Razer Naga Hex Gaming Mouse Review

As with all the gaming mice we get in, we strive to deliver the best, high quality reviews and to do that, the mice must be thoroughly tested. What may seem just a few paragraphs on here talking about how the mice performs in different areas, actually translates to many hours of use across several days. We put the mice through its paces across several popular gaming genres and through common applications when testing during general use (image editing, web browsing, word processing). We also test out how the software performs – it’s usability and features.

First Person Shooters

First up is first person shooters. For this stage, we put the Naga Hex to the test during gaming sessions on the popular Counter Strike: Source and Battlefield 3 games. As expected with most of the newer high end mice on the market, the Hex was a very slick performer in this category. The movements were smooth and precise and above all, extremely comfortable for anyone with a “claw” grip (as I have). The position of the thumb rest buttons made it very easy to use them, which by default are either the numbers 1-6 or 1-6 on the numeric keypad (so end, page down etc) as mentioned previously. With a little bit of fiddling, we assigned more important commands to these buttons, which shaved fractions of a second off our response speed – something very important in FPS.

Real Time Strategy

Next up is the RTS genre, which again, and rather unsurprisingly, the Hex excelled at. The additional buttons were very useful for assigning time-saving commands such as bulk unit production, or certain hot keys. Scrolling was not an issue due to its decent DPI and again, the ergonomic shape was very comfortable for those long battles.

Role Playing Games / MMOs

Finally, we tested out the Hex during a session of Star Wars: The Old Republic. The additional six buttons really came in handy when set to the number mode as it allowed us to cast the corresponding spells with ease, which took that extra strain off bashing the keyboard, although, unlike the other editions of the Naga, we are limited to only six additional commands.

General use

For everyday use the the Naga Hex performed just as admirably as it did for gaming, with its main highlights being the extremely comfortable shape. Unlike most gaming mice the Hex does lack the forward and backwards buttons that are useful when browsing the web, to counter this problem, a few minutes was spent assigning those commands to some of the thumb buttons. It did take some tweaking at first, but once the correct settings and tweaks were made, it performed flawlessly.

Software

This is where Razer really stood out from its competitors. Their Synapse 2.0 cloud based software is perfect for those gamers who frequent LAN parties, as it allows them to store all their settings online. All it requires is an initial account creation and then the software detects which mice you have connected. You can easily switch between the mice and customise many settings, which alternate depending on the features of the mouse. These can all be stored on different profiles that instantly sync with the cloud, however, this could be a problem if you don’t have an internet connection.