The 17 Best Gaming Mouse Right Now in 2023

Best Gaming Mouse 2023

Gaming mice just keep getting better and better, so it’s no surprise that the best pc gaming mouse keeps changing.

While the technology, features and materials change, the fundamentals of a mouse never do, the best gaming mice are going to feel the easiest to use for the most people, it must provide the best performance in terms of responsiveness and agility and it must be reliable.

No one mouse is good for everyone, mouse preference is a personal thing and everyone has different needs. But, if you’re starting from zero preference, what’s the best gaming mouse?

The Razer Viper V2 Pro has the best overall tech of all gaming mice, a great overall shape and will deliver a good gaming experience for a lot of gamers.

Best Tech
Razer Viper V2 Pro

The Viper V2 has the best tech of any gaming mouse with a great overall shape. The Viper V2 Pro is capable of a 4000 Hz polling and bests the G Pro X Superlight in technology.

The Safest Overall Shape
Logitech G PRO X SUPERLIGHT

Great tech in the mouse with a super safe shape loved by many. The G Pro X Superlight is the best overall gaming mouse for most people.

The best ergo mouse
Razer DeathAdder V3 Pro

The absolute classic has absolute bleeding edge internals now. A comfortable ergo shape, with fantastic buttons and amazing wireless.


1. Razer Viper V2 Pro

The best tech, a great shape

viper-v2-top-profile

Pros

  • Capable of 4000Hz Polling Rate
  • Optical clicks
  • Low click latency

Cons

  • Not too great for palm grip
  • No storage for dongle

The Viper V2 Pro shaves some weight, side buttons, and improves button quality drastically on the Razer Viper Ultimate.

The net result is a mouse that has fewer extras and niceties like the dock, but the core mouse experience is simply better. 

The decision between the Viper V2 Pro the Logitech G Pro X Superlight is one of shape.

The Viper is a flatter mouse and excels more with claw grip, the Superlight is going to be better for any palm action.

Read our full Razer Viper V2 review

2. Logitech G Pro X Superlight Wireless

A very close second

The Safest Overall Shape
Logitech G PRO X SUPERLIGHT

Pros

  • Improved primary buttons
  • Just 62 grams
  • 70 hour battery life
  • Safe size and shape works well with a lot of gamers

Cons

  • Still micro-USB
  • Side buttons are mushy

The Logitech G Pro X Superlight Wireless has some of the best specs and one of the safest shapes that can accommodate most people, it is the safest recommendation to any gamer who doesn’t know what they like yet or don’t have a strong grip preference.

The Superlight has shored up some of the weaknesses from the G Pro Wireless, making the mouse even lighter, with even better battery life.

It still has that darn micro-USB charging cable though and there are reports of double clicking still occurring with this mouse, holding it back from the top spot.

Read our full Logitech G Pro X Superlight review

3. Razer DeathAdder V3 Pro

The best ergo gaming mouse

Razer DeathAdder V3 Pro - Front
The best ergo mouse
Razer DeathAdder V3 Pro

Pros

  • Light and crispy buttons
  • Flawless sensor with good latency
  • Excellent build quality
  • Comfortable shape for ergo enjoyers

Cons

  • Made for larger hands so not for everyone
  • No charging dock support

RIP to the front flares on the DeathAdder, Razer has brought its classic gaming mouse to 2022, and boy does it have a ton of fans.

DeathAdder fans will be ecstatic to see that the shape is familiar and comfortable, while every other aspect of the mouse has been improved drastically.

Battery life is great, build quality is solid and super light for its size, and the buttons are tactile and crispy. 

Razer firmly has the best ergo shaped mouse in the market right now.

Read our review of the Razer DeathAdder V3 Pro

4. Razer Basilisk V3 Pro

The G502 Killer

The Razer Basilisk V3 Pro is Razer’s answer to the insanely popular G502 mouse shape with the large thumb rest.

