I’m an associate staff writer at Wirecutter covering video games and gaming hardware. In addition to gaming mice, I’ve tested gaming keyboards, gaming laptops, gaming headsets, and more. I’ve been playing video games for my entire life, and between working from home and gaming on my PC, I spend more time using a mouse and keyboard than I probably should.

For this guide:

• I scoured the websites of every major gaming-peripheral manufacturer to find the newest models.
• I put my hands on 37 new gaming mice and tested them against our long-standing picks in this guide.
• I consulted senior staff writer Kimber Streams, Wirecutter’s resident mouse expert and the previous author of this guide.
• Like all Wirecutter journalists, I review and test products with complete editorial independence. I’m never made aware of any business implications of my editorial recommendations. Read more about our editorial standards.

If you play games on a PC, you should consider a gaming mouse. These models offer faster response times than regular wired or wireless mice, more precise sensors, ergonomically placed buttons that you can customize with software, comfortable shapes, and scroll wheels with decisive ratchets. Most gaming mice let you switch between different sensitivity levels with the push of a button, allowing you to, say, lower the sensitivity for a first-person shooter and then turn it up for browsing the web. They often light up with pretty colors, too.

Wired gaming mice are cheaper than their wireless counterparts, and you don’t have to worry about recharging or wireless interference with wired models. But a wireless mouse is worth considering if you want to reduce desk clutter, if you play games in multiple locations, or if cable drag annoys you. For years, wireless wasn’t a good option on gaming mice because of latency or lag. Nowadays, good wireless gaming mice are comparable to wired gaming mice in low latency, and some offer lower latency than Bluetooth or non-gaming wireless mice. Even some e-sports pros use wireless gaming mice now.

In our years of testing mice, we’ve found that a few features matter more than others:

• Comfort: The most important feature of any mouse is whether it feels comfortable in your hand. Comfort is dependent on your hand size and grip style, so what works for one person doesn’t always work for another. We aim to find mice that feel comfortable for the widest range of hand sizes and grips, but no mouse is universally comfortable.
• Buttons: In addition to left- and right-click buttons, a mouse should have at least two extra buttons near the thumb, and maybe one or two on top (including the clickable scroll wheel). All these buttons should be easy to reach for average-size hands. We eliminate mice with buttons that are too easy to click by mistake or too difficult to reach on purpose.
• Scroll wheel: The scroll wheel should be sturdy and easy to grip, with distinctive ratchets that make it clear when you’ve swapped weapons, for example. It should also provide a crisp, satisfying click, and it shouldn’t feel mushy or difficult to press.
• Build quality: A good gaming mouse shouldn’t feel hollow and cheap or flex under pressure.
• Sensor: All modern gaming mice—even the budget models—have good sensors, so this isn’t a differentiating factor. Manufacturers like to brag about high-DPI sensors, but many people rarely use settings higher than 3,000 DPI, and most Overwatch 2 pro players keep it between 800 DPI and 1,600 DPI.
• Switches: Some gaming mice still use mechanical switches, which can fail sooner than expected on a small percentage of gaming mice. (You can read more about double-click failure below.) But many manufacturers have switched to optical or hybrid switches to avoid such failure, and we prefer mice that use those when possible.
• Software: Most gaming mice come with software suites that allow you to assign keystrokes, macros, and functions to almost any of the mouse’s buttons, to tweak its sensitivity (DPI/CPI) and polling rate (how often the mouse tells your computer where it is), and to customize its lighting. Better software supports multiple profiles for switching the mouse’s sensitivity and button configuration to match the game you’re playing. You should be able to save those settings directly on the mouse so that you can use them without having to run the software constantly, or so that you can take your configurations between computers. Though Windows compatibility is most important for gaming, we look for Mac compatibility too.
• Price: Most high-quality wired gaming mice cost between $50 and $80, but if you’re willing to sacrifice build quality, fancy lighting, and some extra buttons, you can get a solid budget wired gaming mouse for closer to $30. Wireless gaming mice cost a lot more—we’ve found that you typically have to pay between $120 and $150 for a great one, but you can find a solid budget model for near $60.
• Extra features: Most gaming mice come with customizable RGB lighting. A few come with weights for you to tweak the heft of the mouse to your exact liking. These features are nice bonuses but not essential.

For wireless gaming mice, we consider all the same criteria we do for wired gaming mice, plus two additional factors:

• Wireless performance: We expect a great wireless gaming mouse to have minimal latency, interference, and lag, all of which can ruin your game at a crucial moment or just frustrate you constantly. This partially depends on your setup: USB 3.0 ports and devices have been shown to radiate radio-frequency noise that can interfere with the performance of devices using the 2.4 GHz wireless band. The noise can radiate from a port on your computer, a port on the connected device, or the cable connecting the two. Some wireless gaming mice come with an extender so that you can move the USB dongle away from sources of interference for a more reliable connection.
• Battery life: Most gaming mice nowadays are rated for 70 to 300 hours of battery life on average, but how fast the battery will drain depends on the lighting, the polling rate, and the mode of connectivity. We look for the longest battery life possible, as well as the ability to lower the polling rate and dim the lighting to conserve the battery. Any mouse with a rechargeable battery should still work when it’s plugged in to charge.

