The best gaming mice you can buy

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The Insider Pick:

  • A great gaming mouse is a vital weapon in any gamer’s arsenal, and the Razer DeathAdder Chroma is built for gamers with its super accurate and high-resolution performance. It’s also comfortable to use, so you can win level after level.

A gaming mouse is an important part of every gamer’s setup. How else are you supposed to control the game without an accurate mouse and quick-acting keyboard? There are plenty of gaming mice on the market, and not all of them are created equal. While games themselves have evolved a lot and become quite complex, the mouse has largely stayed the same — save for a few small tweaks that have come mostly to dedicated gaming mice like the ones in our guide.

So what should you consider when buying a gaming mouse? Well, for starters, you should think about the controls you want. While most consumer mice have stuck with the classic two-button setup with a scroll wheel, plenty of gaming mice offer extra buttons and wheels to help give you quick access to controls in the game.

While the regular mouse has embraced Bluetooth technology for cursor control, gamers tend to stick with wired mice simply because they’re slightly more reliable. After all, in a fast-paced video game, every millisecond counts.

You should also think about the overall design and size of the mouse. If you’re playing for hours, you’ll want a mouse that will fit your hand ergonomically, and a smaller mouse may not fit well in a larger hand — and vice versa.

There are dozens of gaming mice out there, but we’ve done the research to find the best ones so that you don’t have to. Read on to see which of our top picks is best for your needs.

Although the Razer DeathAdder Chroma is our top pick, for various reasons laid out in the slides below, you should also consider the Logitech MX Master 2S, the Logitech G502 Proteus, the SteelSeries Sensei 310, and the Razer Naga Epic Chroma.

The best gaming mouse overall

The best gaming mouse overall

Razer

Why you’ll love it: Not only is the Razer DeathAdder Chroma relatively inexpensive, it also has five buttons for gamers and super accurate and high-resolution tracking.

Razer has long been an important player in the gaming industry as a whole, offering not only mice, but also keyboards, headphones, and even computers themselves. The company lives and breathes gaming, so it’s no surprise that one of its mice is our pick for the best gaming mouse out there. That mouse is the Razer DeathAdder Chroma.

At first glance, the mouse isn’t all that flashy, which is something that makes it a perfect choice for those looking to move up from their plain two-button mouse. Even seasoned gamers can get a lot of use out of it.

You can easily customize the mouse with the included software. There are five buttons in total: the standard two, plus the mouse wheel button and two buttons you can hit with your thumb on the left of the device. You can also customize the illumination of the mouse, thanks to the built-in lights that light up the logo and scroll wheel.

What really helps this mouse shine, however, is its accuracy. It’s equipped with a 10,000dpi sensor that’s capable of mouse movements of up to 200-inches per second. That’s far more than you’ll probably ever need, even in the most hardcore of gaming situations.

The DeathAdder Chroma is also built with ergonomics in mind. It’s super comfortable and well-designed, so it should be easy to wrap your hand around it and feel at home. Not everything about the mouse is perfect, though. IGN argued that its buttons felt a little like a toy, but that same review gave the mouse a 9/10 rating, so it can’t have been too much of an issue. PCWorld, on the other hand, gave it a more conservative, but still very respectable 4/5 stars.

Pros: Ergonomically designed, comfortable, highly accurate, inexpensive

Cons: Can feel toy-ish at times

Buy the Razer DeathAdder Chroma on Amazon for $49.99

The best wireless gaming mouse

The best wireless gaming mouse

Logitech

Why you’ll love it: The Logitech MX Master 2S is ergonomically and beautifully designed, plus, it’s able to connect to three devices and stay reliable.

While most gamers have sworn off wireless mice for their gaming needs, the technology has gotten quite a bit better over the past few years. In fact, some would claim that it’s good enough to suit most gaming needs. If you’re willing to test out a wireless mouse for gaming, we think the Logitech MX Master 2S is the best option for you.

The original Logitech MX Master is one of the most-loved computer mice of all time, gaming or otherwise. While the second iteration of the mouse doesn’t represent a huge upgrade over the original, there are a few tweaks that make the mouse better than it has ever been.

It’s built to be comfortable. While it may look a little different than most other computer mice out there, the trade-off is that it’s a dream to use. The mouse offers plenty of controls and buttons, which is perfect for gamers.

Not only will you get the two standard mouse buttons and a scroll wheel, but you’ll also get a side-scrolling wheel on the side, two buttons by your thumb, and a button on the top to control the speed of the scroll wheel. The mouse is also capable of switching between three devices, which is great for those of you who want to control your tablet, two computers, or other devices.

