The best gaming mouse can ensure each of your hand movements are accurately and consistently tracked. In this way, you can build up muscle memory in each of your games so that you always know just how far to move your mouse to land on your target. There are many gaming mice that can deliver this solid tracking alongside a whole host of extra features, but these are the ones we think offer the very best experience.
TL;DR – These are the best gaming mice:
1. SteelSeries Rival 600
Best Gaming Mouse
Our Pick
SteelSeries Rival 600
On Newegg
Sensor: TrueMove 3 Optical, Depth Sensing Linear Optical Detection ● Sensitivity: 12,000 CPI ● Shape: Right-Handed ● Buttons: 7 ● Connection: Wired ● Weight: 96g
The second big innovation is its custom weight system, which allows you to place 4g weights in four spots on each side of the mouse, allowing you to customize not only how much weight is added but where it’s located in the mouse. It’s also chock-full of RGB lighting, a comfy grip, and adjustable DPI settings as well.
2. SteelSeries Rival 3
Best Budget Gaming Mouse
SteelSeries Rival 3
On Newegg
Sensor: TrueMove Core Optical ● Sensitivity: 8,500 CPI ● Shape: Right-Handed ● Buttons: 6 ● Connection: Wired ● Weight: 77g
You may want a cheap mouse, but that doesn’t mean you have to settle for a mouse short on performance and features. The SteelSeries Rival 3 (read our review) offers a basic design, but still throws in customizable RGB lighting and a high-performance sensor to ensure you don’t lose a game on account of poor tracking.
The Rival 3 can track up to 8,500 CPI, which should be more than enough for gaming in any situation. It also has high tolerances, maintaining its tracking even if it’s moving 300 inches per second or accelerating at 35G. All that and three-zone RGB for under $30 is a steal.
3. Corsair Harpoon RGB Wireless
Best Budget Wireless Gaming Mouse
Corsair Harpoon RGB Wireless
On Newegg
Sensor: Optical ● Sensitivity: 10,000 DPI ● Shape: Ambidextrous ● Buttons: 6 ● Connection: 2.4GHz Slipstream Wireless, Bluetooth ● Battery Life: 30-60 hours ● Weight: 99g
If you’d rather stay cord-free on a budget, the Corsair Harpoon RGB Wireless (read our review) is your best bet. For $20 more than the SteelSeries Rival 3, you’re getting a wireless gaming mouse that feels even more responsive. It also feels better thanks to the rubber padding on the sides and a slightly more ergonomic design—for right-handed gamers at least.
The Corsair Harpoon RGB Wireless also packs an impressive 10,000 DPI sensor that feels responsive and accurate whether you’re using this mouse in wireless mode or not. Aside from connecting to your gaming PC with a 2.4GHz dongle, the Corsair Harpoon RGB Wireless can also pair with any of your devices using Bluetooth, making it a great travel mouse as well.
4. SteelSeries Sensei 310
Best Wired Gaming Mouse
SteelSeries Sensei 310
On Dell
Sensor: SteelSeries TrueMove3 Optical ● Sensitivity: 12,000 CPI ● Shape: Ambidextrous ● Buttons: 8 ● Connection: Wired ● Weight: 92.1g
Although this gaming mouse boasts a 12,000 DPI Optical sensor, keeping your sensitivity capped to 3,500 will enable the 1:1 tracking—which is to say the on-screen cursor will follow your exact hand movements. For those who are right-handed, the SteelSeries Rival 310 is the same mouse but in an ergonomic shape.
5. Logitech G502 Lightspeed
Best Wireless Gaming Mouse
Logitech G502 Lightspeed
On Newegg
Sensor: Hero (High-Efficiency Rated Optical) ● Sensitivity: 16,000 DPI ● Shape: Right-Handed ● Buttons: 8 ● Connection: Lightspeed Wireless ● Battery Life: 48-60 hours ● Weight: 114g ● Optional Weights: 16g
The G502 is a beautifully angular mouse with enough geometric shapes incorporated into its design to make it look straight out of CyberPunk 2077. While it might look too sharp to hold, it has wonderfully sculpted curves that almost wrap around your thumb while supporting the rest of your whole hand. The Logitech G502 Lightspeed also has customizable weight that lets you shift the center of gravity of this mouse and make it 16 grams heavier, so you can really customize this peripheral to your liking.
