Razer Basilisk V3 Pro Mouse Review ( Keeper )

Computers
#1

This is the mouse:

( I ordered the Mouse + Wireless Puck combo, which actually arrived in separate shipments )

I also ordered this charger to use with it:

Here is what they look like together:

basilisk v3
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Overall impression after 2 days of use is this is a high-end device that is feature packed and has amazing level of attention to detail.

I have only found one downside - the weight - this mouse is heavy. This may be a deal breaker for competitive gamers. But it isn’t to me since i don’t play games.

So why did i get a gaming mouse if i don’t play games ? Well the Basilisk is an all-rounder mouse, it isn’t super gaming focused. My previous mouse ( Logitech G903 ) was the same - an all rounder mouse marketed as gaming but still packing productivity features, just like the Basilisk. Also just as the Basilisk it was a high-end mouse with wireless charging.

What changed since is that i have vowed not to use Logitech again. I also decided to move away from the mousepad being the source of wireless charging energy and instead to use a phone charger for the mouse. After two days of use i am happy with these decisions so far.

I won’t go through all the features of this mouse as there simply too many and there are many reviews you can watch that go through them. All i want to say is that it FEELS like Razer worked really hard to make this mouse as good as it could be.

From the textured rubberized finish that is grippy and fingerprint resistant … to the cable that is the most supple i have ever felt and feels like it’s not even there IF you choose to use the mouse win wired mode … to the software that offers to install automatically when you plug in the mouse without you having to search for it online or read the manual or do anything at all … to the clean, intuitive and responsive design of the software itself that is just a pleasure to use ( you use it to customize lighting, DPI settings, button mappings etc. )

the feet of the mouth aren’t as smooth gliding as on Logitech G903 and the shape isn’t quite as ergonomic and if it wasn’t for my belief that Logitech designs products to fail out of warranty for reasons of planned obsolescence i would have gone with some Logitech like MX Master 3S …

but i had a Logitech Keyboard, Mouse, Charging mat and Mousepad and ALL OF THEM failed with the keyboard failing in two separate modes ( first the LEDs burned out then the keys started to register letters twice ). faced with such impressive consistency in failure i could only conclude that this was planned obsolescence at work. these products were all about 3 - 4 years old and they started failing after about a year of use.

Logitech will always have the best design with the most sleek and ergonomic products but i simply refuse to support a company where as soon as warranty is out they begin to fail and after 3 - 4 years 100% of the products have failed.

Logitech MX Master 3S ( AKA best mouse ever ) was only $99 instead i went for Razer Basilisk V3 Pro which is over $200 when fully specced with the dock … but to me this is a price worth paying for not going with Logitech.

the dock was out of stock so i adapted Samsung charger instead, which was on sale. i went for the Duo model because it uses two coils offset to the sides which matches the offset location of charging coil on the mouse. only the main coil works with the mouse, the smaller coil on the Samsung seems to not be Qi compatible but rather only for Samsung accessories like watch and earbuds. regardless the main coil works perfectly for both my phone and mouse so it’s all good. i have the phone on it when i’m awake and the mouse on it when i’m asleep. it’s great.

overall super happy. the mouse is very heavy and very expensive but it’s as good as i could have hoped for from a non-Logitech mouse. yes you can probably get better feeling mouse for less from Logitech but i decided to take a principled stand against Logitech.

and in fact this Razer is in many ways an upgrade from Logitech, such as the aforementioned textured rubberized finish or the electromechanical clutch on the dual mode scroll wheel that is software controlled and can be set to automatic mode which is in fact the mode i’m using and it works great.

the lighting is also very slick and brightness can be adjusted.

Qi charging is slow but fast enough for overnight use while Wired charging is legitimately quick.

You can also use the mouse wired and the cable is very soft and has some kind of damping that just feels perfect.

the buttons have a nice weight to them, a bit on the loud side but not bad sounding.

Overall very happy with this mouse. Is it worth $200 ? Maybe not but it certainly feels premium. It feels about as premium as the Logitech G903 it replaced which was also around $200 when you include the cost of the PowerPlay mat that i was using to keep it charged ( pictured below ).

