[Hardware] Razer Naga X Review: Surrounded By Strong Predators

[-Kenzo]

You can never have enough buttons. Whether you're knee deep in the latest raid wing in World of Warcraft or Final Fantasy XIV or you need a host of buttons for productivity in Adobe Photoshop, more buttons is helpful. This is where the MMO mouse excels. 

Since 2009, Razer has offered the Naga line of MMO mice, each competing to be the best gaming mouse for MMO players. Each model has offered between 6 and 12 buttons, with updates over the years. Enter 2021, and we have the Razer Naga X with a 12-button thumbpad, RGB and the latest in Razer mouse technology. 

The Razer Naga X’s $80 price tag puts it in line with some of the competition, including the Corsair Scimitar Pro RGB. That price point is above some other MMO mice however, like Redragon M913 Impact Elite or the Logitech G600 MMO mouse, which has seen its MSRP drop to $40 since its 2012 release. 

When I'd said the overall design of the Naga hasn't changed, that wasn't hyperbole. Like its predecessors, the Naga X has a gentle hump that's more situated towards the rear of the mouse. On the right side, there's a small resting spot for your ring finger. Overall, the general shape fits well into my larger hand, more so than a smaller design like from the Razer DeathAdder lineup. The Naga X is 4.69  x 2.93 inches x 1.69 inches, making it identical to the Razer Naga Trinity in dimensions and slightly less long, as well as less wide and slightly shorter than the Redragon M913 Impact Elite (4.82 x 3.62 x 1.65 inches). The Naga X is notably lighter than both the Naga Trinity and Redragon though (3.88 ounces versus 4.55 ounces and 4.23 ounces, respectively). 

The Naga X’s left and right click buttons both use Razer’s 2nd generation optical mechanical mouse switches. They have a snappy click with requiring much actuation force. In between the mouse’s two primary buttons is a notched scroll wheel and a single button that lets you toggle through 5 CPI settings, which you can program in Razer’s software if desired. This is where some of the design changes are felt. Unlike the wireless Razer Naga Pro and Naga Trinity, this is a single button, rather than two buttons so you can move up and down your CPI settings. It's an odd omission, but not one that’s likely constantly felt. There's no side-to-side tilt in the mouse wheel either, which was also a feature on previous Nagas, including the Nagao Pro and Naga Trinity. 

There are two RGB lighting zones on the Naga X: on the scroll wheel and the 12-button thumbpad. Unlike many gaming mice, the logo by the palm does not have RGB. 

Finally, on the bottom of the Naga X are three rather wide PTFE feet for smooth sliding on your surface of choice. 

Razer Naga X Gaming Performance
The Naga X uses Razer’s 5G optical sensor, which is specced for up to 18,000 CPI, 50g of acceleration and a max velocity of 450 inches per second (IPS). These specs match the capabilities of the Naga Trinity’s sensor but increases the CPI by 2,000. The 5G sensor is a bit less powerful than what you’ll find in the pricier wireless Razer Naga Pro (Razer Focus+ sensor) but still proved reliable for MMO gaming and general use. The 5G is still packing powerful specs. For comparison, the Logitech G600’s sensor is specced for a max of 8,200 CPI, 30g and 160 IPS.

Given the MMO moniker of the mouse, it's best to go to the source. I loaded up World of Warcraft and Final Fantasy XIV to test the mouse out. By default, the 12 thumbpad buttons are all bound to corresponding number keys, with the 10 button being 0, and the 11 and 12 buttons being the minus and equal keys, respectively. This means the default setting has the standard MMO hotbar bound to the thumbpad.

During testing, I found that hitting 1-3 and 10-12 were pretty easy, as they occupy the outside edges of the thumbpad. The issue was in the 4-9 buttons. They're simply too close together, and the differentiation in angle isn't big enough to consistently hit the right button. The buttons are different heights, but the differences are so slight that it doesn’t matter. It's very easy to press the wrong buttons in the middle rows.

In contrast, the Logitech G600 has what Logitech calls a "dual-dish" design, helping differentiation with “two carefully positioned sets of six buttons.” The Corsair Scimitar Pro RGB offers far more space between the buttons and an alternating texture pattern for each row. Both options add more variation, and Razer should be more willing to imitate some good ideas.

My fix was to leave the 7-9 buttons unbound. If I have problems telling the difference between the second and third rows, it's better to just remove the third row. This gave me nine buttons to work with, which worked out pretty well overall. I was able to hit my standard rotation in both WoW and FFXIV with little issue. Of course, when buying a mouse with a 12-button thumbpad, the goal is to have 12 easily usable side buttons.

I also missed the up and down buttons for DPI switching. I work on two monitors, so I tend to find myself working with one DPI setting in documents, a higher setting for general use and then switching to an even-higher one to transition from monitor to monitor. The two DPI switch buttons made that transition easier; whereas, the single DPI cycling button adds an extra click or two to my workflow.

Across its entire line of products, the Razer Synapse software is still a winner. Outside of some stiff competition from Logitech's G Hub, the Razer software suite is one of the best around.

The main page for the Naga X within the Synapse software lets you change all of the button mappings for every button on the mouse, including scroll up, down and click. Even the main Left and Right clicks can be changed if you want. The Naga X also supports Razer HyperShift, allowing you to set a button that'll change all the bindings to a second profile, essentially doubling the buttons available.

You can create unlimited button profiles in Razer Synapse, though only a single profile can be saved to the onboard memory on the Naga X. Once again, the Naga X falls short of the Naga Pro and Trinity; both mice could store five onboard profiles. The Naga X’s profiles can be linked to specific games and launch automatically with them. I tended to default to one profile for general work—with buttons 1 and 3 being set to forward and back— and another for MMO gaming.

Synapse is where you set the CPI toggle’s 5 stored settings, which can range from 100 CPI to a large 18,000 CPI. There are also 3 polling rate options in Synapse:t 125, 500 and 1,000 Hz.

Lighting brightness and standard RGB effects can be set in Synapse, but if you want to do more, you'll need to use Razer's Chroma Studio add-on software.

The Razer Naga X is a solid offering at its $80 MSRP. This is a classic design that gets you a workhorse MMO mouse you can push higher with Razer's excellent software. But the problem is the price has so many caveats.

The Razer Naga Trinity has an MSRP that’s only $20 more, and it often goes on sale for even cheaper than the Naga X’s $80 price tag. The Naga Trinity has features left out of the Naga X: more onboard profiles, the tilt click scroll wheel and dual CPI buttons. You'll also gain the interchangeable side plates for 2, 7 and 12-button configurations, which is far more flexible. The only thing you lose is the top-end max sensitivity: the Naga X tops out at 18,000, while the Trinity is 16,000. I'd make that sacrifice.

The Logitech G600 is long in the tooth and its max DPI is much lower, but its MSRP is down to $40 at this point. And for $30 less than the Naga X, you can pick up the Redragon M913 Impact Elite, which doesn't have the same build quality but can get the job done. I also like the design of the Corsair Scimitar Pro RGB Elite a little more than that of the Naga X, and it has the same price tag; the biggest problem with that mouse is being able to find one at retail anymore.

The Razer Naga X isn't a bad mouse by any stretch. It's just a matter of the competition around it excelling in various areas -- including competition from Razer itself. It's a competent, mostly comfortable mouse for MMO gaming, but there are better options out there.