Arie’s Blog » Blog Archive » Razer Abyssus/Razer Deathadder 3500DPI review

Razer Abyssus/Razer Deathadder 3500DPI review

March7

A new infrared 3500DPI sensor forms the core of an updated Razer Deathadder and an updated Razer Salmosa, the Razer Abyssus. Their predecessors were good mice, with some small issues.

The original Deathadder is Razer’s best mouse in my opinion. It has a great sensor which tracks very well on a lot of surfaces, is capable of tracking at high speeds, has DC and NDC firmwares and has no acceleration or other side effects when set up right.

The Salmosa has received little love from Razer. 1 driver update, no firmware updates and only the default DC firmware available.

Salmosa

So let’s talk a bit first about the thing the new mice have in common, the 3500DPI sensor. It’s not as good as the trusty old 1800DPI sensor used in the Salmosa and Deathadder-new. It has a lot of issues tracking on cloth mousepads, some more than others. Ironically, it’s pretty bad on the Razer Goliathus. If you like to play on cloth pads, don’t buy an Abyssus or a Deathadder-new.

Deathadder-new

With that out of the way, a bit about the Deathadder-new. It’s pretty much exactly the same as the old one. It has a nicer braided cable, replacing the very thin plastic wire from the old one, which was prone to breaking internally. That’s basically all there is to this new Deathadder. If you have an old one, keep it, if you want a new one, try to find an old one. The changes are not worth the upgrade and extra costs.

Deathadder new, or old?

Abyssus

Compared to the old Salmosa there isn’t much new either, but at least the 3500DPI sensor doesn’t have drift control. The hardware buttons to switch DPI and mouse refresh rate are still there, but the 500Hz option is gone. The scroll wheel is the worst I’ve seen on a Razer mouse. It feels cheap, makes a weird noise and is definitely not as good as the Deathadder or Imperator scroll wheel. Just as with other Razer mice there are a lot of reports of squeaking mouse wheels on the Abyssus.

Abyssus

For some reason I still like the Razer Abyssus. It’s really light and small, easy to throw around. Great for people looking for a finger grip mouse. The buttons are easy to press, I’d rankthem like this (easy -> hard to press): Boomslang CE2007, Abyssus, Deathadder, Imperator

The overall verdict

The new Razer 3500DPI mice are great mice, limited by their kinda crappy sensor.

The main problem with the 3500DPI DA is its older brother, which is cheaper and better, apart for the cable.

The Abyssus looks like a great entry-level gaming mouse. It’s cheap (the scroll wheel shows), light, easy to use and great value for money. It’s not only an entry level mouse, it’s a great mouse if you need something small and nimble. I wish it was made with the Deathadder sensor, that way I could have finally recommended a new Razer mouse.

posted under Hardware

69 Comments to

“Razer Abyssus/Razer Deathadder 3500DPI review”

On March 8th, 2010 at 01:03:04 camplo Says:
Hello and thank you for the nice review. I just wanted to comment about the new sensors razer is using. The newer Philips sensors offer faster ips and higher dpi than the 3g sensor(Original DA). I don’t think that we should be so hasty to nag. Even though the sensor may not work with some mouse pads it is quite indeed more precise than the avago 9500 (g9x) and just as precise as the 3g sensor. The z-axis issue has never taken away from my gaming experience. I am VERY picky about my mice and If I can tolerate the z-axis that says a lot about how bad it really is not. The 3.5g sensor isn’t without fault but is worthy of being the new flagship for razer. You may argue that it can’t track on a certain surface so why not bring up that the 3.5g tracks on surfaces that the 3g cannot like pure teflon for example…
On March 8th, 2010 at 03:03:36 Arie Says:
Well I’ve learned to tolerate the Imperator’s sensor. The tracking is very accurate and it seems impossible to make this mouse skip. I could live with the Z-axis and weird lift-off problems, but I really dislike the dynamic DPI scaling it seems to have. On low speeds it’s just weird compared to the other mice I have.
With the old DA sensor in it, it would have been just great, same for Abyssus.

