FIRST LOOK: Razer Lachesis, the new flagship gaming mouse

The neon-framed draw card of the Lachesis is its 4000dpi third generation laser sensor, which on paper is not only five times faster and more sensitive than a standard mouse, but also 800dpi up on the closest competitor, the Logitech G9 gaming mouse.

Other key features include an ambidextrous form factor, nine programmable buttons, 32KB of memory, on-the-fly dpi switching and ultra-smooth movement thanks to Teflon feet.

While the non-slip matte top surface offers all-important traction, the overall shape of the Lachesis didn’t instantly win us over with its widened low profile at the front, narrow centre, and elevated palm-rest at the back. Though this became less of a sticking point the more days we spent caressing it.

The layout includes ‘winged’ left/right top buttons, an illuminated middle button/scroll wheel, a rocker-style button on top for adjusting the dpi from 125 to 4000 on-the-fly, and two ‘thumb’ buttons on each side of the mouse to accommodate both left and right-handed users. Although due to their positioning, only one side of buttons is easily accessible without having to re-position your hand on the mouse. Both pairs of buttons also seemed unnecessarily hard to press in.

Five unique profiles can be stored onboard the mouse at any one time and selected either through software or by pressing a dedicated button on its belly. Programming the profiles is effortless and offers a high degree of flexibility from button assignments to adjusting dpi intervals, the polling rate, X/Y axis sensitivity, and click and scroll speeds.

With profiles customised, the mouse provides exceptional precision and speed, although initially we did notice the occasional skip. After a trip to Razer’s website, we discovered an important firmware update that addressed this, the only issue we came across.

Most gamers spend 99% of the time with their hand clutching a mouse, so it needs to fit like a glove. While Razer’s Lachesis offers unmatched speed, accuracy and sensitivity control, its unconventional shape may not work for all. But you know old saying, if the glove fits.

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