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Razer Mamba Tournament Edition

Razer Mamba Tournament Edition Review – Not that long ago, customisation was all the rage in the mouse world. Back when the first Cyborg R.A.T. scurried across our desks, we thought that every mouse from that point on would be customisable for the subtle nuances of our sweaty palms. And indeed, since its first release, there have been numerous R.A.T.s and copycats released, suggesting that there is indeed a market for mice that can be perfectly tailored to your hands. However, as the latest Razer Mamba proves, there’s more to customisation than how big a mouse is.

Physically, this new Mamba Tournament Edition isn’t too different from the original Mamba, albeit with a slightly less flared design around the main two mouse buttons. There is one important difference with the Mamba TE though – it’s wired. There’s another version of the Mamba due that favours wire-free gaming, but here, a 2.1m USB cable does the hard work. Clearly, pro-gamers don’t want to run out of juice at that vital moment, and it’s something we can empathise with, having had to search for fresh batteries in the heat of battle.

There are a couple of headline grabbing features with the Razer Mamba TE, not least of which is the Philips laser sensor, boasting precision up to a stunning 16,000dpi. This would be impressive on its own, but you also have total control over this precision; in 1dpi increments no less. It’s going to take a while to nail down, but somewhere between 100-16,000dpi you’ll find the perfect setting for you. Or that should be settings, plural, as you can configure from three to five different precision levels and flick between them using the two buttons that sit behind the mouse wheel. The Synapse software enables you to change the polling rate as well – to either 125, 500 or 1,000 times a second – as well as configuring separate X and Y sensitivities.

There are a total of 11 buttons that can be assigned to various actions using Razer’s Synapse software. The mouse wheel is home to five of these buttons, as it rocks left and right as well as scrolling up and down – don’t forget that you can click the mouse wheel as well. The two buttons above the thumb are large and easy to bounce off when gaming without having to shift your thumb unduly.

Light touch

The Mamba TE’s most controversial ‘feature’ is its lighting – it sports RGB illumination on the left and right sides of the main body, on the Razer logo that’s generally hidden under your palm and on the scroll wheel. You can independently set any of these to the colour of your choice, set up animated waves or have the mouse flash when you click a button. It’s pretty, but little more than a distraction.

This all leaves one rather important question – what’s it actually like to use? The answer is obviously subjective, but we found the Mamba TE an impressive gaming mouse. When we first picked it up, we found it a little lighter than we usually prefer (and there’s no way of adding bulk), but we soon got used to it. It’s smooth and precise in game – whether you’re playing an MMO, FPS or RTS, there’s enough here to get excited about. We found it comfortable after long gaming sessions too, though it does favour a claw grip for marathon sessions.

Which is all very glowing, apart from one small point. The price. There are now so many great mice available that you’ve really got to do something special to warrant dropping so much on a relatively simple rodent. We’re not sold on the lighting, and it clearly adds to the cost, but the dream of finding your perfect precision does make up for it. Yes, £80 is a lot for a mouse, but the latest Mamba TE is at least worth considering.