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as for the PowerPlay mat ( pictured above ) it had cons and pros. the pro was obviously you never needed to worry about putting mouse on the charger as it was always on the charger that was the mouse mat itself. the cons were many though. the mouse pad failed by delaminating. the charging stopped working. and the plastic part where the cable attaches was always in the way with the mouse hitting it. i much prefer the solution i have with the Razer where the mousepad, charger and wireless dongle are all independent of each other than the PowerPlay solution where they were all integrated together such that a single point of failure takes everything down. Another annoyance with the Logitech PowerPlay mat was that it was wired so moving it was a hassle. I often like to reposition the mousepad and it’s easier to do with a regular mousepad than with the heavy, clunky and wired PowerPlay mat.

now instead of one USB cable going to PowerPlay i have two - a USB cable going to the Razer dongle and another going to the Samsung Qi charger. but more importantly no cable is going to the mousepad which is the one i constantly reposition as it keeps shifting with use. I don’t need to reposition the dongle or Qi charger every half an hour so i don’t care if they’re wired.

anyway, loving the Basilisk V3 Pro with the Samsung Duo charger.

i only had it for 2 days so far so it’s a bit early to recommend but i keep liking it more and more as i keep using it :slight_smile:

#2

i decided to do something different. a tier list but for features of a single product rather than different products.

my tiers will be Unbelievably Amazing, A, B, C, D, F and Unacceptable Bullshit so 7 in total.

Unbelievably Amazing: cord quality. i have never seen a mouse cord this soft. normally when using a corded mouse you always feel the cord bouncing around but the cord on Basilisk V3 Pro is incredibly soft and somehow DAMPED it’s like the cord literally has a luxury car suspension built into it. it doesn’t look like a normal cord either, nor like a sleeved cord - it looks like a bungee cord. of course you don’t have to use it as it’s a wireless mouse, but if you need to use the cord it’s amazing.

Unbelievably Amazing: Surface Finish. all the surfaces feel GREAT to the touch. I have always used high-end mice but i never had one with such a satisfying grippy texture. my previous logitech had rubberized grips on it but this Basilisk is nonslip all around, not just in some designated areas. it does have areas made of different material but all surfaces have special finish rather than just about 20% of surfaces on the Logitech it replaces.

Scroll Wheel. It feels great and has stepped and continuous modes and software based automatic mode and it is simply the best scroll wheel i have ever used.

Unbelievably Amazing: Lighting. It is beautiful. It isn’t too much or too little and it is just so tastefully done you can tell real artist was involved rather than simply throwing a bunch of LEDs at the thing. It’s just an absolute work of art.

A: software. it just works as you would like. all the menus are large, clean and logical and so on. a pleasure to use.

A: button feel. buttons have just the perfect weight. the clicks are very deliberate.

B: mouse weight. it’s on the heavier side. It actually helps with precision but will probably slow you down in some extremely fast paced gaming, but of course i wouldn’t know as i don’t play games.

B: button sound. it sounds good, has that classic mouse click sound, but is a bit loud for my taste. it isn’t a flaw just a preference. i know they tuned it to sound this way deliberately, but it is simply not my preference to have such loud clicks as i’m sensitive to sound and like to have everything as quiet as possible.

C: teflon feet. they are large enough, but not as flat as on Logitech and don’t glide as smoothly. this is legitimately something that should be improved. the feet are better than what you would find on a $20 mouse but not good enough for a high-end mouse like this.

D: ergonomics. the shape is great but the mouse is too small for my hand. i have since read on Reddit that most other people find it too small as well. they probably wanted to make sure that girls and children can use it. at least the mouse is not ambidextrous, but my previous mouse, the Logitech G903 despite being ambidextrous was much more comfortable because it simply filled my hand whereas this Basilisk is simply too small to fill the hand. if you’re a girl or a child you will probably find it very comfortable. my hands are medium sized for a man and it’s already too small for me. if you have large hands you may hate this mouse altogether.

this would be a great mouse for a family computer you share with your wife and kids or anybody else that has small hands. for a one-size-fits-all approach Razer picked the right size, but i wish they made two sizes instead - one for men and one for women and children.

well that’s about if there really isn’t anything below a D for this mouse, as it’s a great mouse but i do wish it was bigger, lighter, had flatter feet and quieter clicks.

by the way i was thinking of what to do with my old Logitech G903 which stopped charging but still works as a wired mouse and i wanted to give it to my grandma … but when i compared it to her mouse it’s almost twice the size. the G903 will be way too big for grandma’s hand. frankly even the Basilisk would be too big. Grandma is using some $10 compact travel mouse which is absolutely atrocious but it’s actually the right size for her hand.

so the price for having a mouse that fits your hand perfectly as most high-end Logitech mice do for me is that once you upgrade you can’t give them to grandma. of course Logitech products seem to self-destruct anyway so you never really upgrade them, you just replace them after they die.

i mean why do i even have that travel mouse that grandma is using ? i bought so many high-end logitech mice over the years i shouldn’t have to buy a separate mouse for 2nd, 3rd or 4th computer i should simply have enough old mice to use on them … except they’re all dead.

