If you're looking for a good wireless gaming mouse without spending a fortune,
then here we have two of the best from Logitech and Razer.
But which is better? Is it the long established,
tried and tested, G305 from Logitech, or is it the latest offering from Razer, the Orochi V2?
Well it depends who you are because it could be either.
Welcome to my Tech Gear…
Let's get into it!
I've been using the trusted Logitech G305 for years and it's been a great mouse. It
is a great mouse! It offers pretty much a bulletproof sensor in a wireless package
with millisecond response times all for a great price. But, time moves on and the Razer Orochi
V2 is blatantly going after the same Market as the G305. Appealing to those of us that want a
wireless gaming mouse that is going to make us better at gaming but without costing a fortune.
So unsurprisingly there are plenty of similarities between the two.
They both come supplied with a USB dongle that uses either Logitech
Lightspeed or Razer Hyper Speed to offer one millisecond response times
to make sure your lag is no different than if you were wired. That is super important,
especially for gaming. The wireless connection speeds of both of these mice are both great.
They both come with PC software, either Logitech G Hub or Razer Synapse, to allow you to configure
the six buttons on these for whatever commands, macros, or key presses, you want. Both allow
you to configure each button for two separate actions using either G-Shift or Hyper-Shift.
Battery life wise the Logitech G305 has battery life of up to 250 hours,
whereas the Orochi v2's battery life is up to 450 hours over the USB dongle.
But the Orochi has something up its sleeve that the G305 doesn't. It can connect to your
PC over Bluetooth as well. How cool is that? There is a switch under here that allows you
to switch between the 2.4 gigahertz Wi-Fi mode and Bluetooth. So you can also use it
to pair with multiple devices. So you could pair the Orochi V2 with your gaming PC for
its fastest response time over the USB dongle and then you could pair it up with your laptop
over Bluetooth as well. So one mouse, multiple devices. That's super useful!
If you use Bluetooth alone then you can actually
extend your battery life to up to 950 hours on a single AA.
So design-wise, whilst these do look very similar, they've got the same number of buttons on them,
they have a similar design look to them. In the hand they do feel very different.
The G305 has a smooth matte finish that feels sturdy and strong and has certainly
stood the test of time for me. It's pretty much an ambidextrous design but the two side buttons
are fixed to the left hand side of the mouse so this really is a mouse only for righties.
The main mouse buttons are slightly concave for
your fingers but the sidewall by the side buttons are tapered and flat.
The Orochi on the other hand, as well as a concave mould for your fingers,
also has a concave mould on the side wall for your thumb to rest which makes the Orochi feel narrower
even though it's the same width as the G305. The side buttons here are also fixed, like the
G305. So whilst it looks like it's an ambidextrous design it really is only for right-handed people.
The finish of the Orochi is an almost textured
matte black finish which I have found less slippery than the G305 in use.
Size-wise they are both pretty similar as they are both the same height and width,
give or take a millimeter. However, they do differ in length. The G305 is almost
a centimeter longer than the Orochi v2. This makes the Orochi V2 super portable and great
for not only at home gaming but also gaming on the go too. It's great for people with
smaller hands or those that prefer a finger or a clawed grip. If you've got larger hands
though or prefer a palm grip then you might find the G305 is more comfortable and suited to you.
Now weight plays as important a part as size does though as
there's no point in something being the right size if it weighs a ton.
The G305 comes in at 98 grams with the AA, whilst the Razer is advertised at under 60
grams, which is actually a little bit misleading because it doesn't
include the battery. And you can't exactly use this without a battery!
The Orochi V2, with a AA, weighs in at around 72 grams,
and that's 25 grams lighter than the G305. Now you can make the Orochi even lighter than that
because you can take the AA out and replace it with a AAA. That's right, this mouse has
a twin battery compartment so you can take the AA out and put a AAA in. So that's great as it
allows you to choose between either a lighter weight mouse or one with longer battery life.
So with a AAA the Orochi weighs in at around 69 grams. So that does make it lighter but it also
halves the battery life to up to around 140 hours. So it's a bit of a trade-off between
battery life and weight. Using the AAA does move the weight of the mouse further back.
Now I personally prefer the AA in it as it makes the weight more centralized and it also
gives me better battery life. Still, if weight is super important to you then it is an option.
It is super easy to get caught up in the DPI or the dots per inch war, as one company equips
their mouse with a sensor that's bigger than the other one. It's similar to what we see with the
megapixels in cameras and mobile phones. But as that has shown us, it's not necessarily
the number of pixels, or dots, that matters, but rather what you do with it that counts.
Now the G305 comes equipped with a 12,000 DPI sensor whilst the Orochi V2 comes with an
18,000 DPI sensor. However in real life no one uses those max settings. Gamers for instance
typically have their DPI’s set to only 400 or 800, especially for first person shooter games.
Personally I'll use those lower settings for gaming and then switch to a higher sensitivity
when I'm doing productivity work on my PC, like editing this video. Even then though
I'm only setting it to either 1600 or 3200. I'm certainly never using those max settings.
So sensor wise either of these mice have more than enough DPI’s to serve you well.
You can set up to five different DPI settings for each mouse using their respective PC software
and then cycle through them easily using the DPI switch on the top of each mouse.
So all those things in isolation,
size,
weight,
sensor,
response times,
don't matter if the mouse as a total package doesn't work.
There's no point for instance in having millisecond response times
if it takes you 10 milliseconds to reposition your mouse. Fortunately
both mice here work well, but one is definitely ahead of the other.
In use, the lighter weight Orochi V2, combined with the super large sliders
that are underneath both front and back, just make this easier to use. It's easier to Glide around,
it's fast to flick. In repeated Aim Lab tests my scores with the Orochi were always higher.
In comparison, the G305 just weighs more. It has smaller gliders in the corners of the mouse so it
just feels heavier. It's slower to move around and it just drags more as the sliders aren't as good.
Now I'm not a gamer. I like to game, but I'm definitely not a gamer. So my scores in Aim
lab generally sucks compared to everybody else's, but in use the Orochi V2 always came out on top.
So with all the advantages of the Orochi V2 it must cost more right? Well yes,
yes it does. But it's not much more than the G305.
The G305 retails for $60 and it's been around for a while now. You can typically
get it on sale on Amazon for around $40. The Orochi V2 on the other hand retails
at $70 but it's often on sale for around $45. That's only $5 more than the G305.
If you want to push the boat out then you can even get custom skins and colors for the
Orochi. Now that is going to push the price up to around $90, but there are some awesome colors and
graphic options available if you want to create something that really stands out from the rest.
So which should you buy? Well it probably sounds like a pretty much
hands-down win for the Orochi V2, and to be honest it probably is, at least for me.
Being able to have dual connections to a PC for gaming and a laptop for work,
using a lightweight mouse that's easy to use with great battery life, just makes
it a win pretty much all round for me. I'll be replacing the G305 with this as my daily driver.
If however you have larger hands, or prefer a palm grip, or are already invested in the Logitech
ecosystem and like to have matching peripherals, or simply just want the cheapest good wireless
gaming mouse that you can find, than the G305 might be a better option and choice for you.
Either way I will place purchase links to both
of these in the description so you can go check them out for yourself.
If you want to pair this up with a great keyboard then be sure to check
out my review up here for the ultimate wireless gaming combo.
If you've enjoyed the video and aren't subscribed
yet then please consider doing so using the button down below.
Thanks for watching.
And as always…
I'll see you in the next one!