Razer Boomslang 20th Anniversary Mouse Review: For Collectors

Unique throwback design. Top-of-the-line specs. PU leather-wrapped body. Ambidextrous signifier with mirrored buttons. Wireless charging. Includes an exploded rodent successful a backlit frame.

Absurd price. Shape doesn’t consciousness large if you aren’t nostalgic for it. 100-plus grams. No Bluetooth connectivity. No USB charging or wired connectivity.

The Razer Boomslang 20th Anniversary Edition gaming rodent costs implicit 1 1000 dollars. $1,337, to beryllium specific.

I was surprised. Everyone I mentioned this to was surprised. Even the Razer typical hosting the property league seemed surprised. It’s not made of gold. It doesn’t adjacent person existent leather connected the leather-wrapped components. It’s a plastic-based polyurethane leather, attached to a transparent integrative shell. For $1,337.

According to Razer, you aren’t paying conscionable for the throwback shape. You’re paying for the prestige of what the marque calls the “exotic supercar of mice.” It’s thing they admit volition be, for astir buyers, a show portion much than an actual, functional mouse—they adjacent nonstop you a framed, broken-down mentation with each functional mouse.

Is determination immoderate existent crushed to walk this wealth connected a “leet” rodent that looks similar a Ghost from Halo and comes with a show case? For many, determination was; I received this rodent lone a time earlier preorders started, and the 1,337 units sold retired astir immediately. If you privation 1 now, you’re apt going to beryllium stuck spending astir $2,000 connected the aftermarket.

Clickable History

There couldn’t beryllium a amended clip for Razer to merchandise a reimagined mentation of its archetypal mouse: The transparent, rounded, and futuristic designs of the aboriginal 2000s person swung backmost astir to being chill successful the nationalist eye, and a retro rodent similar this (as overmuch arsenic it hurts to telephone this “retro”) is precisely the benignant of happening I expected each marque to beryllium pushing for.

The Razer Boomslang was primitively released successful 1999, making this a spot precocious for the “20th Anniversary” it’s supposedly celebrating. The Razer marque was archetypal founded arsenic a subsidiary of Kärna LLC successful 1998, shutting down lone 2 years aboriginal erstwhile Kärna filed for bankruptcy. The marque was revived 5 years later, rereleasing the Boomslang arsenic the new Razer’s debut rodent and establishing the 20th Anniversary successful question.

Razer claims the Boomslang to beryllium the archetypal gaming rodent ever made. It introduced a 2,000 DPI sensor, gaming-focused shape, and precise functionality that was antecedently unheard of successful gaming (but if you inquire me, immoderate rodent tin beryllium a gaming rodent erstwhile you usage it for gaming).

While “Boomslang” whitethorn dependable similar the sanction of a bomb-lobbing slingshot from a Borderlands game, I was shocked to larn that it’s really the sanction of a venomous green-and-black snake autochthonal to Sub-Saharan Africa. Translated from Dutch and Afrikaans, the sanction rather virtually means “tree snake.” The coloration and snakes’ caput signifier presumably served arsenic inspiration for the signifier of the rodent and its transparent greenish colorway.

Even the pricing is simply a not-very-subtle reference. For those that weren’t online backmost successful the day, “1337” is an illustration of “leetspeak,” which consists mostly of replacing letters with numbers and modifying the spelling of definite phrases, either to evoke more-specific meanings oregon bypass substance filters. “1337” was “LEET,” which was an intentional misspelling of “elite,” and being the archetypal fractional of “1337 H4X0R,” a ridiculous mode to constitute “elite hacker,” since being a hacker was the coolest happening imaginable successful the Matrix era.

Ancient Ergonomics

This mouse’s signifier is implicit 2 decades old. In the interim, rodent ergonomics person precocious a lot. Because of that, I don’t deliberation it’s realistic to clasp this plan to the standards of today.

The archetypal Boomslang came from the epoch of Xbox’s bulky Duke controller. We had conscionable hardly made it past the N64’s beloved three-pronged abomination. At a clip erstwhile “ergonomics” was a caller thought to beryllium explored alternatively of a defined concept, this plan was a batch much palatable.

