. Still, the Razer DeathAdder V3 Pro is a strong contender to replace my ageing Razer Viper Ultimate, which is the current mouse I use for everyday computing and offline gaming.

Speaking of gaming, the Razer DeathAdder V3 Pro is great for most mainstream games. While it doesn’t have the button count to make it the best fit for strategy, MOBA and MMO fans, it’s excellent for shooters and other action games. The Razer DeathAdder V3 Pro never skipped a beat and feels great with my hybrid palm grip. I’m typically more of a fan of gaming mice with heft for playing online shooters, but it was a quick adjustment for the Razer DeathAdder V3 Pro’s lightweight design, and I never once felt it made me whiff any shots.

Compared to the Razer DeathAdder V2 Pro, the V3 Pro will feel very familiar. There are slight tweaks to the design, but both mice are made for right-handers with larger hands who favour either a palm or claw grip.

In the two years between releases, the focus is more on the innards. While the V2 Pro is more versatile with included Bluetooth support, the V3 Pro is lighter (63g vs 88g). The Razer DeathAdder V3 Pro also boasts the latest Razer optical sensor, with better sensitivity, max IPS speed and max acceleration, as well as third-gen optical switches (the V2 Pro has gen-two switches).

In practical terms, expect better battery life from the V3 Pro vs the V2 Pro for 2.4GHz comparisons, while the former also is rated for 90 million clicks while the V2 Pro is 70 million. The Razer DeathAdder V2 Pro is still a great gaming mouse, and you can save bucks by choosing it over the V3 Pro. Admittedly, outside of dropping Bluetooth, everything else feels like a refinement in the V3 Pro.

If you’re a right-handed mouse user with average to larger hands, the Razer DeathAdder V3 Pro is a great companion for everyday use and most gaming scenarios. It’s a shame the Bluetooth is gone, but the lightweight chassis, upgraded sensor and switches combine for a refined DeathAdder that’s very impressive.