Software

The Basilisk V3 Pro is fully compatible with Razer's modular software, Synapse 3. Synapse is embedded into an overarching software suite called Razer Central. From there, it is possible to install additional optional modules, such as Chroma Connect, Chroma Studio, or the highly sophisticated macro editor.

All settings are accessible through five tabs. "Customize" houses button remapping, which also includes a HyperShift function to enable a second set of button maps that can be accessed upon pressing a dedicated shift button. In addition to that, there are several options related to the scroll wheel. Aside from switching between tactile and free-spin mode, which can also be done by pressing a dedicated button on the mouse, "Smart Reel" dynamically switches between tactile and free-spin operation based on scroll speed, while "scroll acceleration" gradually increases the Windows-set scroll speed relative to the current scroll speed. "Performance" is used to adjust CPI for up to five levels, ranging from 100 to 30,000 CPI and in increments of 50. Polling rate can be set to 125, 500, or 1000 Hz. "Lighting" is detailed below. "Calibration" allows one to adjust the lift-off distance between three presets (low, medium, high), along with the option of setting up asymmetric cut-off. The fifth tab, called "Power," enables one to set the idle time (in minutes) after which the mouse enters sleep mode, as well as the battery status percentage at which Low Power mode is enabled. Low Power mode lowers the maximum tracking speed from 750 IPS (19.05 m/s) to 550 IPS (13.97 m/s) and maximum acceleration from 70G to 40G. Lastly, profile management is available, too.

All setting changes are applied immediately and saved to the on-board memory, so the software does not need to be running (or be installed) all the time. On my system, Synapse had a RAM footprint of 478 MB on average when running in the foreground, which doesn't change when minimized, be it to the taskbar or system tray. Upon exiting the application, several processes with an overall RAM footprint of 240 MB keep running. Remarkably, these processes continue to load if Synapse is set to not auto-start with Windows. The most convenient way of terminating these processes is to run any recent Razer mouse firmware updater.

Lighting

The Basilisk V3 Pro has three physical lighting zones, which are the logo at the back, scroll wheel, and underside of the mouse. Eight pre-defined lighting effects are available: Audio Meter (lighting reacts to audio playback), Breathing, Fire, Reactive (lighting reacts to button inputs), Spectrum Cycling, Starlight, Static, and Wave. Brightness can be adjusted, and for most effects, the colors are adjustable as well. By using Chroma Studio, creating more advanced effects is also possible. Additionally, the lighting can be configured to switch off in idle or when the display is turned off. Flipping the switch above the brightness slider disables illumination altogether.

Color accuracy and vibrancy are excellent throughout. Here's a short demonstration video in which I go through the Breathing, Spectrum Cycling, and Wave lighting effects:

Battery Life

Razer states a maximum battery life of up to 90 hours. This refers to continuous usage at a polling rate of 1000 Hz without illumination. The software includes a percentage-based battery life indicator with single-digit accuracy, which is in fact reliable and accurate. When using 2.4 GHz wireless, a polling rate of 1000 Hz, and full RGB lighting at 33% brightness, for each four hours of use, the battery indicator went down by 10%. Hence, we can assume that expected battery life with RGB enabled is around 40 hours.

After not moving the mouse for a short period, the Basilisk V3 Pro enters a rest state from which it can be woken up by moving the mouse, but not by clicking a button. The same goes for sleep mode, which is entered after a certain amount of time set in minutes from within Synapse has passed.

Using the included USB Type-A to Type-C charging cable, I measured the charging speed during the constant current stage, which sits at around 0.330 A. Using the Mouse Dock Pro, the charging speed was around 0.100 A. The battery has a capacity of 600 mAh.