It’s nice how the new 3500DPI sensor tracks on a surface like teflon, but fails to work on something as common as a cloth pad
On a good plastic pad it provides tracking that’s basically just as good as the old 1800DPI sensors.
On March 8th, 2010 at 16:03:50 h8m3 Says:
camplo, new DA sensor isnt philips, it’s avago 3088
On March 8th, 2010 at 16:03:59 Arie Says:
I think camplo was referring to the Imperator, Mamba and Naga when talking about the new phillips twin-eye.
On March 10th, 2010 at 01:03:30 camplo Says:
The avago 3088 is in the diamondback non 3g and krait non 3g, just googled it. Its not in the new deathadder, are you crazy? The new deathadder is philips twin eye, just googled that…The old deathadder was philips also. Where are you getting your information.
To Arie about the dpi scaling. I also would like to see a firmware version available without the dpi scaling. In that sense we have lost precision and for the most part has cause a response scale that performs as if acceleration was on but really its just negative accel that only becomes active during low mouse speeds. Maybe we should email razer tech support? Atleast with the naga the dpi scaling was always the case straight out of the box with original firmware!
On March 10th, 2010 at 09:03:31 Arie Says:
The old Deathadder has an Avago S3668, the new one doesn’t have a Philips sensor either. It looks like a typical Avago sensor, but I don’t know the type/number.
On March 11th, 2010 at 20:03:42 camplo Says:
Are you sure you are sure you’re sure?

http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?hl=en&sl=ja&u=http://wikis.jp/interfacedevice/index.php%3FMouseSensor&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dhttp://sousuch.hp.infoseek.co.jp/DIY/%26hl%3Den%26rlz%3D1C1GGLS_enUS361US361&rurl=translate.google.com&twu=1&usg=ALkJrhijPB4L12A2Rein2H_KxhKCsmuuyg

according to this both 3g and 3.5g sensors are philips.
On March 11th, 2010 at 20:03:14 Arie Says:
The laser sensors, yes, but the Deathadder, Deathadder new and Abyssus have infrared optical sensors.
On March 16th, 2010 at 05:03:48 reddy Says:
Is it true that it doesn’t have problems tracking on the Goliathus Control?
On March 16th, 2010 at 09:03:56 Arie Says:
No, vertical tracking can be quite jittery on the Goliathus with the 3500 dpi sensor.
On March 17th, 2010 at 01:03:31 reddy Says:
That sucks…some said that on the Speed version of the Goliathus it would jitter and on the Control version it wouldn’t…looked like a promising mouse otherwise.
On March 19th, 2010 at 04:03:47 Matt Says:
in your opinion is it worth it to exchange my new DA for an old one? I’m using the 3.5DA on a qck+, and there doesn’t seem to be any jittering at all. is the 3g sensor that much better than the 3.5g sensor?
On March 19th, 2010 at 12:03:55 Arie Says:
If you don’t experience the jitter, there’s no reason to switch to the old one.
On May 12th, 2010 at 16:05:03 Patriek Says:
Cant be the Avagotech ADNS-3080 either, doesnt match the specs
http://www.avagotech.com/docs/AV02-0366EN
On May 15th, 2010 at 18:05:31 JoJoxD* Says:
Well I have just bought Abyssus and I already had goliathus, the mouse works fine on the pad, but I wish it could be a little bigger, I am a claw-gripper though. But sometimes it seems I’m using some kinda cheap mouse as there arent any other buttons at all. Still I’m happy with the lightweight device that helps me frag a lot
On June 3rd, 2010 at 02:06:48 superdude Says:
I’ve saw a review on the Deathadder 3.5G that stated that it’s now on the same level of sensor quality as the 3G after firmware updates. True?
On June 3rd, 2010 at 07:06:57 Arie Says:
On cloth pads (e.g. Goliathus), the 1800 DPI has better tracking.
On a white plastic pad (e.g. Destructor), the 1800 DPI has better tracking.
On a black plastic pad (e.g. Destructor or Sphex), they’re about the same.