The Basilisk V3 Pro is perfect for gamers that don’t care too much about weight and need a ton of mappable buttons. The Basilisk V3 Pro also features a free scroll wheel, allowing for fast scrolling when needed.

The Basilisk edges out the G502 because it packs better tech, more durable optical switches, wireless charging, and a ton of RGB while keeping the same G502 shape with 11 buttons of customizability.

If you don’t need the wireless, the Basilisk V3 at $70 USD is a great wired version of this mouse.

5. Ninjutso Sora

The Ninjutso Sora is a great mouse with top notch specs that fall just below Razer and Logitech in terms of pure performance.

The Ninjutso Sora is features a shape that’s growing in popularity, it’s a more angled Superlight with a hump that sits further in the back of your hand. It’s a great shape for claw grip while still being quite comfortable for palm and fingertip grip.

I prefer the Sora shape more than the Atlantis and I feel this is a better size for most gamers, but if you have larger hands, check out the Atlantis.

The Sora has the same PAW 3395 sensor, Huano Blue Shell Pink Dot switches, and weighs in at a ridiculously lightweight 47 grams. It’s an absolute beastly FPS mouse.

6. Lamzu Atlantis & Atlantis Mini

A great shape with good QC

Lamzu Atlantis - Front
Awesome newcomer
Lamzu Atlantis
  • Lightweight at 55g
  • Pixart 3395 sensor
  • Smooth PTFE mouse feet
  • Excellent left and right clicks (Huano 80m - blue shell pink dot)
  • Priced at $90
  • USB-C charging and connection
  • Gives extra pair of mouse skates and side grips
  • Lots of post travel on side buttons
  • Slight flex on side shell

This mouse features an increasingly popular shape with the hump moved further back and an aggressive slope towards the primary buttons, it’s a great shape for claw grips but is safe enough for fingertip and palm grip. The regular Atlantis would classify as a medium to large mouse, so go for the mini if you’re medium sized or smaller.

The Atlantis has a top end sensor in the Pixart 3395, good Huano switches, it weighs in at 55 grams for the regular size with good wireless latency.

The Atlantis beats out other mice of this shape and style simply because of better overall quality control, and it’s cool colourways.

7. Pulsar X2 & X2 Mini

Midrange G Pro

Pulsar X2 - Left Side
Superlight alternative

Fans of the G Pro Wireless and Superlight have a great budget mouse alternative in the Pulsar X2 and X2 Mini. In fact, the X2 might outperform the Superlight in several categories, it’s lighter, has as good or better shape for claw grip, and the mouse feet are excellent.

Where it falls short, the buttons are slightly better on the Superlight and the sensor and click latency fall behind whatever wizardry Logitech is doing there.

The software on the X2 is buggy at best and the battery life and quality control is lacking. There have been several reports of weird battery life issues with this mouse, hopefully this gets resolved. At the price point of $100 compared to the Superlight, you’re paying the Logitech premium for reliability.

Read our full review

8. Pulsar XLite V2 & Mini

A great ergo option

The Pulsar Xlite V2 is a great ergonomic mouse option for those that find the DeathAdder V3 Pro a little too large. The shape is very similar to the legendary Zowie EC2, but of course it has modern specs.

Even better, if you love ergo mice and have smaller hands, the Xlite V2 mini fills in that niche nicely.

The Xlite V2 has low-latency wireless with a PAW3370 sensor, weighing in at just 59 grams and Kailh switches, if you loved the EC2 and are looking for an upgrade, this is it.

9. Xtrfy MZ1

The MZ1 has a completely unique shape, with the mouse bump being right in the back of the mouse. The small shape and relatively low height of the mouse makes for a great fingertip experience while still being quite good for claw grip.

This mouse excels at high paced, flicky FPS games, so if Overwatch 2 and Apex are your type of games this is a mouse to consider.

