2024 was a fantastic year for Razer. The brand has always been synonymous with (pro) gaming, but since ProSettings.net was founded, we’ve never seen them perform this well.
Their products sported dominance in multiple categories across all titles, including keyboards, mice, and headsets, with the Razer Viper V3 Pro grabbing the #1 spot across all of our analyzed games.
And beyond the pro gaming world, the Viper V3 Pro is also managing impressive figures. The recently released Sentinels version was sold out on the Razer website throughout December and drew a lot of attention from the enthusiast crowd. In addition, Sentinels sold their allocated mice in less than 6 hours. With stats like these, it’s safe to say that the Viper V3 Pro has made an impact on the scene. In this article, we’ll go a little deeper on the product and the story behind it.
Release
Important to note is that the Viper V3 Pro didn’t come out of nowhere. Its predecessor—the Viper V2 Pro—was a product with a pretty significant following and known for being one of the top gaming mice of its time. As such, eyes were turned when the Razer Viper V3 HyperSpeed released in the second half of 2023. This mouse had a drastically different shape from its predecessors. This led fans to speculate that it was a kind of testing platform for the flagship model.
When Razer released the final product, it became clear that they had been brewing up something revolutionary. With a weight of 54 grams, a sensor capable of polling rates up to 8000Hz, optical switches, and a much safer overall shape design, it was hailed as an early mouse of the year contender by many reviewers. This was an important release not only for Razer, but for the gaming market in general.
A New Shape
Shape is king
Tech is important in pro gaming gear, there’s no doubt about that. But when it comes to mice, the saying ‘shape is king’ definitely rings true. And there’s no better recent example of this than the Razer Viper line.
Despite offering some of the most technologically advanced features of its time, the Razer Viper V2 Pro never truly contended for the #1 spot. That’s not to say that the shape was flawed, but the flat and slightly elongated design that was used meant that it wasn’t as safe as it could’ve been.
Safe versus unsafe shapes
For those who aren’t mouse enthusiasts: a ‘safe’ shape basically means ‘universal’. If a mouse has a safe shape, it means that most gamers will be able to pick it up and get a comfortable grip. A more specialized design, tailored towards one specific type of grip, would be called ‘unsafe’.
One isn’t necessarily better than the other. If you know exactly what type of grip you want, going for an ‘unsafe’ shape that suits your preferences can be just what you need. However, mice with a safe shape obviously appeal to more potential users, making their ceiling higher.
Raising the ceiling
After closely working together with numerous active pro gamers, Razer decided that moving away from the flatter shape of the earlier Viper models was the best course of action. Instead, Razer went for a boxier, more neutral shape that would also allow users to hold it comfortably with a larger variety of grip styles.
In some ways, Razer’s redesign of their Viper line could be seen as a risk. By going with a safer, more rounded shape, they were firmly establishing their flagship ambidextrous mouse as a direct competitor to the Logitech G Pro X Superlight, which had been the #1 mouse for years.
The Viper V3 Pro would thus need to handily beat the already established monarch on the technical front. After all, if both mice offer a similar in-hand experience, why would anyone switch from what they already know?
The new benchmark for gaming mice
Anticipation
Because the Viper V3 Pro’s shape was already public knowledge (due to the earlier release of the HyperSpeed), people focused heavily on the specs. Everyone who was into gaming mice knew what to expect from the shape. As such, the only question was whether it would be good on the technical front.
As you probably know if you’re reading this article, Razer delivered.
Top specs
The Viper V3 Pro released in the earlier part of 2024, but it’s still a top tier gaming mouse in 2025. With a weight of 54 grams, a second-gen Focus Pro 35K Optical Sensor capable of polling rates of up to 8000Hz, and Razer’s Gen-3 optical switches, it’s difficult to beat even for mice that are currently releasing.
The sensor is still one of the most advanced sensors on the market. It notably allows Razer to implement a number of QoL features that really make the Viper V3 Pro easy to use, which also gives it a leg up on a lot of the competition.
For starters, its rotation tool is incredibly handy for players who tend to hold their mouse at an angle when swiping. Then there’s also the DPI sensitivity matcher for a seamless transition when going from your old mouse to this one.
Additionally, there are a ton of customization options. The sensor allows for 1-step DPI adjustments, for example. You can even enable Asymmetric Cut-off to fully tweak your LOD according to your preferences and playing style. Whatever you want out of a mouse: you can get it with the Viper V3 Pro.
Combine features like these with revolutionary aspects like a wireless polling rate of up to 8000Hz (something that’s not very common on wireless mice even today), and it starts to become clear why this mouse was met with such praise.
The road to #1
Razer officially released the Viper V3 Pro to the public in April of 2024. As is often the case, a select group of pros had been using the mouse for some time before that, which only added to the hype with the enthusiast crowd and other professionals. In this case the hype was even greater, seeing as Zekken won VALORANT Masters Madrid 2024 using the Viper V3 Pro.
In the month that it officially released, it debuted at an extremely impressive 7th place in our overall mouse rankings. Since then, its usage went up significantly until it reached its peak in October of last year. Sitting at a market share of ~18% at the time of writing, it has even managed to beat the Logitech G Pro X Superlight as the #1 mouse on ProSettings.net.
Granted, the Superlight’s users are currently spread over the Superlight 1 and Superlight 2. Still, it’s an impressive feat to see a mouse that’s not made by Logitech in the #1 spot.
Most Used Mice Overall – December 2024
Rank | Perc. | |
---|---|---|
1 | Razer Viper V3 Pro | 18% |
2 | Logitech G Pro X Superlight | 18% |
3 | Logitech G Pro X Superlight 2 | 13% |
4 | Razer DeathAdder V3 Pro | 8% |
5 | ZOWIE EC2-DW | 4% |
Razer’s focus on shape and delivering excellent under-the-hood specs has been very much appreciated in the pro scene and the enthusiast scene. As mentioned, the Viper V3 Pro not only managed to snag the #1 spot here but it also made it to a ton of best of year-end lists made by reviewers, influencers, and industry professionals.
Obviously, a lot of what makes a mouse ‘good’ is subjective, so the Viper V3 Pro won’t work for everyone. Still, there’s no denying that the people at Razer have managed to put out a benchmark-setting product though.
The future
Razer has struck gold with the Viper V3 Pro. On top of that, it’s still one of the best mice you can buy on the technical front. As such, we wouldn’t expect any huge announcements soon.
The recently released Sentinels version has a slightly different texture (and different looks, obviously) but isn’t any different from the regular version otherwise. We might see more collab versions releasing in the near future, and by the time the Viper line is ready for a new version, we don’t expect to see any big changes to the overall shape.
Given the popularity of this design, we expect Razer to further build on this platform in an effort to make the Viper line of mice the new undisputed king of gaming mice. Whether that will become a reality or not is something only time will tell. What we do know is that Razer has set themselves up perfectly. We’re very excited to see where this road leads.
Any other collaborations you think Razer should jump on with the Razer Viper V3 Pro? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!
Both the regular version of the Viper V3 Pro as well as the Sentinels version are available on Amazon.
Gaming Center
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