Razer Ouroboros Elite Gaming Mouse Review

By Tom Jaskulka

Manufacturer: Razer Inc.
Product Name: Razer Ouroboros Elite Ambidextrous Gaming Mouse
Model Number: RZ01-00770100-R3U1
UPC: 879862004712
Price As Tested: $129.99 (Amazon / Razerstore)

Full Disclosure: The product sample used in this article has been self supplied.

In 2009, Razer started working on a mouse with some ambitious goals. It would be a gaming-grade, wireless hybrid mouse. It would be ambidextrous, even adjustable – allowing the user to create that perfect fit. It would pack in the latest sensors and gaming technology, complete with a cloud-based driver solution. Three years later in late 2012, Razer finally released the Ouroboros. As soon as it was released, it quickly sold out of stock online and in stores and has since disappeared from regular channels. At Benchmark Reviews, I was lucky enough to get my hands on a Razer Ouroboros gaming mouse, and take it for a spin.

Razer has normally named all of their gaming mice after snakes (the idea being, snakes eat “mice”), and the Ouroboros is no different. The name comes from a mythical tale or idea, essentially describing anything of a cyclical or “eternal” nature; commonly depicted as a snake eating its own tail. The Razer team picked the Ouroboros as a symbol to describe the process in which this gaming mouse was created – inspired by the Lamborghini Reventon and the Tumbler from Batman Begins, the design went through many drafts and revisions before finally being released in the form it is today. The Ouroboros page on the Razer website shows an interesting history, a rare peek into the development of a modern gaming peripheral. Did they end up accomplishing their goals?

Let’s take a closer look.

• Fully Customizable Ambidextrous Ergonomics
• 4G Dual Sensor System
• 1ms Gaming-grade Wireless Technology

• Customizable ergonomics to fit all hand sizes and grip-styles
• 8200dpi 4G Dual Sensor System
• Gaming-grade wireless technology with dock
• Razer Synapse 2.0 enabled
• 11 programmable Hyperesponse buttons
• 1000Hz Ultrapolling / 1ms response time
• Up to 200 inches per second / 50g acceleration
• Approximate Size: 122 mm to 137 mm / 4.80″ to 5.39″ (Length) x 71 mm / 2.80″ (Width) x 42 mm / 1.65″ (Height)
• Approximate Weight: 115 g / 0.25 lbs. (without battery) to 135 g / 0.29 lbs. (with battery)
• Battery life: (Approx) 12 hrs (continuous gaming)
• PC / Mac with USB port
• Windows® 8/ Windows® 7 / Windows Vista® / Windows® XP (32-bit)/ Mac OS X (v10.6-10.7 and above)
• Internet connection
• 100MB of free hard disk space
• Razer Synapse 2.0 registration (requiring a valid e-mail), software download, license acceptance, and internet connection needed to activate full features of product and for software updates. After activation, full features are available in optional offline mode.

Specifications taken from the manufacturer’s product page.

As always, the Razer packaging is designed to impress. There is not a box to speak of in the traditional sense, rather a transparent acrylic cube with the Ouroboros suspended on a pedestal within. While I can understand and appreciate the effort put in to displaying such a unique (and arguably expensive) product, there’s a tiny part of my brain that wonders how much of the MSRP is in the presentation. I can’t argue with the end result – one can’t help but feel they’ve gotten their money’s worth before they even use the product.

For such a fancy enclosure, Razer did a remarkable job making it simple to extract the mouse and accessories. Contained within the acrylic pedestal is the wireless dock for the Ouroboros, while underneath the quick start manual and certificate, stickers and product guide rest the rechargeable battery, braided USB cord and extra side grips. The mouse itself is locked in rather tight, but simply press down on the acrylic tab and it should pop right out.

It’s certainly a looker. While I don’t possess the academic qualifications to launch into a discussion on design, it is pretty apparent the Razer team were pretty serious when they mentioned the Reventon and Batmobile as design influences. While “glowy lights” and aggressive designs aren’t for everyone, most people still can’t resist turning their head when a Lamborghini rolls by – this mouse has a similar effect. Whether you love it or hate it, the Ouroboros is undoubtedly an eye-catcher. Still, it’s almost as if the design team knew this mouse was a pretty extreme design and tried to appeal to the sophisticated crowd as well. The scroll wheel green LED shines through a finish that looks like a silver metal when the LED itself is turned off; the mouse itself is conservative with the green lighting especially relative to some of their other designs. The Razer logo on the palm rest is a muted glossy black on a matte black finish – in fact, there’s very little of the “piano black” gloss typical of earlier Razer mice. The textures used on the top surfaces are different than the earlier models as well, forgoing the soft rubber for a harder matte finish. It isn’t as grippy as the rubber coating Razer uses, but seems to do the job adequately nonetheless.

