Style over substance
When Razer reached out to Destructoid’s UK team last week about reviewing a selection of its new products, I was oddly curious about reviewing the Firefly. It’s a $60 mouse mat that connects to the rest of Razer’s coloured-light-infused Chroma family.
Considering for the last few years I have forgone a mat in my gaming setup altogether, I was curious what benefits there would be to switching to a pricey mouse surface. Turns out the difference made with this $60 option is minimal at best, but it sure does look flashy.
Product: Razer Firefly Chroma Surface
Manufacturer: Razer
Input: One USB 2.0+ Port
MSRP: $59.99
I tested three different mice today on both my Ikea table top and the Firefly. If there’s a difference in responsiveness, I did not pick up on it. There’s a PC utility to calibrate your Razer mouse to the Firefly, but even with one of the Razer Chroma mice calibrated, there was next to no difference. If your table isn’t a great mouse surface and you’re looking for a solution, it’s worth noting I got the same responsiveness out of a sheet of thick card stock.
With the raw responsiveness and function out the way, let’s talk about the flashier aspects of this mouse surface. The mouse pad requires an open USB port to unlock its flashy functions, namely a set of lights around the edges of the surface. By using a PC utility, you can set the Firefly to glow a set colour, alternate between colours in patterns, or light up in time with music on your computer. If you already have a Chroma mouse, you can rig the mouse pad to light up in pulses as you click, which while functionally useless is by far the coolest of the settings.
And really, that’s about it. There’s no real integration with Razer’s Chroma keyboards, you’ll need a Chroma mouse to do the cool thing where it lights up when you click, and the mat will need a USB port to do anything fancy. Otherwise, I had just as much luck using the box it came in as a mouse surface as I did the Firefly itself. It’s a nice piece of kit if you’ve already got a few Chroma products, but it’s not something I could ever see myself purchasing.
[This review is based on retail hardware provided by the manufacturer.]