The MZ1 is sporting top-end-ish specs with the 3370 Sensor and Kailh GM 8.0 switches weighing in at a total of 62 grams.

10. Endgame Gear XM2we

Endgame Gear was actually one of the first mouse brands to come out with this shape, the XM2we is their latest offering that features that rear-hump claw grip shape.

The XM2we size wise sits between the Lamzu Atlantis and the Puslar X2 Wireless. This mouse has the widest back hump of all mice, something that a lot of gamers are a fan of.

The XM2we is the budget friendly offering from Endgame Gear, coming in at $80 USD, it doesn’t have the screaming top end specs of the Atlantis and X2. 63 grams with a PAW3370 and Kailh buttons is great, but not as good as those other two mice.

11. Finalmouse Starlight-12 Medium & Small

TenZ - Bottom

Finalmouse’s best mouse for sure, the Starlight Medium and Small are FK shaped mice that are perfect for gamers that fine the Viper V2 Pro and Viper Mini slightly too large for their hands.

The Starlight-12 Medium weighs just 46 grams and is sporting a decent sensor with a strong magnesium shell.

The shape is great, but the mouse is let down with some suspect internals, get this mouse, if you can find it, if you love the FK shape, but need something a little smaller than what Razer is offering.

Read our full Finalmouse Starlight-12 review

12. Razer Viper Mini

A baby viper

Best super small ultralight

Razer Viper Mini

A fantastic truly small version of the great Viper

See Price

The Viper Mini is a continuation of Razer showing their dedication to listening to customers. The Viper and Viper Ultimate are by no means a small mouse, so anyone who’s looking for a smaller mouse didn’t really have a Razer option to go to, no longer.

The Viper Mini doesn’t really have any missteps, it takes the already proven formula of the Viper and Viper Ultimate is shrinks it down into a smaller package.

The Viper MIni is a great option for gamers looking for a smaller FK shape mouse on a budget.

Read our review

13. Razer Viper 8K

Razer Viper Mouse Review

The Viper 8K is the exact same shape as the Viper V2 Pro. The major difference is the wired Viper 8K is capable of 8000 Hz polling rate.

This super high polling rate translates into better responsive, by very small margins, but those margins might make you click a head faster than your opponent, that’s the reason to get this mouse.

14. Fantech Aria XD7

The Fantech Aria XD7 is the best G305 style mouse out now, since Logitech has not bothered to update this style of mouse.

The XD7 is slightly smaller than the G305, while being a lot lighter. The XD7 is 59 grams, the G305 is 99g, and the Razer Orochi V2 is 68g.

The XD7 features the top end Pixart 3395 sensor, with Kailh switches on the primary buttons. If you’re looking for an upgrade or replacement to the G305, this is the mouse.

15. Razer Orochi V2

A fantastically versatile small mouse

The Razer G305

Razer Orochi V2

This G305 competitor is a great travel gaming mouse

See Price

The Orochi V2 is Razer’s answer to the G305 and G Pro X Superlight’s dominance of the egg shaped mouse. The Orochi V2 is a great mouse with BlueTooth (not good for gaming) and 2.4 GhZ (great for gaming) wireless connectivity.

It helps that this mouse has great buttons, a long battery life on a single battery, as well as a great shape for a fraction of the Superlight’s price. 

It’s been beaten out by the XD7 due to weight, but the Orochi is still a fantastically versatile mouse.

Read our full review of the Razer Orochi V2

16. Logitech G502 X LIGHTSPEED

Logitech G502 Top compared, core vs hero
The wired versions are still quite good

The Logitech G502 X LIGHTSPEED is like coming home. The G502 still has many fans and for great reasons.

The X LIGHTSPEED is the latest iteration of the G502 line, with a modern sensor, hybrid button switches and a slightly lighter weight.

The Basilisk V3 Pro is still a little better, with more responsive and durable switches, but the G502 X LIGHTSPEED is still a great mouse, and it has one more button if that matters!

