Product: Orochi V2
Type: Gaming Mouse (Wireless)
Price: $114.95
Availability: Out Now
Link: https://www2.razer.com/au-en/store/razer-orochi-v2

Bare with me here.

In AFL footy, there’s a player one of the more self-serving commentators, Brian Taylor, loves to accentuate the name of: Orazio Fantasia. It’s a small thing, but after you hear it once, regardless of your stance on BT or his ramblings, you can’t unhear it and you sort of fall in love with it.

Now, make sure you’ve clicked the link above and then do this exercise for us:

Replace “Orazio Fantasia!” in BT’s voice with “Orochi V2 by Razer!”, and do it a few times.

There, now we’re happy we’ve thrown you under the same mental bus we somehow threw ourselves under when we realised this similarity.

You’re welcome.

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"In fact it’s so mobile and small, the only other potential issue with it is that it could be easily lost if it’s exchanging hands in your household or place of work (oft the same thing these days)...”

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Onto the business at hand -- that Orochi V2 mouse. When your biggest negative for a PC product is that it lacks RGB lighting, you know you’re onto a winner. The Orochi V2 lightweight gaming mouse from Razer is the best wireless mouse I’ve ever had the privilege of using, not just from a perspective of gaming, but also as a mobile option for work and pleasure, and not just for me, but for the whole family. In fact it’s so mobile and small, the only other potential issue with it is that it could be easily lost if it’s exchanging hands in your household or place of work (oft the same thing these days). But beyond this, the Orochi V2 is something of a revelation in a modern field of mice as menacingly overrun as those that swarm our farms. This guy isn’t so much a run of the mill pest, as it is the science lab mouse that nails all mazes and tests before it, and doesn’t even want the cheese reward.

Grip It

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At 60g without batteries, the Orochi V2 initially feels toy-like, but throwing in a AA or even doubling up with the backup AAA, the weight shift is enough to ground the device in functionality while still being noticeably lighter than most other gaming mice you’ve played with. Out of the box it’s clear this little beauty has been designed for the increasing number of gaming laptop options now crowding the market over more dedicated builds, which can all be traced back to the explosion of esports and the still accessible nature of aspiring to break into that world. This is important because with that in mind the Orachi V2 needs to offer up a competitive option alongside and on par with a more robust wired option, which it does in spades.

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"In fact it’s so mobile and small, the only other potential issue with it is that it could be easily lost if it’s exchanging hands in your household or place of work (oft the same thing these days)...”

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On my home setup stationed at a dedicated desk, I use a wired HyperX combo: Alloy Origins keyboard and Pulsefire Surge mouse, and these are both top-end products for a dedicated gaming rig and work setup, but on-the-go I’ve always used secondary wired mouse options for my laptops -- messy and not conducive to gaming or working remotely. Which is where the Orochi V2 has shown its superiority, quickly (and nicely) asking me to give up on those second-class other options. But maybe most telling is that my nine-year-old son has recently become something of a competitive gaming prodigy, and has on more than one occasion absconded with the Orochi V2 proclaiming “yeah, but dad, it’s just faster and more responsive, I need to to gank fools”. Tough words from a kid who eats noodles from the packet raw without even cooking them.

Still you can’t argue with youth.

Point and Click

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This is important because the portability of the Orochi V2 is only its second strongest feature. You can connect it to any supported devices via Bluetooth, such as your phone or a tablet, but it also comes with a 2.4Ghz USB dongle receiver, which is a much more stable option, though we never came across any latency or connection issues when testing Bluetooth. Choosing these is also as simple as a little flick of a switch on the Orochi’s belly. In addition to this, the dongle is housed in the body of the Orochi, and like a toy VW Beetle car, or something, you can just lift the top off as easy as you like, and find the dongle storage and battery homes. And when I say easy as you like, it really is, but oddly when snapped back into place the mouse face (or top) never feels like it’s going to come off and also remains robust and sturdy. The body design on the Orochi is remarkable.

Official Specs:

• True 18,000 DPI 5G optical sensor with 99.4% resulution accuracy
  
• Up to 450 inches per second (IPS) / 40 G acceleration
  
• Razer HyperSpeed wireless technulogy with support for dual-device operation on single dongle
  
• Dual-mode wireless (2.4GHz and BLE)
  
• Six independently programmable buttons
  
• 2nd-gen Razer™ Mechanical Mouse Switches rated for 60M clicks
  
• Symmetrical right-handed design
  
• Gaming-grade tactile scroll wheel
  
• Undyed PTFE mouse-feet
  
• AA/AAA battery slot (only one type at a time)
  
• On-The-Fly Sensitivity Adjustment (Default stages: 400/800/1600/3200/6400)
  
• On-board DPI and keymap storage
  
• Razer Synapse 3 enabled
  
• Battery life: Up to 425 hours (2.4Ghz), 950hours (BLE) with included Lithium AA battery
  
• Approximate size: 108mm (Length) x 60mm (Width) x 38mm (Height)
  
• Approximate weight: <60g / <2.2oz (mass centralised)

You get your left and right mouse buttons, a wheel and requisite DPI button on the top, with back and forward buttons on the left hand side for right-handed thumbs. Beyond placement there, however, the full shape and body of the Orochi is symmetrical which means the Flanderseseses of the world should be able to use it without having to conform. And sure, it is on the small side, and I don’t have small hands, but I never felt like I was losing the mouse, even in twitch-level gaming on games like Overwatch and Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, both of which we used as gaming testbeds for the mouse.

Don’t be Sensoritive

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From a plug and play perspective, the Orochi V2 was, and is, as painless as they come, but for the fastidious out there, it supports Razer Synapse software allowing for incremental configuration. This helps because you can save these and regardless of which machine you take it to next, you can always drum these settings back up and off you go.

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"almost largely because as an on-the-go and device-sharing mouse option, it serves my world better being untethered and free-range...”

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I’m not entirely ready to sit the Orochi V2 in a permanent spot on my dedicated setup, but that’s almost largely because as an on-the-go and device-sharing mouse option, it serves my world better being untethered and free-range. It was difficult to see any difference between my wired setup and this anyway, with the only real difference being size. I’ve worked from home for almost 20 years though, so take any opportunity I can to work remotely where liquid lunches are concerned, and will always prefer a mouse over a tracking pad any day of the week, so putting gaming to one side, as a utilitarian option for your pointer, the Orochi V2 -- when I can pry it away from my son -- lives in my laptop bag ready to serve.

Essential kit, and highly recommended.