Earlier this month, I wrote about Razer’s DeathAdder V3 Pro. It’s a great wireless mouse, but those looking for the ultimate gaming mouse experience should consider Razer’s latest mouse, the Basilisk V3 Pro.
Although it was released on August 23rd, I’ve been using one for a little longer and am quite impressed with it so far. It sports everything I liked about the DeathAdder V3 Pro, but with a more ergonomic shape. Plus, I really like the fancy wireless charger / wireless dongle combo, the Razer Mouse Dock Pro.
First, let’s run through the specs: the Basilisk V3 Pro sports a HyperScroll Tilt Wheel, Optical Mouse Switches Gen-3, a ton of programmable buttons, Focus Pro 30K Optical Sensor, and all the RGB lighting you could want in a gaming mouse.
Even better, if you get Razer’s Mouse Dock Pro (more on this below), the RGB lights on the dock and mouse can sync up, and when charging, they show the battery level too.
Although the Basilisk V3 Pro is a gaming mouse, I primarily used it while working during the testing period. I gamed with it too, of course, but these days the majority of my time at my computer is spent working. Regardless, the Basilisk V3 Pro worked great for both.
Wireless charging is sick until you need to use the mouse while charging
Still, the Basilisk V3 Pro isn’t perfect. It’s heavier than the DeathAdder (112g to 64g, respectively), and in my experience, the battery life isn’t as good. Razer claims up to 90 hours when using the HyperSpeed wireless dongle, but I found the mouse on the charger every few days. To be fair, that was in part due to using the higher 4,000Hz polling rate, but even after going back to 1,000Hz, I found the Basilisk V3 Pro didn’t last that long. (As an aside, I personally didn’t notice a significant difference between 1,000 and 4,000Hz polling, but at least the feature is there for those who want it.)
Depending on your set-up, however, the battery life may range from mildly annoying to downright inconvenient. I was testing Razer’s Mouse Dock Pro alongside the Basilisk. The Mouse Dock effectively replaces the need to use the included wireless dongle, as it includes a built-in HyperSense transceiver with support for up to 4,000Hz polling (the HyperSense dongle included with the Basilisk V3 Pro only does up to 1,000Hz). The Mouse Dock Pro lets you wirelessly charge the Basilisk, which is honestly really cool, and I loved it. The downside, however, is if your mouse dies when you need to use it, you can’t charge it on the Mouse Dock.
The Basilisk V3 Pro sports a USB-C port on the front so you can plug it in and use it while charging, which means you can keep using it when the battery’s dead if you forgo the wireless charging. The only real complaint here is that the cable included with the Mouse Dock Pro isn’t ideal for use when plugged into the mouse (the cable that comes with the Basilisk V3 Pro is lighter and more flexible). Either way, these are nitpicking in the grand scheme — if you keep an eye on your battery level and put the mouse on the Mouse Dock Pro when you’re not using it, keeping the battery topped off isn’t a problem.
One other thing worth noting about the Basilisk V3 Pro is it relies on a ‘wireless charging puck’ to use the Mouse Dock Pro or other wireless chargers. You get one with the Mouse Dock Pro, or you can buy one separately for $24.99 — either way, you’ll need to swap out the plastic placeholder puck on the bottom of the mouse with the wireless charging puck before you can use wireless charging.
A few software goodies and other nice features
Before I wrap up, there were a few other small things I appreciated about the Basilisk V3 Pro during my time with it. First, and not really specific to the Basilisk, is the ease of remapping certain keys.
I don’t often remap keys on mice, but the Basilisk V3 Pro sports a thumb button for activating the ‘Sensitivity Clutch,’ a feature to temporarily reduce mouse sensitivity. It’s handy for certain games, like first-person shooters, when you’re trying to line up that perfect snipe. However, it’s something I’ve never really used, and the Sensitivity Clutch button’s placement felt more accessible than the other thumb buttons, which I often use to activate abilities in games like Destiny 2 or Apex Legends. So, I remapped it, and it’s been great.
Another feature that stood out to me was the ‘Smart-Reel’ option, which lets the scroll wheel flip between tactile and free-spin modes on the fly. I thought I’d be a fan of this since I generally prefer tactile scroll but occasionally appreciate free-spin scrolling when I’m working and need to zip around a long article on MobileSyrup. However, in practice, I found Smart-Reel easily flipped between the two, and it felt really weird when I was using it. I’d love to see an option to customize the activation threshold for Smart-Reel in the future. Still, it’s great to have both options available on the Basilisk since the DeathAdder only had tactile scroll.
Finally, the Basilisk V3 Pro sports a button to cycle through different DPI settings. That’s a fairly common inclusion on mice these days, but what I appreciated with the Basilisk V3 is it would show the DPI on my computer screen when I cycled through. This is much more accessible than showing a little LED light with a different colour for each DPI setting, especially since I could never remember which LED colour was for the setting I actually wanted.
The Basilisk V3 Pro is overall great, but it’s pricey too
After my time with the Basilisk V3 Pro, I’m a fan and will likely keep using it as my daily driver. Ultimately, I’d like something just a tad lighter, but the ergonomics of the Basilisk will keep it on my desk over other, lighter options.
Unfortunately, the Basilisk V3 Pro doesn’t come cheap. There are a few options to pick from, which I’ll highlight below:
- Basilisk V3 Pro – $219.99
- Basilisk V3 Pro with Wireless Charging Puck – $231.99 (regular $244.98)
- Basilisk V3 Pro with Mouse Dock Pro – $268.99 (regular $309.98)
Again, the wireless charging puck costs $24.99 on its own, and works with Qi charging pads, while the Mouse Dock Pro costs $89.99 and comes with a charging puck.
You can learn more about Basilisk V3 Pro, or buy one, on Razer’s website.
