Peripherals are something we all get excited about. I've seen people spend hundreds on subpar products, and 20 dollar products take the cake. Razer have made a name for themselves in the peripheral market and at this point I've used most of the products in their peripheral range. Gamepads, Keyboards, Mice, Headsets, you name it. Over Christmas I was ecstatic to look over some of the new Razer Chroma gear, the Blackwidow keyboard and the Deathadder mouse. I was pretty impressed with what I saw, so when I was offered a chance to test out the other gaming mouse in Razer's Chroma arsenal, I was jumping for joy. The Epic Naga Chroma is an interesting product, for a few reasons. The Naga series is one that over the years, many people have criticised for having TOO many features. I've had a good play with a few Nagas over the years, but the Chroma certainly has a few features that bump it from being a good mouse, to a great mouse.
First of all, the Chroma is a fully wireless device. After using the Microsoft Sidewinder mouse for so long, I know a little bit about wireless mice. While I absolutely love them, I also realise what a nightmare they can be when they work incorrectly. After putting it through the usual rigours of my gaming habits, I was content with the performance. I recall in prior years the speed of the mouse would often be compromised as the batteries went south, but that isn't a problem on the Naga Chroma.
To add onto the wireless discussion, the charging system does intrigue me. Firstly, there is no external batteries, something my Sidewinder mouse didn't use and as a result was costing a fortune in replacement batteries. While the Naga doesn't make use of removable batteries, the built in power supply is fairly flexible. If you'd like to run the device wired you absolutely can, which is a comfort I've come to appreciate in top tier wireless devices. Plug the supplied micro-usb chord straight into the mouse and it can go straight into the computer. If you'd like a truly wireless mouse, plug the same chord into the Naga's supplied charging dock. The dock has a magnetic lock for the Naga, holding onto it until you're ready to use it, all the while powering it up. I've seen dock designs before, but the unique design of these charging features gave it a sense of quality I never experienced with other designs. Magnetic contacts are welcome, as is the custom micro chord, but only time will really tell whether I end up using this as a wired or wireless variant. For now, wireless is looking pretty good.
Backing up the design of the other Chroma devices is Razets fully customisable lighting. With major updates to Razehs configuration tool, the Chroma peripherals have even more options than ever before. The one feature I appreciate is being able to push a lighting profile to other Chroma devices. My obsessive tendencies with my Chroma settings were a little easier to update with this tool, but if you want the full shebang, the answer is yes, you can customise every light on the Naga to any colour your want. The body of the Naga has gone through some changes over its lifetime, what originated as entirely too small of a device has grown to something a little more reasonable. But rather than offer custom side attachments to match size and shape to one's hand, Razer have chosen to stay with one body option. I honestly think this makes the design feel a little more sturdy and is a welcome change in philosophy, rather than keeping customisability in a counter productive state.
The feature iconic of the Naga product has always been the extra custom keys built into the device, and we've seen them in a few forms. We've seen a few MOBA variants with a more limited number of spare ability keys, but the usual occurrence is usually a huge amount of keys lining the side of the mouse. This hasn't changed this time around, with 12 to be exact. Set up like an extended num pad, close inspection of the device revealed a few possibilities that I hadn't considered before.
Custom keys on mice are usually set up one of two ways. The most common of these is to have them run parallel to the desk, starting just under the left click. The other option, used far less often, is to stack them in a vertical fashion. This option is largely ignored because of the size of the device, however after using it for a few years it has become my preference, ESPECIALLY inside shooters. My reactions would often have me grip the mouse instinctively during stress, which I could tweak to activate either a counter with a knife, or a reload. That set-up works far less effectively with the traditional scheme. On the Epic Naga, the 12 tabled keys allow you to pick one or the other, and until now, I never even thought about the system in that way. The big addition in the Epic Naga Chroma is that these keys are now mechanical, which is a feature that is subtle due to their size, but effective in getting good response. This also creates a uniform experience across your entire mechanical set up.
If you want to use the mouse for what it's for, boot up your RPG or MMORPG of choice. The 19 programmable keys mean you can organise items, abilities, strategies and macros all in your right hand without needing to reference anywhere else. I’ve seen it used inside games like Starcraft to remove inefficient back and forth movement with the mouse. I’ve seen how well it works in Dragon Age Inquisition which I just went back to play again (and once more, was supremely impressed). The Epic Naga could easily revolutionise your gaming experience and certainly makes a strong case for being the best available computer mouse on the market, hands down.
Cost is an important issue to talk about in regards to the Epic Naga. Razer have received some criticism in the past for their pricing. As a consumer, I have found myself in positions where I've had to forgo a purchase because I just couldn't justify the cost. With this latest addition to the Chroma team, we could be looking at more of the same... Online retailers have the Epic Naga sitting around the 5150 tag, which in itself is not unreasonable considering the plethora of features in the product. I guess I'd feel a little better knowing that 520 off that stock price would guarantee that the Epic Naga went from being a good deal to being an amazing deal. My first Razer product was an Abyssus mouse which I bought for maybe $40 dollars. At the time this was both a great purchase and a reasonable price. Today, buying a Deathadder is going to cost less than half that of the Naga, and I wish Razer would consider investing in their community by making the mouse a tad more affordable, and as a result getting into the hands of more of their consumers.
I guess the real contest comes down to comparing the mice in the Naga range, which as it stands is still only the Naga and the Deathadder. The Naga does feel good in the hand, but its smaller profile makes it a little harder to control when compared to the Deathadder. In turn the Deathadder is one of the better mice in Razeds entire range for nothing more than that reason. Improvements to the design of the body have brought the Naga a little closer to the front runners, but in my opinion it still doesn't feel as solid as other products. This is fine for many gaming profiles, but constant feedback I get from the Deathadder is its performance in FPS, which is something I really struggled to contend with the Naga. For MOBA, MMO, RPG, etc, the Naga creams the opponents, but for FPS, it just doesn't have enough dispersed weight to be used effectively. In saying that, every other feature the Naga has blows the Deathadder out of the water. Wireless, on the fly DPI switching, 12 numerical keys and a multi directional mouse click make this contest a non issue. The Naga will win this argument hands down, every time. Does it feel AS nice? Not really. Does it matter though, considering the mass of features it brings to the table? I think it more than makes up for any shortcomings. Price wise, the choice will always come down to, 'Can I afford to pay twice as much for a mouse?" Should the answer be no, then the Deathadder is still a very solid buy for a good product. If the answer is yes, the Epic Naga Chroma will not be a buy you will regret, and it’ll be a long time before you even so much as look at another mouse.