There haven’t been any firmware updates to fix the jitter on cloth pads.
On July 2nd, 2010 at 07:07:44 noshi Says:
Deathadder 3500 dpi has same engine as the other ones. Has jitter issues. Very obvious when maxed out dpi and panning horizontally in FPS games.
On August 9th, 2010 at 20:08:44 Anonymous Says:
What about when the new da on 450dpi and 500hz?
Camplo your lost if you tought the da was a philip sensor, ROFL.
On August 9th, 2010 at 20:08:38 Arie Says:
Same sensor, same problems. Should be ok on most plastic, black mousepads.
Don’t use it on cloth (jitter on almost every single one) and white/light plastic pads like the white Destructor.
On October 17th, 2010 at 10:10:33 nietopyrz Says:
DA 3.5G a.k.a. Respawn has Avago S3888 infrared sensor
On October 20th, 2010 at 17:10:13 val Says:
i js got myself a DA with goliathus control .
do u think it works well with megasoma as well ?
On October 26th, 2010 at 18:10:50 rugnor Says:
Hi i’m french and beginner in english ^^ i play crysis wars at very hight level
Is the sensor in the Deathadder 3.5g with the latest firmware is now equal than the old DA sensor with his latest firmware (without drift control) ?
There was a few problems with 3.5G becoming spazzy on higher DPIs (3200) and had jitter on cloth pad : is it fixed with the latest fireware ?
Je m’intéresse de très près au souris gamer plus particulièrement aux meilleur capteur des souris du marché qui sont l’avago 9500 (dans la Xai et la G500, G700) and ceux des deux deathadder :
-l’avago 3088 (dans la vieille Da)
-l’avago 3888 (dans la Da respawn aka refresh in france)
I am very interested in gaming mouse specifically to better sensor mice from the market and the Avago 9500 (in Xai and the G500, G700) and those of the two deathadder:
-The Avago 3088 (in the old Da)
-The Avago 3888 (in Da respawn in France aka refresh)
I read on forums that these two sensors are all identical in terms of performance I want to emphasize that at its output the first Da had big problems with sensors which made him one of the worst sensor but force update razer has greatly improved it is now one of the best sensor market. I wonder if the sensor of Xai and G500 surclase the accuracy and stability. I hope that the toad (the Avago 3888) will turn into a prince sensors for gamers XD
On October 26th, 2010 at 18:10:42 rugnor Says:
Do not read this passage in my previous message : “Je m’intéresse de très près au souris gamer plus particulièrement aux meilleur capteur des souris du marché qui sont l’avago 9500 (dans la Xai et la G500, G700) and ceux des deux deathadder :
-l’avago 3088 (dans la vieille Da)
-l’avago 3888 (dans la Da respawn aka refresh in france)”

I copy and paste this comment by mistake in french instead of one that stuck was translated into English lol
On October 26th, 2010 at 18:10:21 rugnor Says:
Do not read the passage in French from my previous message: I copied and pasted by mistake this comment in French instead of the one that stuck was translated into English lol
On October 26th, 2010 at 22:10:47 Arie Says:
The new DA still jitters on cloth pads.
On October 31st, 2010 at 04:10:12 val Says:
so does megasome work on it well ?
On October 31st, 2010 at 13:10:51 Arie Says:
Haven’t used the Megasoma.
On November 1st, 2010 at 10:11:51 val Says:
cos im using DA 3.5 with goliathus control fragged and it keeps jittering all the time .. so looking for good replacement mouse mat
On November 1st, 2010 at 10:11:19 Arie Says:
I didn’t have issues on the black destructor, but it wore out pretty quickly. Also, it did jitter on the white destructor.
On November 1st, 2010 at 19:11:27 OPSS Says:
1 November:
Razer Abyssus 1800DPI v1.01 Driver
http://www.razersupport.com/index.php?_m=downloads&_a=view&parentcategoryid=84&nav=0%2C76
?¿?¿?¿?¿?¿¿?

Abyssus with the old sensor or an error??????????
On November 1st, 2010 at 19:11:46 Arie Says:
First time I’ve heard of it.
On November 2nd, 2010 at 14:11:58 OPSS Says:
Razer Abyssus 1800dpi with Cycolosa(BlackWidow????) combo:
http://cn.razerzone.com/swf/xybundle.jpg
http://digi.tech.qq.com/a/20101020/000170.htm
On November 5th, 2010 at 04:11:09 WhiteKnight Says:
I’m also getting jitter with my new DA3500 that I purchased at the end of September when using it on my Goliathus Control. Doesn’t look like there’s any fix for it yet…works better on my wooden desk than on my $30 Goliathus, go figure!

It seems that if I use the DA on the desk first for like 30 seconds, then I can use it on my Goliathus. Not sure why it is jittery until I do that though, but obviously there is an issue because so many of us are having problems with it. This is at the high 3500 DPI setting.
On November 6th, 2010 at 13:11:40 Val Says:
i dont think razer has any firmware update to resolve this problem yet right ? man i should’ve bought the mamba …
On November 7th, 2010 at 21:11:36 ken Says:
am using a da3.5g on a qck, but whats the jitter thats experienced?
after using google, still dont get what is jittering. =(

any kind souls here to help me with my understanding?
On November 7th, 2010 at 21:11:05 Arie Says:
If you have jitter, it’s easy to find.

Open paint, pick a small brush with color black. Start drawing at the middle top of the screen and move slowly down.
If you have the DA-Respawn/Abyssus jitter, you’ll see the cursor ‘jitter’ left-right while moving down. Instead of the nearly straight line you tried to draw, you’ll end up with a jagged line due to jitter.

