Logitech G Pro X Wireless vs Razer Viper Ultimate: Flagship gaming mice showdown | ZDNet

Logitech and Razer are titans in the gaming peripheral industry, sitting at the top of the market in terms of sales volumes and quality. At the pinnacle of the gaming mouse category sits the duo’s flagships: the

Logitech G Pro X Superlight

and the

Razer Viper Ultimate

. 

Both units are within lines of wireless mice that have seen some recent revisions to help them maintain their peak performance among increasingly stiff competition. Although each comes with its own unique pros and cons, the pair still find themselves in a very tight race. 

Rather than making a blanket statement about which of these exceptional mice are better, we’re going to break down individual factors to help you see which mouse wins in a direct comparison of whichever feature matters most to you. Whether its weight and shape, lighting and aesthetics, or how hard they’ll hit your wallet, read on to see whether Razer or Logitech’s best offering takes the crown in our detailed analysis. 

Exterior features

Preferences on mouse shapes, sizes, and weights vary hugely across gamers. While there are significant differences between the G Pro X Superlight and the Razer Viper Ultimate, they share several similar characteristics. First, they are both symmetrical mice, meaning they essentially mirror themselves when divided down the middle. Second, they’re both what I’d call “safe” shapes, or designs that are ideal for accommodating the widest range of users, whichever grip they use, and whatever size their hands may be. That said, there are some key differences worth noting. 

More: Logitech G303 Shroud Edition mouse: A long-term review

Shape

The G Pro X Superlight is both rounder and taller than the Razer Viper Ultimate. This leads to a more hand-filling shape that feels more secure but less agile for micro-adjustments using your fingertips.

Meanwhile, the Razer Viper Ultimate is flatter, has sharper corners, and includes side buttons on both the left and right. This makes it more versatile by adding two extra programmable buttons. However, those same buttons could be problematic if your hand size or grip happens to have your ring or pinky fingers falling on them. 

To deal with this, Razer has created some of the most inset side buttons I’ve ever used. While I don’t personally mind this, some users complain that their flushness with the sides of the mouse made them hard to hit quickly, especially in high-pressure situations. 

In a head-to-head contest, the matter of shape is a tie, with the G Pro X Superlight having a very slight edge for palm grips, while the Razer Viper ultimate has an equally tiny edge for claw grippers. Fingertip grip users should be equally well served by both. 

Winner: Tie

Grips

I’m covering this aspect separately since both models are somewhat unique in including rubber grips. For Razer’s entry, those grips are a permanent part of the mouse. For Logitech’s, they come as an included pack-in that can be adhered to the mouse’s sides and buttons or skipped. As someone who found the texture of the G Pro X Superlight and its predecessor, the G Pro Wireless, too slippery, I was happy to see this inclusion. Moreover, leaving the decision up to the user of whether they’d like hard plastic or softer rubber under their fingers was a wise move on Logitech’s part. 

That is not to say that I dislike Razer’s rubberized side grips in any way. Quite the opposite, I find them some of the most comfortable, long-lasting rubber panels on any mouse I’ve owned. 

Other copies of older Razer Viper Ultimate revisions that I own have held up incredibly well to multiple years of heavy use, with very little sign of wear. However, some users claim their side panels have eventually worn out, tearing or separating from the mouse. While I’ve never personally experienced this, the obvious possibility of this happening indicates Logitech was on the right track by making its grips replaceable. 

Winner:

Logitech

Weight

Both of these mice fall well into the lightweight category. Logitech managed to trim down the G Pro X Superlight to 63g to earn its name, while Razer’s Viper Ultimate tips the scales at a still-feathery 74g. You may not believe that the 11g difference is detectable in the hand, but many gamers that prefer lighter mice, myself included, would disagree. Both also glide easily and freely on their included feet when used with a good quality mousepad.

More: Best gaming mouse pad: Elite mats for control and speed

That said, it remains a small enough difference that any preference between the two in shape is likely to outweigh it (pun somewhat intended). 

Still, it’s hard to overstate what Logitech has accomplished here. Most ultra-light mice rely on heavily perforated shells, weaker construction, and smaller batteries. Meanwhile, the G Pro X Superlight looks essentially identical to its 80g ancestor,

the G Pro Wireless

, with its weight loss only being detectable once you lift it. Even then, it feels remarkably solid and creak-free, even when held in the sort of death grip some intense gaming sessions produce. 

Winner:

Logitech

Aesthetics

This is just as subjective as preferences around size, shape, and weight. Each user has their own idea about what makes the best-looking mouse. However, I think it’s still possible to call a winner here due to the wider variety of color and lighting options offered by one company.

