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Viper snakes are known for their aggressive temperaments and lightning-fast attack speeds, so it’s appropriate that Razer would name its latest gaming mouse after the deadly reptile. The Razer Viper is the lightest of its gaming mouse lineup. That means it also hopes to prove the fastest. Its lightweight, ergonomic build and optical mouse switch deliver impressive performance, even if some odd design choices lessen the strength of its bite.
The Razer Viper is a wired mouse with an ambidextrous build. The layout is symmetrical. This is a wonderful feature for ambidextrous players such as myself, even if the execution is a bit flawed. To enjoy the benefits of the Viper’s ambidextrous design you need to use the Razer Synapse software to flip the controls to the opposing side. It would be more intuitive to have a dedicated physical button, so left-handed players can enjoy the same plug-and-play experience that right-handed gamers do (the mouse defaults to the right-handed configuration out the box).
You will find a button for adjusting DPI, a common feature on gaming mice. Offering up to 16,000 DPI, each button press cycles through five per-programmed settings — 400, 800, 1800, 2400, and 3200. These can be changed via Razer Synapse to suit your personal preferences.
The placement of the Viper’s DPI button is a bit peculiar as it resides on the bottom of the mouse, which Razer says prevents accidental DPI switching. Of course, it also limits your ability to change the DPI on the fly. Gamers sometimes like to lower the DPI with a click for precise, slow movements — like sniping in a first person shooter. You can’t do that with the Viper.
There’s no on-board storage, so you can save your settings to the mouse. You can save them to Razer’s Synapse software, however, and download them when you use a different PC. On-board storage would allow for quicker, more reliable retrieval of settings, but cloud storage gets the job done as long as you have an internet connection.
The Viper’s real appeal is its weight and performance. Coming in at 69g, it’s the lightest wired mouse Razer has released to date.
When I first pulled the Viper out of the box, I thought it felt flimsy, especially compared to my staple FPS mouse, the Logitech G502 Hero. After plugging it in, I noticed the RGB lighting is limited to the Razer insignia that will usually be covered by your hand. After a few hours of playing Overwatch and switching back to my usual Logitech mouse, however, I preferred the Viper’s speedy, lightweight, ergonomic design.
The indentations have a rubber grip that makes the mouse easy to control, enabling precise movement. The narrow, light body make frequent, quick gestures in heated firefights less of a frantic bumble. The Speedflex Cable, a new type of cable designed by Razer to reduce drag, delivers on its promise. At no point did I have to tug on the cable or drag and reposition my mouse when playing. The cable itself is soft, light, and flexible.
The Viper’s most important feature is its Optical Mouse Switch. It replaces a standard mechanical switch with an infrared light to deliver instantaneous electrical signals to your computer. Razer touts this eliminates unintended clicks and decreases the actuation time of the mouse to 0.2 milliseconds. If you’re a real nerd for numbers, Razer says the Viper has a maximum tracking speed of 450 IPS (inches per second) and a button actuation force of 50g.
I’d recommend the Razer Viper to anyone seeking a premium gaming mouse built for maximum speed.
I certainly felt the Viper’s responsiveness as I played. Whenever I was ejected from my D.Va mech suit in Overwatch, I had a grand ol’ time picking off enemies with my pistol. There was no noticeable latency and each click registered. Razer’s “faster than the speed of light” marketing slogan may be hyperbole, but the Viper did seem quicker and more nimble in my hands than other mice I’ve tested.
At its price point of $79.99, I’d recommend the Razer Viper to anyone seeking a premium gaming mouse built for maximum speed. For a bit more, you could get the SteelSeries Rival 710, which performs similarly with a few extra bells and whistles. If you have less to spend, Logitech's G Pro Hero is a solid option.
Acer’s Predator Atlas 8 finally has a US release date and price, several months after the company first showed off the handheld in May. The highlight is the Intel Arc G3 Extreme chip inside, which has been adopted by only a couple of other consoles besides the Atlas 8. This version will go on sale exclusively at Best Buy on November 1 for $1,299.99.
Acer originally said the Atlas 8 would arrive in North America in October, but left pricing open at the time. The launch came amid the ongoing DRAM crunch, which has made memory more expensive across the PC industry and complicated pricing for hardware makers.
Gaming laptops and I have a complicated relationship. One of my first gaming rigs was an Acer Predator that was already outdated when I bought it. I was a broke college kid, and that was the best I could afford. So trying out high-end gaming laptops is always fun. But ASUS' ROG Zephyrus G14 is a lot more than a laptop that can run AAA games. It is portable, so you're not lugging around a 2.5kg machine everywhere you go. It is built well, none of that plastic chassis, and can even function as a normal laptop outside of just gaming.
Google Play is borrowing one of the Nintendo Switch’s most useful little tricks. A new Sidekick tool called Playbacks captures a short clip after something interesting has already happened, sparing players from running a screen recorder throughout an entire game.
Playbacks is part of Google Play Store v53.8 and keeps saved clips on the phone. Google first announced it earlier this month, but the new Play Store update marks its arrival for players. Anyone who has watched a perfect win vanish because the record button came too late already understands the appeal.