Razer Mamba 2015 Tournament Edition Review

Razer Mamba 2015 Tournament Edition Review

Manufacturer: Razer
UK price (as reviewed): MSRP £79.99 (inc VAT)
US price (as reviewed): MSRP $89.99 (ex Tax)

The original Razer Mamba launched back in 2009, achieving an impressive 1,000Hz polling rate despite being wireless. Six years on, Razer is giving the Mamba another update, though it will continue to be called the Razer Mamba, as this is a name Razer believes has earned respect and pedigree over the years. The new Mamba is boldly called the world's most advanced gaming mouse by Razer, and, as with the original, it has the price to go with such a moniker: it's set to launch in Q3 this year for an eye-watering £135. However, for those whose wallets aren't quite so deep, Razer is also launching at the same time the Mamba Tournament Edition for £80, and it's this that we're reviewing today.


Before we examine the Tournament Edition more closely, it's worth mentioning a new feature that will only be found on the regular, costlier Mamba, namely Adjustable Click Force Technology. Through a pair of screws on the underside of the mouse, the Mamba will offer players independent adjustment of the actuation force required for the left and right mouse buttons. It can be varied between 45g and 90g, with 14 individual steps in total. This is something that Razer has patents pending around, so it may be exclusive for some time. Anyway, just to be clear, this is not a feature of the Mamba Tournament Edition here, but this was the most relevant place to discuss it. Now then, on with the review...

The Mamba Tournament Edition is a fully wired mouse, which makes it lighter than the wireless-enabled Mamba which, of course, has to have a battery inside. The other difference is the lack of adjustable click force. We think it's a shame Razer is so far reserving this technology solely for the regular Mamba – at £80, the Tournament Edition is still clearly a premium mouse, and this feature would be one way to truly stand out from similarly priced competitors. Nevertheless, the Mamba TE is has a rated click force of around 70g. It has nine buttons in total as the scroll wheel can click side to side as well.


The 2.13m USB cable is braided and elevated just enough so as to prevent any drag from happening near the mouse. On the underside, three PTFE feet make for very low friction movements, and the build quality generally speaking is high, with the body solid all round. The main part has a matt, slightly textured surface which is not overly prone to picking up greasy fingerprints but not totally immune either – a quick wipe should be enough to leave it looking fresh. The slight coarseness to the coating means the Mamba Tournament Edition isn't too slippery either (some soft touch mice can suffer from this affliction) and the two rubberised and textured side sections bolster the grip even further.

The Mamba Tournament Edition has an ergonomic design suited to right-handed players and has apparently been through hundreds of thousands of testing sessions to get it right. This seems to have paid off as it really is a comfortable mouse to wield. If you want full support for all of your digits, there are better options like the Mionix Naos mice, but even so the Mamba TE serves most grip styles very well and is neither too big nor too small. With a palm grip, the hump fills your hand nicely and the width and textured sides give you enough support to prevent pinky drag. Claw grips work fantastically – the mouse angles upwards just the right amount at the back, and there's a good balance of weight through the body. The textured sides and the grooves in the two main buttons also help to keep everything in place. Even a fingertip grip works decently, although such users may prefer a smaller and even lighter mouse for added agility.


The sensor is another element of the Mamba that Razer uses to justify its description of it as the world's most advanced gaming mouse, and Razer actually refers to it as the world's most precise gaming mouse sensor. That becomes a lot easier to believe when you realise it's capable of tracking up to 16,000 DPI completely natively with no interpolation and programmable in 1 DPI steps (the current standard being 50). Frankly, this is an insane DPI count that practically nobody will need, and Razer admits this, saying it would only really make sense for someone running a triple 4K monitor set-up, for example (even then, we have our doubts). Perhaps more relevant to gamers is the claimed 0.1mm lift off distance. Razer says it has a 24-month exclusivity deal on the new sensor too.


As with all of Razer's latest high-end peripherals, the Mamba Tournament Edition is Chroma enabled, with four RGB lighting zones – one strip on each side, the scroll wheel and the rear logo. Each side strip has seven individual LEDs in, meaning you can create detailed patterns with seamless transitions and smooth, even lighting. Lighting patterns can also be synchronised with other Chroma-enabled devices if you own them, and the Mamba Tournament Edition is also compatible with the Chroma SDK and software or games that use it.