Razer Lancehead Tournament Edition gaming mouse review / Overclockers.ua

This summer has been a really hot time of announcements for Razer. One of the novelties presented was the new Lancehead gaming mice, available in two versions at once – regular (wireless) and Tournament Edition (wired). It was the TE version that came to us today for testing.

Specifications

Delivery and equipment

The packaging is made in the framework of the new concept of the company as simple as possible. On the front and back side there is an image of the product and its three main advantages are indicated – a sensor, a symmetrical shape and support for “hybrid” memory. The sides of the box are green, on the basis you can find information about the dimensions and compatibility of the device with operating systems.

The package includes a short and full version of the instruction manual, a congratulations tab from the company’s president, and two stickers with the Razer logo.

Appearance and design

The Razer Lancehead TE has a symmetrical hull shape with slightly flared and rounded sides at the rear. The top panel is made of non-staining matte plastic, which has a good grip coefficient and is pleasant to the touch. The total length of the device from nose to tail is 126 mm, although the official specifications are, for some reason, about 117 mm. The panels of the two main keys are quite thin and movable, easily bending to the sides. However, they have no free play at all when pressed, the contact with the switches is very tight, the pressing force is average, and the tactile feedback is extremely clear. The click is also not very loud. Behind the rubberized scroll wheel are two narrow resolution buttons. They are quite soft and quiet, the pressing force is small.

On the left side of the manipulator there is a large rubber pad, thanks to which the mouse sits very tenaciously in the user’s fingers. Two additional side buttons are located in the right place, you don’t have to reach for them. However, they are quite heavily recessed into the case, probably to avoid accidental activations. By this point, you have to get used to, because without a habit, it can be difficult to find and press them. They work with an average volume and effort slightly above average, there is a small margin of free play. The gap under the keys is made on purpose – there is a side multi-component backlight diode.

The signal cable enters the mouse exactly in the center, at a low height, but a large kink protection prevents it from rubbing against the playing surface. The scroll wheel is built on the basis of a very good mechanical encoder, which works quietly even at very fast scrolling and, at the same time, has perfectly distinguishable locking positions. The switch under the wheel is a little tight, but due to the short stroke and instant response, this does not cause inconvenience. In addition, the middle button works quietly.

The USB signal cable is 2.1 meters long and wrapped in a nylon braid. It is thin, slightly springy in bending and at the same time relatively soft. It retains the given shape reluctantly and tends to straighten out over time. The connector is short, the pads are made of green plastic. The cord has a reusable rubber tie that allows you to adjust its length.

The right side of the mouse is a mirror image of the left. There is exactly the same rubber pad, two side buttons and a side LED. The mouse will be equally comfortable to use with both left and right hands.

On the stern of the manipulator there is an illuminated Razer logo. It is slightly raised up, on the sides of the back, right behind the rubber stickers, for some reason inserts are made of glossy plastic.

There are three Teflon feet on the base of the mouse – one large on the back and two smaller ones on the front. Another Teflon ring is glued around the sensor window. In the middle of the back leg there is a small key responsible for switching profiles, and next to it is a colored dot indicator.

The shape of the Razer Lancehead TE is symmetrical and versatile. It is well balanced in weight and will suit any type of grip, both right and left handed.

The lighting Chroma zones on the mouse are the Razer logo, scroll wheel, and inlays under the side buttons. Moreover, each insert is not a solid LED, but is divided into seven small areas, with an individual color. All zones are separately adjustable for color and brightness, with a total of 16.8 million standard RGB colors available. The color rendering of the LEDs looks good, but there is some blueness in the white.

The LED on the base of the mouse glows white by default. When changing the built-in profiles, it should change color, but we were not able to check this now, since the current version of the software does not support working with the built-in memory.

Since it became interesting to us what kind of sensor is actually installed in this version of the Razer Lancehead TE, it was decided to disassemble it. The task turned out to be non-trivial, since the case is held together by four screws. Two of them were in a standard place – under the rear leg. But the other two ended up under the side rubber stickers, which, fortunately, are relatively easy to remove and then even stick properly into place. In addition, the top cover is also held in front, on brackets near the main keys, so you need to carefully remove it. A board with additional buttons is installed under the cover, a thin cable connects it to the main printed circuit board, so be careful and be careful again.

I could not establish the manufacturer of additional switches, perhaps our readers will be able to suggest this in the comments. On the other hand, the fact that there are full-fledged mechanisms here is already good.

This is what the main PCB looks like. It has one of the best Pixart PMW 3389DM-T3QU optical sensors today, which is a proprietary modification of the PMW 3360/3366 series for Razer.

Under the two main buttons are branded switches Omron/Razer D2FC-FK(50M)-RZ, with an estimated MTBF of 50 million clicks.