Logitech’s G Pro Superlight comes in three colorways: black, white, and a recently-released pink. Meanwhile, the Razer Viper Ultimate comes in black,

Mercury Edition

(seen throughout this review),

Quartz Edition

(pink plastic with the same gray grips as the Mercury), and a

Cyberpunk 2077 Edition

that’s mostly yellow and black with some additional graphics. 

The G Pro X Superlight offers no lighting aside from a tiny battery indicator LED. It spends most of its time invisible as it only lights when the mouse is powered on, or when it needs a charge. The Viper Ultimate includes user-customizable RGB lighting behind its Razer logo and around its scroll wheel. 

The slightly wider range of color options, collaborative special editions, and inclusion of RGB lighting give Razer a slight edge here. Of course, if you’re of the belief that understated black is best, both companies have you covered. But, for its variety…

Winner:

Razer

Internal hardware

Now that we’ve covered how the outsides of these two gaming mouse juggernauts stack up, let’s take a look inside at the hardware that determines how well your aim translates to the game, how responsive the mouse feels, and how reliably it stays connected to your gaming PC. 

Sensors

The sensor is the heart of the mouse, doing the grunt work of tracking its movements. 

Both mice use proprietary optical sensors, with the G Pro X Superlight opting for Logitech’s HERO 25K sensor and the Razer Viper Ultimate using Razer’s Focus+ Optical unit. As its name would suggest, the HERO 25K supports up to 25,600 dpi, while the Focus+ supports 20,000. Honestly, the difference between the two is mostly meaningless as most humans find anything over 3,200 dpi to be far too twitchy and sensitive to be usable. Most professional gamers rely on much lower tracking settings around 800-1600 dpi. 

In case it wasn’t clear yet, both sensors are so accurate and so far beyond what the vast majority of us will ever be able to take advantage of that it’s impossible to call a winner because they’re both just about perfect.

Winner: Tie

Wireless

The best sensor in the world will be wasted if its input isn’t precisely transmitted to the PC. This is why, for many years, discerning gamers stuck with corded mice to reduce any latency or lag. 

However, Logitech was an early pioneer in wireless mouse connection technologies that could not only meet wired performance, but often beat it. Since it essentially perfected wireless connectivity, other companies have caught up, including Razer. 

Today, Logitech’s top-end models, including the G Pro X Superlight, rely on its Lightspeed Wireless tech to provide near-instantaneous transmissions of movements and clicks.   

Razer’s top offerings, including the Viper Ultimate, use its equivalent Hyperspeed Wireless technology. Razer claims Hyperspeed is “25% faster than any other wireless technology available.” I’m unsure if this is true or not. The reason for that is the speed and precision of both transmission protocols are so high that any difference is far below the abilities of even a life-long FPS player to perceive. 

Simply put, either company’s wireless technology is as good as, or better than, a wired mouse. 

Winner: Tie

Switches

This is one area where the two mice vary most greatly. While the G Pro X Superlight relies on traditional mechanical switches (Omron 20m switches, specifically), the Razer Viper ultimate relies on Razer’s proprietary Optical Mouse Switch. Rather than a metallic contact, it uses a tiny beam of light that’s interrupted when the user clicks. Razer claims it provides a 0.2 millisecond response time and a longer lifespan due to the lack of physical friction created by metal contacts touching. 

Across all of the dozens of mice I’ve tested from both companies, I’ve never had one of Razer’s optical switches fail on me. I have, however, had several Logitech mice with Omron 20m switches start erroneously registering double clicks after several months of use. Logitech claims it addressed this issue in recent models, and I can confirm I haven’t run into it in several years. However, it remains a point in favor of Razer’s assertion that contactless optical switches can produce a longer lifespan. 

On the other side of the coin, I can’t say that the Razer Optical Switch feels as crisp as a mechanical switch, including the Omron models I’ve panned in my G303 Shroud Edition and G502 Lightspeed reviews. Razer’s switch feels ever-so-slightly mushy, with a bit less tactile feedback. I should note that Razer updated the switches used inside the Viper Ultimate to the 2.0 version of its proprietary opticals over a year ago. They were definitely an improvement over the 1.0 models. However, they still can’t match Logitech’s Omron switches, and can’t hold a candle to my current favorite switch, the Kailh GM 8.0, which is used in mice from Xtrfy, Endgame Gear, and others. 

More: Logitech G502 Lightspeed review: The Swiss Army knife of mice

It may not be clear yet that I think Razer’s optical switches are the superior choice. The main reason for this is their perceivable lack of latency. I’m not going to get into the very controversial, highly contested science of how many milliseconds of latency human senses can detect here. I will just say that the immediacy with which a click is registered has always felt slightly faster to me when using Razer’s optical switch mice.