17. Xtrfy M42

A fantastic transforming wired mouse

Best super small ultralight

Xtrfy M42

Palm grip, claw and tip grip? No problem

See Price

Xtrfy have created something really special, the M42 is a rock solid ultralight mouse with some of the best buttons, top tier sensor and really nice colour options. The thing that puts M42 in a special place is the ability to swap out the top shell for a rounder or more flat shape. The M42 is a small mouse that will be well suited for finger tip and claw grip with some smaller hands for palm grip.

How we tested and picked

These recommendations have been built by playing and reviewing a ton of mice over the back half of 2018, I’ve been playing mainly Apex Legends, DOTA 2, Overwatch and Black Ops 4 to come up with these recommendations and to ensure that I don’t have any performance blind spots when it comes to gaming. MOBAs require a bit more emphasis on clicks, while twitch shooters like Overwatch require more speed.

On top of play testing, we do a couple of more scientific tests. We test for acceleration on the sensor, jitter at high DPI and spinning out on the sensor. We also test for input lag and do a shake and rattle test to shake out any obvious build quality flaws.

When playing we kept several aspects of the mouse in mind and took notes, our criteria for evaluating mice can be found on our what to look for in a gaming mouse post:

Based on those criteria (for more explanation on mouse tech see this amazing post), considering price, and after playing with all the mice we have, we picked the top 5 mice above for our Spring 2020 update.

One of the things we’re looking out for when picking top gaming mice is universality, the mouse has to be able to suit a large majority of gamers, the Zowie S2 for example is absolutely great, but it loses a couple of points for its glossy coating that might make it worse to use for clammier gamers, the G703 is a mouse that’s going to be too large for smaller hands, but its going to suit large handed gamers pretty perfectly in all ways.

We’ve picked from mice that are widely available, it doesn’t help anybody if we pick a mouse that no one can get. As new mice come out we’ll review them and consider them against our top ranking mice.

What to look for in a gaming mouse

If you’re not sure about which mouse to get and want to make sure you don’t miss anything when you look for a new mouse then you’re in the right place.

By the end of the this post you’ll able to properly evaluate gaming mice that fit best for the shape of your hand and the types of games you like.

If you have a specific mouse in mind or just want a pick, then take a look at our gaming mice category page where we list best picks and individual reviews.

Shape

A good mouse shape good is subjective, everyone has different sized hands and hold their mice different ways.

A good gaming mouse makes sure that their shape suits a wide range of sizes and grips for gaming.

To find some mice shapes that you might like, you need to identify a couple of things about the way you game:

Mouse Grip

The three most common mouse grip types are palm, claw and fingertip, figure out which type you prefer and go from there.

YouTube video

Second, make sure the size of your mouse fits your hand size, you want to be able to pick and move maneuver easily without straining your fingers is most ideal. In our reviews we categorize mouse for small, medium and large hands.

Gaming mice come in a variety of shapes
Gaming mice come in a variety of shapes

As a rough guide, you want the size of your mouse to be between 60-70% of the length and width of your hand. So measure your hand from the base to the tip of your middle finger and across with fingers tight together.

My hands measure 18cm length and 9.5cm width, which places me in the medium to large range for mice.

Measuring hand width
Measuring hand width
Measuring hand length
Measuring hand length

Generally, width is more important than length… 😉  So pay closer attention to the width fitting your hand size than how long the mouse is.

Palm grips will require a more specific fit length wise.

Fingertip and claw grips have a larger range of fit.

Using measurements and reading reviews will get you a fairly good fit, but nothing replaces getting your hands on a mouse and playtesting. Take a look at our comprehensive gaming mouse size chart and table.

Mice come in two large categories, ergonomic and ambidextrous shapes.

Ergonomic shapes try to fit the right hand and have thumb grooves to help pick ups, while ambidextrous mice are symmetrical and balanced and can suit either hand. Neither is superior, both are good at gaming, some prefer the comfort of ergo mice and some prefer the balance an ambidextrous mouse provides.