The scroll wheel is of the “notched” type – Razer has historically stayed away from the freewheeling scroll wheels, as that function has little use for gaming. The wheel itself feels solid, and the middle click function has great tactile feedback as well. My only complaint is the rows of rubber protrusions on the scroll wheel felt a little more vague than some other textured designs – I struggled more than once changing weapons in Battlefield 3 as the feeling of the wheel didn’t seem to match up with the actual detents that send the “scroll” signal to the computer. This is one of those “most people probably wouldn’t notice” nitpicks though, and your experience might be different.

You can also see the mini-USB port under the wheel for the dual-purpose charging cord, allowing for hybrid wired/wireless functionality. I like this option, and appreciate the ability to easily switch between the two connection types.

While the extended “wings” are installed by default, they are easily swapped out for a slightly narrower set of side panels. Both of the designs are secured by three magnets, and are easy to remove and replace. The narrower set of grips also uses a soft, pleasantly textured rubber to enhance your grip – mainly designed to cater to those that prefer a claw style grip. I myself use a strange combination of claw and palm (which probably helps to explain my peculiar taste in peripherals, along with my never-ending search for the perfect fit), and the Ouroboros is highly adjustable to fit most grip styles.

Rounding out the externals, you can see the 3-bar battery indicator located on the “spine” of the mouse, between the DPI buttons (which are programmable as well) and the adjustable rear palm rest.

Let’s dig a little deeper into the features of the Razer Ouroboros.

Next up: the wireless receiver/charging dock. While you may recognize some core Mamba influences here, Razer really trimmed up the design and I feel it is better overall. The smaller profile is appreciated, and the restrained use of glossy surfaces is a nice touch as well. The smaller profile does make it more difficult to actually dock the mouse – since there isn’t a “ledge” to hang the mouse on like the Mamba dock, it takes a little trial and error to get it lined up correctly. Not a major issue, as you’ll get better with practice – and thankfully, you can try as many times as you’d like without that dock slipping around on your desk, as Razer has obtained some sort of alien material to line the bottom of the base. This stuff does not move once placed on a smooth surface. It even requires a fair bit of force to lift off the surface it is placed on…which led me to place the dock on a vertical surface (the front of my desk drawer). It didn’t fall off. Just stuck right to it. No adhesives. Seriously, whatever material this stuff is made of, it was probably classified until now. I haven’t encountered anything like it, and I feel compelled to investigate further as I’m pretty sure it’s advanced technology of some sort. It doesn’t even feel sticky! As far as I can tell, it has yet to lose it’s ability to grab hold of whatever surface you place it on – dust is easily wiped off, and you’re back in business. It might be strange to be blown away by a wireless receiver, but that material on the bottom is amazing. Razer, please put this material on the bottom of your mousepads. That is all. Seriously, I can’t emphasize enough how cool this stuff is.

While I could continue to talk about the dock for some time (they should put that material on EVERYTHING – I’m pretty sure I could walk straight up a wall if it were coated in that stuff) there are some other abilities the Ouroboros possesses. Namely, its ability to adjust in various dimensions to provide a custom fit. Along with the ambidextrous design, most users should be able to find a fit that’s comfortable for them. Above you can see the two different grips and where they attach, as well as the adjustable palm rest (in its shortest position – it can extend 15mm or .59 inches).

The rear palm rest is attached by two sliding rails, secured by a push button mechanism (it lifts two pins that allow you to slide the palm rest in or out). Here again, the customizability of the Ouroboros is a great feature, but I found myself wishing for a little more adjustability – the palm rest has six positions, but never shortens enough to cover the battery LED indicator. Personally, I would have loved the option to shorten the palm rest enough to close the gap to the main mouse buttons, allowing for a true fingertip grip as well. At least you can dial in a wide range of angles for the rear palm rest – using a small wheel at the rear of the mouse, you can easily adjust it to your preference. It will adjust from almost flat to a pretty steep rear angle, almost touching the top of the side grips. The curved surfaces make it pretty tough to measure, but the range is adequate enough to find a comfortable fit.

