Razer Cobra HyperSpeed review

Are you an esports pro, or do you have dreams of being one? Then you might want to take a look at the best gaming mouse we've ever tested, the Razer DeathAdder V4 Pro. As our Dave said when he reviewed it last year, it has everything you could possibly want in a gaming rodent.

However, he also rightly pointed out that most gamers don't need its bleeding-edge features, nor do they need to spend $170 to get a fabulous gaming mouse. Enter, then, the Razer Cobra HyperSpeed, a mouse with a much more reasonable specs sheet—and a much more reasonable price tag, to boot.

The Cobra HyperSpeed is a gaming mouse for the rest of us. For $99/£99, you get a list of specs that, on paper, don't look anywhere near as impressive as the DeathAdder. It's got a 26K sensor compared to the 45K model in the V4 Pro, for example, and a 1,000 Hz polling rate as standard (the HyperPolling-dongled version costs $25-$40 extra). However, it's also got a couple of features that come straight from its bigger, pricier brother, and that makes it well worth your consideration. More on that in a bit.

The Cobra HyperSpeed has smaller dimensions than the DeathAdder, resulting in a 119.6 mm length and 62.5 mm width compared to the V4 Pro's 128 mm and 68 mm sizing. It's also roughly six millimetres shorter in height, which makes for a very compact package. I tend to alternate between a palm and fingertip grip for daily usage, and while the Cobra is fantastic for the latter, those of you with larger hands will likely find it too small for palm-based duties.

There's a lot to be said for the Cobra's neat and tidy little chassis, though. The subtle curves in the main buttons make for an excellent place for your fingertips to rest, while the tucked-in flanks suit my thumb and little finger perfectly.

Looking closely at the design, you can see where Razer has saved some cash in clever places. Everywhere your fingers might reasonably touch is coated in a deliciously premium matte coating. Look at the gaps in between, though, and you'll see some shiny plastic peeking through. Similarly, while it's got Razer Chroma RGB lighting of a sort, it's limited to the badge and a subtle underglow from the rear of the mouse.

It's pretty tasteful, actually, which isn't something I've been able to say about all Razer mice.

Weight-wise, the Cobra HyperSpeed tips the scales at 62 g, which might seem a little porky by modern standards. However, in daily usage, it treads the line between feeling light as a feather under twitch movement, yet heavy enough that predictable responses are very much in its wheelhouse. It's actually 1 g lighter than the Logitech G Pro X Superlight, too, which seems like a very deliberate move.

Still, I've never been convinced by the idea that gaming mice need to be as light as physically possible for the best performance. Your mileage may vary here, of course, but the Cobra is still very light compared to most, and I don't mind trading in a few grams in exchange for a more solid feel.

While we're on the subject of feel, I have to commend Razer's new Gen4 switches. They're the same ones you'll find on the DeathAdder V4 Pro, and are an absolute delight to game with. They've got a super-responsive, tactile-heavy click that's extremely satisfying to use, with an ever-so-slight "ping" to the clickback mechanism.

Initially, I thought that subtle ping would be annoying. However, clicking around in some of my favourite shooters reveals a positivity to the action that makes headshots a genuine delight. The clickfeel is tight as a drum, and adds to the sense that what's underneath your fingertips is a precise gaming instrument.

It's really, really loud, though. The switches are the noisiest I've ever used, and while it certainly adds to the sensation that you're pulling the trigger of something boutique, I'd imagine that anyone else in the room might become tired of the noise rather quickly—particularly if you're a bit spam-handed.

The Cobra has two good-sized skates on its underside, with a smaller one around the sensor itself, and they glide around my cheap Corsair mouse pad as smoothly as you could possibly ask for.

Combine that with the 26,000 DPI Focus X sensor and the Razer's diminutive dimensions, and what you end up with is a snappy, fingertip-friendly little gaming mouse—albeit with a lesser sensor than the ludicrous 45,000 DPI unit in the top DeathAdder.

And yes, it only has 1,000 Hz polling without the extra dongle. In practice, though, it really doesn't behave like a mouse with an off-the-boil polling rate. I've been switching back and forth between the Cobra and the Glorious Series 2 Pro Wireless with its slightly uprated sensor and 8K polling, and I know which I'd rather have for everyday gaming.

The Glorious squeaker might have more impressive specs, but the Razer feels better underneath my fingertips, with those slippy skates adding a perceptible amount of extra smoothness that really rounds out the experience.

Have I noticed a difference in my kill death ratio between the two meeces? Nah, not really. I have noticed that the Razer is plenty accurate, though, and that the extra weight (the Glorious is a full 12 g lighter) means my twitch reactions are more predictable with the Cobra. Score a win for my 38-year-old reflexes, I guess.

The Cobra's side buttons are several orders of magnitude better than the Series 2 Pro Wireless, too, and the optical scrollwheel (again, the same as the one you'll find in the V4 Pro) is fantastically accurate, with a dampened-yet-precise movement that makes switching weapons a breeze.

I've been known to panic scroll at a crucial moment, but the Cobra's super-positive wheel has led to many heroic moments of pistol deployment. Yes, I should have kept a better eye on my ammo. Shouldn't we all?

There's an overall sense that the Razer rodent has been honed down to a fine point to meet its reasonable price tag. It's got some of the best bits of the V4 Pro tucked within its diminutive chassis, and while its sensor and polling rate combo isn't going to win any awards, it's more than good enough for most gamers. As a package, I think it's the best mid-range gaming mouse I've used in a very, very long time.

The question is, should you splurge a bit more cash on something with higher specs? In all honesty, it really depends on how tightly you're watching those pennies, and whether the boutique sensors and higher polling rates of its more expensive competition make sense for the way you game. The DeathAdder V4 Pro is a fabulous thing, after all, and the Logitech G Pro X2 Superstrike is a very tempting option, too.

However, I'd be awfully tempted to grab the Cobra HyperSpeed instead. If you decide you'd really like 8K polling in future, the extra HyperPolling dongle is $40 by itself—but I reckon most will forget about it once they've spent some time gaming with the default model. It's an exercise in clever restraint, this little squeaker, and I admire it for that.

And for $100? I think it's genuinely good value. The Logitech G Pro X Superlight retails for $150, the Superstrike for $180, and the 8K polling-equipped Razer Viper V3 Pro (with a 35K sensor, admittedly) comes in around $158. In terms of what it's like to actually game with, I think the little Cobra puts up an admirable fight against all three, with a much lower price tag.

The fly in the ointment comes in the form of the Corsair Sabre V2 Pro, which offers a better sensor (and 8K polling) for the same sort of cash. Or the DeathAdder V3 Hyperspeed, which has the same sensor. However, you don't get Razer's fantastic Gen4 switches and that truly excellent optical mouse wheel with either of those—and for my money, they make more of a difference for most of us.

It's tough times out there in the PC hardware market at the moment, and saving cash for components is the order of the day. Which means the Razer Cobra HyperSpeed, while not looking much on paper, makes a whole lot of sense when you get one in your hands. Providing they're not massive, of course.