Almost everything I do PC related is on my Asus gaming laptop. As far as hardware reviews go, I have used many different peripherals but nothing really designed for mobile play. Razer caught wind of this and excitedlysent us the Orochi Gaming Mouse, which is designed primarily for portable systems. Now, we know that Razer is a big name in PC peripherals, but is a mouse for laptops more effective than a traditional gaming mouse?
The ‘Razer’ Edge
Let’s start with this, the mouse is actually one of the smallest mice I have had the opportunity to review. In fact, it is actually smaller than the Microsoft 3500 Mobile Mouse I used to use when I first purchased my computer. The Orochi is a hybrid mouse, allowing users to flip between bluetooth and USB modes simply by plugging in the cable at the front of the mouse (weird placement, right?). The front-facing USB port is actually quite interesting, considering the fact that when it is plugged in, there is no interference from the jack or the cable at all. In fact, I am pretty sure that most people wouldn’t even know that there was a wireless option based on how clean it looks.
Speaking of clean, the mouse is a very glossy black, which looks amazing. While the smooth texture of the mouse was not any issue, the ability for the mouse to stay completely clean was, in fact, a little bit of an inconvienence. While I absolutely recommend always playing games with clean hands, if you happen to be snacking at any time (as you know, many of us gamers are guilty of) expect to find dirt and grime all over the mouse and in all the nooks and crannies.
Some Assembly Required
The mouse is extremely functional when operating as a corded device, yet it also bills itself as a wireless one. I was excited to try this out, since the 3000 DPI that the wireless offered is perfect for my usage. Upon researching how to activate the wireless mode, I realized that this is, in fact, a wireless bluetooth mouse. Even though my gaming laptop is a freaking powerhouse that supports everything, including 3D gaming, it did not have built in bluetooth functionality. I wasn’t going to let you all down though, the review needed to be done… FOR SCIENCE! After running to my local electronics retailer, I came home with a bluetooth dongle and set this bad boy up.
After actually getting the chance to use the mouse in it’s intended wireless function, I have to admit, it’s really freaking functional. While the capability is cut in half when compaired to it’s wired functionality, it still offers more than enough to be considered absolutely awesome (for a wireless mouse).
Once I got everything up and running, I had to jump over to Razer’s website to download the newest drivers for the mouse. Since I currently lacked the Razer software to make to proper adjustments to the mouse, this is the first thing you should do. However, since this is an adventure, and things that are too easy are boring, the Orochi isn’t listed as compatible in Razer’s newest software (it is, it’s just not listed). After taking a leap of faith and installing driver software, I was greeted by the setup software for my mouse and quickly fine tuned the mouse to a few different games I regularly play.
A full size mouse, the Orochi and a typical notebook mouse. (For comparison)
Clever punchline about design
As noted earlier, the Orochi is considerable smaller than any gaming mouse I have ever used. Are there issues with the fact that the mouse is so small? Perhaps a little bit. Although the Orochi fits almost perfectly in the palm of my hand and my fingers fell right they were needed on the left and right mouse buttons, the additional buttons were not completely accessible. I can easily press the top button on the left side of the mouse but I had to pull my thumb back further than I was used to in order to use the bottom button, it wasn’t too far but still something I needed to be conscious of. The 2 additional buttons on the right side of the mouse were mappable, yet not comfortably accessable without taking my hand completely off the mouse. I decided that I would pretend that those buttons were for left handed users. Even with that small complaint, it was still one of the most comfortable mice that I have used and while playing everything from League of Legends to Diablo 3, there really wasn’t more than 2 or 3 times where I really missed the lack of accessiblity of the buttons. To elaborate on this, the mouse is slightly fatter that your typical mouse, which makes sense because it is much smaller.
I really liked the Orochi mouse, in fact it will be the mouse that I plan to go back to in between mouse reviews. If you are in the market for a small, wireless mouse and have a computer that supports bluetooth, I absolutely recommend you pick this one up. If you don’t have bluetooth, you will need to gauge your purchase a little more carefully, as it is still a bitchin’ wired mouse for laptops.
The Orochi mouse is a Ferrari in the mobile gaming world and operates with the precision and speed that you would expect from a work of art. As it’s primary function is wireless, we give it a 4.5/5.