Something like this: http://img696.imageshack.us/img696/8104/abyssus4503.png
On November 7th, 2010 at 22:11:40 ken Says:
http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff316/Ryuuojin/dav2.png

^
tested it out on paint.
using my own da3.5g and my friend’s goliathus speed.
is this considered jitter?
though i find it easier to draw a straight line when using the ikari on goliathus speed.
On November 7th, 2010 at 23:11:02 Arie Says:
Seems fine.
On November 8th, 2010 at 03:11:33 ken Says:
so the jittering only occurs in some DAv2 ?
On November 8th, 2010 at 09:11:52 Arie Says:
On all DAv2 with some mousepads
On November 8th, 2010 at 14:11:47 torin Says:
I bought a Goliathus Control recently and it just doesn’t work properly with my wireless Logitech laser mouse. I cannot click on anything smaller with my first try due to mouse cursor jumping around or stopping just short of the place I wanted to click on. Just a small jump but enough to miss links and playing Starcraft 2 is a grueling experience

Was thinking of buying Death Adder as I read somewhere that Goliathus works good with optical mice and only has problems with laser ones, but now you say it works bad with Death Adder as well
On November 15th, 2010 at 05:11:45 Tekert Says:
Mmm, the jitter you guys talk about is just the real movement of the mouse, lower dpi, lower speed and it should be gonne, Razer removed the straight line prediction movement on a firmware update dont remember when. For me, is good, drawing something on paint was always a line, I dont use my mouse only for gaming. So, the second thing, I was caught in the whole mousepad marketing, I just used a veeery old black rubber mouse pad, perfect control, 0 jitter, screw those new mousepads.. really, 30 bucks to trash. Control or no control they come nowere near this old “rubber” (its seems like rubber) pad.
On November 15th, 2010 at 08:11:42 Arie Says:
Nope, if it was the real movement of the mouse I’d also have it with other high DPI mice, and I don’t.
On November 18th, 2010 at 20:11:15 plum Says:
Arie, not rly, 3.5G Sensor is engineered with no drift control – giving gamers the ability to translate their exact mouse movements into in game frags without interference from prediction mechanisms that results in accuracy loss. So it dosen’t matter what dpi mouse have. It is important that mouse have drift control algorithm or not (to make movements more straight or translate exact movements).
On November 18th, 2010 at 20:11:52 Arie Says:
I have no idea how that relates to what I said.

I’ve tried many mice, low DPI, high DPI, with/without drift control, none of them have the jitter of the 3.5G sensor used by Razer.
Even the horrible sensor in the Imperator doesn’t show this jitter.
On November 26th, 2010 at 14:11:10 plum Says:
Hmm I have this mouse and I don’t see jitter on my DA 3.5G Left Handed. Tested on Razer Destructor, desk and white sheet of paper.
On November 26th, 2010 at 14:11:20 Arie Says:
All of those were fine for me as well. Did see jitter on a white destructor and goliathus.
On December 3rd, 2010 at 21:12:47 kirillkh Says:
I’ve just bought the DA 3500 version, and it seems fine so far, except for one thing: whenever there is vibration of the surface (i.e. the desk), the mouse stops responding while vibration lasts (even buttons do not work). I don’t normally see that happening while using the mouse, but I can easily reproduce it by shaking the desk a bit, so I suppose it impacts the gameplay to some extent.

Overall, it seems that there is some kind of vibration sensor built in the mouse.

Now the most weird thing: it only happens in Linux, not in Windows (yes, I play 3D games in Linux). I updated the firmware to the current version, didn’t help.

Does anybody know anything about that?
On December 3rd, 2010 at 21:12:12 Arie Says:
I’ve never had that happen.
On December 11th, 2010 at 05:12:59 WhiteKnight Says:
hey guys, seems like the latest firmware (v2.44) has fixed the jitter problem for me!
On December 30th, 2010 at 07:12:59 joey Says:
i just bought the 3.5g and i dont have the jitter problem. But I do have a problem with the tracking while in game.

Really fast movements make the cursor skip and look into the air sometimes. I used to have the old DA and the tracking on that mouse was amazing compared to my old 518.