It’s inactive a gaming rodent successful theory, adjacent if the immense bulk of them volition walk much clip connected a support than connected a mousepad, truthful I bash request to speech astir whether it tin game. Shockingly enough, it’s not that bad. The signifier is unusual, yes. Compared to a modular mouse, the Boomslang is low-slung and wide. It feels similar it was designed for an Elite from Halo to hold, their 2 cardinal fingers and a thumb connected each side. It is bizarre and past feeling, but it’s not bad.

Putting your manus connected this mouse, you person to rethink wherever everything goes. Your thumb curls underneath the main hump, and your pinky mirrors it connected the other side. There’s capable existent property connected the 2 main buttons for each 3 fingers to beryllium comfortably. If you’re similar me, and you thin to remainder your mediate digit connected the close rodent button, it’s exceptionally odd. Instead, your mediate digit truly wants to remainder connected the rodent wheel. It feels earthy aft a fewer minutes, but you'll request to adjust.

To decently trial this mouse, I paired it with immoderate of the dense hitters from backmost successful the day. Halo CE, Counter-Strike, Quake 2, and Half-Life. To get immoderate agility, your manus is beauteous overmuch forced into a fingertip-only grip, wherever your thumb and pinky descent into the crevices of the broadside buttons for added stability. The rodent instrumentality is acceptable reasonably acold backmost compared to a modular mouse, truthful putting your fingertips astatine the borderline of the rodent means your mediate digit can’t easy usage the rodent wheel. Instead, with your fingertips sitting straight adjacent to the wheel, the thenar of your manus is near hanging disconnected the back. I would ideate everyone who uses this volition person a newfound appreciation for however acold ergonomics person travel implicit the years.

The largest conflict I had with this rodent was good controls. The ample caput and value means this is somewhat much prone to maintaining momentum than astir that I’ve tested, wanting to plaything astir similar a conflict axe erstwhile being utilized precisely.

The genuinely strangest facet of this rodent from a modern position is the broadside buttons. They beryllium successful what I tin champion picture arsenic the “armpits” of the mouse, curving underneath the beforehand conception and sitting precisely wherever your thumb and pinky intuitively privation to be. Both of them person a strange, creased signifier that follows the lines of the mouse’s 2 halves, and necessitate a bully spot of unit to beryllium pressed down, meaning you won’t accidentally property them during regular use, but this besides means they’re casual to hide about.

Technically speaking, this rodent is ambidextrous. It is mirrored from near to right, with the aforesaid signifier and buttons connected some sides. However, I truly deliberation “ambidextrous” is simply a agelong for what this rodent is: It feels arsenic awkward successful some hands much than thing else.

Modern Internals

Yes, it performs well. It has the aforesaid interior assembly arsenic the latest Deathadder, with Gen-4 optical switches and 8,000-Hz polling. There’s nary question that this rodent is connected par with astir brands’ premium lightweight offerings today.

While the value is not connected par with different offerings astatine astir 108 grams, it truly doesn’t consciousness that heavy: The monolithic footprint combined with the debased tallness means the value is reasonably casual to determination around. Even if it doesn’t consciousness anyplace adjacent arsenic airy arsenic a modern gaming rodent that’s beneath 60 grams, it’s surely not arsenic sluggish arsenic a productivity-focused rodent similar the MX Master 4.

Really, the astir enjoyment I derived from this rodent was the feeling of playing early-2000’s games with it. Swinging the rodent astir successful Quake 2 felt not great, but fun. The aforesaid tin beryllium said for a playthrough of Halo: Combat Evolved oregon a CS2 decease lucifer lobby. I didn’t execute good successful immoderate of these, but I did person a beauteous bully clip portion experiencing a weird consciousness of carnal nostalgia.

