Best Computer Mice

When you sit down for a long session of gaming on your computer, the last thing you want to distract from your game is a terrible mouse. If you take your gaming seriously, you already know a vast gulf exists between using a typical mouse and a gaming mouse. Gaming mice are more durable, accurate, and comfortable for long-term use. They become an extension of you, instead of a clunky tool that distracts from your gameplay.

Features Of A Gaming Mouse

Most gaming mice have several special features that separate them from a common desktop mouse. Not all gaming mice share every one of these features, but the better mice have most of the features below. These features can help elevate your play, while not having a gaming mouse often becomes a major disadvantage.

Sensor

The sensor is the part of the mouse that tracks the motion of the mouse across a surface. There are two primary types of sensors: laser and optical. While other mice may also have the same types of sensors, gaming mice have better quality and more accurate sensors than standard mice.

The way the sensors work, both laser and optical, is by shining a light down onto your desk or other surface and taking pictures of the reflected light. Inside each mouse is an optical sensor, similar to what is in a digital camera. A gaming mouse compares hundreds of pictures per second to see how the texture of your surface moved during that time period. The biggest difference between optical and laser mice is the source of the light, with an optical mouse using an LED and a laser mouse using a laser to light the surface. You'll get good results from either one, but there are some cases where each has an advantage over the other.

An optical mouse uses an LED that provides much weaker light than a laser mouse does. This can be a big advantage in some situations, since the weaker light tends to be more reflective. They work great on dull or textured surfaces, but have trouble at times on glossy surfaces.

Both laser and optical mice can suffer from skipping, sometimes referred to as acceleration. That happens when the optical sensor in the mouse gets too much data back and its image processor can’t keep up. It results in a mouse pointer that skips around on the screen or jumps from one position on the screen to another. This can cause the pointer to move farther if you move quickly compared to slow movement over the same distance.

Optical mice tend not to skip as much as laser mice do, but it still happens. Part of why optical mice don’t have as much trouble is because the lower-powered light doesn’t provide the same level of detail back to the sensor inside, so isn’t as easily overwhelmed.

A laser mouse has a more powerful laser light. It penetrates into the surface more, which means it doesn’t reflect as well off of dull surfaces as the LED does in many cases. But the laser has an advantage on glossy surfaces.

Laser mice are more prone to skipping. The higher power laser light picks up more details than the weaker LED. Too many details can mean more work for the image processor inside the mouse, slowing it down and overwhelming it. Tiny specks of dust can reflect the laser light, which can also result in incorrect data for the sensor. This can cause the mouse pointer to jitter when left in place, or skip around during movement.

Weights

Some gaming mice have adjustable weights users can add or remove as desired. Many people have trouble if their mouse is too light and they are playing a game that requires quick and accurate motions. They can move too far and have to pull back to correct it. But a heavier mouse can take too much force to move quickly, causing delayed reactions. 

Programmable Buttons

A lot of gaming mice come with more buttons than typical mice. This may be an extra button or two positioned near the thumb, and in some cases, this can be several extra buttons positioned all around the mouse.

These extra buttons are usually programmable. They are essentially the same as hotkeys on gaming keyboards, except that they reside on the mouse. You can set them to match a set of keystrokes. For example, you could program a button to bring up a map screen or swap out weapons so you don’t have to hit the keyboard for these functions during your gameplay.

DPI And CPI

DPI is a measurement of dots per inch, while CPI measures the counts per inch. They both are referring to basically the same thing, which is the sensitivity of the mouse. Essentially, it’s how much your pointer moves compared to the move you make with your mouse. A higher DPI means a slight movement translates into a bigger one onscreen, while a lower DPI means you have to move the mouse farther to move the same distance on the screen.

While a high DPI sounds good, you can go too high. If your DPI is too high, a tiny movement of the mouse will result in a large movement for your onscreen character or mouse pointer. This can make accuracy difficult. But if you go too low then you’ll have to move your mouse over a large space to make even the smallest of movements. Many pro gamers have their DPI set in the 400-800 range. This allows them to be precise with their movements, but not have to move their mouse too far most of the time. 

Tracking Speed

Tracking speed is a measurement of how far you can move your mouse per second and have the mouse accurately measure the movement. This relates to DPI because a lower DPI will automatically lower the rate the mouse can recognize movement. In a normal mouse, this isn’t much of an issue, but for gaming, it can be very important. 

Most gaming mice have a much higher tracking speed than the standard mouse. Some standard mice may only be capable of accurately recognizing 16 inches per second of movement, while gaming mice can recognize anywhere from 150 inches per second up to 650 inches per second. This provides you with more accurate control over what is going on onscreen.

Low Lift-Off Distance

Lift-off distance is how high from the surface your mouse can be and still track movement. Think of times when your mouse reaches the edge of the mousepad and you have to lift it and move it to the side before you can continue. With a typical mouse, if you lift it a small amount to reset its location, it may still pick up the surface and track your movement, causing your pointer to move and lose accuracy. 

Most gaming mice have a very low lift-off distance. This is an advantage if you need to reset your mouse in this way, since you can pick your mouse up a small distance and reposition it without it detecting it as a mouse movement. You’ll have increased control and accuracy. 

Adjustable Poll Rate

The poll rate for a gaming mouse is the number of times it reports its position to the computer. This typically ranges from 125Hz, or 125 times per second, up to 1000Hz, or 1000 times per second. Many gaming mice have a way to adjust the poll rate, letting you set it to the poll rate that works best for you and for the games you play. Some games have limits to the poll rate they can recognize, and having a poll rate higher than that can negatively impact the game performance. 

Too high of a polling rate can cause your system to bog down. The reason for this is because every time your mouse reports its position to the computer, the computer processor has to handle that data. If you find your framerate dropping, especially when moving the mouse, this could be the culprit. 

Build Quality

Most people have picked up a typical mouse that comes with a computer. They may notice it is light and cheap feeling, and the buttons don’t always fit or click quite right.

Contrast that to gaming mice, which are made of better materials and are sturdier. Sometimes the switches in the buttons are better. The buttons may fit better. 

While there are high-end mice not designed for gaming which could compete with the build quality of most gaming mice, standard mice just don’t stack up well. Often the gaming mouse is more durable and will better last through hundreds of hours of gameplay.