There comes a point when a gaming mouse stops being a mouse. This this beautiful beast has 14 customisable controls, an 8,000Hz polling rate, a 50,000 DPI optical sensor, Razer’s fourth-generation optical mouse switches, three connection modes, a second-generation HyperScroll Tilt Wheel and enough RGB lighting to potentially guide aircraft into your gaming room.
And somehow Razer has managed to make it weigh just 100g. At this point, this here Forever Geek is beginning to suspect that the engineers have been feeding mice spinach.
The Basilisk V4 Pro is pitched as the latest evolution of Razer’s premium Basilisk line, and having spent time looking at what it brings to the gaming desk, I think the interesting question isn’t really Is it fast? Of course it’s bloody well fast. The more interesting question is: What can you actually do with all this stuff? Because 14 buttons are either incredibly useful……or the beginning of a very expensive cry for help/another explanation to my wife for or buying more stuff.
First impressions: this is a serious mouse
The Basilisk V4 Pro has the sort of design that immediately tells you it’s intended for people who take their mouse rather seriously.nAnd that’s not necessarily a bad thing, because I’m a big fan of hardware that doesn’t require you to shout about how much of a gamer you are.
Although, obviously, there is RGB. Because this is Razer. So, as a consequence the Basilisk V4 Pro features Chroma RGB lighting with a full underglow, with individually customisable lighting zones and support for Razer’s wider Chroma ecosystem. The supplied material says it can react with more than 300 Chroma-integrated games and sync with 50-plus partner products, including Philips Hue.
So yes, your mouse can glow. Your keyboard can glow. Your desk can glow. Your room can glow. At some point my solar panels are going to start asking questions.
Fourteen buttons
Let’s deal with the elephant in the mousepad……..Fourteen programmable controls. That is a lot. Razer has retained the multi-function trigger from the previous generation, added a third side control and introduced a new M1 edge button. You can then map commands to those controls and use Razer Hypershift to effectively double the number of available commands.
Fourteen buttons. And then Hypershift. I’m interested, because for certain types of games, that can be extremely useful.
Baldur’s Gate 3: suddenly I have too many buttons
Naturally, I had to throw the Basilisk V4 Pro at Baldur’s Gate 3. Because if you’re going to test a gaming mouse, why not give it a game containing approximately seventeen thousand things that you could potentially bind to a button?
Baldur’s Gate 3 is an excellent example of where programmable controls can make sense. You’ve got inventory management……Character sheets……Spell selection……Abilities……Actions……Bonus actions……Menus……Camera controls……And approximately forty-seven things that your character can do which you’ve forgotten about until precisely the moment you need them.
The additional controls give you the opportunity to bring frequently used commands closer to hand. And this is where the Basilisk begins to feel less like a collection of impressive numbers and more like a genuinely configurable gaming tool.
You don’t necessarily need fourteen commands. You can simply choose the ones that make sense for you. Because I have absolutely no intention of remembering fourteen different buttons simply because Razer has given me permission to do so.
My brain is already at maximum capacity. It contains important information. Such as the fact that Gandalf doesn’t appear in *The Lord of the Rings* until approximately six minutes into the film……..Vital stuff.
Smart Profiles: the mouse knows what I’m playing
One of the more useful features in the Basilisk V4 Pro is Smart Profiles. You can create game-specific profiles with customised keybinds and link them to individual games, with Synapse automatically switching profiles when you launch them. This is exactly the sort of software feature I like. Because the whole point of customisation is that I shouldn’t have to constantly remember to customise things.
The Focus Pro 50K sensor
Now we get to the numbers. And there are some properly silly numbers here.
The Basilisk V4 Pro uses Razer’s Focus Pro 50K Optical Sensor Gen-3, with:
Up to 50,000 DPI
Up to 930 IPS
Up to 90G acceleration
Razer also says the sensor’s Frame Sync technology provides just-in-time scanning, while advanced features include Perfect 180°, Dynamic Sensitivity and Mouse Rotation.
Fifty thousand DPI. I’m going to be honest, I don’t know what I’d actually do with 50,000 DPI. Move the mouse half a millimetre and accidentally select a different galaxy? The important thing isn’t that you need 50,000 DPI. You don’t. The point is the precision and flexibility available underneath that headline number. And the Basilisk V4 Pro gives you an enormous amount of room to find settings that suit your particular style of play.
Mouse Rotation: a wonderfully geeky feature
One of the more interesting software features is Mouse Rotation. It allows you to rotate the tracking axis to align with your natural grip, with the setting saved to the mouse so it follows you.
This is exactly the sort of thing that sounds ridiculously niche until you think about it. Everyone holds a mouse slightly differently. We all have our own grip (erm, you at the back, stop your giggling at the childish innuendo. Grow up)
So where was I? We have ur own movement and our own little quirks. Some of us apparently need our mouse to accommodate those quirks. I’m one of those people. Because apparently even the way I move a mouse needs personalisation. I blame modern technology.
8,000Hz polling: do I need it?
The Basilisk V4 Pro supports up to 8,000Hz polling in both wireless and wired modes. Razer describes this as true 8KHz performance without compromising when you cut the cable. And yes, that’s a rather impressive headline.
But here’s the Forever Geek approach: Do the average player need 8,000Hz? Probably not.
Does it demonstrate what this mouse is capable of? Absolutely. And for people who are particularly sensitive to responsiveness, play competitive games or simply want the highest available polling performance, it’s a serious feature.
