Packaging

The Razer DeathAdder Essential comes in a small, simple cardboard box with the usual render images, marketing text, and specifications. The package has inner cardboard bracing to eliminate chances of damage during shipping. Once opened, you can access your new mouse, as well as a sticker and a quick-start guide. No replacement feet unfortunately, which really should be considered essential.

Shape

The Essential, just like all DeathAdders (except for the left-handed edition) is a right-handed, ergonomic gaming mouse with side buttons on the left side only. It has a relatively high profile with a rather tall middle part that nicely fills out your palm if you have medium-sized hands. As for its size, it's a medium-large model, so it might not be suitable for users with small hands.


The left side of the mouse curves inward, which helps with maintaining a stable grip even while the mouse is picked up. The right side is slanted (but the side panels are still concave), and both main buttons feature some rather aggressive grooves to place your fingers in.


The Essential has the same dimensions as other DeathAdder models. This means it's 127 mm (5") long, which can be considered medium leaning towards long. The total width is 73 mm (2.87"), but depending on your grip style, the actual width at which it is gripped is approximately 60 mm (2.36"). The total height is 43 mm (1.69"), and the hump is centered. With these dimensions, I would mainly recommend this mouse to palm grippers with hands bigger than 17 cm. As always, these are only rough guidelines—you should try out a mouse before buying it to be sure of its comfort factor.



Here are some extra pictures of the mouse:

Comparisons

Here are some shape/size comparisons with other mice:


Microsoft Pro IntelliMouse


Tt eSPORTS Iris Optical


ASUS ROG Gladius II Wireless


CM MasterMouse MM530