The Razer Orochi V2 is one of the rare tech products that totally takes me by surprise. Heck, I’d never even heard of the Orochi before opening this surprise package from Razer. So, if you’re like me, then some introductions are in order. The Orochi V2 is the second generation of Razer’s line of compact, ultra-lightweight wireless gaming mice. It’s designed for the ultimate road warriors who have a powerful gaming laptop and want to play Apex Legends in the cafe.
And with both Razer HyperSpeed Wireless and Bluetooth paired to a 5G Optical sensor, mechanical switches and 100% PTFE feet, you can definitely do that with little compromise to your game. Battery life should never be a problem on the go as the Orochi V2 is rated for up to 950hours. At only $115, is this the best bang for buck compact wireless mouse ever made?
Razer Orochi V2 Review
The first thing to note about the Orochi V2 is just how tiny it is. It measures just 108mm long, 60mm wide and 38mm at the height of its bulge. It’s so small that it only takes my fingers to cover it end to end leaving my palm strangely empty. This tiny size takes some getting used to but Razer has done an excellent job with the ergonomics that it’s so easy to hold on to.
The Orochi V2 boasts a symmetrical, egg shape with a contour groove on the right which gives your thumb a comfortable and solid gripping point. But there’s no escaping that you’ll have to adjust your grip style depending on your hand size. I favor a hybrid fingertip/ palm grip but because the mouse is so small, my trigger fingers were seriously overhanging off the front of the mouse. So, I had to adopt more of a claw/ fingertip style.
I suspect people with smaller hands, particularly ladies and children will be delighted with this smaller size since most gaming mice are – in retrospect- unnecessarily large and heavy. Razer says the Orochi V2 weighs less than 60g but has a huge caveat; that’s without a battery loaded. Depending on the type of battery you insert, the Orochi’s weight could go up as much as 15gms which, if you are a pro, makes a huge difference.
Underneath the Orochi you’ll find two very large PTFE feet that help the mouse move smoothly on most surfaces. The Optical sensor is found far more forward than most mice but I never felt it changed the way I used it. There’s also the mode toggle switch to change between Razer HyperSpeed Wireless, Bluetooth and power off. Back to the top of the mouse are Razer’s excellent mechanical mouse switches that just feel crisp and clicky.
The side buttons on the right are equally clicky and surprisingly reachable without having to contort my thumb like on bigger mice. The scroll wheel has a satisfying resistance and tactility about it with a simple DPI switcher resting behind it. However, I found pressing the scroll wheel to click was a little stiffer than I’d like but nothing to detract from the overall experience. You can easily remap all these buttons in the Razer Synapse app. The Orochi V2 also uses a textured matte finish that is great for grip and in my two weeks of use didn’t pick up any oils or smudges.
Flip open the plastic top cover and you’ll reveal the battery bay that is designed to take a single AA or AAA battery at a time. This cover can be swapped out for some colorful Razer Customs versions which look awesome but unfortunately aren’t available for us Aussies. The battery slots are angled across the width of the mouse which Razer says gives the most optimal balance of weight distribution.
Your choice of battery will depend on whether you want lightweight or long battery life. Razer says the chamber is designed for best balance with only one battery so sorry if you thought you could have extra longevity by using two batteries. Stick with smaller AAA lithium batteries for the fastest, lightest mouse experience. I’m not a pro-gamer who is always flicking the mouse around for precise headshots and wild pirouette moves in FPS games so the longevity of heavier AA batteries is just fine for me.
Battery till kingdom come
Razer claims 950 hours of battery life when using Bluetooth and 425 hours with HyperSpeed Wireless. For serious gaming, you’ll want to steer clear of the laggy Bluetooth and stick with HyperSpeed which is pretty much as good as a wired connection. And after using the Orochi V2 for about two weeks of 12-hour days, I’m yet to see the battery indicator in Synapse budge.
I am using the Razer supplied AA Lithium battery but your mileage will vary depending on the battery type, connection and usage. Still, I’m really impressed with battery life so far but there’s still hundreds of hours before I can confirm the marketing numbers Razer claims. To help achieve these impressive numbers, Razer had to make some compromises such as killing off their signature Chroma lighting.
The Orochi V2 has just one LED light. Yes, not one zone of lighting, one LED light. This lights up to indicate your power on, DPI preset or to alert you when it’s in Bluetooth pairing mode. According to the manual, it also supposedly turns red when you have 5% battery life left – which is still likely to be a few week’s worth of battery so not much to worry about.
Tiny but utterly powerful
Thankfully, in all the things Razer compromised to save weight and power, performance simply isn’t one of them. The Orochi V2 packs Razer’s top hardware including an 18,000DPI 5G Optical sensor paired with 2nd-Gen Razer Mechanical mouse switches that are rated for 60million click lifetime. Suffice to say, the Orochi V2 feels as fantastic if not better than some of it’s bigger siblings like the Viper Ultimate.
I played a gamut of games including the staple shooters like CoD: Warzone, Apex Legends and Fortnite with no problems. I expected aiming to be compromised due to the smaller mouse size and new grip but it was smooth, accurate and responsive with no noticeable input lag by my eye. Even with the smaller size, I never lost my grip on the mouse even with frantic movements tracking demons in Doom Eternal.
The mechanical mouse buttons feel crisp and responsive with a short but satisfying travel. The thumb buttons feel similarly tactile and a pleasure to use thanks to their ergonomic placement. As with all gaming mice, the Orochi V2 is fully customizable with a single onboard memory slot to save your changes. Razer Synapse hasn’t changed much in the last few years and I find it fairly easy to navigate. Remapping buttons is a point and click affair.
But one thing that truly drives me nuts is the power level indicator. Razer uses an all too simplistic (and tiny) battery icon indicator that doesn’t give you any useful empirical data about your power reserves. After 100 hours of intense mixed use, the icon hasn’t budged at all. Hovering over the icon doesn’t show you a percentage or hours left which I’d say it’s kinda important to know how efficient your batteries are – especially if you use rechargeable ones. Hopefully Razer can address that in the next Synapse update.
Verdict
The Razer Orochi V2’s excellent performance, build and battery life make it a real winner. It’s a fantastic mouse that will surprise you given its diminutive size and $115 price. It’s half the price of the Razer Viper Ultimate and yet I feel it’s just as good. I love how the tiny form fits in my hand and it’s perfect for laptop use and travelling. The only thing this mouse is missing is Razer Chroma RGB but for that great battery life, I can happily live without it. All I know is that this will be my main mouse for the foreseeable future.