The important thing is that Razer hasn’t made you choose between wireless convenience and the maximum polling rate. You can have both. Which is exactly how wireless gaming peripherals should be evolving.
Wireless without compromise
The Basilisk V4 Pro supports three connection modes:
Razer HyperSpeed Wireless Gen-2
Bluetooth 6.2
USB-C wired
And Bluetooth supports pairing with up to three devices. That’s a surprisingly useful addition if your desk involves more than one machine. The mouse can move between them without requiring a small ritual involving unplugging cables and questioning your purchasing decisions.
Razer also supports multi-device connectivity through compatible hardware, allowing compatible Razer mice and keyboards to share a single dongle.
The HyperScroll Tilt Wheel Gen-2
The scroll wheel is another area where Razer has decided that simply scrolling up and down is far too conventional.
The HyperScroll Tilt Wheel Gen-2 offers:
* Precision Tactile Mode
* Tactile Mode
* Free-Spin
Smart-Reel
The tactile modes provide either 24 or 48 steps, while Smart-Reel can automatically switch between tactile and free-spin behaviour.
And this is one of those features that seems slightly excessive……until you use it.
For ordinary browsing, free-spin is wonderfully quick. For more precise work, tactile feedback makes sense. And for gaming, having that flexibility can be genuinely useful.
The clicks
The Basilisk V4 Pro uses **Razer Optical Mouse Switches Gen-4**, with a rated lifecycle of more than **100 million clicks**. Razer says the switches have 12% lighter actuation and are designed to provide faster, crisper activation.
One hundred million clicks. That’s an enormous number. The important thing is the feel. The clicks are designed to be quick and responsive without requiring excessive force. And that’s precisely what you want from a gaming mouse.
Battery life: genuinely ridiculous
And then we arrive at one of my favourite specifications.
Up to 200 hours of battery life.
That’s the figure Razer quotes when using HyperSpeed Wireless Gen-2 at 1,000Hz, while BLE is rated up to 275 hours. Two hundred hours. I could probably start a new Baldur’s Gate 3 campaign, become emotionally attached to another collection of fictional people and still have battery left.
Razer has also built the Basilisk V4 Pro into a broader wireless charging ecosystem, supporting the Razer Mouse Dock V2 Pro, HyperFlux V2 and Wireless Charging Puck V2. The principle is wonderfully simple:
Drop it on the dock. Pick it up. Carry on.
No cable hunting. No crawling behind the desk. No discovering that the USB-C cable you’ve been looking for has been sitting beside you the entire time. Been there, done that.
So, who is this actually for?
The Basilisk V4 Pro isn’t really aimed at someone who wants the cheapest possible mouse. At £169.99, this is firmly premium territory. I would argue that It’s for the gamer who wants control. ……The person who enjoys customising their setup…….The player who likes having additional commands available……The person who wants serious sensor performance without sacrificing wireless freedom……And, perhaps most importantly, someone who wants a mouse that can adapt to different games rather than forcing every game into exactly the same control scheme.
For RPGs, MMOs, strategy games and other titles where additional commands are useful, those extra controls have obvious appeal. For competitive gaming, the sensor, optical switches and 8KHz polling are the headline attractions.
And for everyone else? Well… You get to own a mouse with a 50,000 DPI sensor. Which is probably enough to make you feel slightly superior when someone asks what mouse you’re using.
The Forever Geek verdict
I genuine love this mouse. The Razer Basilisk V4 Pro is what happens when somebody at Razer asks:
What if we put absolutely everything into the mouse? And then, apparently, nobody told them to stop It’s excessive. Gloriously excessive. Which is probably the most Forever Geek thing about it. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to configure fourteen buttons.
This could take some time. And I haven’t even decided which colour the mouse should glow yet.
Clearly, civilisation has reached its peak.
5D Pop Culture: The Forever Geek
**Design & Comfort:** ★★★★★
**Gaming Performance:** ★★★★★
**Customisation:** ★★★★★
**Wireless:** ★★★★★
**Battery Life:** ★★★★★
**Features:** ★★★★★
THE FOREVER GEEK VERDICT
A spectacularly over-equipped gaming mouse that somehow makes all that excess feel useful. The Basilisk V4 Pro isn’t trying to reinvent the mouse. It’s trying to make the mouse do far more than you thought a mouse could reasonably be expected to do.
And it succeeds.
But wait….the options aren’t done yet……….I give you, the Razer Basilisk V4 HyperSpeed
For gamers who prefer something more streamlined, the Razer Basilisk V4 HyperSpeed brings
the same ergonomic Basilisk shape for players who want the essentials done right.
At just 94 g, it features the Razer™ Focus X 33K Optical Sensor Gen-3, 12 customizable controls,
and up to 140 hours of battery life.
PRICE AND AVAILABILITY
Razer Basilisk V4 Pro
£169.99 GBP / $169.99 USD / €179.99 EUR MSRP
Available now at Razer.com, RazerStores, and select retailers worldwide.
Razer Basilisk V4 HyperSpeed
£109.99 GBP / $109.99 USD / €119.99 EUR MSRP
Available now at Razer.com, RazerStores, and select retailers worldwide.
For more information on the Razer Basilisk V4 Pro, visit https://rzr.to/basilisk-v4-pro.
For more information on the Razer Basilisk V4 HyperSpeed, visit https://rzr.to/basilisk-v4-
hyperspeed.
Full disclosure: This product was sent to us for an honest and objective review.
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