The battery (AA size) is a rechargeable nickel metal hydride type, good for around 12 hours of continuous gaming. Even at 1000Hz polling rate, I didn’t run into a situation where I needed to plug in to continue playing – if it were required, a simple USB cord swap from the receiver dock to the mouse would allow you to continue without interruption.

When you are presented with a product like the Razer Ouroboros, it is difficult to not get your hopes up. After all, it is billed as a “one mouse to rule them all” product at a price point to match, offering a multitude of functions and a wide variety of abilities. A hybrid wireless mouse with swappable side grips, ambidextrous, and adjustable at that! Still, I fear catering to as wide of an audience as possible resulted in a few compromises.

I found myself wishing the grips would change the width much more than what they actually do. The side profile doesn’t change very much between the two sets of side panels, although the smaller set does add a little “lip” to the rear of the grip. I had hoped the thumb and pinky rests would also increase the actual body width of the mouse much like the precision and comfort grips of the Logitech G9x. Razer has provided a large amount of customizability with the Ouroboros – is it too much to ask for more? Another set of side grips would go a long way. Perhaps even additional sets available for purchase (at the risk of setting of a DLC trend for hardware)… Still, the side grips do accomplish what the Razer team set out to do, and that is to accomodate the main grip styles – a finger rest and “platform” for the palm users, with a grippy surface for the claw users. If there were an Ouroboros 2.0, I would hope for more side grip options; ditto for the palm rest. If it would adjust to be a little shorter, it would be perfect (for me and my strange grip style). While I’m at it, if you’re going to market a product for an unprecedented amount of customizability, why not use the tri-color LED system to allow custom colors as well? It’s nice to see a return to Razer Green, but a little bit of choice here would be nice.

The Razer Synapse software works well enough. I was initially a little upset I was being “forced” to create yet another online account…but as I have multiple devices that are managed quite well with the Synapse package, I grew to appreciate its strengths. The recent update to include an offline mode was very welcome; I still would have preferred on-board memory to store profiles instead of accessing a server.

There may be some other reasons beyond demand as to why this product is hard to find – I experienced a strange lagging cursor issue many times, almost as if the signal were getting dropped. I found this hard to believe, as Razer has done a great job in my opinion with a 1000Hz wireless polling rate with their Mamba products and the signal-hopping technology they use to reduce interference. A quick Google search shows I’m not alone. Perhaps it needs a little tweaking (turning off my Logitech G930s or running the Ouroboros in wired mode did little to change the issue). It might be something that is fixed in a future firmware update, or rather an issue that required a more in-depth analysis (resulting in the lack of availability). In any case, this isn’t a problem that consumers of a $129 mouse are going to want to experience.

So how to rate this product? As a collectible, as a design experiment I feel it is completely successful. There are other mice on the market that allow for some customization, but not with the typical Razer design influences. Of course, I would eagerly drive either a Tumbler or Lamborghini given the chance, so perhaps I’m a little biased here. I think the Razer design team should be proud of themselves, as I feel they put together a unique and beautiful product.

If it were designed to just look pretty or sit on a shelf, it would absolutely receive top marks. While I personally appreciate the design, what really matters is how well it performs outside of its acrylic case. There we begin to discover some chinks in the armor – some strange sensor issues along with “not-quite-enough” customizability (I would gladly trade the clutch buttons for width adjustments…) start to wear away at this sharp-looking peripheral. While everyone’s hands are different and the best you can do is try one out, I feel if you are going to make a mouse adjustable why stop halfway?

The Razer Ouroboros is a commendable performer – when it is functioning as intended. I managed to get kicked from a server in BF3 the first day I played with the Ouroboros – while not very scientific, what better evidence do you need for a gaming device? I discovered I had to adjust my style, and that lead to quite a run. I generally prefer small, light mice that become an extension of your hand, but this means every small twitch affects your aim. The Ouroboros, I discovered that day, was more like an M1A1 tank – a stable weapon “platform” if you will. Perhaps the Tumbler reference went a little deeper than just the design?

I could never trace what was causing the intermittent lagging/skipping issue though, as disabling Synapse didn’t seem to solve it. It was prevalent enough to make me switch back to my Lachesis (which isn’t perfect either). The dual-sensor system has worked well on other mice, so there must be some firmware issue at work – perhaps this is one of the reasons the Ouroboros has yet to appear again in stock anywhere. I suspect this will be addressed eventually. However, I feel I can’t rate the mouse based on how it might be, so hopefully I’ll be able to update this review in the future with a better score here.

