The Razer Deathadder Essential is essentially going for a pittance right now

The Razer deathadder essential top down on a blue background — (Image credit: Razer)

The Razer Deathadder Essential is a barebones beauty of a gaming mouse.

Compared to something like the Razer Deathadder V2, its lighter sister mouse, the Essential might seem a little thin on the feature front. But what Razer has done here is gathered up all the basic things you could ever need need from a gaming mouse, and jammed them into a bargain package that means you don't have to fork out on anything that's not... well, essential.

Right now at Amazon it's a riotous $24, less than half price, making an already good deal even better.

What you'll be missing out on with this cut-down model of the Deathadder is that 20,000 DPI sensor, since this one only touts 6,400 DPI. There's no customizable RGB lighting, sadly, and the cable isn't as flexible as it is with the later models either.

You still get a high-precision sensor for the price, along with mechanical switches rated for up to 10 million clicks, a sturdy, rubber scroll wheel, and five programmable buttons. This model is alright for any hand size, too, and comes with a low minimum lift-off distance, which is a bonus.

Nowadays you very occasionally see this going for $19, so if you're patient it may be worth waiting, but $24 is hardly a bad price.

Having been obsessed with game mechanics, computers and graphics for three decades, Katie took Game Art and Design up to Masters level at uni and has been writing about digital games, tabletop games and gaming technology for over five years since. She can be found facilitating board game design workshops and optimising everything in her path.