It is rare for us to look at a mouse mat but with ‘Chroma’ lighting and a tough micro-textured surface, the Firefly truely stands out!
Product on Review: Razer Firefly
Manufacturer and Sponsor: RAZER
Street Price: UK: £55 US: $59.99 EUR: 74.99€
The humble mouse mat or pad is a fairly overlooked yet important piece of equipment for the PC gamer. Available in a variety of shapes and sizes and a variety of materials, it becomes difficult to foresee how the mouse mat will evolve. As gaming mice push the boundaries of performance, as seen with the Razer Mamba and its high precision 16,000 DPI sensor, materials used to create the mat are ever moving towards a microscopic design detail and this can be seen with the continual innovations from ROCCAT, SteelSeries and Razer.
The Razer Firefly comes in to complete the Chroma setup, through the Razer synapse software you can sync the colour and glow to your other Chroma enabled devices and through the Chroma SDK, developers can also create lighting effects to enhance in game actions and immersion. Coming in at quite a high price for ‘just a mouse mat’ this will undoubtedly draw attention for any enthusiasts looking to light up their desk.
Overview by Razer
Engineered with all the trusted Razer gaming-grade performance features, the Razer Firefly has a micro-textured finish for the balance between control and speed. The optimized reflective surface ensures mouse movements translate to precise cursor movements and rapid in-game responsiveness.
The Razer Firefly joins other Chroma-enabled Razer devices, including the award-winning Razer DeathAdder Chroma and Razer Naga Epic Chroma gaming mice, the Razer BlackWidow Chroma gaming keyboard and Razer Kraken 7.1 Chroma headset. All Chroma products feature the option of 16.8 million customizable colors and a range of effects enabled through Razer’s Synapse software. Synapse allows the devices to sync lighting colors and patterns between Chroma devices with the click of a button.
Razer Firefly will also be included in the Chroma SDK, with which game developers can integrate advanced lighting effects into their games for a more immersive experience.
The Razer Firefly joins other Chroma-enabled Razer devices, including the award-winning Razer DeathAdder Chroma and Razer Naga Epic Chroma gaming mice, the Razer BlackWidow Chroma gaming keyboard and Razer Kraken 7.1 Chroma headset. All Chroma products feature the option of 16.8 million customizable colors and a range of effects enabled through Razer’s Synapse software. Synapse allows the devices to sync lighting colors and patterns between Chroma devices with the click of a button.
Razer Firefly will also be included in the Chroma SDK, with which game developers can integrate advanced lighting effects into their games for a more immersive experience.
Technical Specifications
– Micro-textured finish for balanced gameplay
– Optimized surface coating for highly responsive tracking
– Chroma customizable lighting
– Inter-device color synchronization
– Non-slip rubber base
– Razer Synapse enabled (for Chroma customizable lighting)
– Gold-plated, USB connector (to power the Chroma customizable lighting)
– 2.13 m / 7 ft lightweight, braided fiber cable
– Approximate size: 355 mm / 13.98 ” (Length) x 255 mm / 10.04 ” (Width) x 4 mm / 0.16 ” (Height)
– Approximate weight: 380 g / 0.84 lbs
System Requirements
– PC or Mac with a free USB port
– Windows® 8/ Windows® 7 / Windows Vista® / Windows® XP (32-bit)/ Mac OS X (v10.8-10.10)
– Internet connection
– 100MB of hard disk space
– Razer Synapse registration (requiring a valid e-mail), software download, license acceptance, and internet connection needed to activate full features of product and for software updates. After activation, full features are available in optional offline mode.
– Optimized surface coating for highly responsive tracking
– Chroma customizable lighting
– Inter-device color synchronization
– Non-slip rubber base
– Razer Synapse enabled (for Chroma customizable lighting)
– Gold-plated, USB connector (to power the Chroma customizable lighting)
– 2.13 m / 7 ft lightweight, braided fiber cable
– Approximate size: 355 mm / 13.98 ” (Length) x 255 mm / 10.04 ” (Width) x 4 mm / 0.16 ” (Height)
– Approximate weight: 380 g / 0.84 lbs
System Requirements
– PC or Mac with a free USB port
– Windows® 8/ Windows® 7 / Windows Vista® / Windows® XP (32-bit)/ Mac OS X (v10.8-10.10)
– Internet connection
– 100MB of hard disk space
– Razer Synapse registration (requiring a valid e-mail), software download, license acceptance, and internet connection needed to activate full features of product and for software updates. After activation, full features are available in optional offline mode.