I could continue to talk about the appearance of the Razer Ouroboros for quite some time, but just look at the pictures. There isn’t another peripheral maker that designs quite like Razer does, and most people will either love it or hate it. The Ouroboros is no different: a mouse designed like this will tend to polarize opinions. I still maintain it’s a head-turner though, and there’s nothing else quite like it. Objectively, I feel they’ve done a great job with the overall “theme” of the mouse, and using matte surfaces to great effect. The design language is certainly consistent throughout, and everything “fits” – which is no small feat considering the number of adjustable surfaces.

Speaking of adjustable surfaces, the mouse still felt solid even with all those moving parts. The “palm grip” wide side grips would rock ever so slightly when a lot of downward pressure was placed on them on a soft mouse pad, but this is pretty much a worst-case scenario. The magnets could be a little stronger, but removing the smaller side grips would then prove to be much more difficult. The main body of the mouse felt well built, and the palm rest was surprisingly solid despite the ability to adjust in two directions. I personally prefer the soft rubber finish of earlier Razer mice as it just feels more comfortable than any other surface, however I didn’t feel like it detracted from any feeling of control. Still, I was not able to find a perfectly comfortable fit – if the body width could be adjusted to be a little narrower, I think I would have zero complaints here.

The functionality offered with the Ouroboros is top notch. I would have preferred even more though, and I can’t tell if I’m being greedy or honest. Still, the number of adjustments available are about par for the course compared to other peripherals that allow adjustments, and the mere fact you can make adjustments is worth quite a bit on its own. Throw in the hybrid gaming-grade wireless/wired ability, as well as surface calibration and programmable features (don’t forget about the lockable clutch buttons!), and you have all the ingredients for a top-tier gaming device.

Finally, a discussion on value. Honestly, I’m not sure if I can answer this one empirically. Whether or not this mouse is worth $129 (Amazon / Razerstore) to you is more dependant on what you value in a gaming mouse. I’m sure many can make the case that “no one NEEDS” a $100 computer mouse, but many of the features the Ouroboros bring to the table are quite valuable. The perfect fit is hard to come by, why not provide the means to tailor your device to your hand? I think the Ouroboros does that satisfactorily, if not perfectly. The sensor tracks well when it is working as it should, and a gaming-grade “wireless” connection frees up cables from your desk while not giving up the performance of a wired connection. My only concern is the intermittent sensor issues I experienced – something like this detracts quite a bit of value. However, compared to the competition, the set of features the Ouroboros possesses match up pretty well to its price point. Overall, I guess I would say the Ouroboros is a competitive product for the price, as long as Razer is willing to back up their warranty in the case of any issues.

Personally, I don’t feel the Ouroboros is one of those mice that you can recommend. Not in the sense of “its not worth it,” rather in the sense of “it’s not for everyone.” Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed using the Ouroboros; it just hasn’t become my daily driver yet. Perhaps the Lamborghini influence extends a little deeper here as well: much like a Lamborghini comes with its own set of new problems (Poor roads? High curbs? Expensive maintenance? High gas consumption? Are any of these really negatives in context?) the Ouroboros is best employed by someone that is willing to take the bad with the good. I’m not sure if that makes it a bad mouse. I guess what I am trying to say here is this: you already know if you want one. For those of you that do, it won’t be a perfect or a cost-effective experience – but it’ll probably be worth it.

+ Lots of customization options
+ Hybrid wired/wireless
+ Decent battery life
+ Two sets of side grips
+ Proof of alien engineering on the receiver dock
+ Programmable buttons
+ “Clutch” button functions that can be locked if necessary
+ Polished, logical interface on software
+ Also, that stuff on the receiver dock
+ Razer Green lights (that can be turned off if needed)
+ Good stand-in until you get your own Tumbler (it looks good)

– Only comes in Razer Green
– Intermittent tracking issues
– Vague scroll wheel
– Needs even more adjustments!
– If you want one, you can’t get one right now – soon…
– Requires cloud-based driver to change settings

• Performance: 7.0 (9.50 if tracking issues are fixed)
• Appearance: 9.75
• Construction: 8.00
• Functionality: 9.00
• Value: 8.00

COMMENT QUESTION: Do you think the Razer Ouroboros is worth $129.00?