When Razer first started reworking apparently their entire product range with Chroma functionality, they told you about it boldly and extremely directly. Peripherals were renamed to carry the word “Chroma” in their actual designations. But as Chroma becomes a more common in their devices, their enthusiasms seems to have settled down a bit. Consequently, the reworked Razer Diamondback is not called the Diamondback Chroma. It’s just the Diamondback.
And that, for those that have been around for a while, should be more than enough – the reputation of this name alone carries a lot of weight. See, the original Diamondback, which was released around a decade ago, was the world’s first optical gaming mouse.
Time flows quickly in technological terms, and there has been a lot of innovation since 2005. So Razer have taken the ideas that were core to this revolutionary mouse, and have reintroduced them in this latest Diamondback edition.
Top of the list of what makes the Diamondback cool: it’s an ambidextrous mouse. You don’t see those often, and even if the Diamondback shares features with other devices, the fact that it is lefty friendly should go down very well – with left handed folks, at the very least.
It is powered by a 16 000 dpi 5G laser sensor, making it as sensitive as the top of the line devices out there today. Sensitivity can be set on the fly, and programmed via Razer’s Synapse software suite.
Speaking of programmability, it features fully programmable buttons – the standard left and right clicks, the scroll wheel and two buttons in thumb reach (on either side of the mouse, naturally, to keep it ambidextrous). The packaging claims seven programmable buttons but, realistically, you can only get to five of them with ease, unless you train your little finger for some side-button acrobatics on the off-thumb side.
The Diamondback is a relatively slender mouse in size, but is still very comfortable to use and really looks the part – particularly if you take time to set the Chroma functions, also via Synapse. And with a cable that is just a little over 2m in length, it doesn’t get bogged down, rather gliding effortlessly over your mousing surface. And with a 1 000Hz ultrapolling rate, combined with its sensitive laser, you shouldn’t miss a single move.
Razer rework and refresh their products fairly regularly, so it’s a little surprising that they have taken so long to get a new Diamondback on the market. With that said, the changes that have been made here are great, resulting in a top performer for those who want a gaming mouse that has a cord, and can work with either hand.
A great reworking of the original optical gaming mouse, the new Diamondback is a great ambidextrous option.
TECH SPECS
- 16 000 dpi sensor
- 1 000Hz ultrapolling
- Ambidextrous
- 7 buttons
- 2m cable
- Chroma enabled