Packaging & Bundle
The box is distinctive and good quality, clearly identifiable and a Razer product.
At the back we get a break down of the features in various languages as well as details of the Chroma lighting and dimensions.
The Razer Firefly is a hard textured surface which is a gunmetal grey colour. Inside the box there is the standard paperwork about Razer, the product and warranty as well as the pair of Razer stickers. Though considering the price, its a shame that there was no included detachable wrist rest of sorts. Some like this kinda thing, some may prefer to do without it, but it would be a nice added extra.
The underside is a textured nonslip rubber surface while the LED lighting strip can be seen along the outer edge. The lighting surrounds each edge except the top/front edge where the power cable connects to.
Software & Lighting
The Firefly is enabled through the Razer Synapse software, which requires to be downloaded from the Razer website. It will then download the correct software to run with the connected Razer devices. This setup can be a little longwinded, but once done the software is intuitive and easy to use. The settings for the mouse mat are fairly simple, with various lighting options including breathing, spectrum, static and wave options. Reative is not yet highlighted as it is something that is ‘in the works’ but will be an interesting addition. You can also turn the lighting off, or adjust the brightness as you please.
Performance Testing
As the Firefly is powered via USB you will need to make sure you have enough spare on your PC or MAC. Out the box it defaults to the spectrum mode, but once the software has been installed, swaping the lighting effect is easy to do. The colours are noticeable during the day, vivid and vibrant in the dark.
The USB connector is gold plated and has a 2.1M/7ft braided cable which is soft and easy to manage. As mentioned earlier there is no included wrist rest which is a shame as, for this price, there could have been some cushioning included within the layout itself. In use there was no real problem with comfort unless you rested your palm on the rim though this shouldn’t really happen without intention as the generous size (355 x 255 mm) of the Firefly can easily accomodate large hand motions without a problem. The materials used are tough and durable and is easy to clean. As to whether it is actually ‘waterproof’ or not, there is no statement on this but it is unlikely that a moderate coffee spill will cause any major damage.
The surface itself tracked well using the Razer Mamba, Razer NAGA EPIC Chroma, as well as the SteelSeries XAI and a Corsair Gaming M65. Mice literally glide across the surface with an almost air hockey feel, yet didn’t feel ‘slippery’ in a way which couldn’t be controlled. In games and raves, the Firefly was a surprising treat and it becomes easy to imagine the potential of how the lighting effects could be used by developers to create that extra sensory experience in games.
Conclusion
As a gamer looking for a mouse mat, you may not be looking to spend £50-60 on such a product. You may prefer to be looking for a large desk sized pad or simply something to replace that cheap thing picked up from the supermarket. However, if you are looking for something with a bit of flair, then the Razer Firefly might be what you are looking for.
The illumination is good quality with vivid colour reproduction (seemingly more so than many other 16.8M colour devices) and the various modes add vibrant colour to your desktop. You can choose a Static effect, or cycle through the spectrum to whichever colour you desire. Razer have commited a lot of effort to the Chroma range and their SDK so there is a chance you could find this device being used in ways not previously conceived. The surface feels wonderfully awesome to slide your mouse along and with the various mice we tested, the tracking was flawless.
There are various considerations with the firefly especially at this price point. Such as, maybe it could have had a detachable cable so it could be used solo without lighting or with a little ingenuity it could have been wireless. Though considering the product as is, the only real negative aspect of the Firefly is the pricing, at almost double the cost of other ‘Premium’ mouse mats it could be hard to justify for many people. None of this really detracts from the fact its performance as a mouse mat is as flawless as you would expect, you just get added lighting, and pretty lighting at that! If you are a fan of Razer products, already own a Chroma device, or you simply want to liven up your desk, the Firefly fits the bill perfectly.
The Razer Firefly in a non-conventional mouse mat which features vibrant customisable ‘Chroma’ lighting, yet the impressive micro-textured surface finishes that ‘ultra premium’ presentation with silky smooth yet precise mouse action.
Pros.
+ Excellent tracking
+ Smooth gliding action
+ Customisable lighting
+ Quality construction
Cons.
– Price
+ Excellent tracking
+ Smooth gliding action
+ Customisable lighting
+ Quality construction
Cons.
– Price
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