HARDWARE REVIEW

Razer Lancehead Gaming Mouse Review

by Luke Walsh, October 4th, 2017

The Razer Lancehead is a new high-end, ambidextrous gaming mouse from Razer that comes in two different options. The first which we reviewed is the wireless version has the ability to switch between both wired and wireless. The Tournament Edition only comes as a wired option but has a cheaper price point and an optical sensor.

The wireless version will cost you £139.99, which is around a similar cost for competitor mice with the Logitech G903 costing £129.99. The second is the tournament edition which is wired and reasonably priced at £79.99. While the Lancehead only comes in a single colour of a silver-grey the Tournament Edition is available in four different colours.

Wireless mice are still somewhat of a hard sell to some hardcore PC gamers but the Lancehead might change that opinion. Both have a 16,000 DPI sensor with the wireless version supporting a laser-based sensor and the wired version has an optical one. This means the laser sensor is able to pick up 210 inches per second, while the optical sensor has the performance advantage being 450 inches per second.

If you are wondering what IPS is, the bigger the number the more the mouse will be able to keep up with fast long movements. With lower numbers, usually found in cheaper mice, moving quickly will mean it won’t pick up on every change and “judder”. With both options, the numbers are more than sufficient, if you are not a pro gamer, you’ll never notice any difference between the two. Most pros will also not notice a difference but some are out there to make sure every number is the highest in stiff competition. If you are also a low DPI gamer, you’ll also be less likely to notice due to the speed you would be moving your mouse.

Both come with a USB cable but the wireless version also has a little 2.4GHz dongle which can be plugged directly into your PC or via a little USB hub that Razer supplies. The dongle uses Adaptive Frequency Technology that allows the mouse to switch frequencies on the fly to avoid interference from other 2.4GHz devices. Using the mouse over the past month or so, I’ve noticed no input lag or interference of any kind, working flawlessly in both wired and wireless mode.

While the wireless mouse is wired using the braided 2m USB cable it will also charge the battery. When you are not using the cable you can plug it back into the mouse which then would run the dongle. You don’t need to use the dongle mount, as I plugged the dongle into the back of my PC and just left the cable plugged into the mount.

Performance of the mouse in a game was brilliant, I tried my usual concoction of games, Overwatch, Fallout 4 and Battlefield 1. In each game, the mouse never juddered, jolted or lagged and with the onboard profiles are usual for the three different types of games I played. The Lancehead supports 4 onboard profiles which can be used without the need of Synapse once you do need Razer’s software to set up the 4 profiles. This meant my ultimate for Overwatch, grenades for Battlefield and V.A.T.S in Fallout could all be the same button. Being able to take the mouse and plug it into another machine and it still works as usual for LAN events or tournaments.

I usually play at about 800-900 DPI when playing an FPS such as Overwatch and jump to about 1400 DPI for games like Fallout. General browsing my DPI is just under 2000 DPI usually around 1800 which seems to be the sweet spot. Although the mouse supports up to 16,000 DPI it really is not usable as the slightest twitch moves the mouse miles. You can increment as low as 100 DPI and go up in stages of 50 with 5 saved steps. There’s a lot of customisation and although huge, the max DPI does allow a lot of tweaking for various games and uses.

Being an ambidextrous mouse, the Lancehead is completely symmetrical and although this is great for lefties, it does mean for some users it won’t be as comfortable. The right side of the mouse curves in like the left to provide a thumb grip for left-handed users. This space usually allows for better support for your other finger, a ledge of sorts most of the time. Without this, palm grip users or those with bigger than average hands will suffer the most having no resting space for their last two fingers.

Claw grip users like myself will notice it less as the rubberised sides do make a nice tactile space for your hand. The same would be said for finger-grip users as they are less likely to need the extra space for the entire hand. It means for those two types of users the Lancehead is a really nice mouse to hold and use.

Speaking of Synapse, it has gone through much evolution over the years and is a pretty stable piece of software now. It is still a little annoying having to create an account just to change the settings of your mouse but on the flip side, it means all your preferences are saved to the cloud. You can do the usual stuff, set up your lighting, DPI, profiles etc but you can also calibrate the mouse to a specific mouse mat too.

The bit Razer is pushing with this mouse is the wireless superiority other “other wireless gaming mice”. Mentioned before, the adaptive wireless tech allows it to switch to different wireless bands allowing it to go to the least congested frequency. You can see the video that Razer have created to show its test against an “unknown” mouse.

With every new wire-free mouse that hits the market, they get better with many gamers moving over now to reduce clutter on their desk but still offer the same performance. Most gamers won’t have too much allegiance to laser or optical sensors only the more competitive gamer. I’ve found the laser sensors track much better on different surfaces if you do ditch the typical mouse mat or gaming surface.

At £140 for the wireless version, there is not much room for error when it comes to spending that amount of money for most gamers. The mouse needs to be near perfect or it would be going straight back. It’s easy to say that the Lancehead is close to perfect when it comes to spending that kind of cash but does miss some features others have.

It’s comfortable to use and precise with onboard memory to hold profiles, something I’m not too bothered about usually but this mouse changed that. It holds the charge in the battery fairly well, with about 2-3 days use on default setting with lighting. Turning the brightness right down or off gets you a little more time out of it. Compared to other wireless battery life, this is about the standard before you need to charge it back up.

It might not work at peak comfort for right-handed palm grip users as the ambidextrous nature of it removes some of the other finger ledges/support you’d find in a usual mouse. For claw or finger grip users it won’t be a problem and for left-handers, it’s a great step for them to have a mouse that is built for both.

Really though, this mouse is more for the shooters than anything else but works for everything you throw at it. In Overwatch, I was head-shotting like a boss and turn-hooking like a demon with Roadhog. Being able to switch on the fly for DPI is great for different heroes and classes in Battlefield 1. It might not have loads of buttons for MMO’s or MOBAs but its accuracy is second to none in PvP or competitive matches.

There were a couple times that the mouse decided to stop moving, the scroll would work but the laser seemed to have stopped picking up the movement. I decided to move the sensor back into the dock and bring it above my mouse surface. Since then there have been no issues at all, it works fine in the back of the PC but for best performance, especially if you are in pro play you want to have it in the dongle dock.

Should I buy the Razer Lancehead?

If you are thinking the mouse for me, I’d say yes for most people but lean more towards those who enjoy FPS and competitive shooters. This is where the Razer Lancehead really excels but does work great with other games. If you do have huge hands or a palm gripper, then it might not be the best for you. It is comfortable but the downside to the dual-handed design is there are less resting points for both users.

The one thing I’d probably like it to have is weight options, other mice allow you to customise the heaviness of the device. Razer tends to steer away from this, and for the most part, you might not need it but, it can be useful to tweak the weight depending on the game or style of play. This mouse is more competitive in nature would benefit from it.

Other mice do have other features like LCD screen or become modular but those are targeting a slightly different market of gamer. It would be an unnecessary extra to add a screen to the Lancehead, not being funny, how often do you look at your mouse mid-game? Razer has concentrated on the best wireless technology in a gaming mouse and I think they have done a pretty great job.