Patriot Viper V551 is an inexpensive gaming mouse with a design that is as close to symmetrical as possible. In addition, it has zonal RGB backlighting, a Pixart PixArt PAW3327DB-TWQU optical sensor, 8 buttons, and an Omron switch. All this and more will be discussed further in the review.
Package
The first thing I liked was the manufacturer’s very non-standard approach to the organization of the packaging itself, which comes with the product. There is the main box, in which the cable and the quick start guide are hidden.
Then there is an additional box with the mouse itself inside. And all of these are complemented by a brightly colored case with a lot of different information about the product’s capabilities and features. There are also an illustration of the model and many other interesting things.
Usually, the box of a product is something that is sent to the recycling immediately (or almost immediately) after unpacking. However, even if the V551’s packaging suffers a similar fate, I still recommend taking some time to study the array on the walls, as this is the easiest way to find out what exactly the manipulator can do. This is what we will do next.
Information from the box walls
Along with the interesting organizing the packaging, the manufacturer has thoughtfully placed data on the walls. Since the box is almost completely covered by a bright case, the information on its walls is only on the uncovered areas – part of the bottom and one of the side ones: the manufacturer’s pages in various social networks plus the address of the official website, as well as a lot of technical information and a note on the warranty period, by the way, 2 years.
The front of the case has a vivid illustration of the product when connected to a PC. By the way, I can’t help but note that the picture on the front is very detailed, and therefore the user can study the ergonomics well without even taking the device out of the box. The type of backlighting, model name, VIPER logo and some other noteworthy “things” are indicated here as well.
Another interesting picture of V551 is placed on the side walls.
Well, there is a product passport in several languages on the back.
The package contents
Above we have familiarized ourselves with the box itself and with various data from its walls. It is time to unpack it. So, what’s inside:
- Patriot Viper V551 wired mouse;
- a quick start user guide.
Patriot Viper V551 specifications
- The sensor type is optical;
- Pixart PixArt PAW3327DB-TWQU sensor model;
- Number of buttons – 8 buttons;
- Resolution, cpi 50 – 12,000;
- Acceleration, g – 30;
- Height of detachment from the surface (LOD), mm – 3;
- Maximum speed, m/s – 5.59;
- USB port sampling rate – 125/142/166/200/250/333/500/1000 Hz;
- Frame rate fps – variable;
- Cord length, m 1.8;
- Backlight – RGB, 16.8 million colors;
- Dimensions – 130x70x42 mm;
- Weight – 108 g.
Materials
So, the key material of the Patriot Viper V551 case is plastic. Actually, for this reason the weight of the manipulator is comfortable, even for the hands of representatives of the weak half of humanity – as my wife’s gaming practice proved – Viper V551 can be held for several hours in a row – no discomfort.
In addition to plastic, there are some rubber and Teflon inserts on board. The latter are in the form of legs at the bottom, while rubber is used as a wheel rim for improved grip. In addition, there is a rubber lining on the side panel on the left. The latter solution, in my opinion, is made for the same purpose.
As for the metal, there is none on the outer part of the mouse body.
For obvious reasons, I did not look inside, because the cases of such products as computer mice in the vast majority are not collapsible for users. In short, the only metal element is the edging of the USB interface. It’s worth adding the gilding on the top – it’s done to improve the signal, because say what you will, but there is no such thing as too much perfection in games.
Impressions of the build quality
The fit of the parts is high-quality and reliable, which I personally verified by trying to squeeze the manipulator as soon as I took it out of the box – no crunching or creaking of plastic or the appearance of noticeable seams at the joints of the elements. In short, it’s interesting.
We’ll look at ergonomics in detail below, but here are just a few words. The first thing I liked is the very successful format of the case – the hand fits easily, all the fingers are in their places, no mistakes in the presses from the very beginning. The second thing is the almost symmetrical design, which means that left-handed people can also try Viper V551 in action.