Ambidextrous mice vs ergonomic mice
Ambidextrous mice vs ergonomic mice

You should look for a mouse with a safe shape, with subtle curves for comfort. Not overly grooved so that the mouse forces you to hold it in a certain way for you to comfortably use it.

Don't get a mouse with overly pronounced shapes
Don’t get a mouse with overly pronounced shapes and grooves

If you need to start somewhere, I’d recommend getting some universally loved shapes and going from there, the Logitech G703, Razer DeathAdder for ergonomic shapes and the Logitech G Pro and Zowie FK1/2 for ambidextrous shapes.

Build

The materials used for the mouse have an underrated role in the feel of the mouse, plastic is plastic right? No!

Most mice are made with ABS plastic, but the density and finish on the plastic makes a huge difference. You want to look for a mouse with plastic that isn’t too slick and one that can hold up to sweaty, greasy nerd palms.

If the mouse has grips they’re usually made from silicon or rubber. In grip you want it to be grippy enough so that you can easily pick up and move the mouse, but not too grippy where it sticks to dust or makes your thumb too uncomfortable.

Internally, the mouse should be solidly constructed, no creaks when you twist the mouse and no soft plastic spots. When you shake the mouse there shouldn’t be any rattling of the internals.

A mouse needs to achieve a strong build quality, while keeping weight low, most gamers tend to play better with lower weight, under 100 grams ideally.

Unlike shape you can read reviews online to determine whether the build quality of the mouse is to your liking and whether the mouse has held up over use.

Sensor

Mouse feet

How do mouse sensors work?

A modern optical sensor works by shining a bright light, either red LED or infrared, down onto a surface coming out of the bottom of the mouse. The light bounces back into a complementary metal-oxide semconductor sensor. When you move your mouse the light that bounces back changes in angle, this is what the digital signal processor analyzes to determine how the mouse cursor should move on your screen.

What makes a flawless sensor?

Most gaming mice coming out today have great sensors, if you go get a reputable mouse, you’re likely getting a flawless sensor, the best sensors excel at these key things.

A good sensor will have the following:

  • Accurate tracking across a large DPI range
  • No jitter
  • No acceleration
  • No prediction and angle snapping
  • No axis asymettry
  • A fast poll rate
  • Low lift off distance

There are a handful of sensors that have all the above and can be essentially called perfect sensors.

Here’s what all those mouse sensor terms mean.

Dots per inch (DPI)/Counts per inch (CPI)

DPI is a measure of how sensitive a mouse is to movement. The higher the DPI the more your cursor will move per inch you move the mouse.

While the level of ideal DPI for performance comes down to personal preference, most pros favour a low DPI to be able to micro adjust aim without having to move the mouse a few millimetres.

Most modern mice are able to track accurately at low DPI, but the issue with some mice at high DPI is that the sensor is no longer tracking one to one to physical movement and uses software to increase sensitivity, this can cause inaccuracies.

Jitter

A smooth line movement on the mouse pad should result in a smooth line on the screen. Jitter happens when the sensor isn’t able to track in certain environments, for example some sensors interpolate (they fake it) higher sensitivities instead of actually tracking the dots per inch, what usually results is a jumpy mouse cursor.

If you’re playing on a non-standard surface like glass, a sensor can have trouble tracking movement which will also result in jitter, or if a speck of dust gets on the sensor’s lense. Easy fixes for both of these problems would be to use a mouse pad and to clean the sensor with a puff of air.

Acceleration

The distance your mouse travels should always map directly to the distance the cursor moves, this lets you build up muscle memory for consistency.

Acceleration is another way software tries to help, acceleration moves the cursor at an increasing rate when you move the mouse faster. If you move your mouse 20 cm across the mouse pad slowly, with acceleration, the cursor would be in a different spot if you had moved your mouse quickly 20 cm.

