Razer Wolverine V3 Pro Review – Looks The Opposite of How it Performs

Unboxing the Razer Wolverine V3 Pro

Kicking off the the Razer Wolverine V3 Pro review with the unboxing, the packaging comes in the signature black and green colorway, though in this case, I’m not sure if we’re following Razer’s signature colors or the Xbox one. You can find some of the controller’s features and details listed around the box. Inside, we found the following items:

• Protective carrying case
• 1 meter USB-C to USB-A cable
• USB dongle
• Shorter Cap analog stick
• Taller CAP analog stick
• Documentations
• The Razer Wolverine V3 Pro itself

Specifications

CONNECTIVITY	HyperSpeed Wireless via included dongle Wired Connection 3 m / 10 ft USB C to USB A
SYSTEM REQUIREMENT	Xbox or PC (Windows® 11 64-bit or higher)Internet connection for Razer Controller app
RGB	Yes, Razer Chroma RGB
MECHANICAL ACTION BUTTONS	Razer Mecha Tactile Action Buttons
MULTI-FUNCTION BUTTONS	4 Mouse Click Back Paddles 2 Claw Grip Bumpers
QUICK CONTROL PANEL	None
INTERCHANGEABLE DPAD	None
INTERCHANGEABLE THUMBSTICKS	Anti-drift Hall Effect analog thumbsticks
TRIGGER STOPS	2 Hall Effect Analog triggers with Mouse Click trigger stops
MICROPHONE INPUT	Yes
AUDIO OUTPUT	Yes
BATTERY LIFE	About 20 hours
CONFIGURATION APP	Yes
ARTWORK CUSTOMIZATION	None
CARRY CASE	Carrying case for controller and accessories
DIMENSIONS (APPROXIMATE)	Length: 156.7 mm / 6.16 in Width: 105.7 mm / 4.16 in Height: 65 mm / 2.55 in
APPROXIMATE WEIGHT	304 g / 0.67 lb

The Good

There are a number of good reasons to consider getting the Razer Wolverine V3 Pro. For starters, it uses Hall Effect sticks, which will eliminate stick drift issues and effectively allow it to last longer. In case you weren’t aware, stick drift is an issue that plagued a lot of controller’s analog sticks, most notable Nintendo’s Joy-Cons, and Hall Effect sticks are seen as the solution for it.

Furthermore, you can change the analog sticks’ head by just pulling it out and swapping it for another. To be precise, Razer has included two different sticks of varying sizes; a tall one and a short one. This allows any gamer to tailor the experience accordingly with the games that they’re playing. For example, typical adventure / open world games would benefit from using a shorter stick as it will be easier to move around but for fighting games where precision is key, the longer stick would be ideal.

Despite it having a small interchangeable nature to its design, there is no doubt in my mind that the Razer Wolverine V3 Pro is built well. It feels premium with some added touches of convenience such as patterns on the handles for better grip, a bunch of extra buttons, and a slide locking mechanism for the triggers if you want to go for either short or long pulls on the triggers.

Next up, the Razer Wolverine V3 Pro is designed for Xbox, so you can use it with the Xbox Series X / S consoles with full functionality and in wireless fashion. Basically, you can treat it just like you would any other official Xbox controller, which is great. That doesn’t mean it’s a slouch for PC gaming however as it works just as well on it.

In fact, Razer managed to cram in the best of what you’d find in their competitive gaming mouse into this controller. The triggers, extra bumper buttons, and even the rear paddles use Razer’s mouse switches, and it even sounds the same too when you press it down. It’s not just a matter of having a satisfying click as the switches are designed for super fast actuation and response times. Further boosting its performance is the 1,000Hz polling rate on PC, which means it responds 1,000 times per second, or once every 1ms.

Lastly, I love the fact that the Razer Wolverine V3 Pro comes with a high quality protective carrying case to go along with it. It has storage compartments dedicated to holding the extra analog sticks, the USB dongle, a USB-C cable, and the controller itself, all while ensuring everything is well protected in a hard-shell case.

The Bad

Of course, the Razer Wolverine V3 Pro has its share of drawbacks. For starters, the battery life isn’t bad but I did expect it to last longer. It typically lasts for about 20 hours per full charge, though I do find myself getting 18 hours at worst. Sure, the DualSense controller and the official Xbox Series X controller can only about 10 to 14 hours, I expected this one to be more in line with Razer’s wireless gaming mouse lineup, maybe around 40 hours at least.

Next up, I find the appearance to be on the blander side. It’s practically an all-black controller with only the Xbox and Razer logos providing some sense of contrast. The only RGB you get here is on the Razer logo. It would have been nice if they added colors to the letters on the buttons and RGB lighting to the outline separating the button layout and the handles, similar to the Razer Kishi Ultra. As it stands, this looks more like it would pass more as a cheaper Hyperspeed model as opposed to being a Pro model.

While you can use the Razer Wolverine V3 Pro wirelessly on Xbox, you will need to sacrifice a USB port as you need to use the dongle on it. This can also be slightly annoying in case you want to move from playing on Xbox to playing on PC as you will need to unplug the dongle and replug it into the other. If you prefer a more seamless switching solution, this is not it.

It’s also worth noting that you can’t customize the Razer Wolverine V3 Pro via Razer Synapse. It simply won’t show up on the software. To my understanding, you need to use the Razer Controller app for that, which I don’t understand why. If there’s a need for software, wouldn’t it be better to have an all-encompassing solution? It doesn’t help that you can’t change profiles on the fly either as there’s no button dedicated for it even if you’ve already set it up beforehand. If you simply want a plug and play experience, then the software can be skipped.

Lastly, the Razer Wolverine V3 Pro is a pricey controller. It’s retailing for a whopping RM1,079, which is not an easy pill to swallow. For that price, you can buy multiple official Xbox controllers and even other 3rd party wireless controllers that also come with Hall Effect sticks. Granted, they won’t be built as good or functions as well as this controller, but it’s a tough pill to swallow nonetheless. If you’re primarily a controller player that’s on either PC or Xbox (ideally both) and are looking to maximize performance, then it might be a worthwhile investment.

Razer Wolverine V3 Pro Verdict

The Razer Wolverine V3 Pro is as premium as it gets for a controller. While many people would enjoy using this, it’s not something intended for a wide group of gamers. If you’re an avid controller user who primarily games on the latest Xbox console or on PC, then this might be worth it but only if you’re able to stomach its high asking price.

At the end of our Razer Wolverine V3 Pro review, I award this wireless gaming controller with our Silver Pokdeward.

Big thanks to Razer Asia Pacific for sending us this controller for the purpose of this review.