Our Top Picks for Best Gaming Mouse

Many experienced gamers are shocked when they discover the incredible benefits of switching to a proper gaming mouse. Most of them consider the difference between the standard three-button device that shipped with their laptops and one designed for gaming negligible.

Then, one day, maybe because they get one as a gift, or maybe because they are convinced by an article like this one, they finally play their favorite game with a mouse that has variable DPI, configurable buttons, and ergonomic design.

Gone is the formless grey blob with a twitchy, inaccurate response. Gone are sticky buttons and irritating miss-clicks. The days of playing like a pro are here. Find the best gaming mouse for your needs.

Top 10 Gaming Mice

Whether you’ve just made the decision to switch to a gaming mouse, or you’re looking to trade up to a newer model, the gaming mice we review here are all worthy considerations.

Don’t be intimidated by the enormous amount of options and specs out there. We’ve done all the hard work for you.

1. Logitech G Pro Wireless Gaming Mouse
2. Razer DeathAdder Elite Gaming Mouse
3. UtechSmart Venus Gaming Mouse
4. Logitech G203 Prodigy RGB Wired Gaming Mouse
5. CORSAIR Harpoon RGB Wireless
6. Redragon M908 Impact RGB MMO Mouse
7. SteelSeries Rival 710 Gaming Mouse
8. CORSAIR IronClaw RGB Gaming Mouse
9. Razer Naga Trinity Gaming Mouse
10. LogiTech G502 Proteus Spectrum Gaming Mouse

Logitech G Pro Wireless Gaming Mouse

Features:

• Dimensions: 125 x 63.5 x 40mm
• Weight: 80g
• Number of buttons: 8
• Battery life: 60 hours
• Sensor: HERO 16K DPI
• Logitech LIGHTSPEED wireless technology.

Pros:

• The time and effort the manufacturers put into the ergonomic design is obvious. This Logitech mouse plays with extreme comfort.
• Supports left and right-handed players, with side-buttons removable to prevent accidental clicks.
• Versatile wired and wireless modes.
• Unmatched wireless performance with no perceptible latency.

Cons:

• A little pricey despite the amazing features.
• May be too small for some players.
• Looks a little boring when compared to other options.
• Doesn’t ship with a second sensor, as certain rivals do.

Verdict

Our choice for the best gaming mouse is the Logitech G Pro. Over the G Pro’s two-year design period, Logitech sought input from more than 50 e-sports professionals to ensure that this mouse feels like no other on the market. This product values function over form, as is obvious by the extremely minimalist construction. It delivers the kind of performance that pro gamers expect with and is arguably the best wireless mouse for gamers on the market.

Razer DeathAdder Elite Gaming Mouse

Features:

• Dimensions: 127 x 70 x 45 mm
• Weight: 96g
• Number of buttons: 7
• Battery life: N/A
• Sensor: 16K DPI tracking at 45 inches per second

Pros:

• Rubberized side-grips allows for optimal control.
• Scroll-wheel design
• Excellent balance between form and function. Looks great without being too garish.

Cons:

• No wireless option.
• No significant improvement over previous DeathAdder model.
• RGB lighting isn’t visible when being used.

Verdict

No other mouse has the reputation of the Razer DeathAdder series and for good reason. With each iteration, over the past 12 years, Razer simply continues to improve an already stellar product. Fantastic, professional-level performance and ergonomics combined with elegant visual design and a very reasonable price means that this product just can’t be beaten.

UtechSmart Venus Gaming Mouse

Features:

• Dimensions: 117 x 76 x 38 mm
• Weight: Adjustable
• Number of buttons: 19
• Battery life: N/A
• Sensor: 16.4K DPI

Pros:

• 6-feet cable allows for more than enough slack when playing from a distance.
• 12 programmable thumb buttons allow for an unprecedented amount of configuration.
• Braided fiber cable and gold-plated USB for greater durability.
• Excellent price for the quality and amount of features on offer.
• Five savable profiles for easy switching between games.

Cons:

• Some players may be put off by the overly stylized design.
• Grip on the scrolling wheel sometimes results in slipping.
• It’s a tall mouse; some users may find it difficult or awkward to use.

Verdict

Seldom has a PC mouse come with so many features and justifiable hype at such a reasonable price. The UtechSmart Venus Mouse offers not only superior technical performance than most of its competitors (see the 16.4K DPI sensor) but also boasts a variety of superb additional features like adjustable weighting and the incredible 12-button thumb pad. No longer do you have to sacrifice flexibility and durability for cost. The UtechSmart Venus Mouse sets the standard for affordable quality.

