It’s fair to say that we’ve had something of a mixed experience with wireless mice in the recent past, from the excellent Basilisk Ultimate to the promising but ultimately flawed KATAR PRO Wireless, so we entered into this review with a degree of trepidation. Thank goodness that these worries were swiftly dispelled by the Orochi V2’s excellent overall design.

With Razer Mechanical Switches, Hyperspeed Wireless and 18K DPI optical sensor, the underlying technical gaming credentials were always going to be present. What Razer needed to deliver on was a compact lightweight chassis that didn’t fall apart as soon as you used it assertively. The Orochi V2 is just such a mouse, with very good build quality and a smart internal layout coupled to an opening mechanism that works to the design’s overall benefit rather than detriment.

Operating with either AA or AAA batteries is another smart decision. Flexibility in power source is an underappreciated aspect in mobile mice, when you may be at a location that has one or the other type but not both. Replacements are oftentimes urgent, particularly when working remotely, and beggars cannot be choosers. With this mouse they don’t have to be.

Slight quality issues are in evidence which might frustrate some high level gamers however. The fractional inward movement on both LMB and RMB is the most egregious, but it’s notable that such a minor flaw is really our harshest criticism. If you’re gaming on the move then it’s unlikely you’ll find it much of a problem compared to other aspects of mobile gaming. That aside, we'd also note that the grippy surface of the Orochi will also tend to pick-up grime a little more readily than some others.

Speaking of mobile gaming, we strongly recommend the 2.4GHz wireless mode over Bluetooth. Latency was obvious in the sort time we had the mouse operating in Bluetooth mode, certainly enough to throw off your game. Bluetooth is however perfect for wide compatibility and battery longevity, making it a good solution for productivity and general non-game PC/Laptop usage.



As for that battery life, despite two weeks as our daily driver running full bore setting (2.4GHz, 1000 Hz polling, default power settings) the battery indicator didn’t budge. We can’t corroborate the claimed 950 hrs with Bluetooth or 425 with 2.4GHz, but 200hrs was easily reached and surpassed without it breaking sweat.

For some, the one aspect lacking on the Orochi V2 (apart from RGB lighting, we see you gamers) might be on-board profile support. The mouse only has one, and as a consequence you’ll need to leverage the cloud storage capabilities of Synapse software to act as an alternative.

On the other hand, the cherry on top might well be the custom fascia designs purchasable from Razer. Either by showing your appreciation for a specific style, influencer or game, or simply by designing your own striking personalised graphics, the Orochi V2 offers near unprecedented aesthetic options that take advantage of a neat quirk in the mouse’s design. The one addition that we’d love to see is a carry bag just to keep it safe in a holdall, but we understand why Razer would be reluctant to bundle one given the mouse’s position in the market.



All told, Razer’s Orochi V2 is a high quality mouse for the mobile gamer and those who engage with the new hybrid work paradigm. It mixes quality components with smart design for a great mouse that excels on-the-go but is also at home in a home office. At an MSRP of £69.99 it’s at the premium end of this class of mouse, but for the right person it will seem cheap at that.




Click here for an explanation of our awards at Vortez.net.

Stay connected with the Vortez Social Media pages:
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram

Join in with the discussions on Discord