Razer Viper V2 Pro gaming mouse review

You’ve got to respect Razer, as a gamer-focused peripheral maker, for its willingness to go big or go home. On the sound front, it offers haptic feedback for headphones via the Razer Kraken V3 HyperSense or immersive (albeit pricey) speaker audio from the Razer Nommo Pro.

And when it comes to mice, Razer certainly ain’t no slouch either. In 2021, it went all out with the future-proofed Razer Viper 8KHz, and the year before that it was the hugely satisfying ambidextrous Razer Viper Ultimate. Fast-forward to more recent times, and Razer is tempting old and new Viper fans alike with the Razer Viper V2 Pro

Once you get past a $250 RRP for gaming mice, you’re looking at the expensive end of town. You’d rightly expect to find incredibly accurate, high-performance wireless gaming mice at this price point, and with a $259RRP, that’s exactly where the Razer Viper V2 Pro sits. With a 0.2% resolution-accuracy difference between the Razer Viper Ultimate and the Razer Viper V2 Pro (99.6% vs 99.8%), this isn’t an essential upgrade for those who own the former.

That said, if you’re in the market for a new gaming mouse, particularly if it’s been a while since your last one or you’re still rocking a wired mouse, Razer has a history of making long-lasting products, so it’s worth the investment.

I don’t usually like lighter mice, particularly not for gaming (I used to love my Logitech weighted mouse), but Razer thankfully doesn’t make weight sacrifices by shrinking the chassis size of the Razer Viper V2 Pro. In fact, the Razer Viper V2 Pro feels like it’s a great universal size that’ll work well with most gaming grips and hand sizes, and it certainly works well with my giant hands and fingertip-hybrid grip.

It’s a cinch to set up, too, and works flawlessly with a USB hub if, like me, you have way too many peripherals connected to the back of your PC. The Razer Viper V2 Pro charges with a USB-A to USB-C cable, which also plugs into a mini dock with the 2.4GHz dongle on the other end. Alternatively, connect the 2.4GHz dongle to a spare USB port and charge as require with the USB-C cable.

You can use the Razer Viper V2 Pro in wired mode, but you really shouldn’t unless you’re out of juice. Razer claims the wireless battery life lasts up to 80 hours and I believe it. While I disabled the battery-saving settings to ensure consistent performance, it took a week of heavy usage (8+ hours most days) for the low-battery indicator (15%) to pop up. That was without turning the mouse off every day. Colour me very impressed.

Wireless battery life is all well and good, but not if the performance isn’t there. Initially, I thought I’d be put off by the 58-gram weight, but the Razer Viper V2 Pro quickly won me over. The Razer Viper V2 Pro never skipped a beat in extensive everyday and gaming tests, proving to be a faithful work mouse and fragging companion.

My biggest issue is one that’s personal preference: the DPI button on the bottom of the mouse. For the Razer Viper V2 Pro, this is now dual-purpose, controlling power on/off and the five default sensitivity settings, which you can also personalise (including limiting it to fewer options). I play games on low DPI to make the most out of my giant mouse mat (and for greater pinpoint accuracy), but I use higher DPI to shift my mouse across three monitors for everyday work. With the Razer Viper V2 Pro, I have to flip it over then test to find the right DPI with default settings.

It’s a minor inconvenience that won’t bother set-and-forget mouse users. And here’s what a Razer representative had to say about the decision to keep the DPI button under the mouse. “It’s basically a design choice, whereby we understand from the community that players don’t change their DPI mid-game, and it’s also to prevent users from accidentally changing their DPI.

It’s actually not something new, as we have made this decision back with our launch of the Razer Viper Ultimate, whereby we have placed the DPI button at the bottom of the mouse for the same reason.”

Speaking of the Razer Viper Ultimate, what’s more upsetting for southpaws is the Razer Viper V2 Pro isn’t an ambidextrous mouse, with the fourth and fifth buttons removed from the right of the mouse. As a right-hander, this isn’t an issue for me, but it’s a shame to see this versatility feature removed in the name of weight reduction, particularly because those buttons on the ultimate never got in the way of my right-handed mousing. On the more impressive front, all of the accessible buttons and the mouse wheel on the Razer Viper V2 Pro benefit from the redesign tweaks, most notably the more pronounced easier-to-feel thumb side buttons.

Loading up Razer Synapse, the options between the Razer Viper Ultimate and Razer Viper V2 Pro are almost identical. The big omission is the lighting tab, as RGB lighting has been nixed from the Razer Viper V2 Pro. As someone who feels RGB is particularly pointless for things like mice and headsets, I’m glad to see Razer take more of a practical approach to performance over pretty.

By ditching RGB, the Razer Viper V2 Pro is lighter and uses less battery power. That said, I’ve never come close to running out of juice with the Razer Viper Ultimate—the mouse I use for everyday computing and offline gaming—because I pop it back on the dock whenever it’s not being used. Still, given the long-lasting battery of the Razer Viper V2 Pro, you can expect to get through a multi-hour gaming session even if you’re on low battery. Worst-case scenario, plug it in and play wired while it charges.

While the shape and size of the mice is identical, I do appreciate the improvements to the feet for smoother gliding. It may be psychological, but the left and right mouse buttons feel snappier and more responsive on the Razer Viper V2 Pro, and I prefer the more pronounced thumb buttons. As for other upgrades, it’s great to see Razer shift from micro-USB to USB-C, plus the next-gen optical sensor helps on the future-proofing front.

Make no mistake, the Razer Viper V2 Pro is absolutely worth the investment in the right conditions. If you’re after a new gaming mouse, particularly something lightweight and wireless, the Razer Viper V2 Pro’s lack of weight is well worth weighing up. For anyone who’s bought a mouse in the last two years, including the Razer Viper Ultimate, the Razer Viper V2 Pro isn’t an essential upgrade. If you do make the investment, though, you’re buying a high-performance gaming mouse that keeps up with you throughout everyday use and epic gaming sessions.