Software

The Cobra 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 four 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. "Performance" is used to adjust CPI for up to five levels, ranging from 100 to 8500 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 choose between various pre-calibrated Razer mouse surfaces. 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 364 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 169 MB keep running. Remarkably, these processes continue to load even 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 Cobra has has two physical and a single logical lighting zone, the former two of which are the logo and underglow at the back. Five pre-defined lighting effects are available: Audio Meter (lighting reacts to audio playback), Breathing, Reactive (lighting reacts to button inputs), Spectrum Cycling, and Static. 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. In addition, one can define the conditions under which lighting is turned off. Flipping the switch above the brightness slider disables illumination altogether.

Color accuracy and vibrancy are excellent throughout. Below is a short demonstration video in which I go through the Breathing and Spectrum Cycling lighting effects: