Along with the Viper V2 Pro and DeathAdder V3 Pro, the Basilisk series also receives a thorough update with the Basilisk V3 Pro. While the shape remains unchanged, a lot has happened under the hood. The most notable upgrade concerns the sensor, which is Razer's latest Focus Pro 30K. As a result, performance is simply stellar: CPI deviation is minimal, general tracking virtually flawless owing to MotionSync, motion delay low across the board, and USB polling stable. The only issue I could find relates to the same curious behavior already seen on the Viper V2 Pro, where wireless motion delay randomly increased by 1 ms beyond a certain point when using the included wireless dongle. Since I'm still not able to reproduce this consistently, and Razer hasn't been able to reproduce it at all, I cannot really rate this as a negative, however. Outside of this, wireless motion delay when using 2.4 GHz wireless at a polling rate of 1000 Hz sits around 0.5 ms, which is simply outstandingly low. The same goes for click latency, which is just 0.9 ms under the same conditions, edging out even the DeathAdder V3 Pro. Both click and motion latency can be lowered even further on the Basilisk V3 Pro by utilizing the HyperPolling Wireless Dongle, which the Basilisk V3 Pro is compatible with. With true 4000 Hz wireless polling, click latency goes down to just 0.5 ms, which is lower than what some of the best 1000 Hz wired mice are able to muster.

The button design too has been revised. The sniper button paddle has been made shorter and slightly repositioned, but no longer is removable or replaceable with a paddle of different length. Personally, I'm not too sure what to think about this change. The shorter paddle sure is out of the way, but those with smaller hands in particular will be forced to reposition their thumb to reach it, which isn't optimal. The paddle doesn't feel all that great, either. The other buttons are of high quality, however: The main buttons yet again are outfitted with optical switches and provide a firm and snappy response, even though they don't feel entirely uniform between left and right, and the right one has some pre-travel. The side buttons have minimal pre and post-travel, but the actuation point isn't entirely even across the back button, which has it feel somewhat flimsy. The feet are unchanged, still 100% PTFE, and glide very well.

Much like on previous Basilisk iterations, the scroll wheel can be adjusted. On the Basilisk Ultimate, Razer allowed for gradual control over scrolling tactility, whereas on the Basilisk V3 Pro, adjustment is merely discrete, enabling one to swap between tactile and free-spin. Furthermore, Razer has implemented several software-based options, such as dynamically switching between tactile and free-spin. When trying them in practice, however, I've found these largely useless. The switching simply doesn't happen fast enough to account for rapidly changing scroll speed, and the setting that accelerates scroll speed depending on how fast the wheel is physically spun results in effectively uncontrollable scrolling. Overall, I prefer the gradual adjustment afforded by previous Basilisk iterations, even though the ability to switch between both modes at the press of a button sure is handy. Furthermore, elevated noise levels notwithstanding, the tactile mode itself provides very nice tactility indeed, which is doubly impressive given that an optical encoder is used. In fact, I've found this mode tuned so well that even for rapid scrolling, I didn't feel the need to swap modes. The scroll wheel can also be tilted to the left and right, which gives access to two additional button functions and allows for horizontal scrolling, which can be useful for productivity work in particular.

What hasn't changed is the weight. At 113 g, the Basilisk V3 Pro actually ends up ever so slightly heavier than the 107 g Basilisk Ultimate. I reckon ~110 g is the typical weight range preferred by the average Basilisk user, but personally, I would've preferred a weight of around 100 g, which I believe would've been possible without having to make compromises otherwise. On the flipside, the Basilisk V3 Pro certainly is built like a tank, as there isn't any flexing or creaking whatsoever, and actuating the side buttons by squeezing the sides is impossible, though I did notice the scroll wheel rattling a bit when shaking the mouse. The Basilisk V3 Pro has a 600 mAh battery built in, which enables it to reach a very respectable battery life even with RGB lighting enabled. With RGB turned on and brightness set to 33% (default), I estimate battery life to clear 40 hours with ease, which is a figure the ASUS ROG Chakram X required a 1250 mAh battery to achieve. Razer cites up to 90 hours using 2.4 GHz wireless without RGB lighting, but given the battery size I wouldn't be surprised if actual battery life would be north of 100 hours. Since Bluetooth support is on board, reaching even higher numbers is perfectly possible. Furthermore, charging is pretty fast at around 0.330 A during the bulk stage, and the cable is flexible enough to allow playing while charging without feeling overly restricted. Synapse also includes a very accurate battery charge indicator, along with the ability to save settings to five different on-board memory profiles, which enables one to do without Synapse altogether quite easily—a most welcome possibility, given Synapse's insatiable appetite for RAM and CPU time.

Speaking of charging, Razer also offers an option for those not fond of using the included USB Type-C cable. The Mouse Dock Pro utilizes induction instead of physical contacts for charging, which is certainly more convenient. In addition to that, the functionality of the aforementioned HyperPolling Wireless Dongle is likewise included, and, among other things, the RGB lighting can be set to display the battery charge status, provided the mouse is running in 2.4 GHz wireless mode. There are two issues worth pointing out, however. First, charging isn't exactly fast at roughly 0.100 A, so in a pinch and needing a quick charge, going with the cable is still the better option. Second, the Dock costs a whopping $69.99, which brings me to my next point.

While the Basilisk Ultimate retailed for $169.99 with the charging dock included, the Basilisk V3 Pro is priced at $159.99 without a dock. The Mouse Dock Pro costs $69.99, but given that the functionality of the HyperPolling Wireless Dongle is already integrated, the comparison isn't apples-to-apples. Still, if we would put a hypothetical non-HyperPolling Mouse Dock Pro at $39.99, we'd still be looking at a $30 premium over the Basilisk Ultimate for the mouse and dock package, which of course amounts to a premium of $60 in reality. This is substantial, though at the same time, Razer did charge $149.99 for the Basilisk Ultimate without the charging dock, and a $10 premium in this comparison is perfectly reasonable.

What's the verdict then? On its own, the Basilisk V3 Pro is a very good mouse, but I have a hard time making a case for getting it over the Basilisk Ultimate, which isn't much worse overall and in some aspects arguably better, all while being more affordable. As a compromise, I've decided to settle on giving our Recommended award.

When looking at alternatives, there are several. The ROCCAT Kone XP Air weighs less while having more buttons and even more extensive RGB lighting, has a tilt-scroll wheel, a charging dock included, but suffers from horrific polling stability, significant wireless motion delay, and a catastrophically buggy software, for $169.99. The ASUS ROG Chakram X scores with 8000 Hz polling in wired mode, only marginally worse performance, and an adjustable joystick, but weighs even more and comes with Armoury Crate, which is in direct violation of the Geneva convention, for $159.99. The $139.99 SteelSeries Aerox 5 Wireless has much lower weight but plenty of holes, great and plentiful buttons, but suffers from nonexistent battery life with RGB lighting fully enabled and lackluster performance. Lastly, the Corsair M65 RGB Ultra Wireless suffers from the buttons being subject to batch lottery, similarly high weight, no wireless extender being included, and spotty performance, for $129.99.