Razer Lachesis Gaming Mouse Review

Overhead view of the Razer Lachesis. The logo on the palm rest of the mouse lights up every few seconds.

A corner view of the Lachesis, showing the size of the primary buttons.

In addition to the scroll wheel - which doubles as a middle button - and the two primary buttons, the Razer Lachesis comes with six programmable buttons: two on the top of the mouse below the scroll wheel, and two on each side, aligned horizontally in a curve that starts at about the end of your thumb. The Lachesis glides on three permanent Teflon feet that - unlike the G9 - kept the bottom of the mouse scratch free after a week of continuous contact with my well-used (and rough surfaced) desktop, protecting the Lachesis' 4000 DPI 3G laser sensor from damage. A clearly labeled profile button mounted on the bottom lets you switch between one of five editable profiles.

The Razer Lachesis also comes with an ice blue LED option.

The Lachesis' ambidextrous design includes horizontally-aligned buttons on both sides.

The Razer's three Teflon feet are high enough to protect from surface scratches.

The Razer Lachesis compared with the other two corded mice: MS SideWinder Mouse & Logitech G9.

Razer Lachesis Config Software
Razer Lachesis Config is the mouse's Windows taskbar mounted control software. If you've used other Razer products, Lachesis Config will be familiar; it uses the same module-based arrangement, where expanding menus that pop out from the main window provide advanced options. In this case, the main window handles some pretty advanced features in of itself: button assignments, sensor DPI selections, polling rate, and secondary options like displaying the name of the profile on the screen when it activates and enabling or disabling the mouse's snake logo. The button assignments section is particularly impressive, particularly when compared with competing products: every single button, including the default DPI buttons and the up and down scroll of the scroll wheel, is programmable with the same lengthy list of options, macros, or keystrokes. The sheer number of options makes up for the Razer Lachesis' lack of side to side scrolling that's become one of my favorite buttons on Logitech mice, and should offer up enough programming choices to even satisfy button-hungry games like Battlefield 2142.

The profile selection section of Lachesis Config.

Unfortunately, the rest of Razer Lachesis Config isn't quite as fulfilling. The program's macro system is a bit of a disaster: entering a sequence in the macro box is easy enough, but the program doesn't recognize mouse clicks, only keyboard strokes. There's only one delay option (50 ms), so forget trying to set up any sort of advanced timing features, and if you need to make a change you'll need to retype the sequence, because the macro system doesn't have an editor.

The advanced key selection/macro programming section of Lachesis Config.

Then there's a DPI Switcher, which has three issues: first, even though the mouse's sensitivity changes when you press the DPI change buttons, the switcher's visual feedback doesn't update. It's already a little difficult to figure out what DPI level you're using with this mouse, but that bug means you're a little lost in the dark unless you select a DPI level from the Switcher's option bar. Second, the option bar requires you to have five DPI selections for every profile, limiting customization and requiring you to make extra clicks when you're dialing up for the right sensitivity mid combat. Third, the scale of the individual levels includes odd values like 875 and 750 DPI, but not the industry standard 800 DPI. You will definitely want higher or lower values when you're gaming, but when you're used to use your mouse at 800 DPI for every day tasks, switching to a different default value is a bit on an unpleasant shock.

The sensitivity settings section of Lachesis Config.

Razer Lachesis as a Gaming Mouse
The Razer Lachesis went through a week of testing on multiplayer games of Call of Duty 4 and Battlefield 2142, to see how the Lachesis fared in situations where the extra features granted by a gaming mouse can mean a competitive advantage and a higher score. To further simulate real-world conditions, I programmed separate profiles for each game based on my favorite configurations for weapons and DPI levels.

The Razer Lachesis' programmable scroll wheel makes up for the difficulty of using the mouse's two pinkie-side buttons in combat, and I soon abandoned those two side buttons to act as permanent profile switchers, using the scroll wheel in a fashion similar to the G9's side to side tilt buttons. The profile switching option is itself a boon, eliminating the need to turn over the mouse to switch to a different profile, and the mouse doesn't disable profile switching if you've enabled application auto detection, so you can use two different profiles with the same game. The mouse handles well, molds properly to the palm, and is balanced enough to not need the extra weight options offered by Microsoft and Logitech. In addition, the 4,000 DPI sensor means an extra boost against slower inertia in-game items, like turrets, and gives the Lachesis an advantage over the less sensitive SideWinder and G9.

Though low, the Lachesis' profile and shape are great for long use sessions.

However, there were design problems, too: I missed a few kills because the Razer Lachesis' thumb buttons didn't react when I pushed them; because there's no visual feedback about DPI level, it's impossible to figure out what DPI level you're using unless you waste a second moving the mouse; and either because I couldn't figure out the macro editor or because of a bug in the mouse's software, the simple two step macro in Battlefield 2142 I programmed didn't work properly. By themselves, these problems aren't deal breakers, but I definitely preferred using both the G9 and the SideWinder over the Lachesis when playing games.

Recap
Overall, though the Lachesis is a big step forward for Razer, I found it to be a mixed bag. While the mouse's feel and handling, number and programming flexibility of the buttons, and higher maximum sensor speed are all big pluses, issues like the macro editor, profile editing, and lack of visual feedback for DPI changes detract enough for this potentially excellent mouse to come up short against the competition. Unless you're particularly partial to Razer products, my recommendation remains with the Logitech G9.