It’s assuming you want to get across the screen so helps you move it there faster with less effort.

YouTube video

Prediction and Angle SnappingExample of angle snapping

Prediction is when the mouses software (or Windows software) tries to predict where you’re trying to go with the mouse and straightens out your line.

What is angle snapping?

Angle snapping happens when a mouse tries to predict your movements, it artificially tries to make your mouse move in a straight line, this prediction will greatly affect the accuracy and fluidity of your aim.

The most common place affliction of prediction is in your windows mouse settings with a tickbox called “Enhance pointer precision”, it’s the exact opposite of how it sounds, turn it off.

What does Enhance pointer precision do?

According to howtogeek, enhance pointer precision is a form of acceleration, with this setting on, Windows keeps track of how fast you move your mouse and will adjust your mouse sensitivity on the fly. You should turn off this setting in Windows, it’s turned on by default to accommodate for super old low DPI mice as an accessibility feature.

For gaming Enhance pointer precision is always bad, you want your mouse to consistently behave so you can build muscle memory for mouse flicks and tracking, enhance gets in the way of this.

Axis Asymmetry

Some flawed sensor can track movement differently along the x-axis and the y-axis meaning a movement left to right for 1 inch might be different in cursor difference from a movement up to down 1 inch. You obviously want consistency in tracking distances no matter how you move your mouse.

Polling Rate

The poll rate of a mouse shows how often a mouse reports back to the computer, measured in Hz. The higher the poll rate, the more times your mouse is speaking to the computer to report on location and tracking. You want a mouse with a high poll rate, and most modern sensors have a good poll rate.

The only downside to a high poll rate is CPU usage as your computer now has to talk to your mouse more frequently, anything above 500 Hz is pretty indistinguishable and most modern mice allow you to choose your poll rate.

Lift off distance

Lift off distance

Every sensor has a minimum functioning lift off distance for the sensor to work.

A mouse with a low lift off distance will stop tracking pretty much immediately after you pick it up off the surface. A mouse with higher lift off distance will still move the mouse cursor a few millimetres off the surface so you can continue moving while picking up the mouse.

Low lift off distance is especially important to gamers that play with a low DPI/sensitivity, they may have to pick up the mouse several times to turn a full 180 degrees and you don’t want the sensor to track while the mouse is picked up throwing off where you’re looking at or aiming.

Laser vs Optical

All modern gaming mice use optical sensors over laser sensors, with good reason.

While laser can work on surfaces like glass because of it’s deeper sensing technology, that deeper sensor resolution leads to laser sensors tracking even the fibres of the mouse pad, this causes mouse jitter and inaccuracies when all you want is to move the cursor from point A to point B.

Laser mice also have lower malfunction speeds, meaning they get more inaccurate sooner as DPI increases.

List of good sensors

If the mouse you’re looking as any of these sensors, you can be rest assured it’ll track very well. Keep in mind all sensors have an effective range of DPI before jitter, but these sensors basically track perfectly from 100 DPI up to 1800.

Top Tier

  • Pixart PMW3366
  • Pixart PMW3360
  • Pixart PMW3361
  • HERO Sensor
  • Mercury Sensor
  • TrueMove 3 (custom 3360)
  • Pixart PMW3389
  • Owl Eye (custom 3360)

Good Tier

  • Pixart PMW3310
  • TrueMove 1

Cord/Cable

Gaming mice should have flexible cords

The only requirements of the cord of the mouse:

  • Keep a reliable connection
  • Be flexible and don’t impede mouse movement
  • No fraying or weak connections

Watch out for mice have thicker cables, it may prove to be more durable but could impede mouse movement.

Feet

The mouse feet are responsible for ensuring you have a consistent glide across different types of surfaces, hard or soft.

Mouse feet are pretty different on every gaming mouse, ranging from two strips to 4 little feet, regardless, the arrangement and material of the feet should ensure solid contact for the mouse to the surface to enable good tracking on the sensor.

