The Razer Naga Pro gaming mouse delivers the best of both worlds when it comes to daily use. I used it for work, video editing and photoshop. When I wanted to jump into a game that made use of the thumbpad, I simply detached the standard panel and easily put another one onto the mouse. Razer is ahead of its time here with this modular mouse design and while there are some users may find the thumbpads tough to master, especially the 12-button one, the overall experience here is top-notch.
With everything the Razer Naga Pro offers, it is the gaming performance that makes the device a standout. In addition, the device offers some stellar customization which we expect from Razer these days. You just need to be ready to pay R3,499 to get this all.
Razer Naga Pro Tech Specs
- 3 swappable side panels personalized for MMO, FPS, MOBA and more
- 19 programmable buttons
- Razer Focus 20K DPI Optical Sensor
- Optical Mouse Switches rated for 70M clicks
- Dual Wireless Modes (HyperSpeed 2.4GHz / BLE)
- On-the-fly sensitivity modes 400/800/1600/3200/6400
- Razer Chroma RGB with 16.8 million colour options
- 100 hours of battery life with HyperSpeed, 150 with BLE
- Weighs 117g
Razer Naga Pro Design
For the most part, the Razer Naga Pro looks like any other fancy Razer gaming mouse on the market. It is quite a bulky one too and is almost just as big as my daily work mouse, the Logitech MX Master. On the right-hand side, there’s a textured grip and when using the two-button panel, it also has a textured grip. Instead of it being a simple boring plastic texture, Razer actually used a rubber material which not only helps with grip but also makes the device feel a lot more premium.
There are buttons all over this mouse including the mouse wheel which not only clicks inwards but can also click side to side too. Just under that, you can adjust the DPI on the go by increasing it and decreasing it with the two buttons. On the bottom, there is four gliding feet as well as an extra gliding square around the sensor. There’s also the on and off switch and the profile button which changes the mouse from HyperSpeed to BlueTooth and off.
The left-hand side of the Razer Naga Pro is where the magic is. Here is where the swappable panels go. Removing the panel reveals a spot for the USB dongle where users can store the USB if they are either making use of the BlueTooth, wired mode or simply carrying the mouse around. There are three choices when it comes to the side panel. All of which are included in the box. You have the standard two-button one which is great for FPS and general use. Then there’s the six-button one with two rows of three buttons. Lastly, there’s a twelve-button panel which three buttons across four rows.
Removing and replacing these panels were super easy. They are installed magnetically so there’s no unscrewing or anything to do here. Putting on another panel requires moving it close to the side and letting the magnet do the rest. As for the use, they all work to a certain extent. I found the two-button and six-button to be the easiest panel to work with. However, the twelve buttons are quite tough to get used to especially when accessing buttons 5 and 8 which are placed in the centre of the row. I have quite large thumbs so I often found myself pressing the surrounding buttons at the same time.
Overall, the design of the Razer Naga Pro works and I enjoyed how the mouse feels as advanced and programmable as possible. The RGB is not over the top at all too and the left and right clickable mouse wheel made a huge difference not only through its programmable buttons but by adding extra buttons to the mix.
Razer Naga Pro Performance
Like other Razer products, the Razer Naga Pro relies on the Synapse app in order to get the best out of the device. Here, I could program the buttons, change the RGB and tweak every available button across all the panel. Best of all, I could even program the panel I did not have attached to the device at the time. This makes it so much easier to work with.
I highly dislike the Razer Synapse program. I always have. It is bulky, always asks me to sign in and tries to get in the way all the time. However, the Razer Naga Pro is one of the only devices I got stuck into when it came to the sheer amount of things to do and see in the app. I could see the battery percentage, adjust the power options, change the RGB and tweak al the buttons. I loved it. It is also easy to use and navigate around.
When it came to battery life, Razer promises 100 hours on HyperSpeed mode. This is possible but you should disable all RGB in order to achieve it. With an intense RGB mode enabled, I managed to get about a week of casual gaming in. Of course, I turned off the mouse when it was not in use. To charge it, I simply attached the micro-USB cable to the device and it fully charged in just under four hours. Razer also includes an adaptor in the box which let me extend the wireless dongle by plugging it into the adaptor and then using the micro-USB cable as an extender. My only gripe here is the lack of Type-C support. It is now the end of 2020, surely brands can use Type-C?
When it came to performance, the HyperSpeed mode performed fairly well. This in combination with the range of side panels meant that any game I threw at the device performed magically. Cyberpunk was fun to play with the double button panel. Destiny 2 meant I could have all my abilities on my mouse with the six-button panel. I then simply used the WSAD and space bar on my laptop. I don’t play any hardcore MMO on PC as my Elder Scrolls Online save is on PS5. However, I could definitely get used to using the 12-button panel on the game. Unless you play MMOs that require the 12-button panel, you will get more use out of the 6-button version instead. Even RTS games such as ANNO worked perfectly with this panel.
VERDICT
If you are a person that plays a range of games including FPS, RTS, MMO and more then this is the best mouse you can buy. It saves you from purchasing a range of different ones for specific games. Not only does it deliver some super performance across all panels but the decent battery life and fantastic design makes it something you will most likely use for years to come.
The Razer Naga Pro is available in SA starting at R3,499