Proprietary software

The Razer Lancehead series mice are said to have built-in on-board memory, which can be used by the new version of the Razer Synapse 3.0 (beta) driver. However, the problem is that this program has not appeared in the public domain at the time of writing this review. Accordingly, for testing, we had to use the usual universal driver Razer Synapse version 2.20, which, although it supports all the main functions of the device, is not able to work with the built-in memory.

The mouse customization screen allows you to remap commands on nine 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 addition, you can switch the main mouse buttons for left or right handed use.

In the “efficiency” settings, the sensor resolution is adjusted from 100 to 16000 dpi in 100 dpi increments. You can set up five separate sensitivity levels, which will switch on the fly. Separate or synchronous change of sensitivity along the X and Y axes is available. The 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.

In the backlight settings, there is the possibility of related regulation of all backlight zones, the choice of a single color, lighting effect and brightness. For them, any of 16.8 million colors is set, the brightness level is adjustable from 33 to 100%. Of the effects, the backlight can be turned off completely, made static, set to cycle through all the colors of the spectrum, made dynamic (the LEDs light up when the buttons are pressed), switched to the “breathing” mode with one or two colors in turn, or start a color wave. You can also turn off the backlight automatically when the PC display is turned off.

The Chroma Configurator allows you to make much finer separate settings for all zones and lighting effects and arrange real light shows with the mouse.

Calibration allows you to adjust the height of the sensor separation from the surface for a specific type of rug. This can be done by selecting a Razer branded mat from a list of presets, automatically calibrating for any new surface type, or manually setting the tear-off height.

The macro editor is as simple as ever. Here keyboard and mouse clicks are registered in random order with or without time delays. All macros are saved with individual names.

This device may use third-party Chroma applications that allow you to create lighting effects for different programs or display game events using the mouse’s on-board LEDs. To activate the module, download the appropriate set of settings or applications from the Chroma Workshop page.

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 locations of the most frequent keystrokes will be presented as a heatmap on the screen.

The most frequent cursor movement paths can also be visually tracked on the screen.

Ergonomics and testing

The Razer Lancehead Tournament Edition was tested on the Razer Goliathus WoT (Speed ​​medium). The symmetrical shape of this manipulator is made with an emphasis on versatility, so it is possible that not everyone will find it ideal, but it will suit everyone, for any palm size and grip type. The material of the top panel is pleasant to the touch and evaporates moisture well, the rubber sidewalls provide excellent grip and, importantly, are easily cleaned from dirt due to the absence of microrelief. The main buttons are set up perfectly, they have an informative tactile response, a well-chosen pressing force and a complete lack of free play. The scroll wheel pleased me separately – it is very quiet and very clear in feedback. With the side buttons, everything is less rosy. There is a feeling that they were specially hidden deeper into the case in order to avoid accidental pressing by the user. Therefore, these keys have to be groped for and from the side of tactile sensations it is not very convenient. The legs of the mouse are thin and not particularly slippery. Because of them, the manipulator has low inertia when moving, and I like this option, although it may seem to someone that the mouse “does not move”, this is a matter of individual preference. The backlight looks rich, although not the best implementation of white has already been mentioned earlier. As far as the software is concerned, it’s still a bit damp. The mouse cannot use internal memory until the official version of Razer Synapse 3.0 appears, and there are occasional problems with saving settings – for example, resolution settings are periodically reset to factory settings. Fortunately, this is all removable, you just have to “wait for the patch.”

The Pixart PMW 3389 sensor works great. It doesn’t stall, has no parasitic judder, drifting, or lift-off height issues. The cursor practically does not move during separation from the surface and rearrangement. Acceleration and smoothing of the trajectory in it is not felt at resolutions below 3000 dpi. As the sensitivity values ​​increase towards the maximum values, the smoothing becomes more noticeable.

Results

The Razer Lancehead Tournament Edition occupies a rather interesting position in the company’s product range. At its core, it is a symmetrical alternative for the DeathAdder Elite, since their filling is almost the same, except for the built-in memory and fancy side lighting diodes. On the other hand, Lancehead TE is an excellent replacement for the Mamba TE series, which, frankly, turned out to be not the most successful. If we consider the wireless versions of Lancehead and Mamba as a pair, then upon closer comparison they will turn out to be the same, since both are built on Philips sensors and have an approximately similar set of functions, but the first manufacturer promises to have more advanced adaptive wireless technology.

The advantages of the Razer Lancehead TE today are a good universal shape, a wonderful optical sensor, high-quality main key switches and a scroll wheel that is pleasant in all respects. The disadvantages include raw software that does not allow using the built-in memory and a rather strange design of the side keys, the active use of which may not be very convenient.

Based on the combination of characteristics, the Razer Lancehead TE is a good and modern gaming mouse that can be recommended without reservation for hardcore gamers.