Logitech G203 Prodigy RGB Wired Gaming Mouse

Features:

• Dimensions: 116 x 62 x 38 mm
• Weight: 85g
• Number of buttons: 6
• Battery life: N/A
• Sensor: 8K DPI

Pros:

• Excellent performance and design at an extremely low price.
• Designed for use by both left and right-handed players.
• Build quality is high and durability impressive, given the construction material and light weight.

Cons:

• All-plastic construction sometimes feels slippery.
• Main two buttons are loud when clicked.
• It’s a small mouse which may cause issues for players with large hands.

Verdict

Here’s a Logitech option that won’t break the bank. In fact, it is consistently one of the top sellers in the best budget gaming mouse category and may well be the cheapest and best pick out there today. In terms of the cost/reward ration, few products are going to deliver what the Logitech G203 Prodigy will. With a design based on the Logitech G Pro, albeit with a different sensor and build quality, this product was clearly intended to dominate the market for players wanting to buy their first gaming mouse.

CORSAIR Harpoon RGB Wireless

Features:

• Dimensions: 114 x 68 x 41 mm
• Weight: 99g
• Number of buttons: 6
• Battery life: 60 hours
• Sensor: 10K DPI

Pros:

• Slipstream Corsair Wireless Technology results in excellent response times for a wireless product.
• Option to play in both wired and wireless modes.
• Extremely comfortable contoured shape and rubberized side grips for exceptionally comfortable use.
• Very pleasing visual design that has a nice balance between style and simplicity.

Cons:

• Sensor sensitivity mapped to an RGB color rather then on-screen display. Users will need to remember which mode is mapped to which color.
• Cycling between sensitivity modes can only happen in one direction.

Verdict

The Corsair Harpoon is a Bluetooth gaming mouse that is undoubtedly one of the most comfortable products to use on this list. The dimensions, weight, and build materials combine perfectly to create a product that is absolutely ideal for those long sessions that all serious gamers often experience. Corsair has clearly set out to create the best ergonomic mouse and they seem likely to have succeeded in this task. This doesn’t mean that other, more technical, aspects of the product have been neglected. The Harpoon has stellar specs and compares more than adequately with some of the more high-tech options on the market. If you’re looking for comfort, this is the best pick for you.

Redragon M908 Impact RGB MMO Mouse

Features:

• Dimensions: 122 x 92 x 42 mm
• Weight: Adjustable
• Number of buttons: 18
• Battery life: N/A
• Sensor: 12.4K DPI

Pros:

• 12-button thumb pad for excellent flexibility and performance in MMO gaming.
• LED backlight can be disabled for players who prefer a more subtle look.
• It is a hefty mouse that will appeal to gamers with large hands.
• Despite its size, its not an overly heavy product, even when the maximum number of weights are used.
• Wide design with thumb and contour finger-rests allows for greater control.
• Excellent price for a very versatile and high-spec product.
• The fully-configurable, three-shot rapid fire button is ideal for macros.

Cons:

• Somewhat cumbersome to set up since it is not shipped with the product and must be downloaded from the Redragon website. The downloaded file is in Rar format requiring additional download and installation as well as existing knowledge of this process.

Verdict:

The Redragon M908 Impact is another mouse that offers remarkable versatility at an affordable price. It’s a bulky product with many physical design elements that will appeal to hard-core gamers who regularly play long sessions. The dimensions make it one of the biggest products on the market today – something many gamers will find appealing. This is a great choice for someone who prefers a larger mouse.

SteelSeries Rival 710 Gaming Mouse

Features:

• Dimensions: 125 x 76 x 42 mm
• Weight: 135g
• Number of buttons: 7
• Battery life: N/A
• Sensor: 12K DPI

Pros:

• TrueMove3 sensor represents the next evolution in movement tracking.
• Swappable modular components for exceptional physical customization.
• Versatile ergonomics accommodate both palm and claw grips.
• On-mouse OLED display provides an additional area for viewing in-game stats.
• Customizable vibrating alerts to inform you of critical in-game events such as a cooldown completion or low health.

Cons:

• It’s a heavy mouse for one that doesn’t offer variation in this respect. This may be an issue for some gamers.
• There are worthy competitors on this list at a lower price.
• Haptic feedback and on-mouse screen lacks deep integration with certain games.

Verdict

SteelSeries have produced a mouse that offers a whole stack of next-generation features that may well come become the next standard in PC gaming peripherals. The SteelSeries Rival 710 may not be the most expensive product on this list but it is at the high end of the price spectrum. As with most things though, you get what you pay for here, and if you’re looking for a mouse that represents the next evolutionary step in feature design, look no further.

CORSAIR IronClaw RGB Gaming Mouse

Features:

• Dimensions: 130 x 79 x 46 mm
• Weight: 105g
• Number of buttons: 7
• Battery life: N/A
• Sensor: 18K DPI

Pros:

• In-mouse profile storage means that you can use another machine without reloading your personal settings.
• Exceptional sensitivity with 18K DPI and 1 DPI resolution steps resulting in exceptional tracking performance.
• Designed specifically for large hands.

