Gaming

Best gaming mice

When it comes time to choose a mouse, gamers have a ton of choice. With the seemingly endless number of gaming mice, how do you choose the best?

The top of your priority should be comfort. If a mouse isn’t comfortable, then you’ll be miserable no matter how useful its features are. Next, look at the features you need from a gaming mouse. Do you need programmable buttons, RGB lighting, or weight customization?

While choosing a gaming mouse is deeply personal, there are a handful of standouts that most people will enjoy using. These are the mice we’ve chosen as our Best Gaming Mice.

Logitech G502 Proteus Spectrum: Available on Amazon
The G502 Proteus Spectrum is the follow up to the hugely popular G502 Proteus Core. Not much has changed between the two models except for the inclusion of RGB lighting. But if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, goes the saying. The 502 remains one of the most versatile gaming mice on the market, with a highly accurate sensor, on the fly DPI settings, and a handy sniping button, which lowers your DPI for better aiming.

The Logitech Gaming Software is also excellent, allowing you to customize every Logitech peripheral from the same app. You can remap your buttons, change RGB lighting settings, and create profiles for specific games. Best of all, you can save your profiles onto the mouse itself to use with any computer.

Razer DeathAdder Chroma: Available on Amazon
When I asked IGN’s editors about their favorite gaming mice, no mouse got more mentions than the Razer DeathAdder. The mouse has a cult-like following and for good reason. It’s reasonably priced, well built, and keeps things simple with only five buttons.

The latest DeathAdder adds Chroma (RGB) lighting, which can be customized using Razer’s Synapse software. You can create profiles for specific games and save them directly to the mouse and sync them to the cloud to import to other Razer mice. Best of all, Razer’s excellent build quality means the DeathAdder should last you many years.

Our Associate Video Producer Michael Huynh loves the DeathAdder. Here’s why: “Overall, [the DeathAdder is] a no-frills kind of mouse. It always felt precise enough for anything that I was playing from League of Legends to Final Fantasy XIV, and even Hearthstone. The Death Adder didn’t feel like it need to show off. It’s definitely one of my all time favorite mice.”

Logitech G602 Wireless: Available on Amazon
Wireless mice aren’t exactly popular with PC gamers as they add complexity and a point of failure. But if you don’t want to mess with cables and can live with having to recharge your mouse once in a while, then it’s hard to beat the Logitech G602 Wireless. This mouse has great battery life and utilizes two standard AA batteries, which means you can swap them out easily instead of having to wait for it to charge.

It’s not perfect though. There are a ton of programmable buttons, but they all feel vague under your thumb. You get used to them after a while but you’ll have to train your brain to remember which key is where. Plus, you’ll have to change your grip to press a few of the buttons, which could cost you the game.

SteelSeries Sensei Wireless: Available on Amazon
If you want a simpler wireless mouse than the Logitech G602, check out the SteelSeries Sensei Wireless. The Sensei Wireless comes with an extremely well built dock that lights up while it’s charging and you have the option of using it as a wired mouse if you don’t want to wait for it to charge.

I find the Sensei extremely comfortable and appreciate its simplicity. There are only two buttons on each side. Combine that with the symmetrical design and you have a mouse that lefties can love too.

Corsair M65: Available on Amazon
The Corsair M65 is another great all-rounder that keeps it simple, like the DeathAdder. It also has a few features that make it great for first-person shooters, like a sniping mode activated by the thumb button on the side of the mouse. This lowers the DPI to allow more precise control while sniping.

The updated version of the M65 includes RGB lighting to help you match your system’s color scheme and adjustable weights, if you’re into that. Overall, the Corsair M65 is a supremely accurate mouse and fans of first-person shooters should put this mouse on the top of their list.

MadCatz R.A.T. 7: Available on Amazon
If you love tweaking your gaming gear, you’ll love the Mad Catz R.A.T. 7. This mouse lets you customize just about everything from its weight, shape, and grips, just to name a few. There are a dizzying 18 programmable mouse buttons as well to help you create macros for every game. FPS fans will also be glad to see the inclusion of a thumb-activated sniping button to lower the DPI for more accuracy.