Rebuilding an Old Mouse

While I was initially amazed by the prime to usage artificial PU leather alternatively of existent leather, my speech with Charlie Bolton, Razer’s pb designer, revealed that determination were reasons down this. Along with issues of longevity and maintenance, Bolton pointed retired that immoderate religions look down connected owning and handling items made of leather. While I spot existent leather arsenic a much “premium” offering wrong my ain taste context, I tin recognize their determination from this perspective, since it makes the merchandise accessible to a larger audience.

Even fake leather is amended than the soft-touch integrative utilized connected the archetypal Boomslang. During our meeting, Bolton showed disconnected a grossly sticky and degraded archetypal model. I, similar many, loathe soft-touch plastic’s inevitable march towards that weird, tacky texture.

While the integrative ammunition mightiness consciousness a spot underwhelming compared to Razer’s magnesium rodent from a fewer years back, oregon Corsair’s carbon-fiber offerings, I tin recognize this prime arsenic well: The rodent truly wouldn’t consciousness the aforesaid with an opaque shell. During a gathering with Razer’s pb designer, helium showed maine a prototype with an all-black ammunition that didn’t person the aforesaid charm to it, and told maine that, portion they had experimented with Magnesium astatine first, it conscionable didn’t consciousness authentic either. Having the rodent in-hand, I truly similar the look of the transparent plastic.

When talking to Bolton, I besides asked whether the terms was due to the fact that of the collectors’ premium, oregon due to the fact that of the customized tooling needed for a limited-run, low-demand merchandise similar this. “A premix of both” was the reply I got. Most injection-molded integrative products are babelike connected large-scale accumulation runs to offset the terms of development. When determination are lone a mates 1000 items being made alternatively of tens oregon hundreds of thousands, the terms of each idiosyncratic rodent volition people sprout up exponentially. Add successful the information that each of the leather surfaces are hand-stitched, and integration of wireless charging, and you person a rodent that surely was not inexpensive to produce.

To further the assertion that this rodent is simply a collectors’ item, and not conscionable a mouse, you get rather a spot much than “just” the rodent successful the package. A week aft I received the mouse, a 2nd bundle arrived astatine my door: a monolithic framework with each of the parts needed to assemble different Boomslang connected display, mounted with LED backlighting. This is, of course, conscionable arsenic absurd arsenic the remainder of the mouse. But, ironically enough, it besides manages to code my largest gripe with astir devices today: a deficiency of repairability. While Razer recommends against it, I confirmed that each of these parts are afloat functional and tin theoretically beryllium utilized for repairs! Huzzah! (There are adjacent exposed screws connected the backmost of the frame!)

A Collector's Item

Is it worthy buying one? With the Boomslang, though, that’s not truly a question. It's intelligibly not worthy the wealth arsenic simply a mouse. There is nary mode any mouse, from a show oregon functionality perspective, tin beryllium worthy $1,337, oregon thing adjacent it. It is not a “good deal” by immoderate means. It’s not adjacent a sensible mode to walk the money.

More than thing else, this is simply a collectors’ item: The worth it provides is not based connected immoderate benignant of functionality, oregon usability, but is alternatively successful the taste abstraction it occupies. For affluent nerds who callback the aboriginal Razer mice from their LAN parties, this is much a portion of creation than an existent instrumentality to use. For galore buyers it represents some nostalgia for the “simpler” times of one’s younker and prestige and exclusivity astatine the aforesaid time. I americium definite a myriad of video crippled streamers would emotion to person 1 of these down them successful the LED backlit frame.

Yes, this rodent is deeply, profoundly absurd. But however overmuch much absurd is the remainder of the presumption quo? There is simply a immense civilization of limited-run, artificially-scarce products that merchantability for importantly much than they are worth, and determination are evident critiques to beryllium lobbed astatine all of them, this rodent included.

I americium not saying to spell retired and bargain a ridiculous, costly mouse. But I americium saying we mightiness spot much and much of these tech products arsenic millennials property and get wealthier. There are truthful galore fields that seemingly get a walk connected ridiculous, aspirational pricing, and it seems that this volition besides spill implicit to exertion products successful much ways. I don’t deliberation an mundane rodent should outgo this much, but I besides don’t deliberation this is an mundane mouse. As a collectors’ item, I tin fto it be.