Razer Naga Pro review

Our Verdict

The Razer Naga Pro is an splendid wireless MMO mouse, just it makes a few compromises that both its wired and wireless predecessors did non.

For

Extremely versatile
Comfortable design
2 kinds of wireless connectivity
Long bombardment life

Against

Imperfect USB wireless
Disappointing half-dozen-button thumbpad

Tom'south Guide Verdict

The Razer Naga Pro is an first-class wireless MMO mouse, simply it makes a few compromises that both its wired and wireless predecessors did non.

Pros

+
Extremely versatile
+
Comfy blueprint
+
Ii kinds of wireless connectivity
+
Long bombardment life

Cons

-
Imperfect USB wireless
-
Disappointing six-button thumbpad

Razer Naga Pro specs

Max DPI: 20,000
Buttons: 17 (adaptable)
Size: 4.vii 10 2.ix x i.7 inches
Weight: four.1 ounces

The Razer Naga Pro has some big shoes to fill. The wired Razer Naga Trinity has been a Tom's Guide best gaming mouse choice for years, and the wireless Razer Naga Epic Blush was arguably one of the offset nifty wireless gaming mice. The $150 Razer Naga Pro combines a lot of what was great about these two mice, including the swappable side panels of the Trinity and the wireless connectivity of the Epic Chroma.

For the almost part, the Naga Pro is a versatile mouse with solid gaming functioning and a lot of customization options. Its hardware lets you pick the perfect thumbpad; its software lets you effortlessly assign every bit many commands as your heart desires. The mouse's bulky design and extended finger grip is going to be divisive, but frankly, that's always been the case with Naga mice, and it would have been much riskier to change a tried-and-truthful design.

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There are a few issues that hold the Naga Pro back from complete success, though. The wireless connectivity, while solid, is not as perfect equally information technology needs to be to facilitate very high-level players. Furthermore, the new vi-push side console is not nearly equally satisfying or clever as the wonderful hex console that the Trinity employed.

Still, if you tin can afford the steep cost of entry, the Naga Pro is a skillful wireless gaming mouse. Our total Razer Naga Pro review examines its strengths — and how it could have been just a bit amend.

Razer Naga Pro blueprint

The Razer Naga Pro looks extremely like to the Naga mice that came before it. It's a big, somewhat squat mouse with a wide body, a high contour and a heck of a lot of buttons on the side. There are textured grips for both the pollex and the outer fingers, and a somewhat fibroid matte surface, which resists sweat very well.

Razer Naga Pro review — (Epitome credit: Tom's Guide)

On the bottom of the mouse, there are four white gliding anxiety, which assistance reduce friction every bit you move the mouse effectually. At that place'southward also a button to switch among saved profiles, also every bit a ability toggle: 2.4 GHz wireless, Bluetooth or off.

While having a contour-switcher on the bottom is somewhat inconvenient, you tin can also program profiles to mouse buttons on the top and sides, and so it's not a big issue. On the top of the mouse, there's a left button, a right button, a clickable curlicue wheel and two buttons only below that to adjust dots-per-inch (DPI) sensitivity.

The side panel is where things go really interesting, nonetheless. Instead of just one side panel with a fixed number of thumb buttons, the Naga Pro has three different side panels to choose from. The first is a very traditional MMO fixture, with twelve numbered buttons in four rows of iii. The second is a six-button: 3 buttons apiece in ii horizontal rows. The final pick is a straightforward 2-push model with a big textured grip.

The twelve- and two-button panels are both excellent, and brand the Naga Pro a strong choice for both MMOs and more than streamlined genres. I'1000 not really sure how the 6-button variation fits in, though. Previous Naga configurations had a creative "hex" pattern with six buttons arranged in a hexagon (or vii, merely "Naga Hept" didn't have the aforementioned band to information technology), which provided MMO players a clever alternate configuration. The horizontal half dozen-button layout feels like a questionably useful middle footing.

Razer Naga Pro features

The Razer Naga Pro has two of import features autonomously from its concrete design: its wireless connectivity, and the Razer Synapse software.

Somewhat surprisingly, I have no complaints about the Synapse software for the Naga Pro. (The software has given me trouble with a number of Razer peripherals in the past.) It's like shooting fish in a barrel to plan all three sets of the Naga Pro'due south buttons, no matter which ane yous happen to have attached at the moment. You lot tin create profiles, adjust the RGB lighting, cheque the battery and adjust power options. Even though in that location are five tabs with various sub-menus in each, it'southward pretty articulate where every function is found.

Speaking of power options, the Naga Pro can last upwards to 100 hours on two.4 GHz wireless, at to the lowest degree if you lot're willing to forego the lighting. With the lighting enabled, I got a solid few days out of it, and I imagine you could stretch it longer — or article of clothing it out even quicker — depending on how intricate you want your lighting patterns to exist. However, unlike the Razer Naga Epic Chroma, the Naga Pro doesn't come up with a dock, meaning that you lot'll take to connect with a tiny dongle and recharge via a wire, either when the mouse is not in use, or while you lot play. Information technology's not near every bit elegant — and the Ballsy Chroma was $twenty cheaper, too.

The problem comes with the wireless connectivity. While connecting is easy (plug in a dongle for 2.4 GHz, or just enable Bluetooth), I found that the USB dongle connection is imperfect. Xc-nine percentage of the time, the connection was strong, stable and seamless. Simply every now and and so, the mouse would stop communicating with my PC for a second or two, then pick up every bit though nothing had happened. This happened regardless of which USB port I used, and with all the software and firmware fully updated. Information technology's an annoyance when it happens in everyday computing and gaming; information technology could be a real disaster during a high-level MMO raid.

Razer Naga Pro operation

Aside from the infrequent wireless problems discussed to a higher place, the Naga Pro works well in games, particularly in MMOs. Playing Final Fantasy Xiv with the twelve-button console, I was able to access all of my skills at thumb-bespeak, with buttons left over for other commands such as auto-run and emoting. On the other hand, it took merely seconds to bandy out the twelve-button console for its ii-push counterpart and dive into Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Doom Eternal and Historic period of Empires III: Definitive Edition (beta).

(Come to call up of information technology, perchance the six-button panel would be useful for RTS games, where yous need to assign a handful of different buildings and formations. But I found it was easier to stick with the two-button panel and fall dorsum on keyboard shortcuts.)

What'south bully virtually the Naga Pro is that with three different panels from which to choose, information technology actually is a mouse for all genres. In only a few seconds, I could turn an MMO accessory into an action/adventure peripheral, and back again. You'll pay a premium for the versatility, but it beats ownership two — or three — separate mice.

Razer Naga Pro verdict

In our Razer Naga Pro review, we discussed how Razer'southward latest MMO mouse is a versatile powerhouse, held back by simply a few obnoxious foibles. I wish it still came with a charging dock; I wish Razer had kept the hex panel; I wish the wireless connexion were absolutely perfect. But the commencement ii flaws aren't dealbreakers, and the latter is probably just a firmware update away from being fixed.

The Razer Naga Pro is a very good mouse, and if it's non bang-up, it'southward not for lack of trying. In the same price range, the Logitech G502 Lightspeed is still my favorite pick, but it'due south as well not a perfect choice for MMOs, and then choose wisely.

Marshall Honorof is a senior editor for Tom'south Guide, overseeing the site's coverage of gaming hardware and software. He comes from a science writing background, having studied paleomammalogy, biological anthropology, and the history of scientific discipline and technology. Later on hours, yous can find him practicing taekwondo or doing deep dives on archetype sci-fi.