The R.A.T 7 is not cheap, coming in at around $100, but what you pay for is solid build quality and the ability to tweak everything about your mouse experience. This can be a pro or con, depending on the type of gamer you are. If you want something that’s great out of the box without tweaks, you’re better of with the other mice on this list.

Roccat Tyon: Available on Amazon
The Roccat Tyon is a beast of a mouse, both physically and in terms of the number of buttons it jams into its chassis. The Tyon is best suited for gamers with bigger hands who like to use a palm grip. MMO fans will love the crazy number of buttons on the Tyon as they can be programmed individually. The buttons are placed around the chassis instead of all on the thumb grip, unlike the Razer Naga. Plan on spending some time figuring out the best way to map the Tyon’s buttons with it’s clunky software.

IGN’s News Editor Mitch Dyer loves the Tyon. Here’s what he had to say about it: “Roccat’s Tyon mouse is the right size and shape, with a good weight and great precision, but the standout feature is its shift-key. I love that thing. Pressing it with my thumb and modifying my left/right clicks makes me more efficient during super-fast games of Dota 2 and deeply intense Facebook navigation.”

UtechSmart Venus: Available on Amazon
UtechSmart may be a bit of an unknown to some gamers, but it has a huge following with MMO players. Like the Razer Naga Chroma, there are 12 programmable keys on the side of the mouse. Unlike the Naga, the Venus lets you customize the weight of the mouse, giving you an additional level of control. The best part? The Venus can be found for under $40, making it a killer bargain.

Our Video Producer James Duggan loves the UtechSmart Venus and here’s why: “Lots of buttons means it’s great for MMOs and MOBAs. But unlike the Naga it has adjustable weight and the ridges on the thumb buttons make them easier to navigate. The mapping software is great. You can change profiles on the fly and the DPI adjustment buttons are remappable.”

Razer Naga Chroma: Available on Amazon
Another great MMO mouse is the Razer Naga Epic Chroma. Its name is a mouthful but what you get is a kick-ass mouse with a ton of customizable buttons for MMOs. You have a full 12 buttons on the left side of the mouse, and it’s large so you’ll want to use a palm grip instead of a claw grip.

The Naga features a 16,000 DPI 5G laser sensor, which is super accurate. Its Synapse software is also intuitive and lets you store your profiles on the mouse itself so you can take it with you to different computers. It also controls all your other Razer peripherals to make sure your lighting theme matches.[related-posts]

Logitech G302 Daedalus Prime: Available on Amazon
Logitech markets the G302 Daedalus Prime as a gaming mouse for MOBA players, but it works well with other game genres as well. Tracking is accurate and smooth, perfect for first-person shooters and MOBAs alike. Its simple button layout makes it work for right or left handed users, and its software makes it easy to load up profiles for specific games.

Our own Associate Editor Miranda Sanchez loves the G302 and had this to say: “I love the Logitech G302 Daedalus. I have small hands, and it was the first mouse that I’ve used that was not only comfortable, but also had great utility. There are some extra programmable buttons that are easy to access. There’s also a nice mouse sensitivity button that has a few good levels — plus it’s got a nice blue light!”

Mionix AVIOR 8200: Available on Amazon
If you’re a lefty or are ambidextrous, finding a gaming mouse can be difficult. Most are designed for right handed use but there are a few exceptions. One of the best gaming mice for southpaws is the Mionix AVIOR 8200. Its symmetrical design means it can be used comfortably in either left or right hand, featuring four side buttons and on-the-fly DPI switching.

This is a simple mouse so don’t expect to find a billion customizable buttons, weight adjustment, or a sniping button. What the Mionix AVIOR lacks in features, it makes up for in build quality and accuracy. Its 8200 DPI sensor and 32bit ARM processor makes it a great performer that you can rely on. It’s also got RGB lighting so you can customize its lights to match your build’s color. It’s not going to be as comfortable as mice designed for right handed use, but for an ambidextrous mouse, it’s great.

[IGN]

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One Comment

  1. I’m so tired of the same old stuff. I want a wide palm grip mouse like the no longer available Func MS-3 rev 1 mouse IMHO perfect in every way except I have five fingers not three and I want to put all of them to good use. That mouse would have been perfect for that approach. I’ve had at least 4 of the mice on this list and none were better from a design aspect. If somebody wants to impress me be original and stop with the same old stuff with a different name.

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