Understated, simplistic, elegant, work friendly; These are all words I'd never normally associate with Razer, a brand better known for loud and proud RGB lit gamer chic. Today is a bit different, as Razer announces a few new products that in an effort of being ultra portable, and ergonomic truly shed any excessive gamer skin. Just one look at the new Razer Basilisk Mobile mouse and the Razer Joro keyboard, are all you need to establish these are a different kind of device from the gamer centric brand.
The Razer Basilisk Mobile mouse shares the DNA of the larger Basilisk V3 gaming mouse and Basilisk V3 Pro which both impressed our reviewers. These are mice known for being incredibly comfortable while touting top tier gaming sensors. Hopefully this one will be no different, boasting the Razer Focus X 18K Optical Sensor, this portable little guy should deliver 99.4% resolution accuracy. This is combined with Razer's Gen-3 Optical Mouse Switches which are tested for accuracy and latency and should last over 90 million clicks, on heads or otherwise.
The baby basilisk also touts what Razer is calling HyperScroll Technology. This means instead of the typical scroll wheel this mouse features a 4-way tilt so you can scroll in different directions as well as your standard free spinning and precise tactile modes for fast navigation, and Tactile Cycling for precise control.
As it's still a gaming mouse, there's a few extra buttons, one of which is supposed to be an AI prompt button, which I'm really hoping we can remap. It looks like it brings up a prompt window to enter info into ChatGPT and I can't imagine a more frustrating thing to hit while gaming. I usually have those thumb buttons mapped to things like punch, or some other alternate weapon I need in desperation.
I can't imagine the rage that's going to flow through my body when I mean to knife my suddenly appearing opponent, only to be met with a window trying to help me compose an email. At least it might help me compose a congratulatory message to the other team for when I inevitably lose.
Razer's Basilisk Mobile can be used wirelessly and wired, with several modes of connectivity. The battery life on the wireless has been rated for around 105 hours, and the entire unit weighs about 76 g. If it plays as nicely as the other Basilisk mice we've tested, this could be an excellent travel buddy.
The Joro Keyboard keeps that portability in mind. It's an ultra low profile 60% board that's just 16.5 mm thin, and weighs in at 374 grams. The layout is clearly gamer focussed, making sure to still provide things like full sized arrow keys, and a function bar. The keys are touted as gamer grade with tactile actuation, and it even has the Razer Snap Tap tech that allows keys to be held down but input still taken in order. It's worth keeping in mind this tech is considered so hacks some games have even banned it.
Another wireless unit, the Joro should be good for around 1,800s hours of battery life. This plus those low profile keys makes this a board that will likely be much loved by Mac keyboard fans, as it looks like it could feel quite similar. This could have something to do with Razer commencing its release of Synapse, its gaming software for Apple gamers, so of course these devices have full PC and Mac functionality.
The Razer Basilisk Mobile mouse and Joro keyboard should be available for purchase now, with the mouse starting at $100 USD or $170 AUD and the keyboard $150 USD or $250 AUD.
