Razer's Viper 8K is the fastest gaming mouse on the planet — and it's just $80

Razer Viper 8K gaming mouse being used on a Razer RGB mousepad
(Image credit: Razer)

Razer is a formidable brand when it comes to gaming mice with the Razer Basilisk Ultimate earning high praise from our reviewer and a coveted position as the best gaming mouse.

For those that are looking for pure gaming prowess though the company's latest release, the Viper 8K might give you exactly the edge that you've been looking for. With its updated 8,000Hz polling rate courtesy of Razer's new HyperPolling technology, the Viper 8K is the fastest gaming mouse around (via Engadget). 

The polling rate reflects how often the device sends data to your computer, the industry standard is 1,000Hz, so this is a pretty significant jump from Razer. That means that from the moment you move the mouse to the moment that it should register onscreen is one-eighth of a millisecond. 

Now obviously that is considerably faster than is remotely relevant for any normal computing task or likely perceptible to many users. However, if you are a competitive gamer looking for any edge possible, the elimination of those micro-stutters could be the difference between life and death in-game. And in a world in which we have 360Hz refresh rate monitors, there's absolutely an argument to be made for this kind of speed in your gaming mouse.

Illustration showing Razer Viper 8K tracking at 8,000Hz polling rate depicted next to traditional 1,000Hz polling rate

(Image credit: Razer)

The Viper 8K is only available in a wired configuration at the moment, but presumably that's your preference anyway if you are looking for the fastest possible performance. The Viper 8K is ambidextrous and has a number of other improvements including 20,000 DPI Focus+ optical sensor for greater accuracy and 2nd-gen Razer Optical Mouse Switches that should be good for 70 million clicks and smoother mouse feet. 

That's in addition to the standard fare including Razer Chroma RGB lighting for the logo, 7+1 programmable buttons using Razer Synapse and up to five onboard profiles. At just 2.5 ounces, the mouse definitely isn't going to slow you down with its weight either. 

Best of all it arrives at the same $80 price as the current Viper and is available starting today through Amazon, Best Buy and Razer.

Sean Riley

Sean Riley has been covering tech professionally for over a decade now. Most of that time was as a freelancer covering varied topics including phones, wearables, tablets, smart home devices, laptops, AR, VR, mobile payments, fintech, and more.  Sean is the resident mobile expert at Laptop Mag, specializing in phones and wearables, you'll find plenty of news, reviews, how-to, and opinion pieces on these subjects from him here. But Laptop Mag has also proven a perfect fit for that broad range of interests with reviews and news on the latest laptops, VR games, and computer accessories along with coverage on everything from NFTs to cybersecurity and more.