[Posting this on behalf of u/Razer-Right]
Since the launch of the Razer Viper Ultimate Quartz & Mercury Edition, there have been many questions around optical switches that the team and myself tried to answer, but is likely too all over the place, so I figured ill try and sum everything up here.
While we received some amazing feedback on our optical switches, there has also been some feedback that our optical switches aren't as crisp as some mechanical switches (mostly here on the mousereview sub). While global return rates/overall sales isn't necessarily reflective of that sentiment, we want to cater to the most demanding of users (e.g. you). That's why we have been and are continuing to work on improving our switches.
So let's talk specifics (I'm simplifying a little in the following):
We evaluate switches on 3 dimensions: Speed, Reliability/Durability, Tactility/Acoustics. Our optical switches are outclassing everything else in both speed and reliability (we can dive deeper on this another time, but suffice to say double clicks are physically impossible with no need for debounce and the end-to-end latency for a click beats mechanical giving you split-second advantages).
When it comes to tactility, there is multiple factors that play into it. (Pre/post) travel, actuation force, springback force (the three combined become what we call click ratio) and for all of these individual factors consistency between them. These are all affected by both the switch and the mechanical design of the mouse itself.
We've decided that even though tactility was still an area for possible improvement the other 2 factors are more crucial as eliminating doubleclicks in particular was important as it is literally making mice unusable.
So where are we with Optical Switches now:
Since we first launched them on the Viper we made several small improvements both on the switch and on the mechanical design of our more recent launches, which is why every model will feel a bit different than previous mice.
The improvements were to reduce tolerance for pre/post travel, increase springback force (making them less "mushy") and through more stringent sorting bring more consistency in both those areas, as well, while actuation force itself went mostly unchanged.
Important to note here that the reduced tolerances and stringent sorting primarily reduces the amount of bad units, as opposed to making the good ones better.
These changes have been rolled out to most of our mice including already launched models (like the black Razer Viper Ultimate).
How can you make sure you buy one with all improvements?
Not really possible nor needed. The changes were small improvements rolled out over time and the key is really just to get a feel for the clicks and see if they're decent and not worry about the rest.
If you want to increase your chances, buying direct or failing that from fast-selling Onliners is likely your best bet as they turn around inventory the fastest and thus are most likely to have newer production batches.
That being said, we're not done yet, either. So 3 or 6 months from now there may be improvements yet again, as we're continuing to finetune the switches, the designs and production tolerances with all the feedback we get.
When should you return your mouse?
If it's faulty. If you get loud creaking or scratching sound. If during normal use, the buttons wobble affecting your gameplay.
You should not return it because it's less crisp than mechanical.
What else can you do?
Two things:
Keep your feedback coming, but also be precise. Telling us "your buttons suck" doesnt help us. Describe your feedback as detailed as possible and let us hear about it. Also let us know if you feel like the improvements we made are good.
If you see questions around any of the above, link them to this thread (which will likely turn into a complaint thread, but that's ok. It helps us get better).
Hopefully this sheds some light on everything. Rest assured, we're here to listen and not downplay or dismiss feedback. And we aren't avoiding the "difficult questions". The difficult questions are what makes this sub so interesting.
You guys need anything ping u/Razer-Right /u/razer_thefiend or myself.
Thank you guys for continuously striving to make the products better even for the bozos like us on here. I bought the Viper Mini when it came out and my right click was mushy, had tons of pre travel play before clicking and didn’t have a strong spring back force. The side buttons weren’t bad but they definitely had pre travel. I got a new copy in this month because I RMAd my original because of the right click and the clicks are so much better. Every single switch on the entire mouse improved. More tactile, more spring force return and 0 pre travel on the side buttons. It feels much closer to the standard switches I’m used to. This along with the 1.03.00r1 beta you posted on here fixing the LOD everything is perfect.
As a customer who has bought the Viper Ultimate before and been disappointed by the clicks and also one of the people who have been sent an Improved RVU for testing, I can say with confidence that the improvements they made to the switches are amazing.
The first time I bought a viper ultimate early this year, I loved almost everything about it except the clicks. My mouse 1 and 2 felt almost as if they were falling off, the clicks were, as you all may have guessed, very mushy and felt pretty bad to click, however I managed to adapt to it after a bit as the shape was quite perfect for me.
A few months ago, u/razerbenz reached out to me after seeing my review to send me a copy of the improved Viper Ultimate. When I received it, I could immediately feel the tremendous difference. The mouse 1 and 2 felt very sturdy compared to the ones on my old copy and the clicks felt almost like mechanical clicks. They feel, in my opinion, even a bit better than the G Pro Wireless clicks, and another added plus being 0 doubleclicks ever thanks to the optical switch technology. If you have not tried the new clicks, rest assured they have made a huge improvement to them. The Razer mice team are doing an extremely good job listening to the community and have definitely done a good job with this one.
These new buttons basically fixed every problem I had with the old copy, taking my already main mouse to a whole new level.
TL:DR - Razer did it, they pretty much managed to make their optical switches feel like mechanical switches and the improvement is tremendous. If your concern about the clicks is whats holding you back from making the purchase, rest assured Razer has done a fantastic job with this one.
I’ve been looking at getting a Razer huntsman mini or special edition. What switch option would be best for response time in game and can u adjust the actuation point of them?
Videos
Ive been thinking to buy a razer mechanical keyboard ended up on the huntsman mini but dunno if red is better or purple.
Do the reds sound like membranes?