Logitech knows very well that their mice are so good if they don’t die you will never upgrade, because they just feel so perfect in the hand. Nothing feels like Logitech in the hand. I once had a girl over and she grabbed my Logitech mouse and she was literally shocked - i was of course used to high-end Logitech mice but she only ever used regular cheap mice and when she experienced an actual high end ergonomic Logitech mouse she was just in disbelief - her brain literally couldn’t process what she was experiencing how the mouse literally just becomes one with your hand …

well the Basilisk can’t pull off this Logitech feat. i knew it couldn’t be as good as Logitech, that was a given. i just got tired of feeding landfills and lining logitech pockets.

perhaps what Logitech is doing with their self-destructing products is better than what Samsung is doing with their phones, which is they always leave something on the table so that they can entice you to upgrade next year …

Logitech leaves nothing on the table absolutely crushing the competition and by next year your device is simply dead and you have to buy a new one …

I may go back to Logitech in the future we’ll see … it’s really a philosophical question of whether planned obsolescence is something that can be forgiven …

it’s just that this year Logitech really didn’t have anything new - their PowerPlay was still their latest tech which i already have been using for years and which has failed on me twice already …

on other hand Razer had something new with the Qi mouse and i wanted a new Samsung Qi charger anyway ( i like to have one in every room ) and i found one that fits the mouse perfectly plus i caught it on deep sale so that sealed the deal for me …

this isn’t my first Razer mouse either by the way. i had a Razer once before but i ultimately stopped using it simply because it was a wired mouse. back then wireless mice were considered a compromise but as wireless got better i have given up on wired mice.

all in all over the years i used Logitech, Microsoft and Razer mice and i would describe them as follows:

Microsoft ( of old days ): cheap, reliable, good mice but unremarkable. i think this has changed but i haven’t used their mice in about 20 years. it seems they are now just copying apple.

Logitech - best ergonomics, good performance, decent value but unreliable.

Razer - high end mice with cutting edge performance and beautiful design and lighting yet somehow leaving you wishing that you were using a Logitech instead …

if i found myself shopping for a mouse tomorrow it would again be a toss up between Logitech and Razer. i would probably lean towards Razer for myself as it’s basically a more unique product and i am a unique person.

if i was buying a mouse for my mother i would get her a Logitech because it would be insulting to the Razer mouse to have somebody like my mother use it. not to mention the Logitech would be cheaper and my mother would probably break the mouse before it even had the chance to self-destruct.

basically Logitech is a great product made for garbage people. Razer is a good product made for best people.

#3

i think if i was doing it again i would get the white version.

black mouse on black mousepad at night is only visible with RGB lighting on, which affects battery life.

white mouse on black mousepad would be easily visible even with RGB turned off.

#4

seems like TechLead has read my review and declared my mouse the best ever.

i watched the video because i’m thinking about getting a second one …

he makes a good point that he doesn’t want separate productivity, gaming and travel mice - he wants one mouse so that he doesn’t have to get used to three.

even though i like to try new things it would certainly be easier to just get a second mouse that is the same as the first and not have to waste time getting used to it. i would probably get a second one in white for the sake of variety and also because my keyboard is now white.

special shoutout to @marlon for introducing me to TechLead otherwise i wouldn’t be able to feel quite as good about my mouse !

on the other hand i find TechLead’s reviews to be somewhat lacking - for example in his review he didn’t even mention the fact that this mouse charges wirelessly - which was the very reason i got it.

though in my review i didn’t mention that the mouse isn’t fully Mac Compatible ( the mouse is compatible, but the software to customize the RGB and buttons is not ). TechLead was able to find a 3rd party solution to map the buttons and is apparently OK with stock RGB color scheme.

personally i wouldn’t want an RGB mouse is if i can’t customize the RGB. i have RGB turned down to about 20% on mine to extend battery life for example. that RGB eats through the battery like crazy. you probably wouldn’t want to be traveling with this mouse if you’re unable to turn off the RGB. i charge mine wirelessly overnight and even so i chose to turn the RGB down a bit to optimize battery life. it probably is around 70% or so by the end of a day of use unless i charge it mid-day while i’m at the gym or whatever in which case it will be around 85% at the end of the day. this is highly dependent on your RGB settings though.

EDIT: actually just went to check my brightness level in Synapse software and the software is glitching - this is the first time i noticed it glitch. i haven’t really used it since i originally set it up though and everything was fine. everything is still working fine but the software is kind of unresponsive right now …

EDIT2: killed Synapse using Task manager and restarted it - works fine but it took a really long time to start - as long as my computer takes to boot into windows ! but once it’s up and running it doesn’t have any CPU load, so it’s not like having an antivirus running in the background - but it is EXTREMELY slow to start - about twice as long as Photoshop or so.