Different kinds of mousefeet

Mouse feet eventually to get worn away from friction, most stock mouse feet are pretty good, but if you’re looking to replace or upgrade existing feet, Hyperglide is a company that makes great mouse feet for a variety of gaming mice models.

Replacing mouse feet is easy, what you usually need to do is apply some heat to the feet with a blow dryer to loosen the glue and peel off the old feet. Then replace with t

he new feet which should already have a sticker on it. Of course, you should read individual mouse instructions for replacing feet as it could be different.

Buttons

There are two major button manufacturers, Omron and Huano, you’ll find Omron switches is most mice and they do a good job.

Huano switches are a little stiffer and they’ve had some QA issues in the past, they’re better suited for FPS games. If you forced me to pick, I’d go for a mouse with Omron switches to be safe.

All the gaming mice companies tension their buttons a little differently, so cheap an eye out for what kind of button press you prefer and what kind of button press suits the type of games you like playing.

For RTS and MOBAs you likely want a softer click with a distinct click and low travel, you need to be able to spam click commands at will without it being fatiguing.

For shooters (FPS and Third Person), getting a mouse with heavier buttons makes sure you don’t have any accidental shots or skills firing giving away position, of course this depends on how heavy your hand naturally rests on the mouse. With shooters fatigue shouldn’t be as much as an issue since you’re not constantly clicking.

A common issue with buttons that you should be on the look out for are double clicking issues, all mice have them at varying rates.

The number of buttons is up to your preference, I’ve found that unless you’re playing an MMO, the standard set of 5 buttons, left, right, 2 sides and a scroll click are more than enough for most games.

Scroll Wheel

A good scroll wheel should have distinct steps so you as a gamer can determine when you’ve made an input into the mouse, this is key for games that require you to cycle between skills and weapons using the scroll wheel, or crouch spamming or bunny hopping in certain games.

The trade-off with distinct stepping is noise, the more distinct the mouse wheel the louder it can be to wheel through.

Some scroll wheels come with textures to give you a better grip on the wheel, we like this feature as it allows you to really feel the wheel moving in your finger, though it isn’t that crucial and most gaming mice have a good wheel.

The scroll button itself should be solid, no wobbling to the right or left (unless it has those clicks), with a responsive click when you’ve made an input on the middle click.

Features & Software

RGB Lighting

RGB is the major feature that all mice have now (minus Zowie), there’s not much real guidance for RGB here, it should have all the common settings; colour cycling, breathing, level of brightness, colour change rate and the ability to change each section individually.

Bonus features for RGB include the ability to sync multiple devices to all share the same colour profile or the ability to sync RGB with in-game actions.

RGB Aura Sync

Logitech, Gigabyte Asus and Razer lead the way with RGB sync options, so if keeping your colours in sync are important to you then look to them for peripherals.

Wireless

Wireless mice allow for a lot cleaner of a desk while keeping cords from affecting your aim and movement.

Modern mice, specifically Logitech mice have greatly reduced the input lag you would normally see if wireless mice. Wireless Logitech mice, specifically the G704/G403, G900, G305 are great for gaming.

With wireless you must also consider the battery life, and again, most modern wireless gaming mice have the battery life to withstand a full days worth of gaming with the ability to go to corded mode when needed.

Some gaming mice like the Corsair MM1000 have Qi wireless charging, and other mice have adopted charging mousepads, which allows the mouse to constantly be charged on the mouse pad.

Weighting System

If you like your mouse with a bit of weight then make sure the mouse you get has a weight system that still keeps the balance of the mouse neutral.

Reliability & Warranty

Gaming mice have a lot of moving parts with a lot of wear and tear, so naturally gaming mice do malfunction, but they should last a good couple of years before they show issues.

When looking at a mouse, be sure to search for “[model] problems”  and see what kind of issues other users are having. Remember that only people will complain about something broken, while the larger number of users that have no issues stay silent.