6. Razer Basilisk Ultimate
Best FPS Gaming Mouse
Razer Basilisk Ultimate
On Razer
Sensor: Focus+ Optical Sensor ● Sensitivity: 20,000 DPI ● Shape: Right-Handed ● Buttons: 11 ● Connection: Wireless, Wired ● Battery Life: 100 hours (without lighting) ● Weight: 107g
The Razer Basilisk has been our favorite gaming mouse for first-person shooters since it hit the scene in 2017 and now it’s finally seen a big update with the Razer Basilisk Ultimate (read our review). This gaming mouse takes the great shape and handy DPI clutch of the original and adds wireless technology along with Razer’s fastest sensor and adds optical switches for the fastest gaming mouse you’ve ever used. Of course, a fully loaded gaming mouse such as this has a boatload of RGB lighting too and you get 14 fully customizable lighting zones to play with.
Beyond the specs, the Razer Basilisk Ultimate feels and plays great. It has the perfect shape to be cupped in your hand and hitting the DPI clutch to pull off a precise shot feels as good as pulling the e-brake on a hairpin turn in a rally car. You can also program the side paddle to toggle your second ability bar in MMOs or trigger your class ability in a MOBA game. The only thing that gives us pause is the Basilisk Ultimate’s high $169 price. If that’s too rich for your blood you might want to check out the Basilisk X Hyperspeed, which comes with a slower sensor and mechanical switches, but adds Bluetooth connectivity for over $100 less.
7. Corsair NightSword RGB
Best MOBA Gaming Mouse
Corsair Nightsword RGB
On Dell
Sensor: Optical ● Sensitivity: 18,000 DPI ● Shape: Right-Handed ● Buttons: 10 ● Connection: Wired ● Weight: 119g (141g with all weights)
Corsair could have just left things there, but in the iCUE software, you can track how shifting the Corsair NightSword RGB center of gravity is affecting the way you play.
Its key features, the Corsair NightSword RGB is slightly bigger than your average gaming mouse, so it should fit like a glove for users with larger than average mitts. The gaming mouse also offers gamers a completely rubber covered finish, sizable thumb rest, and 10 easily reachable mouse buttons.
8. Swiftpoint Z Gaming Mouse
Most customizable gaming mouse
Swiftpoint Z Gaming Mouse
On Amazon
Sensor: PixArt PMW3360 optical sensor ● Sensitivity: 12,000 DPI ● Shape: Right-Handed ● Buttons: 13 ● Connection: Wired ● Weight: 117g
While a few gaming mice let you change up the side grips and add weights, the Swiftpoint Z Gaming Mouse (read our review) takes customization to the next level. For starters, you can tune when and how the mouse recognizes left and right clicks based on height and pressure. The Swiftpoint Z also gives you secondary left and right mouse buttons positioned behind the main ones that can be either pressed or pulled, so they act like triggers.
Aside from the usual 2D tracking mouse sensors give you, the Swiftpoint Z has also been designed to recognize mouse tilting and pivoting as specific commands. Users can tilt the mouse to lean in tactical shooters like Rainbow Six Siege and PUBG. Pivoting, meanwhile, is useful for turning your field of view while running in a straight line. All these handy tricks make the Swiftpoint Z phenomenal for first-person shooter games and one of the best overall gaming mice, period.
9. HyperX Pulsefire Surge RGB
Best RGB Gaming Mouse
HyperX Pulsefire Surge
On Newegg
Sensor: Pixart PMW-3360 optical sensor ● Sensitivity: 16,000 DPI ● Shape: Right-Handed ● Buttons: 6 ● Connection: Wired ● Weight: 100g
Aside from looking good, the HyperX Plusefire Surge also a beast when it comes to gaming. Thanks to its Pixart 3389 sensor, this mouse has a native 16,000 DPI and it has Omron switches. It’s smooth, contoured outer shell also feels extremely comfortable to hold no matter which type of grip you use.
