Razer DeathAdder 3500 gaming mouse review / Overclockers.ua

The shape of the case, which many consider ideal, brought special popularity to the line of DeathAdder mice. More than ten years have passed since the appearance of this manipulator on the market. And he himself has undergone many changes during this time. The sensor, switches, wheel encoder changed, the backlight and the printed circuit board of the product changed, the company experimented with different types of surface coatings. But the form has always remained unchanged. And if it is she who plays the main role in choosing a product, then why not make a lightweight version of the manipulator in an attempt to occupy the budget segment of the market? Razer has given this difficult task to a model called the DeathAdder 3500 (model number RZ01-01630100-R3R1), which should in no way be confused with the 2009 DA 3500. After all, they have only a name and a form in common. Let’s take a closer look at the features and differences of the new model.

Specifications

Delivery and equipment

A small package is made in the traditional Razer solid style and a combination of black, green and white. There is a lot of information about the product on it, although mostly of a marketing nature.

Inside, in addition to the mouse itself, there is a leaflet with a greeting from the president of the company, instructions for use and two stickers with the Razer logo. The manipulator is packed in a plastic tray with a transparent lid, which provides it with additional protection during transportation.

Appearance and design

The external design of the mouse has not changed significantly over the past ten years. The hull retained its classic shape and proportions. The main material of the top panel is a rough matte black plastic. It has a good coefficient of adhesion, practically does not collect dirt and fingerprints, the hand does not sweat on it.

The left sidewall is made of smoother plastic. There are no additional buttons on it and this is the first noticeable difference from all other variations on the DeathAdder theme. At the bottom there is a texture grippy insert, whose plastic surface is made in the form of small hexagons. In fairness, it should be noted that the thumb clings to this surface like a glove, regardless of whether the hand is wet or dry.

From the front, everything looks quite normal. The cord enters the mouse exactly in the center, at a decent height. Kink protection is present. The scroll wheel is rubberized, with small notches. Its fixation positions are soft, but tactilely distinguishable. The wheel practically does not dangle and scrolls relatively quietly, with a muffled crackle, if you rotate it quickly and in the “away from you” direction. All three keys are pressed with medium effort and a quiet click. They don’t feel a free play reserve, the tactile response about the operation after pressing is distinct.

The USB signal cable is 2.1 meters long and has no braid. It is medium in thickness, quite soft and flexible. Reluctantly holds the given form. Connectors in the connector are gold-plated.

There is nothing special on the right sidewall. At the bottom of the panel there is also a textured plastic insert, on which the little finger and ring finger usually fall. I note that, unlike the rubber sidewalls that are in some older models, this plastic is easily cleaned of adhering dirt.

An illuminated Razer logo is applied to the stern of the manipulator.

On the bottom panel of the mouse, we see three small Teflon legs of a form familiar to this series. And the fact that the sensor has changed is visible to the naked eye. Around it, the characteristic round window with inscriptions has disappeared, and the lens looks completely different. Instead of the regular Avago ADNS-S3988 at 6000 dpi, a much simpler version of the Pixart PMW3320 optical sensor with a maximum resolution of 3500 dpi is installed here, which, in fact, is reflected in the model name. The sensor has invisible infrared illumination.

The lighting zones on the mouse are the Razer logo and the scroll wheel. Both zones are regulated by color and brightness separately. True, there are only three color options available to choose from – green, blue and blue. But they look juicy and beautiful. By the way, despite the lack of built-in memory, the mouse “remembers” the selected backlight color and reproduces it even without an installed driver.

Consider software.

Proprietary software

The Razer DeathAdder 3500 uses Razer Synapse Universal Driver version 2.20 as software. All software and firmware updates for the mouse take place automatically with prior notification. You can also check for an update. From the settings screen, the product manual is available (Internet access is required) and 10 interface languages ​​to choose from (including Russian). This software requires an internet connection to register an account at the first start and stores all settings in the cloud service. However, it can then work offline if you force it.

The basic mouse customization screen allows you to remap commands on three buttons and two directions of the scroll wheel. There are standard mouse or keyboard commands, Windows application functions and macros to choose from. All settings can be saved to individual profiles, the activation of which is tied, if necessary, to the launch of certain programs.

In the “efficiency” settings, the sensor resolution is adjusted from 250 to 3500 dpi in 250 dpi increments. The X and Y axes are set exclusively synchronously. Positive acceleration of the cursor is set in the range from 0 to 10 units. There are three polling rates to choose from – 125, 500 or 1000 Hz.

You can set up five separate sensitivity levels, which will switch on the fly. The only pity is that there is no separate mechanical button for switching them on the mouse.

In the backlight settings, it is possible to separately control the zones of the logo and the scroll wheel. For them, one of three colors is exhibited – green, blue or blue. The brightness level is adjustable from 33 to 100%. Of the effects – the backlight can be turned off completely, made static, or switched to “breathing” mode. It can also be synchronized with other suitable devices. You can also turn off the backlight automatically when the PC display is turned off.

The macro editor has not undergone significant changes. Keyboard and mouse clicks are registered in random order with or without time delays. All macros are saved with individual names.

The statistics module, when activated, collects quantitative data about the use of the mouse. Data is accumulated separately for all used gaming applications and devices.

The first data visualization option is a heat map of clicks, which displays the most active areas of the screen, where clicks occur most often.

The second option for visual display of statistical data is in the form of regular manipulator movement trajectories.

Ergonomics and testing

The Razer DeathAdder 3500 was tested on the Razer Goliathus WoT (Speed ​​medium). This is one of those mice that has perfect ergonomics, and I don’t see much point in praising it once again. The surface is made of a rough material that is resistant to the accumulation of fingerprints and dirt, quickly evaporates liquid, so that the hand does not fog up. Plastic hexagonal pads on the sides provide excellent grip of the case with the fingers. The mouse is light in weight and perfectly balanced along the axes. The three main buttons are pressed with medium effort and a clear tactile feedback. The scroll wheel rotates smoothly and is relatively quiet. Crackling in it is audible only when fast scrolling forward. The legs glide smoothly, with little inertia. The backlighting of the wheel and logos looks good, the software is simple and straightforward.

I did not expect any special heights from the budget Pixart PMW3320 sensor, but on the whole it managed to please me. It is fully consistent with the declared parameters of 20G and 2 m / s of maximum speed, which means it is suitable even for active games with frequent rearrangements and sudden movements. The separation height of 2.6 mm is chosen optimally and does not cause discomfort. Acceleration and deacceleration in the sensor is not felt, but with the smoothing of the trajectory, everything is not so “smooth”. At high resolution values ​​(2500–3500 dpi), anti-aliasing is fully manifested (it even becomes non-linear in places) and angular binding begins to appear. At the same time, there are no cursor stalls, but the maximum speed sags to 1.3 m/s. At a low resolution of 250 dpi, anti-aliasing disappears completely, but the sensor starts to break down. Therefore, I would call the optimal range for this sensor a segment of 750–1500 dpi, at which its behavior looks the most predictable.

Results

The light version of the Razer DeathAdder 3500 mouse differs from its older counterparts in the absence of side buttons and cable braid, a simpler sensor and only three-color backlighting. Nevertheless, in terms of its technical parameters and behavior during active use, it fully complies with the basic requirements for a gaming mouse. The main trump card of this product, of course, is excellent ergonomics and a relatively low price. It may be of interest to those fans of the brand who do not need additional buttons and are not suitable, for some reason, for the budget Abyssus mouse from the Razer line. In other words, we have the most affordable version of DeathAdder, in which advanced functionality is sacrificed at a lower cost.