The Logitech MX Master 2S isn’t perfect. While the extra buttons can be helpful, there is a bit of a learning curve. On top of that, the mouse is a little pricey compared to the likes of the Razer DeathAdder Chroma. Still, despite the downsides, PCMag gave it a hefty 4.5/5 stars.

Pros: Very comfortable, lots of controls, nice design

Cons: A little pricey, slight learning curve

Buy the Logitech MX Master 2S on Amazon for $90.49 (originally $99.99)

The best gaming mouse with extra features

The best gaming mouse with extra features

Logitech

Why you’ll love it: The Logitech G502 Proteus isn’t only super sensitive and high-resolution, but it offers a whopping 11 customizable buttons, too.

Looking for a mouse with all the bells and whistles to help elevate your gaming? Well, a different Logitech mouse is our pick for that. Meet the Logitech G502 Proteus. The mouse may be over a year old at this point, but it still holds its title as the best gaming mouse for those gamers that want a ton of extra functionality.

The mouse has 11 buttons — Yes, you read that right. The 11 buttons include the two main buttons, three thumb-accessible buttons, two buttons embedded in the scroll wheel, and four pointer-accessible buttons that aren’t the main two. Not only are there a ton of buttons on this mouse, but those buttons are also customizable through the Logitech Gaming Software.

The mouse isn’t just highly versatile — It’s pretty sensitive too, which is good news for accuracy. The mouse is capable of up to 12,000dpi, which is plenty for the vast majority of uses.

If you thought there was a learning curve with the MX Master 2S, then this mouse should scare you, and that’s one of the main downsides to the device. On top of that, while most computer mice are slightly more targeted at right-hand use, this one is well and truly built for right-handers only – lefties should probably keep looking.

Still, despite the downsides, the Logitech G502 Proteus is relatively inexpensive and has gotten some good reviews, including 4/5 stars from PCMag and 7.5/10 from IGN .

Pros: Tons of buttons, customizable, highly accurate

Cons: Steep learning curve

Buy the Logitech G502 Proteus on Amazon for $49.99 (originally $79.99)

The best ambidextrous gaming mouse

The best ambidextrous gaming mouse

SteelSeries

Why you’ll love it: The SteelSeries Sensei 310 is both highly powerful and extremely accurate, but it’s also totally symmetrical for both right and left-handed gamers.

There’s a trend in the gaming mice we’ve included so far: They’re all built for right-handed users. That’s a problem if you’re a lefty, but the good news is there are still some great ambidextrous mice out there, like the SteelSeries Sensei 310.

When looking at the mouse from the top, you’ll notice that it’s perfectly symmetrical. You’ll get two thumb-accessible buttons on both sides of the mouse, meaning you can use them whether you’re left or right-handed. Even right-handers could get some pretty good use out of the button. Apart from the extra buttons, the SteelSeries Sensei 310 also offers excellent performance and comes at a reasonable price.

Despite the long list of advantages, there are still some disadvantages – like the fact that it only offers two DPI (dots per inch) settings, despite other major gaming mice offering as many as five. Still, it’s one of only a few issues with the mouse. Experts love it. Tom’s Hardware gave it 8/10, while TechRadar went a step further, giving it a perfect score of 5/5.

Pros: Ambidextrous, great performance, relatively inexpensive

Cons: Only two DPI settings

Buy the SteelSeries Sensei 310 on Amazon for $59.99

The best gaming mouse for MMO

The best gaming mouse for MMO

Razer

Why you’ll love it: The Razer Naga Epic Chroma is well-built, offers great wireless range, and boasts 12 thumb-accessible buttons for MMO gameplay.

Yes, this is the second Razer mouse on our list, but for good reason. If you’re more into MMOs (massively multiplayer online) than other games, then the MMO-optimized Razer Naga Epic Chroma is the best mouse for you. Why? It’s built with MMO players in mind.

The mouse offers 12 thumb-accessible buttons, and while that does represent a pretty massive learning curve, it also makes for a super powerful mouse. You might think that those buttons spell disaster for the clumsy among us, but the buttons are quite large and you’ll get used to the overall feel of them. On top of that, you can use the included Razer Synapse 2.0 software to customize those buttons to better fit the specific games you play.

It’s pretty sensitive, too. While some other mice on this list offer more, the Naga Epic Chroma boasts 8,200dpi, which is pretty impressive.

While some gamers steer clear of wireless mice, the Razer Naga Epic Chroma is Bluetooth-connected. Despite that, the mouse offers pretty great connectivity and range. In fact, that was one of the main selling points for Tom’s Guide, which gave the mouse 9/10.

Pros: Tons of buttons for MMO games, customizable, great wireless range

Cons: Expensive

Buy the Razer Naga Epic Chroma on Amazon for $143.19

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