Yes, it is worth noting right away that the latter will have to get used to it for some time, in particular to the buttons on the side panel on the left, but you will be able to master them – it is proved by the capabilities of our colleague, whose results of playing “counter” eventually exceeded even mine. Talent is talent and nothing else.
Cable
I have already mentioned the cable length above in the corresponding paragraph of the specifications. What can I add? First, the cable has a high-quality nylon braid. Secondly, the memory effect is average, which means that the cable will quickly take the shape in which you laid it out when you connected it.
The third thing is the aforementioned gilding on the USB interface and a ferrite filter. The latter is necessary to protect against interference. And one more small, though no less important addition is the fuses against bending/fracture of the cable at the point of connection to the mouse on the USB interface. They are here too and are organized very well.
Ergonomics
Believe it or not, Patriot Viper V551 is one of the most successful gaming mice in terms of ergonomics. It has a good “fit” of the buttons, an optimal number of them, excellent scrolling and many other interesting things that are worthy of attention. But okay, let’s talk about everything one by one.
So, there are four buttons on the top, two of which are located right behind the wheel, and two are classic left/right buttons. A little to the side of the last of the mentioned elements is an additional programmable button – we’ll get to it later.
Finally, on the side panel on the left the manufacturer has placed the previously mentioned “forward”/”back” buttons, which, what is pleasant, can also be reprogrammed.
There are two wonderful “things” around the perimeter of the bottom panel – a very stylish pattern in the form of scales (by the way, I see it for the first time), and also surprisingly well-fitted Teflon legs around the perimeter. In addition to the above, there’s a small sticker with a few ribbons of technical data and an optical sensor output in the center.
Design
Patriot Viper V551 is, first of all, an almost symmetrical design, and therefore, as I said above, not only right-handed users can try this manipulator “in battle”, but also left-handed ones, though the latter will need a little more time to adapt. But that’s just a nuance.
Another plus is the elegance of the build. Personally, I got the impression that the manufacturer took special care of every detail, even the smallest one, solely for the sake of creating the most convenient and elegant model. Was the idea successful? In my opinion, more than a little.
RGB Backlight
Patriot Viper V551 has a surprisingly good zonal backlight, the colors of which can be changed in the corresponding proprietary application – more on that later.
As for the zones, we’re talking about the scroll wheel, a strip of diodes on the side and back, the logo on the stern, and so on. For details, see the illustrations in the review section.
PixArt PAW3327DB-TWQU sensor is the “heart” (if you can call it that) of the system. The scroll wheel encoder is made by TTC. The additional left button is controlled by a clockwise square switch. The resource of Omron mechanisms is 10 million keystrokes. The rest of the technical features of the manipulator can be found in the specifications above.
Software and its features
The first thing worth noting here is that the software for the Patriot Viper V551 is downloaded from the manufacturer’s website – a CD is not included.
During the installation the driver will be registered in the startup, and therefore it will be active all the time.
The first section offers the user the opportunity to reassign commands for all buttons and two scroll directions. The exception is the “M” button, which switches profiles. Each button can receive up to 12 options for actions and commands, macro commands, or record sequential key cycles.
In the sensor settings, the user can set the value in the range of 50-12,000 dpi for each of the four resolution levels.
The functionality of the macro editor also seemed interesting to me personally – it is at the same time very well thought out, but at the same time, there is absolutely no confusion of functionality and nothing frankly superfluous at all.
The “Settings” section will be interesting for the ability to enable anti-aliasing and activate the OCD display.
As for controlling the backlight settings, this option is assigned to the corresponding icon in the form of a ball. You can individually adjust the color for eight diodes and the scroll wheel. As for me, everything is organized quite conveniently.
User experience and some conclusions
Patriot Viper V551 has proven to be excellent in absolutely all the game genres in which I tested the model. Taking into account the carefully thought-out ergonomics and the mouse format, this is one of the best options for its price division that is worth recommending. In addition, the model has really interesting software and a good RGB backlight with the ability to fine-tune colors.
Patriot Viper V551 costs 1200 UAH ($33).