10. Razer DeathAdder V2
Best “Palm Grip” Gaming Mouse
Razer DeathAdder V2
On Amazon
The Razer DeathAdder has been the best ergonomic gaming mouse for palm grippers for over a decade now. It uses an incredibly simple mouse shape, but that exactly why most gamers love the way their whole hand naturally rests on this large gaming peripheral. While the outer shell hasn’t changed much over the years, this gaming mouse has seen some major improvements with its latest V2 revision.
The DeathAdder V2 comes rocking Razer’s Focus+ optical sensor that’s more accurate than ever with a maximum sensitivity of 20,000 DPI. What’s more, it also features optical switches under the main mouse buttons, so they’ll trigger milliseconds sooner and last longer than traditional mechanical switches.
11. PC Gaming Race Glorious Model O
Best Lightweight Gaming Mouse
PC Gaming Race Glorious Model O
On Amazon
If you’re looking for the lightest weight mouse possible you’ll want to check out the PC Gaming Race Glorious Model O. Weighing in at just 67g (or 58g on the smaller model), you’ll feel like you’re not holding anything at all while you play with this mouse. The secret (or really non-secret) of why this mouse so light is it’s almost completely hollow and its all body is full of holes.
It’s definitely one of the more interesting looking mice out there with its hexagonal grid of holes. Of course, this gaming mouse from the PC Gaming Race incorporates RGB lighting and you can see the effect both outside and inside the peripheral.
12. Razer Viper Mini
Best Small Gaming Mouse
Razer Viper Mini
On Amazon
Sensor: Optical ● Sensitivity: 8,500 CPI ● Shape: Ambi-dextrous ● Buttons: 6 ● Connection: Wired ● Weight: 61g
If you don’t have the biggest hands or just don’t like the extra bulk of some gaming mice, Razer has the solution. The Razer Viper Mini (read our review) takes the design of stylish Viper and shrinks it down a bit while also cutting the weight. This model is actually slightly taller, but it trims the length and width to give smaller hands an easier grip and access to the main buttons without needing to awkwardly slide forward.
The Razer Viper Mini still has the perks of a gaming mouse, with a high-DPI sensor, extra thumb buttons, and a healthy dose of RGB lighting. You get to customize that lighting to your liking as well by using Razer’s fairly simple Synapse software. Even though this is a corded mouse, Razer has aimed to make it perform smoother with a specially designed cable that resists dragging on surfaces. As a bonus, this mouse is also a good deal cheaper than the full-sized Viper.
What to look for in a Gaming Mouse
The decision making process when it comes to a good gaming mouse really boils down to how it feels in your hand, and whether you want it to be wired or wireless.
Some people grip the mouse with their fingertips, while others use a claw or palm grip, so the shape of the mouse is easily the biggest factor you should consider.
If you’re right-handed you’re going to find a large number of ergonomic options to choose from. If you’re left-handed…well you’re pretty much going to probably have to go with something that’s shaped symmetrically or designed for ambidextrous usage as there are very few gaming mice out there designed for left-handed users.
As far as wired versus wireless goes, the wireless technology is so good these days that I can’t tell the difference either way, so that should not be a factor if you’re worried about losing some performance. However, wireless mice are usually more expensive than their wired counterparts, so expect to pay for your freedom from cables.
Also, some mice are rechargeable while others just use replaceable batteries, so pay attention to how long each wireless gaming mouse can last on a charge if that’s important. Lastly, the addition of the battery can also make some wireless mice heavier than a wired version, but this isn’t the case for all wireless mice.
For more guides to the best tech, check out the best gaming headset, best desk for gaming, and the best graphics card round-up.
More Expert Tech Roundups
Kevin Lee is IGN’s Hardware and Roundups Editor. Follow him on Twitter @baggingspam
Mark Knapp is a regular contributor to IGN and an irregular Tweeter on Twitter @Techn0Mark
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