Winner:

Razer

Charging options

Both models can charge via Micro-USB ports located at the front of their shells. Unfortunately, both companies chose to make the ports difficult to use with third-party cables due to deep insets and narrow passageways to them. Logitech includes the same trident-tipped cable that it’s relied on for many years, while Razer includes a cable that doubles as a charging method for the mouse itself and a connector for the Viper Ultimate’s included dock, which we’ll cover below.

Aside from their included cables, each mouse also brings with it one unique way to charge. For the G Pro X Superlight, this exclusive charging method is

Logitech’s Powerplay system

. By replacing the small plastic circle in the base of the mouse with an identical-looking, magnetic puck included in the Powerplay system, users can wirelessly charge their mouse any time it’s in contact with the system’s included mousepads. Unfortunately, you must use one of the small range of included pads, all of which are sized for the wireless charging hardware that lives beneath them. 

The Razer Viper Ultimate’s charging trick comes in the form of a dock that includes magnets and contacts that cradle the mouse and charge in when not in use. This dock also includes a USB pass-through to install the Viper Ultimate’s wireless dongle in. It works extremely well and essentially guarantees that the Viper Ultimate will always be topped up, assuming you remember to drop it onto the dock after each gaming session. 

Interestingly, the G Pro X Superlight, and all Logitech mice that are compatible with the Powerplay system, can also use a dock, despite Logitech never having made one. Third parties have been producing these

small, cheap, incredibly useful accessories

for years. Meanwhile, Logitech has ignored the brilliant idea and continued to use the Powerplay port exclusively for its wireless charging system. I can’t understand its decision, and I can’t endorse the Powerplay system due to its extra cost, and how it limits which mousepads you can use. 

Nonetheless, for the end-user, the G Pro Wireless provides the most versatile charging options, especially if they’re willing to drop an extra $30 on one of those clever little third-party docks. Without those, Razer would have taken this part of the contest. With those taken into consideration…

Winner:

Logitech

(thanks to third-party help)

Cost

This one’s an easy call. The G Pro X Superlight has an MSRP of $160. While it is occasionally discounted by $20, those sales remain rare. It generally sells for between $150 and full MSRP.

Meanwhile, Razer claims the MSRP of the Viper Ultimate is still $150, despite it being older than the G Pro X Superlight. But, the mouse hasn’t sold for full price in quite some time. In fact, it’s spent most of the past year under $100, and that includes a charging dock that will cost you $30 extra to buy separately for the G Pro X Superlight. The only exception to this discounted cost is some of the special colorways, which typically sell closer to MSRP. 

Keep in mind, even as an older model, the Viper Ulitmate has been updated with newer switches and revamped colorways, keeping its form recognizable but fresh. That makes its consistently lowered price even more of a bargain. 

Winner:

Razer

Performance

This is where it all comes together. The hardware, fit and finish, connection stability, it all coalesces into a single metric: how well the mouse actually performs. 

As a long-term owner of both models, I have months of playtime using both. I also drafted my personal copies into a fresh analysis of quirks or weaknesses in either. What I found was that both mice remain at the very pinnacle of the gaming mouse category. 

The

G Pro X Superlight

is my top recommendation for shoppers that see cost as no obstacle and want an extremely precise mouse in a clean and minimalistic package. That recommendation is even stronger for those that believe the lightest mouse is the best mouse. 

But, the

Razer Viper Ultimate

is hot on its heels in almost every way. As you can see above, it outperforms the G Pro X Superlight in areas like switch performance and aesthetic options, and ties it across several other contests. Taking this and its $50 lower cost ($80 lower cost if you include the cost of a third-party G Pro X Superlight dock) into account, it’s hard to dismiss what an excellent bargain the Razer Viper Ultimate is right now.

Ultimately, your choice will come down to which mouse feels better in your hand, your budget, and which company’s software you’re more of a fan of. Yes, something as minor as which companion software suite you prefer for your gaming peripherals should be taken into consideration here, simply because of how close this competition is. 

My choice

At the end of the day, I chose the G Pro X Superlight, for me. It a slightly better fit for the relaxed claw grip I prefer, it’s lower weight, and I can tolerate the G HUB software it relies on slightly more than Razer’s competing Synapse Software, though both could definitely use some work. 

Of course, there are still some moments I’ll glance over a little jealously at the Razer Viper Ultimate sitting in its included dock and miss the two extra side buttons it offers. But, as I finish this review and get down to some competitive gaming a few hours from now, it’ll be the G Pro X Superlight once again in my hand. 

Winner:

G Pro X Superlight,

barely.