Thoughts on the Razer Pro Click V2 Vertical Edition

I’ve been using lightweight mice for years now. My first was the original Glorious Model O wired mouse around 2019 or thereabouts. They were a distinct upgrade versus the heavier mice I had used up to that point. I loved them. But, as with all good things, there must eventually be an end. In particular, I was developing some slight wrist pain when playing games for more extended sessions.

It makes sense. I’m, well, let’s just say I can safely say I remember watching the end of the USSR in person. So, yeah, time ravages all and my wrists are no exception. So, when I saw that there is now a slow push to high performance vertical mice, I was colored intrigued. Initially, I was considering the Keychron M5 but I wasn’t finding it available. So, I opted for the Razer Pro Click V2 Vertical Edition instead.

As should be obvious from my previous articles, I’ve owned numerous Razer mice now. I’ve liked the look and feel of each that I’ve owned. I’ve also been relatively neutral with the software, even if it is rather heavy. I’ve come to like the textured, rubberized grip surfaces of their “premium” mice. I really like a nice, texturized rubber grip for controllers and mice and Razer’s has always been great. That the PCV2VE (Really though, Razer? Such a mouthful…) has the rubber grip for the thumb side of the mouse continues that and it’s well-sculpted and comfortable.

So, down to brass tacks. It’s an ergo design with a slight tilt (71.2° according to their literature) to be comfortable in hand. Like Razer’s other premium mice, it’s got a focus on aesthetics, with a wrap-around LED animation zone that circles the base, with only the front point of the mouse not encircled. It uses their current Focus Pro 30K optical sensor with 5 default sensitivities of 400, 800, 1600, 3200, and 6400 DPI but you can define your own from 100 to 30,000. I’ve opted for 3200 DPI and find it is the right level of sensitivity for desktop and gaming for me. It also has up to 1000 Hz polling so if you were hoping for 8000 Hz that’s sadly not here for you.

It can run in wired as well as wireless modes. In wireless you have 2.4GHz via the included dongle as well as Bluetooth across multiple devices. I’ve used it exclusively via the 2.4GHz dongle and it feels as performant and responsive as the Cobra Pro Wireless and Glorious Model O2 Mini mice that I was using most recently. Overall, it’s excellent as the previous mice and if you’ve used Razer’s wireless offerings over the last 5 years or so you know exactly what to expect here.

When it comes to battery life, I’ve been pleased with that as well. I have it set to 25% brightness when in wireless mode and find that it lasts about a week at those settings between charges. Without lighting it would last significantly longer, but I really do like the subtle lighting of the Fire animation. The gentle flowing between yellow to red is soft and looks nice. It also works with any game that ties into Razer’s Chroma so that is familiar to me as well. During those times where I am charging it and using it, it glides well and doesn’t feel encumbered by the cable because of its size and weight.

Back to physical aspects, it’s a black mouse and not currently available in any other colorway. The rubber covers the entire thumb side of the mouse. It’s the same texture and material as their other Pro line mice, so diamond shaped and generously textured. The top side of the mouse with buttons is gently textured and feels nice in my hand and doesn’t get sticky with sweat. There are two thumb buttons, long, gently curved to match the curve of the thumb indent. The bottom one is defaulted to back with the upper to forward. On the very top of the mouse, where the accented faux metallic band is located, is a small button which can be set to two behaviors: a tap click and a hold click. The tap, by default, is to cycle sensitivity settings. The hold click behavior default is to some sort of Razer AI helper which I disabled and replaced with a rapid left mouse click of 20 clicks per second. There are other programmable choices such as macros, keyboard functions, and even to play media. The buttons are all nicely clicky with the primary and secondary buttons using their mechanical mouse switches. They have the signature Razer switch sound profile that is snappy and not too loud.

Down to shape, it’s a larger mouse because of how vertical mice need to hold your whole hand. The scroll wheel is quiet but strongly tactile with more of the rubber covering over the center portion of the wheel. In usage, I find it’s more difficult to activate the middle mouse click than on a flat mouse but it’s not unusable, merely another aspect to adjust to. It does not offer scroll wheel tilt so if that’s something you like, you’ll find it missing here like with most of Razer’s mice. There’s a small lip on the button side for your pinkie finger upon and I find it is sufficient for that with enough wiggle room to not feel cramped. The thumb indent is deep, making my hand grip in an ideal shape where it’s not deeply pushing in, but comfortably gripping.

I have small hands as I’ve written about before. My palm is roughly 100mm tall at the middle and 95mm wide. From the tip of my middle finger to the base of my palm is 175mm. With that, I find it very comfortable for my hand. I was afraid it would be too bulky but it feels well-fitted to my hand. In a relaxed grip my thumb sits in an ideal position for clicking the buttons with the sides of my end joint and my fingers leave roughly 1.5cm from the tip of my middle finger to the edge of the mouse.

It has very large PTFE feet that give it a smooth glide across my desk mat. Due to the size, and weight, it does take more force to slide than the lighter mice I’m used to using. It’s roughly 150g versus the 55-85g I’m more used to with more planar style mice. But, because I now have my whole arm moving the mouse rather than just the wrists it feels easier to move about. Small adjustments are easy with a gentle tilt of my wrist. In so far as aiming in first person shooters I was very pleasantly surprised to find adjusting to a vertical mouse was easy and I maintained my accuracy. I think I might try tweaking my sensitivity slightly higher and seeing if I find it a bit more responsive.

And, importantly, has it helped with my wrist aches? It has. I find myself having less strain from longer computing sessions and that’s been exactly what I had been hoping for. It was quite the gamble at $119.99 but one that has paid off. It’s good to see more ergonomic peripherals being offered with higher end hardware now. My hope is that we’ll see more gaming-focused vertical mice from other makers, such as Logitech. There are many mice that are great for productivity in vertical designs but very few with particularly good gaming features. Between this and Keychron’s M5 we’re at the start of those offerings and I look forward to where it evolves from here.