REVIEW RAZER DeathAdder Elite Gaming Mouse
Mechanical Mouse Buttons, 16,000 dpi Sensor & RGB Backlight. At first glance, it’s hard to see the changes made by the DeathAdder Elite. This new model indeed takes the design of the Chroma identically and we are therefore faced with a mouse of medium size and mass (127 x 70 x 44 mm for 105 g), profiled for right handers only.
It’s hard to blame Razer for the lack of changes to the shape of its mouse, since the DeathAdder has become a benchmark for many gamers over the years. The American manufacturer also offers different designs for everyone to find a mouse in their hand.
Comfortable Mouse
Comfort is essential and the hand finds its place quite naturally on the mouse. The DeathAdder, however, is not too designed for a palm grip and is rather intended for a claw grip), or even fingertips for larger hands.
Indeed, the shell is strongly inclined to the right and finally quite short, forcing you to bend a little middle and ring fingers or to move your hand back so that these two fingers remain on the mouse. Only small hands will eventually be able to place the whole palm.
Therefore, the comfort is arguably a little lower than that of the Mamba from the same manufacturer yet very similar in its proportions, but tilted differently. We can consider that it is an intermediary between the Diamondback with its aggressive shape dedicated to the finger tip and the more rounded design of a Mamba or even a Naga.
Build Quality
The build quality is in any case very satisfactory, with slightly rough and little messy black plastics. Elastomeric inserts improve grip in the thumb and little finger.
These are unfortunately much smaller than on the Mamba; we would have appreciated a larger surface. In particular to support the ring finger which is placed on a too smooth surface which does not facilitate the lifting of the mouse – for the replacements if one plays in low sensitivity, for example.
Aside from these small grip constraints, there is not much to fault the DeathAdder Elite. Index and middle fingers fall perfectly well on the main concave buttons. While the thumb has access to two buttons on the edge.
Buttons
The main buttons are also based on new mechanical switches developed in partnership with Omron and are guaranteed for a minimum of 50 million activations those of the DeathAdder Chroma are limited to 20 million.
Enough to take many years of intensive use. The responsiveness of these switches is in any case very good and their high sensitivity an asset for the game.
They are also relatively silent, more in any case than those of the Mamba. On the top, the wheel does not evolve and must always do without side switches and therefore horizontal scrolling function, even though the latest Mamba are entitled to it. It is well notched revenge despite a smooth and silent scrolling.
Find New For Elite Mouse
It is finally above the dial that the only visible novelty of the Elite is located two switches have indeed been added to change the sensitivity of the sensor on the fly (default function, modifiable). However, their handling requires a little digital gymnastics, because they are placed high enough on the mouse.
It is therefore difficult to consider using them in the middle of the game, in the heat of the moment. But they find their usefulness to easily switch from one sensitivity to another when moving to another game or to a use office automation, for example.
New Slide for Elite mouse
A little novelty on the sliding side as well. Since the PTFE pads of this Elite model are now much wider and ensure an impeccable glide. The two small pads on the front of the DeathAdder Chroma are thus replaced by a single pad covering the entire width of the Elite and a pad now surrounds the sensor hole.
No change on the backlighting side, which has already gone into multicolor mode (RGB) on the Chroma. And therefore still capable of beautiful color variations according to several configurable effects in the mouse software (see box below).
The dial and Razer logo on the top light up for your viewing pleasure.
Precision
With such a name, this Elite version could hardly ignore a new sensor at the cutting edge of technology. Razer introduces here a new 5G optical sensor capable of withstanding accelerations of 50G and a capture speed of up to 450 in / s, or 11.43 m / s. According to the manufacturer, the resolution precision would reach 99.4%. To ensure that the slightest movement of the mouse is captured without any misinterpretation.
In fact, it is difficult to fault anything with this sensor in practice. The DeathAdder Elite responding to the most violent requests. The sensor also works on a large number of surfaces, with the exception of glass or overly reflective materials.
We can of course adjust the sensitivity to the nearest DPI (DPI), up to the delusional value of 16,000 dpi. Remember that such sensitivity is quite simply unusable for the vast majority of us. Since it amounts to moving the width of 3 Ultra HD screens with the pointer. With a lateral movement of the mouse of only 2 cm. That said, who can do the most can do the least and we will be happy to be able to set 5 levels of sensitivity to change them on the fly with the mouse buttons.
Experience for Elite Mouse
It is also possible to adjust the dropout height of the sensor and calibrate it for the surface on which the mouse is used. Razer of course puts forward its own mats, but you can use whatever you want.
The brand new Gigantus that we used for our tests is not yet listed. But works impeccably with the DeathAdder Elite. This giant 455 x 455 mm mat is well suited to low sensitivity gaming. Since you can perform very wide movements with the mouse.
On the other hand, it is difficult to use a full keyboard at its side. Since its thickness of 5 mm makes it difficult to place the keyboard on the mat it is therefore better to use a keyboard without a numeric keypad (compact or TKL) or a keypad dedicated to gaming.
Razer Synapse software
Razer Synapse is the software common to all manufacturer’s peripherals. We can configure several user profiles for our software, record macros to associate with any mouse button. Change button functions, choose the backlight mode and adjust sensor parameters.
Razer also offers to enable compatible Chroma applications. Which can thus manage the backlight to automatically adapt the light effects to game events.
Finally, a “Stat” tab allows you to view the number of mouse clicks made and their location on the screen, the distance traveled, the number of wheel turns, etc.