Tom's Guide creates the best wireless gaming mouse, keyboard, and mousepad setup, comparing the Razer “trifecta” priced around $500 and Redragon $100.
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00:00What do you think is the bare minimum you need to spend
00:02to get a functional and sleek-looking
00:04wireless gaming keyboard and mouse setup that doesn't suck?
00:07Well, I've challenged myself to create
00:09the best budget gaming combo that I could
00:12for under $100, and that includes mouse, keyboard,
00:15and mouse pad, to see how close it comes
00:17to my current favorite setup, which costs over $500
00:21from one of the biggest names in gaming.
00:26Starting off with my everyday premium setup,
00:29I've got what I consider to be the trifecta from Razer.
00:32The Deathstalker V2 Pro keyboard is $250,
00:36the Bascalus V3 Pro is over $150,
00:39and the Strider Chroma is a whopping $130,
00:44for a grand total of about $530.
00:48And let's be honest, the Razer tax is definitely real,
00:51but what sets this setup apart
00:53from basically everything else that I've ever tested
00:56is how well everything syncs together.
00:58And not just in terms of lighting,
01:00but also with its reactive effects
01:02with the games I play most, like Overwatch 2.
01:05The integrations and its vast support
01:07for third-party hardware, like these Yeelight Cubes 2,
01:10quite literally take the experience to a whole other level.
01:13At first, I wasn't even sure I could make $100 work
01:16to get everything I needed, let alone recreate
01:19all the things I love about my Razer setup.
01:22In fact, I hadn't even heard of Red Dragon
01:24when I first began this challenge about a month ago,
01:26but they consistently came up as a top-rated brand
01:29with thousands of five-plus-star reviews
01:32on most of their products.
01:33After some research, I decided on the Red Dragon K530W RGB Pro,
01:39the Red Dragon M810W RGB Pro,
01:43and what I can only call a generic, large
01:46RGB gaming mouse pad, which is $10.
01:51Setting the benchmark for what I wanted,
01:53the V3 Pro is the most ergonomic mouse I've ever tested.
01:57Although the M810 looks nearly identical,
01:58it feels slightly smaller overall,
02:01especially towards its back, where nearly my entire palm
02:04sits on the Razer, but drags more on the mouse pad
02:08when I'm using the Red Dragon M810.
02:10In terms of performance, though, when I'm in a game
02:12and I have both set to the same DPI,
02:14which is usually between four and 6,000,
02:17I can't tell as much of a difference.
02:20Now, when picking them both up,
02:21I will say the M810 does feel slightly lighter.
02:24This may make it better suited if you lift your mouse up
02:27a lot for quick flicks.
02:29One thing to note, though, and this could just be
02:30because of my specific unit,
02:33I'm not sure how well you can see this on camera,
02:35but this part of the underside pad is starting to peel up.
02:39I've only been using it for about a month now,
02:41and that's rather quick.
02:42So, it does tend to drag against the mouse pad,
02:45which isn't great, though the rest of these
02:47do seem okay for now.
02:49Again, maybe this was down to bad luck,
02:51but given the less than perfectly smooth
02:54and uniform look of those other pads,
02:56I think this is a quick giveaway that Red Dragon
02:59has made some cost-saving sacrifices.
03:01The Razer still has a much nicer
03:03and more substantial feel in the hand.
03:06The Basilisk uses textured plastic on its top
03:08and a rubberized size, which feel much more premium
03:11compared to the Dragon's smooth, hard plastic body.
03:15And even with that geometric pattern on its sides,
03:18the Dragon doesn't offer that same locked-in grip
03:21that you get with the Razer.
03:23And when I'm lifting the Dragon up
03:24or I'm flicking quickly,
03:25it's much easier for me to lose hold underneath,
03:28especially by my ring finger.
03:30I've also become a big fan of Razer's quick switch button
03:33for enabling free spin or tactile scrolling.
03:36And it's one of those things
03:38that I haven't fully appreciated
03:39until I moved to a mouse that doesn't have it.
03:41Surprisingly, though, in quite a few ways,
03:43the M810's lighting is actually a little bit better
03:46than the Razer's.
03:47For starters, its scroll wheel is semi-transparent,
03:50giving off a more pronounced effect
03:52compared to the Basilisk,
03:54which can more easily be blocked
03:56by your index finger when using it.
03:58Similarly, the main lights of the Red Dragon
04:00are on its top sides rather than underneath,
04:03as with the Razer.
04:04While this won't give you that nice underglow
04:06against your mouse pad,
04:08when you're actually using the mouse,
04:09it's far easier to see.
04:11That said, and I'll get into this,
04:13brightness and visibility are only one half of the story.
04:16Moving on to the keyboards, for obvious reasons,
04:19it's a little bit more difficult
04:20to give these two a more direct comparison.
04:23Both are fully hot-swappable.
04:25The Deathstalker uses low-profile optical switches,
04:28whereas the K530 uses traditional keycaps.
04:31With the Red Dragon, you can choose between brown, red,
04:34or blue switches, depending on your style.
04:36And it also supports three and five pins.
04:39Basically everything else at this price point
04:40only supports three pin, so that's nice to see.
04:43The K530 obviously is a 60% keyboard,
04:46meaning it doesn't have a function row or a numpad,
04:50while the Deathstalker V2 Pro, of course,
04:52is a full-size keyboard.
04:54Yes, this does come with its share of limitations,
04:56but for lack of a better word,
04:58this smaller size has grown on me.