Cons:

• This is not a product for players with medium to small-sized hands.
• The middle-click may be a tad heavy for some players.

Verdict

If you’re one of those players who simply cannot find a mouse that suits your large hands, then this may be the only product on the market you should consider. As can be expected, this has also resulted in a product that has a robust and durable build. Specific attention given to niche ergonomics doesn’t mean that other features were not given sufficient attention, however. The Corsair Ironclaw’s sensor offers sensitivity and accuracy that’s on par with the best products on the market now.

Razer Naga Trinity Gaming Mouse

Features:

• Dimensions: 119 x 74 x 43 mm
• Weight: 119g
• Number of buttons: Three configurable options: 9/14/19
• Battery life: N/A
• Sensor: 16K DPI

Pros:

• Three interchangeable side-plates offers 2, 7, 12, thumb-button options allowing for excellent versatility across FPS, MOBA, and MMO games.
• Razer Chroma offers 16.8 million color options.
• Excellent choice for players looking for side buttons.

Cons:

• Heavy product for one that doesn’t offer adjustable weight.

Verdict:

If versatility between gaming options is what you’re after then the Razer Naga Trinity is undoubtedly the best choice. While most products in the market focus on providing the best genre-specific experience the player can get, Razer have cast their net wider with this magnificent piece of hardware. The interchangeable side panel is a game-changer.

LogiTech G502 Proteus Spectrum Gaming Mouse

Features:

• Dimensions: 132 x 76 x 41 mm
• Weight: Adjustable
• Number of buttons: 11
• Battery life: N/A
• Sensor: 12K DPI

Pros:

• Dual mode scroll wheel enabling continuous or traditional, locked scrolling.
• Large number of buttons for a mouse that doesn’t require panel configuration.
• Pleasing stylized physical design that makes it look professional.
• Extremely intuitive ergonomic design that feels extremely comfortable.
• Competitively priced.

Cons:

• Scroll wheel is quite loud.
• Some of the 11 buttons can are a little awkwardly placed.

Verdict

The LogiTech G502 Proteus Spectrum is another feature-rich option that offers exceptional quality at a very reasonable price. The software that ships with the product is industry-leading and offers a rich customization experience for the user. This product is exceptional: it looks great and is an excellent option for a player who doesn’t want to invest too much money in a peripheral, making it the best pick for some on a budget.

How To Choose the Right Gaming Mouse

As technology evolves and the features that one can pack into a small peripheral expands with continued innovation, the importance of a quality gaming mouse can’t be overstated.

Before you start considering your options, it’s worthwhile to understand what you should be looking for. Dig deep when researching options. There are many factors that contribute to making a specific device the best mouse for your gaming needs.

DPI

Dots per inch. This refers to the mouse’s sensitivity when reporting changes in cursor position. The higher the DPI value, the faster the cursor movement on-screen in relation to the distance the mouse has been moved. Sometimes faster movement is more important than pinpoint accuracy and vice versa. Certain game scenarios require different DPIs, which is why all proper gaming mice offer variable DPIs that can be easily adjusted while in-game. The best gaming mice typically have a DPI over 6K.

Polling

This refers to the frequency at which the mouse reports its updated position to the computer. A mouse that has a higher polling rate is one that has a shorter time between a change in mouse position and the resultant change in cursor position. A top gamer mouse that a professional e-sports gamer uses will have an extremely high polling rate of 500Hz or even 1000Hz.

Laser vs optical

This debate will dominate the industry until another technology emerges that makes one or both obsolete. At the risk of oversimplifying this matter, here are the main differences. Laser mice are slightly more accurate and not as prone to being affected by dust. Whereas optical mice do not have the extremely annoying habit of picking up movement when the mouse is not close to the surface it is being used on.

Number of buttons

While it may be tempting to opt for the device that has the most buttons, remember that, often, the inclusion of more than the necessary amount has an impact on usability. If you want a mouse with 12 buttons, make sure you play games that warrant this many. A FPS is unlikely to need that many and players that mostly play them can opt for the best ergonomic mouse at the expense of buttons. Players that prefer MOBAs, however, will benefit from having many buttons and will be willing to sacrifice a little bit of comfort.

Final Thoughts

While the cost difference between the most expensive and most affordable gaming mice is significant, the benefits of additional features, more buttons and better comfort can’t be overlooked.

We’re in an era of competitive gaming where microseconds can mean the difference between a kill and a death – even at amateur level.

If you take gaming seriously, either as a potential profession or as a hobby, the flexibility and accuracy that the best gaming mouse will bring to your play will have an instantly positive impact on your enjoyment and results. Pair your new mouse with a good gaming keyboard.