Released back in 2005, the Razer Boomslang was, at the time, a revelation for PC gamers—and its name made it a legend. (Back then, most mice were boring beige clickers, and not named after African tree snakes.) With an eye-popping 2,000-dot-per-inch (dpi) tracking resolution, on-the-fly sensitivity controls, mechanical ball tracking, and a very distinct silhouette, the Boomslang slithered to the forefront of turn-of-the-millennium gaming gear. (Another reason people remember it? It was almost as big as your foot.)
Now, 20-odd years later, Razer is celebrating the Boomslang’s legacy in high style, with a special 20th anniversary re-release. In the reboot, the Boomslang got a serious facelift, with buttons and grips done up in faux leather, as well as all of the latest features you’d find in Razer’s newest gaming mice.
The rebooted Razer Boomslang 20th Anniversary Edition also costs—wait for it!—$1,337.
Wait, What? Is That $1,337 Price for Real?
That “l33t” price is a hilarious high-five to the gaming, ahem, elite who bought into the original Boomslang hype. (In the “l33t”-speak of the era, “1337” was gamer or hacker shorthand for having serious skills.) The figure is cheeky in the same way that MSI’s ultra-high-end GeForce RTX 5950 Lightning-Z graphics card, at $5,950, is only semi-serious, given that regular RTX 5950 cards cost less than half that. I say “semi-serious” because, in both cases, yes, those are the actual prices.
(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)
We know Razer gear is typically premium-priced, but this is next-level: This is pricing for folks who want a piece of mouse history. With its limited stock and clearly comical price, the 20th anniversary re-release is a collector’s item first and foremost.
But that still didn’t stop us from spending some quality time with the ultimate in luxury mice. Here’s our “hands on” with one of the rare new Boomslangs. And don’t worry: We washed our hands each time before we touched our new kilobuck mouse. After all, like a supercar, every inch it moves outside the garage is depreciation.
The Boomslang Origin Story
If you’re old enough to remember the Razer Boomslang, you might know that the mouse is actually a little older than the “20th anniversary” marketing lets on.
The OG Boomslang was originally released in 1999, as the Kärna Razer Boomslang. (Kärna, the company, was a predecessor to Razer itself, and Razer was a sub-brand of it.) This was the world’s first true gaming mouse, and it was revolutionary for its time, thanks to its high-precision tracking. Now, 2,000dpi might seem no big deal today, but back then, your average mouse capped out at, oh, 400dpi, if you were lucky. We reviewed the Kärna version of the Boomslang back when it launched; our longtime contributor John Delaney gave Kärna’s mouse 4 out of 5 stars.
(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)
The thing is, Kärna declared bankruptcy the following year. The Boomslang, though, with its groundbreaking specs, special shape, and impossible-to-forget name, lived on in gaming culture. In 2005, Razer founders Min-Liang Tan and Robert Krakoff bought back the rights to the Boomslang brand for Razer, now its own firm. That’s when they re-released the Boomslang, renamed simply as the Razer Boomslang.
That mouse was a cult hit, and it laid the foundation for Razer’s 20-plus years of snake-themed peripherals. And that’s why the Razer Boomslang is celebrating its sort-of 20th anniversary and not its 25th. Given the chance, who doesn’t shave years off their age, anyway? (I’m still 27 if anyone asks. Okay, 33.)
Unpacking the Mouse: A Big Box of Boomslang
The first thing you’ll notice about the premium re-release? The Boomslang’s packaging has been totally redone. The original Boomslang was packaged in a tin can with foam inside to protect the mouse; nice enough. But this time, Razer went way upscale. You get a round, hatbox-style container done up in black “vegan” imitation leather. Inside, you’ll find the mouse, as well as a coiled USB-A-to-C cord.
(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)
Underneath is a see-through green module, which Razer calls the Mouse Dock Pro. It’s for wireless charging of the device. You park the Boomslang’s body on it at an angle to juice it up when not in use. The cord connects the Mouse Dock Pro to a USB port; the Boomslang mouse itself is now, actually, wireless. (The original was corded.)