Warranties vary by manufacturer, here’s what I could find about warranties for major manufacturers of gaming mice in the US:

  • Logitech: 2-3 years
  • Razer: 2 years
  • Steelseries: 1 year
  • BenQ Zowie: Nothing public, case by case basis?
  • Asus: 1 year
  • Corsair: 2 years
  • Coolermaster: 2 years
  • Nixeus: 3 years
  • Finalmouse: 3 years
  • HyperX: 2 years
  • Roccat: 2 years

Mouse setting tips

There are a couple of settings in Windows that you need to make sure are out of the way to optimize your gaming experience.

Turn off mouse acceleration in Windows 10

Windows has the option to enable mouse acceleration via software, you want this off to have a consistent experience to build up your muscle memory.

  • Open your Control Panel, select Mouse
  • On the popup Mouse Properties, click on the tab Pointer Options
  • Uncheck Enhance pointer precision

Set mouse pointer speed in the middle

Any other setting in windows except the middle one throws away data, or creates coordinate data that doesn’t actually exist, it’s upscaling or downscaling your movement.

You’re best adjusting your mouse speed settings by adjusting your mouse DPI and in-game sensitivity.

Windows mouse settings for gaming

DPI and sensitivity settings

Most people aim better once they get used to a lower sensitivity setting.

YouTube video

Your sensitivity is a combination of two settings: DPI and sensitivity.

You want your mouse to sit in the 400 to 1800 DPI range in setting, most gaming mice operate best without any prediction or software compensation in this range despite marketing saying mice can go to 6000+ DPIs.

Sensitivity ranges depend on the game so tweak that accordingly. Different types of games require different sensitivities, games with small hitboxes and more long range fighting like PUBG, you might want a lower sensitivity.

Compared to a game like Fortnite with more rapid movement, you might opt for a higher sensitivity.

To find your sensitivity sweet spot I’d recommend picking a starting point and try gaming for a period of time at that setting. After getting used to it, drop your DPI setting by 50 or 100 points and try that for a period and see if your aim improves.

A good starting point might be 800 DPI and 5 sensitivity in Overwatch and 0.05 sensitivity in Fortnite. Start there, see how it feels and adjust up and down to lock in something that feels right for you.

Raymond Sam

Raymond Sam

Raymond is the creator and editor of TheGamingSetup.com He has a few thousand hours of Dota, Starcraft 1 & 2, Street Fighter, Overwatch, Apex Legends and Call of Duty under his belt with the intention of adding several more thousand going forward. He has written over 200 gaming hardware reviews, and counting!

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13 Responses

  1. The problem with mice is – They are all packaged up.

    So how are we going to hold and feel them in our hands for the best fit?

  2. The term “Best” is always horrible to use, as it depends on the individual who uses it… It would be like saying there is such a thing as the best musical instrument, in the hands of an okay musician, a really expensive instrument sounds nice, with a lot of help from effects and so on, where as a good musician, can play on the cheapest stuff, and make it sound great!!!

    No such thing as “BEST!!!”

  3. Don’t bother making a mice tier list if you know nothing about it, you will just mislead people into buying glorious mice thinking they are actually good. GPX is a super safe mouse too, its not a number 1 mouse at all. To anyone reading this literally just watch boardzy if u wanna know what mouse to buy, he’s one of the few people with a brain nowadays

  4. Hi
    Good Day!
    This Yori right now ,We are a supplier of gaming headphones,gaming keyboard and mouse.
    If you want to develop more business we can help save cost to meet your market’s request.In our products line, We can customize it for you,all kinds of colors and materials can be available to satisfy the customers’ request

    (Time is golden) to you and us. Therefore, we have professional production lines and staff, who have achieved good quality in a short time. (Quality, Time)

    We hope that we can do business with you for a long time in the near future.

    Best Wishes
    Yori

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