Choosing a PC-gaming mouse requires particular issues. You’re not merely navigating round webpages and Office docs. As a gamer, your mouse is vital to duties like fragging bots and capturing zombies.
On prime of that there are private preferences at play. Every little element from the general form and measurement, to the quantity and placement of buttons, to a mouse’s cable (or lack thereof), and different myriad components can change your opinion. More than some other peripheral, a mouse is the toughest to advocate, as a result of there isn’t a objectively good mouse. Everyone’s arms are completely different.
That mentioned, we are able to information you in your search. Below are our suggestions for gaming mice, constructed on years of expertise at first as avid gamers, and second as writers right here at PCWorld.
1. Logitech G502 Hero — Best general-purpose gaming mouse
Some iteration of Logitech’s G502 mouse has been on this record ever because it first launched again in 2014. It’s nonetheless one of the comfy mice I’ve ever used. It additionally packs a ton of buttons in good locations, with three thumb buttons, two extra arrayed alongside the facet of the usual left mouse button, and a tilt wheel. The newest model options the Hero sensor, which maintains the top-tier efficiency that the G502 is understood for.
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Logitech G502 Hero review
2. Mad Catz R.A.T. 8+ — Best gaming mouse for tinkerers
If you want an aggressive mouse design, that is the gaming mouse for you. Mad Catz R.A.T. line is like no different. The modularity and the uncovered knobs and levers are greater than design decisions, nevertheless. This is a gaming mouse for tinkerers.
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Mad Catz R.A.T. 8+ review
3. Cooler Master MM830 — Budget possibility
The MM830 has some gimmicks, like a built-in D-pad (that hardly capabilities as such) and tiny little OLED show, but it surely’s nonetheless a stable gaming mouse the place it counts. It feels good within the grip and sturdy, it’s bought a chic and understated design, and it homes the top-tier PMW3360 sensor—all for a price range worth.
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Cooler Master MM830 review
4. Logitech Powerplay Wireless Charging System — Best wi-fi gaming mouse
The motive we’re recommending Logitech’s wi-fi charging system over a specific wi-fi mouse, is that any of Logitech’s three suitable wi-fi mice are laudable. What units them above the remainder of the pact is the genius means the Logitech Powerplay mouse pad performs fixed charging in your wi-fi mouse in the midst of utilizing it, so it’s by no means out of fee whereas it will get recharged.
Of the three mice which might be suitable with Powerplay, the G502 Lightspeed ($100 on Logitech) is clearly our prime suggestion. The G703 (also at $100), is an honest right-handed different although. And then there’s the G903 (now down to $90), which matches most of the G502’s options however opts for an ambidextrous form.
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Logitech Powerplay Wireless Charging System review
5. Razer Mamba Hyperflux and Firefly Hyperflux — Best wi-fi gaming mouse for Razer followers
If you’re extra a fan of Razer’s mice, it may also be price testing the Razer Mamba Hyperflux and Firefly Hyperflux combo. The conceit is similar. It’s a wi-fi mouse that you simply don’t want to fret about charging. Razer’s implementation is much more futuristic although—the Mamba Hyperflux mouse doesn’t have any battery.
Instead it’s powered straight from the Firefly Hyperflux mouse pad, with a capacitor within the mouse storing about 20 seconds of cost—sufficient to raise and modify the mouse. That makes it much less handy for journey (mouse pad is a requisite); plus it’s costlier than Logitech’s resolution.
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Razer Mamba Hyperflux and Firefly Hyperflux review
6. SteelSeries Rival 650 — Best rechargeable wi-fi gaming mouse
Okay, so possibly you don’t need to buy a complete mousepad simply to make use of a wi-fi mouse. That’s comprehensible. Logitech’s Powerplay and Razer’s Hyperflux setups are cool and futuristic, but additionally costly and considerably impractical.
In that case, check out the SteelSeries Rival 650. It’s a horny mouse, positive, with good button placements, a bunch of weight customization choices, and a flagship TrueMove3 sensor—the newest SteelSeries variant of the beloved PWM3360.
But the true deal with is its charging velocity—it nets about 10 hours of cost in 15 minutes.
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SteelSeries Rival 650 review
7. Roccat Tyon — Best MMO gaming mouse
The period of “the more buttons, the better” has largely handed, however in the event you nonetheless roll like that the Roccat Tyon will serve you nicely.
With 12 buttons and an analog paddle, the Tyon is a beast. One of the thumb buttons is definitely a modifier key, which Roccat calls “Easy-Shift Technology.” Using it successfully doubles the variety of buttons at your beck and name, and it’s an intuitive strategy that balances out the important thing’s questionable placement on the mouse’s thumb relaxation. If you’re lazy and let your thumb chill out, although, you would possibly inadvertently press it once you don’t imply to.
Read our full
Roccat Tyon review
How we consider mice
To discover our favorites, we put a small herd of gaming mice by their paces. Everything from ultra-budget to ultra-customizable to ultra-small to ultra-packed-with-buttons is within the working right here, after which some.
What paces, you ask? First, we assess a mouse’s abilities normally use and gaming—from shopping Reddit to video enhancing to perusing Spotify to taking part in by Watch Dogs 2 and Battlefield 1.
We additionally contemplate the popular grip. You most likely don’t consciously take into consideration the way you grip your mouse—it’s like which sock you placed on first or whether or not you grasp your rest room paper over or beneath. But it’s essential.
People largely fall into three completely different grip varieties: palm, claw, and fingertip.
Palm grip: This might be the commonest grip, and it’s what most mice are designed for. Your total hand makes contact with the mouse on the similar time, along with your arm driving many of the motion. This is essentially the most ergonomically comfy grip, with the mouse formed particularly to fill and complement your palm.
Claw grip: Claw grippers arch their fingers extra, creating separation between the hand and mouse however maintaining the fingertips and rear of the palm in touch. This permits for faster button urgent and barely faster motion, however places extra pressure in your wrists.
Fingertip grip: The most agile grip additionally places essentially the most pressure in your wrists. Fingertip grip, because the identify implies, entails guiding the mouse with solely your fingertips—no palm contact in any respect.
Generally, a mouse that works for a claw grip will work for a fingertip grip. The predominant distinction is between palm and claw grips.
Other components
Button depend: You’ll just about by no means discover a three-button gaming mouse. Even the budget-friendly units we’ve examined have 5 to 10 buttons. The award for “Most Buttons” nonetheless goes to the Roccat Tyon, with 14.
Sensor: Dots per inch, or dpi, is a measure of what number of pixels the mouse strikes on-screen per every inch of desk you progress it throughout. Some folks favor to make giant, sweeping motions with a number of precision, necessitating a low dpi. Others need quick, jerky motions that begin and cease on a dime—excessive dpi. The latter group will need to pay specific consideration to every mouse’s restrict.
At this level, the dpi arms race has change into largely meaningless. Manufacturers push numbers which might be so excessive as to be impractical for most individuals’s day-to-day use. Is that 16,000-dpi mouse really extra helpful to you than the 12,000-dpi mouse? Probably not.
Shape: There are three predominant classes right here, too: right-handed, left-handed, and ambidextrous.
We’ve checked out right-handed and ambidextrous mice as a result of our testers listed here are right-handed. Some right-handed mice (such because the DeathAdder) have left-handed variants, however these are a rarity. Most southpaws will most likely find yourself with an ambidextrous mouse, just like the G-Skill Ripjaw MX780 or the Razer Diamondback.
Hayden writes about video games for PCWorld and doubles because the resident Zork fanatic.