I’m pretty let down by this new DA. I hope there is a fix for this tracking issue, otherwise I’m going back to me 518.
On December 30th, 2010 at 10:12:20 Arie Says:
I’ve noticed that happening on some surfaces as well, specifically bright surfaces like the white Destructor mousepad.
Black surfaces were fine for me.
On January 5th, 2011 at 01:01:37 FsT Says:
Guys so what about this jitter now? Right now I’m using old ver. of DA and it’s the best mouse I’ve ever used. Unofrunately after 3 years of hardcore usage, it sometimes just disconnects for a short period of time. I’m pretty sure it’s the cable fault.
What do you recommend for a new mouse? I’m using Steelpad 5L.
I’m realy loving the DA shape and it’s the perfect mouse for me, but this jitter effect seems to be realy anyoing. I was thinking about Logitech G500 but I alse read abour horrible sensor, and poor qualite of this product.

I wish Sujoy was making some mousecharts.
On January 22nd, 2011 at 22:01:52 VoDkA Says:
You guys are full of shit I have a deathadder 3500 dpi and a qck cloth pad, ive tried it on multiple cloth pads and it tracks just as good if not better then the old 1800 dpi sensor. People who say it doesnt track well on cloth pads is full of shit cause i have 3500 dpi deathadder and all i use are cloth pads and it has no negative/postive acceleration
On January 22nd, 2011 at 22:01:31 Skillz Says:
I would have to agree…I also have both a 1800 dpi death adder and a 3500 dpi deathadder and the sensors are the same just the 3500 dpi is more precise of course because more dpi. and it tracks perfectly on standard and gaming cloth pads
On January 22nd, 2011 at 22:01:54 Drunk Driver Says:
I’ve tried the 3500 dpi deathadder on both cloth and hard pads such as the qck and the steel series sx (their best hard/soft pads) and it tracks perfectly
On January 22nd, 2011 at 22:01:19 Arie Says:
Nice that it works for you on your cloth pads. Both the da3500 and abyssus fail on my cloth pads and other surfaces. Only on dark plastic pads they work as advertised. Kinda lame to say ‘full of shit’ though…. I’m not exactly an isolated case….
On February 17th, 2011 at 05:02:01 flucke Says:
Has anyone confirmed the fix for the jittering problem after installing the last firmware??
v.2.4.4
On March 4th, 2011 at 09:03:41 Slartibartfst Says:
Arie, thanks for this post, do you still have an Abyssus handy?. I’m wondering if the jittering issue is present @ 450 dpi, since that’s the only resolution I would be interested in playing with, and I like its form factor.
On March 4th, 2011 at 12:03:34 Arie Says:
It’s present at all DPIs.

I’ve heard reports that the firmware upgrades for the DA3500 fix some of the jitter issues, but there are no firmware upgrades for the Abyssus.
On March 20th, 2011 at 13:03:35 Imagran Says:
“Has anyone confirmed the fix for the jittering problem after installing the last firmware??
v.2.4.4″

?
On March 26th, 2011 at 03:03:00 Mr. 3 Says:
Hi, I also heard about new firmware. Is this true? If it’s true I think, that DA 3.5G can be the best mouse ever (except shape).

@Arie
Have you got DA 3.5G or only Abyssus?
On March 26th, 2011 at 16:03:04 Arie Says:
I no longer have the Deathadder 3.5G, still have the Abyssus.
On October 12th, 2011 at 23:10:31 IggyPop Says:
just wanted to say that DA 3.5G is definitely not worth the money. bought it two days ago, its jittery as an epileptic guy at a party. tried it on light wooden and dark wooden desks, with and without a mat – it works for some time but every now and then starts jittering like the sensor goes haywire. the official response from razer is to put a blank piece of paper under it which actually fixes the problem. so i have a $60 gaming mouse that needs a sheet of paper to work…could have bought a $5 generic crap that would have worked like that
i have a copperhead that still tracks flawlessly on ANY surface but the scroll wheel broke couple of days ago (after years of punishment and traveling in a notebook bag) ergo the replacement.
is there a mouse that has a perfect traction from razer? one that has no z-axis issue or lousy optic sensor?
On October 13th, 2011 at 00:10:50 Arie Says:
Most optical mice work poorly on wood textures, but it should work just fine on any normal mousepad.
Check for dust or hairs on the sensor and make sure you have the latest firmware, it should perform just fine. Else I’d consider it defective and have it replaced.
On October 15th, 2011 at 17:10:03 stiw Says:
What pad should be used for razer mouse abyssus?
On October 15th, 2011 at 21:10:05 IggyPop Says:
solved. replaced it with a imperator. so far so good on wood tracking.
On February 8th, 2012 at 00:02:45 James Says:
Razer DeathAdder new works fine in hard surfaces?? coz i have steekseries S&S Mouse Pad ..