Razer DeathAdder Elite
It’s the return of the king... again!
The DeathAdder design has remained popular and in production since 2006. It’s seen many upgrades over the years — this Elite is from late 2016, and it’s predecessor — the still available (and verygood) Chroma — was released in 2014.
So how do you make an already-great mouse better? Razer’s answer has been to improve the build quality and durability by swapping to mechanical button switches and a 16,000dpi optical sensor. Now, for most players, that sensor is complete overkill, but those new switches are certainly a plus — and they’re a bit quieter, too.
Razer’s also changed the textured rubber used on the scroll wheel — rather than being made up of grooved horizontal ridges, there are now evenly-spaced sets of three raised nodules. That does seem to increase the overall grippyness, but isn’t quite as comfortable as the old ridged design. There’s also a set of DPI switching buttons behind that wheel, so you can now change sensitivity on the fly.
In testing, we were able to be as accurate on this mouse as with the Chroma. That said, at our preferred 1,800dpi setting, there’s not a lot between them.
For now, the Elite’s only available in a right-handed design, and it’s still a very lightweight mouse at 105g, so if you’re a lefty or you prefer a heavier mouse, you should look elsewhere.
For everyone else, this is the best lightweight gaming mouse on the market. At present, you’ll pay an extra $20 for it over the Chroma, but the latter’s getting a bit long in the tooth, so it’s worth the extra in our book.