(Right) thumbs up for Razer Basilisk with its dpi clutch

The Basilisk has a unique feature - a dpi, or dots-per-inch, clutch. Sited near where your thumb normally rests, it lowers mouse sensitivity when pressed.
The Basilisk has a unique feature - a dpi, or dots-per-inch, clutch. Sited near where your thumb normally rests, it lowers mouse sensitivity when pressed. PHOTO: RAZER

The Razer Basilisk has been called the world's most advanced first person shooter (FPS) gaming mouse by its maker.

It is a bold call. But then its design is a bold departure from Razer's usual design ethos. The Basilisk actually features a thumb rest on its left. This is something Razer arch-rival Logitech has been putting on many of its productivity and gaming mice.

However, the Basilisk has a unique feature - a dpi, or dots-per-inch, clutch. Sited near where your thumb normally rests, it lowers mouse sensitivity (which is customisable) when pressed.

While FPS gamers would want fast and furious movement of the mouse during most of the play, the lowering of sensitivity allows for more precise aiming. This is useful in some situations, like when you are using a sniper rifle with a scope to eliminate your enemies.

The mouse comes with two interchangeable dpi clutches, in small and large sizes, that you can fit on to suit your thumb. It also includes a rubber thumb cap, in case you do not want to use the dpi clutch at all.

Although the idea of having a dpi clutch in a mouse has never crossed my mind before this, I found it to be really useful when playing FPS games like Overwatch, Doom and Wolfenstein II. Pressing the dpi clutch to quickly lower the mouse's movement means I can fire more accurately.

  • TECH SPECS

  • PRICE: $109.90

    SENSOR: 16,000-dpi 5G optical sensor

    ACCELERATION: Up to 450 inches per second

    BACKLIGHT: Up to 16.8 million colours

    WEIGHT: 107g (without cable)

  • RATING

  • DESIGN: 4/5

    PERFORMANCE: 4/5

    VALUE FOR MONEY: 4/5

    OVERALL: 4/5

I mostly set the mouse to a sensitivity of 2,500dpi for work and gaming. As for the dpi clutch, I set it to instantly change to 800dpi, giving me the best results during battles.

The Basilisk has a slider at its bottom for adjusting the resistance of the scroll wheel. This feature lets you reduce the speed of toggling through weapons during combat. But I don't see the need for this.

Apart from the dpi clutch, the Basilisk has seven other programmable buttons - the usual left and right buttons, scroll wheel, dpi stage up and down buttons below the scroll wheel, as well as the back and forward buttons on the left.

Overall, the Basilisk, with its rubber side grips and thumb rest, is very comfortable to use. Besides FPS games, I find it to be also great for other genres of games such as role-playing or turn-based strategy. It is also ideal for your daily work in the office.

On the downside, the position of the thumb rest on the right means that left-handers will have to look elsewhere. Or wait for Razer to release a left-hander version.

• Verdict: For right-handers who play FPS games most of the time, the Razer Basilisk is a great mouse to have with its unique dpi clutch.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on November 08, 2017, with the headline (Right) thumbs up for Razer Basilisk with its dpi clutch. Subscribe