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(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)
(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)
Wireless charging isn’t the only update the collector’s edition Boomslang enjoys. The old-school, fuzz-gathering mechanical ball tracking is gone, replaced by Razer’s Focus Pro 45K Optical Sensor Gen-2, the same sensor found in the outstanding Razer DeathAdder V4 Pro. Other modern upgrades include a wireless polling rate of 8,000Hz, Razer’s fourth-generation optical button switches, and RGB lighting, running under the well-known Razer Chroma light-control scheme. All of this makes the Boomslang a formidable esports mouse.
Design: Simu-Leather, Not Snakeskin?
As noted earlier, both the left- and right-clickers now come wrapped in imitation leather. So does the grip that wraps around the mouse. It’s a nice touch that certainly adds to the luxurious look and feel of the mouse. But as another famous Snake so bluntly explained, this type of aesthetic change “gives you no tactical advantage whatsoever…unless you were planning to auction it off as a collector’s item.”
(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)
The one thing that hasn’t changed is the Boomslang’s unique snake-head silhouette. The front of the mouse arches down and spreads wide, suggesting the noggin of the snake it’s named after. It’s an interesting form factor, though the slope at the front of the mouse is so low that it feels as if my fingers can slide right off of it.
(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)
Razer was determined to recreate the mouse much as it looked and felt in 2005, so it’s not surprising that it missed out on two decades of ergonomic advances in the gaming mouse market.
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(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)
Still, I especially like the transparent green body, which gives the mouse a late 1990s/early 2000s aesthetic—you know, back when “extreme” was spelled without the “e.” It’s far greener this time around; the original Boomslang had closer to a yellowish-green hue.
Blowing Up Your Boomslang: The Collector’s Frame
Is $1,337 faintly ridiculous for a mostly plastic mouse, whatever the sensors and little details on the outside? Of course. You do get a big collectible bonus here, though: an exploded, framed Boomslang mouse to hang in your gaming cave. In a sense, for the big bucks, you get a whole second Boomslang.
(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)
Packed separately from the mouse and its round container, in a big, padded black box, the shadowbox-style commemorative frame measures just about 14 by 20 inches. Mounted inside the frame is a Boomslang broken down into its component parts, showcasing the various layers and mechanisms within the mouse.
The frame itself is high-quality, with a matte-black finish and a mirror layer inside spanning the bottom. Up top is an LED light bar that emits that distinct Razer green glow. (A USB-C connector hidden down near one corner of the frame can take a charging cable for the light, and the on/off button is next to it.) What’s clear: Here’s where the lion’s share of the mouse’s cost went.
Razer says that only 1,337 of these frames were made, each numbered. If you’re one of the “l33t” who grabbed one, consider yourself lucky. (Our sample was not numbered “X of 1,337” but did have a serial number on the back, so know that there are apparently some non-numbered ones out there in the world, too.)
A Retro Treasure…But That Price!
At the end of the day, it’s hard to get mad at Razer’s $1,337 price—because you probably won’t be buying one of these, anyway. With only 1,337 units made and no plans to sell the mouse separately from the special frame, this isn’t just a gaming peripheral; it’s a trophy. And it’s already sold out on Razer’s site.
(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)
For collectors, nostalgia hunters, or anyone who ever dreamed of owning a piece of PC gaming history, the Boomslang 20th Anniversary Edition is as close as you’ll get to holding a modern legend in your hands, so pony up if you’re in that “l33t” club. Just be prepared to leave your Lamborghini mouse in the box, if you want to keep it collectible, and to roust up one of the ball-mouse originals off eBay. We dare you to buy one and use it!
About Our Expert
Zackery Cuevas
Writer, Hardware
Experience
I’m a PCMag reviewer and ISF-certified TV calibrator focused on computer accessories, laptops, gaming monitors, and video games. I’ve been writing, playing, and complaining about games for as long as I remember, but it wasn’t until recently that I’ve been able to shout my opinions directly at a larger audience. My work has appeared on iMore, Windows Central, Android Central, and TWICE, and I have a diverse portfolio of editing work under my belt from my time spent at Scholastic and Oxford University Press. I also have a few book-author credits under my belt—I’ve contributed to the sci-fi anthology Under New Suns, and I’ve even written a Peppa Pig book.
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