All mice need a good hook, and the new Razer Basilisk V2’s hook is simple: if you love to fidget, the Basilisk is the mouse for you.
This story has been republished following stock of the Basilisk V2 becoming more available in Australia.
The Basilisk has always been Razer’s offering for people who preferred larger, right-handed ergonomic mice like Logitech’s 139g G502. The Basilisk V2 is currently only in a wired-only version, unlike the original Basilisk which has been released in wired and wireless variants.
That shouldn’t disqualify it totally from consideration, mind you. The latest version of the Basilisk comes with the same hyperlight cable that shipped with the wired version of the Razer Viper, which is one of the best stock cables for a gaming mice going around.
[referenced url=”https://www.kotaku.com.au/2019/09/the-viper-is-razers-most-interesting-mouse-in-years/” thumb=”https://www.kotaku.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2019/08/DSC3223-410×231.jpg” title=”The Viper Is Razer’s Most Interesting Mouse In Years” excerpt=”There are a lot of gaming mice worth considering these days. But curiously, for a company that was at the forefront of marketing directly to Counter-Strike professionals and StarCraft teams, Razer’s name had drifted a little from that conversation.”]
Other upgrades to the Basilisk mirror what Razer’s done with the Viper, and more recently, the refresh of the Deathadder. The Omron buttons have been replaced with Razer’s optical switches, which are rated for 20 million more clicks to a total of 70 million. No actual human will hit that figure before they buy a new mouse – the mouse feet are more likely to wear out well before then. The optical switches don’t have a debounce delay compared to traditional mechanical switches, although when you factor in input lag from monitors and regular latency from internet connections, it’s hard to imagine any user would ever actually see the difference.
Still, it’s nice to have. The Basilisk V2 is also relatively light for its larger chassis, weighing in at 92g. The rubberised sides and the textured finish on the chassis is similar to the Viper and Viper Wireless, which holds up well in Australian conditions. There’s 11 buttons in total, as well as a multi-function paddle on the left side of the mouse that can act like a function key if you want another 11 buttons to bind.
But the most fun with the Basilisk? It’s the mouse wheel.
Like other ergonomic mice, the Basilisk’s mouse wheel has five functions: clicking the mouse wheel itself, scrolling up or down, and clicking the mouse wheel left or right. As someone who works on a website all day – and reads lots of other websites – the last function is an absolute godsend, since it automatically scrolls up and down the page nicely. You can do the same thing by scrolling manually, obviously, or by pushing in the mousewheel and then hovering up or down from the point where you clicked.
Clicking the mouse left or right is a hell of a lot more elegant, though.
But what’s super neat about the wheel is on the other side of the mouse. A new feature for the Basilisk V2 is a resistance notch, letting you manually control the rigidity of the mousewheel. It doesn’t affect how difficult the wheel is to push in, or from side to side. It’s just the stiffness of rolling the wheel, and while it can get relatively light, it doesn’t get loose enough to do mousewheel burnouts like some of the Logitech mice.
The Basilisk V2 gets the benefits from recent upgrades to Synapse, Razer’s software suite, too. You don’t have to have a permanent login anymore, meaning you can save a profile to the mouse and happily carry on without any proprietary software installed. And while I’ve not talked much about the sensor performance, it’s perfectly suitable for all types of games, which makes sense given its the same gear that’s inside the esports-focused Viper and Viper Wireless.
The kicker with the Basilisk – and every Razer product ever released, to be fair – is that its pricey as hell right now. $145 is a lot to pay for a wired mouse, even one with a cable as good as the Basilisk V2.
But Razer gear always drops in price after a few months. Later this year, the Basilisk V2 will probably be available for around the $100 mark, which is much more reasonable. And for that amount, it’s definitely worth a look. It’s super comfortable, well built and nicely designed all-around. It’s not the most cost-effective option for an ergonomic or productivity mouse, and if you’re happy with something wired for the office then the wired versions of the G502 are available for a lot cheaper. They’re not as much fun to use, though, but only you can determine whether that’s worth the premium.
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