05:01I rarely use that other 40% on my Razer keyboard,
05:04so for the most part,
05:05I didn't really feel like I was missing out on much.
05:08The dedicated function row was less important,
05:11The dedicated function row was less important to me,
05:14but it wasn't until I used the K530 for typing,
05:17especially with a script,
05:19that I quickly realized how important
05:21the use of the arrow keys were to make edits.
05:24And while this wasn't an issue for gaming,
05:25this does rule the Dragon out
05:27from becoming my main daily keyboard.
05:30But on the flip side, this is actually a great size
05:32and compact enough to just easily take on the go.
05:37Razer also sells the smaller BlackWidow V3 Mini 65%,
05:41which looks to be about the perfect size for me
05:44without much compromise.
05:46But as you can imagine,
05:46I'm just waiting for them to release
05:48a white version like this,
05:50so fingers crossed we see one soon.
05:52In addition to its 2.4 gigahertz,
05:54the Red Dragon also supports
05:56two different connections via Bluetooth,
05:58which happens to be one shy short of the Deathstalker,
06:01which supports three with quick access using these buttons.
06:04That's actually pretty important for me
06:06as someone who uses a lot of devices with just one keyboard.
06:09Both keyboards support direct connections via USB-C,
06:12which also recharges their batteries.
06:15And then just as with the M810,
06:17the RGB effects found here are also really impressive.
06:20In fact, and maybe it's because of the larger letter cutouts
06:23that we find on the K530,
06:25but side by side with the Razer,
06:26it actually looks a little bit brighter.
06:29The thing I quickly realized though
06:30is Red Dragon uses two separate apps
06:32for customizing their mice and keyboard.
06:35Despite being the same brand,
06:37there doesn't currently appear to be a way
06:39to synchronize their lighting effects.
06:41And while Razer's chroma lighting integrations
06:43aren't as impressive if you only buy one of their products,
06:46as soon as you pair one of their mice and keyboards together,
06:49it's a completely different story.
06:53Search RGB mouse pad and you'll quickly realize
06:55that except for Razer and Cooler Master,
06:58basically everything else is the same generic model,
07:01and that includes this one that I bought.
07:03Now, funny enough, it's this mouse pad
07:05that sparked my interest in making this entire video.
07:09I originally bought this about six months ago on a whim
07:11when I saw it for just $10.
07:14And that got me thinking,
07:15if this mouse pad could be so good yet so cheap,
07:17what other affordable gaming hardware was I missing out on?
07:21Although it's about a third smaller than the Strider,
07:24it gives you about 90% of the experience.
07:27The RGB lighting is just about as bright and smooth,
07:31although it only has its built-in lighting effects,
07:33including breathing, flashing, and individual colors,
07:37I think it still looks great
07:38and can easily pass for a much more expensive mouse pad,
07:41given how impressive its effects are.
07:44That said, if you're thinking of,
07:45or you're already invested in Team Green,
07:48the Razer Strider mouse pad is the icing on the cake.
07:51This is easily one of the most expensive
07:53and premium mouse pads that you can buy.
07:55Unlike your choice in mouse or keyboard,
07:58a mouse pad arguably has the smallest impact
08:01on your gaming experience.
08:02So you might think, why bother spending so much on one?
08:05Just as with pairing the mouse and keyboard,
08:07the Strider is what brings the Razer experience together,
08:10so when the three are in sync together, it's pretty awesome.
08:14But credit where it's due,
08:15even when the budget option is set to its breathing mode,
08:17it still complements any setup,
08:19including the Razer, very well.
08:21And considering how most dumb mouse pads cost as much,
08:25if not way more, it's pretty hard to pass up on this.
08:28To that end though, the last point I really wanna drive home
08:30and arguably the biggest thing
08:32that sets Razer apart from everything else
08:34and makes it personally my favorite, is its ecosystem.
08:37Yes, their hardware is great, as we've covered,
08:40but their software is even better.
08:42Razer Synapse offers simple,
08:43yet highly customizable adjustments,
08:45not just for its own products,
08:47but also for the growing number
08:48of supported integrations with games
08:51and other hardware, including my Yeelights.
08:54And unsurprisingly, Razer's Razer Synapse
08:57and unsurprisingly, being much smaller,
08:59Red Dragon doesn't support this.
09:01That said, I was half hoping that choosing Red Dragon
09:04for both the mouse and keyboard
09:06would offer some level of synchronized lighting effects
09:08between the two.
09:10And again, given how bright, smooth,
09:12and otherwise impressive its lighting effects are,
09:15I think this is really a missed opportunity.
09:18So, what's the deal?
09:20While the budget setup impresses
09:21with its core performance and affordability,
09:24Razer's products just feel better in hand
09:26and they knock it out of the park
09:28with their mature and powerful ecosystem experience.
09:31Don't get me wrong,
09:32you're getting some excellent hardware for $100,
09:34which will be miles ahead
09:35of any traditional mouse and keyboard,
09:37but Team Green offers the complete experience
09:40that continues to only get better
09:42as they expand their support for more devices and games.
09:45But which setup would you go for?
09:47Let me know in the comments
09:48and suggest other head-to-head showdowns
09:50that you'd like to see in the future.
09:51For more tech news and reviews,
09:53follow us at Tom's Guide.
09:55You can also follow me for a more behind-the-scenes look
09:57into how I make these videos
09:58and other tech that I'm reviewing currently.
10:01And until the next one, I'll catch you later.