No gaming mouse will magically stop you from getting destroyed in Counter-Strike or Call of Duty, but the right pick can give you a greater sense of control while making your downtime more comfortable. In truth, which one is “best” for you comes down to preference: Shape is king, as the mouse nerd adage goes, and everyone’s hands are different. But to make things a little easier, we’ve tested dozens of well-regarded gaming mice over the past couple of years and picked out a few options that have glided above the rest. After playing countless hours of CS2, Overwatch 2, Halo Infinite, Final Fantasy XIV and more PC games, here are our picks for the best gaming mice you can buy, broken down by shape and use case. We’ve also included some general advice to keep in mind during your search.
The best gaming mice
Photo by Jeff Dunn / Engadget Best wireless gaming mouse (symmetrical) Razer Viper V3 Pro Connectivity: Wireless, wired (USB-C) | Shape: Symmetrical | Weight: 54 grams | Dimensions: 5 x 2.51 x 1.57 inches | Sensor: Razer Focus Pro 35K Optical Sensor Gen-2 | Switches: Razer Optical Mouse Switches Gen-3 | Maximum polling rate: 8,000Hz | Programmable buttons: 6 | Battery life (rated): Up to 95 hours at 1,000Hz If money is no object, the best gaming mouse with a symmetrical design that we’ve tested is the Razer Viper V3 Pro. It costs a hefty $160, but it’ll give you little to complain about if you play a ton of competitive PC games and can stomach the price. With its lightly grooved sides, noticeable but not aggressive hump and gentle flare-outs toward the back, the Viper V3 Pro’s shape should be comfortable for a wide range of hand sizes and grip types. It’s a bit on the wider side, and it probably works best with a claw or palm grip, but it’s not so large or tall that it can’t accommodate fingertip grippers. The main mouse buttons are contoured in a way that gives your fingers a natural resting place, and there are little ledges on either side to subtly nudge them to the right spot when you’re scrambling in-game. Put another way, this is one of the safer shapes we’ve tested. The Viper’s build quality is excellent. It’s impressively light at 54 grams, which makes it a breeze to flick around in fast-paced games, yet its matte plastic frame isn’t covered in dust-inviting holes like many other options around the same weight. We’ve seen zero hints of creaking, flexing or rattling after months of testing. The finish picks up some finger smudges but is grippy and delightfully soft to the touch. The main click buttons use durable optical switches but aren’t especially loud. Though they aren’t quite as full or crisp as the absolute best mechanical switches, they’re still snappy to press, neither too firm nor too light. The two programmable side buttons are well-sized and easy to reach. The scroll wheel, meanwhile, is tight and quiet, with clearly defined steps and a textured finish. Performance, as is the case with many high-end gaming mice these days, is effectively flawless. Razer’s Focus Pro 35K Optical Sensor Gen-2 — say that five times fast — is basically overkill from a technological perspective but makes the mouse exceptionally accurate and consistent all the same. It’s aided by amply-sized, smooth-gliding PTFE feet and a rock-solid connection to an included “HyperPolling” dongle. The latter lets the mouse reach a maximum polling rate of 8,000Hz, but as noted below, few people will actually noticed any benefit from jumping that high. Mostly, it’ll just zap battery life: Razer says the Viper V3 Pro can get up to 95 hours at 1,000Hz, which is fine for this market and roughly consistent with our experience, but that drops to just 17 hours at 8,000Hz. If the price didn’t make it obvious, the Viper V3 Pro is for gaming enthusiasts. As such, it gives up some of the perks you’d find on more mainstream mice: There’s no RGB lighting or Bluetooth, while the power button/DPI switcher is located on the bottom of the device to make it harder to hit by accident. Since the device uses a special dongle instead of a traditional receiver, it still requires you run a separate USB-C cable from your PC or gaming laptop. You can connect over that cable when the battery is low, thankfully, but it’s relatively thick. And while Razer’s Synapse software makes it simple enough to adjust settings, it’s something of a resource hog. It’s also Windows-only. These are all nitpicks, though. The Viper V3 Pro is outstanding, and it should feel right at home in the hands of committed FPS players. Pros Exceptional performance
Superb build quality
Comfortable for most grip types and hand sizes Cons Expensive
Bit of a fingerprint magnet
Thick charging cable $156 at Amazon Explore More Buying Options $156 at Best Buy$160 at Walmart
Jeff Dunn for Engadget Another good option Hitscan Hyperlight Connectivity: Wireless, wired (USB-C) | Shape: Symmetrical | Weight: 41 grams | Dimensions: 4.64 x 2.4 x 1.5 inches | Sensor: PixArt PAW3395 | Switches: Omron Optical | Maximum polling rate: 8,000Hz (with optional dongle) | Programmable buttons: 5 | Battery life (rated): Up to 75 hours at 1,000Hz The Hitscan Hyperlight is a fantastic alternative to the Viper V3 Pro for those who want something smaller and less expensive. It has a similarly safe shape with a modest centered hump, only its sides are a little straighter toward the top. The main difference is that it’s thinner and much shorter, with a noticeably lower button height, so it’s best suited to those with smaller hands and/or fingertip or claw grippers. If you have bigger hands and use a palm grip, it won’t be as accommodating as our top pick. That said, it’s a fair bit lighter, weighing just 41 grams. That makes it a breeze to quickly swipe around, though part of why the Hyperlight is so… hyperlight is because it has large cutouts on its bottom. This exposes some of the mouse’s electronics to potential dust and debris on your desk. That said, we’ll take this sort of design over mice with holes in the top shell, since you’ll almost always keep your mouse face-down anyway. The rest of the Hyperlight’s design is totally sturdy, with no looseness or rattling when you give it a shake. The matte plastic finish is nicely crisp, and we dig the minimalist aesthetic of the thing. We also love its Omron optical switches, which have a lovely bounce to them and create a deeper, more even tone than the Viper V3 Pro’s main clicks. Overall performance is exceptional — as is the case with most modern gaming mice — and the PTFE feet move smoothly, though you have to install them yourself. The scroll wheel has clearly defined notches as well, though it can get a little loud with heavier spins. The side buttons feel and sound cheaper than those on the Viper, too, and battery life is a bit shorter (albeit still fine) at 75 hours or so. The included cable could also stand to be more flexible, though it’s certainly usable. Hitscan is a fairly new US-based company and the Hyperlight is its first product, so you’re taking a little leap of faith here. But other reviewers we trust have also been impressed, and the user feedback we’ve seen around the web has been overwhelmingly positive. The price helps: At $90, it’s not cheap, but it’s well below other premium options like the Viper V3 Pro (You can buy a dongle that enables 8,000Hz polling rate support for $25 more, but you don’t need it.) If you want a smaller performance mouse and can live with the hole-y underside, it’s superb. Note that Hitscan sells it in batches, though, so you may run into stock issues at some point. Pros Comfortable for fingertip and claw grips and smaller hands
Excellent optical switches
Lightweight
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