We start by testing each mouse using each grip style, as well as soliciting the opinions of people with different hand sizes and grips. We eliminate mice with obvious comfort issues, poorly placed buttons, inferior build quality, and subpar buttons and scroll wheels. We then spend hours using each of the finalists for gaming and work, and we evaluate their respective software. For wireless mice, we test the connection’s reliability by using each mouse with a gaming desktop more than 3 feet away from the receiver.

Mouse comfort varies based on hand size, so we researched average hand sizes for adults using data compiled by the Georgia Tech Research Institute and a 1980 study of hand anthropometry commissioned by the US Army. Both studies showed an average of 4 inches from the base of the palm to the base of the middle finger. The Georgia Tech study found an average of 2.95 inches from the base of the middle finger to the tip, and the US Army study found an average of 3.23 inches.

We tested all of the top picks in this guide with a panel of eight people. Three of our testers had smaller-than-average hands, three testers had roughly average-size hands, and two testers had larger-than-average hands. The hand measurements of our panelists averaged out to a 4.1-inch palm, a 3.6-inch middle finger, and a 7.8-inch spread from pinky to thumb—so our panel was fairly representative.

Top pick

Razer Basilisk V3

The best gaming mouse

The Basilisk V3 is comfortable for most hand sizes and grip types, has plenty of buttons, and offers customizable RGB underglow lighting. But Razer’s Synapse 4 software doesn’t work on macOS.

Buying Options

$40 from Amazon

$40 from Walmart

$40 from Best Buy

The Razer Basilisk V3 is the most comfortable gaming mouse we’ve tested, suitable for the widest range of hand sizes and grip preferences. It offers plenty of well-placed, responsive buttons, as well as the ability to toggle between ratcheted and smooth scrolling. The Basilisk V3’s optical switches avoid the double-clicking issues that can impact mechanical switches, and we’re fond of its stylish RGB underglow. But the Razer Synapse 4 software required to customize the mouse doesn’t support macOS.

It’s comfortable for hands of all sizes and the most popular grip styles. Our top pick is almost identical in size and shape to our runner-up pick, the Logitech G502 X, but the Basilisk V3’s better-placed buttons make it easier for larger hands and atypical grips to find a comfortable hold. The textured plastic on the surface also makes the mouse easy to grip, especially for people whose fingers get sweaty while gaming.

The 11 programmable buttons feel crisp and satisfying, and they’re easy to reach. We especially like the clicky thumb buttons and the scroll wheel’s grippy texture. With the exception of one button located on the underside of the mouse, our testers found the Basilisk V3’s buttons mostly easy to reach and much less crowded than those on the G502 X. The mouse also has a nonremovable thumb clutch that’s easy to activate on purpose (unless you favor a palm grip and have very small hands) and hard to hit accidentally.

The scroll wheel offers both ratcheted and smooth scrolling. You can toggle the Basilisk V3 between ratcheted and no-friction scrolling with a quick press of the button beneath the scroll wheel. You can also take advantage of the “smart-reel” mode found in Razer’s Synapse software, which automatically swaps to smooth scrolling when you scroll faster.

You can customize the mouse in Razer’s software and save up to five profiles to the onboard memory. In the Windows-only Synapse 4 software, you can customize the Basilisk V3’s lighting, assign actions to all the buttons, set the sensitivity level, and adjust the polling rate. You can also set up separate profiles tied to specific applications; for example, you can tie different DPI to different games, which is handy if you bounce between genres and don’t want to cycle through sensitivities when you switch from one game to another. The Basilisk V3 has onboard memory for up to five profiles—so you can use your settings without the software running or take them between computers—and Synapse also offers cloud storage.

It has fun RGB lighting that can sync up with other Razer accessories. The Basilisk V3 offers customizable RGB lighting underneath the mouse, on the scroll wheel, and on the Razer logo (which is blocked entirely by your palm when you’re holding the mouse). If you have other compatible Razer peripherals—such as our top gaming keyboard pick—you can also sync the lighting across devices with the Chroma app located in the Synapse software. However, this mouse does not support Windows Dynamic Lighting, so it can’t sync up with non-Razer accessories.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

Razer’s software works only on Windows. Synapse 4 is not available for macOS, so you need a Windows computer to customize the buttons, sensitivity, and lighting on the Basilisk V3.

One of our review units had a faulty scroll wheel. The scroll wheel got stuck in smooth scrolling mode, and neither the physical button nor the software allowed us to toggle on ratcheted scrolling. While we’ve seen other reports of owners encountering this issue, the other unit we’ve been using heavily for three years still works perfectly. Razer confirmed that this issue would be repaired only for owners whose Basilisk V3 is still within the company’s two-year warranty period.

Runner-up

Logitech G502 X

The next-best option

The G502 X is similar in size and shape to the Basilisk V3, but some testers found it awkward to hold because it has so many buttons. It lacks RGB lights.

Buying Options

$47 from Amazon

$50 from Best Buy

$64 from Walmart

If the Razer Basilisk V3 is unavailable, the next-best option is the Logitech G502 X. Similar to the Basilisk V3 in size and shape, the G502 X is comfortable for most hand sizes and grips. It also has plenty of responsive buttons and a removable thumb clutch, and it’s available in black or white. But some of our testers found the G502 X awkward to hold because it has so many buttons, and it lacks fun RGB lights.

It’s similar in size and shape to our top pick, but our testers found it less comfortable. The G502 X’s crowded button layout leaves less room for your fingers, and the placement leaves less room for grip variations. Several of our smaller-handed testers had difficulty reaching the forwardmost thumb clutch—an issue that these testers also encountered with the Basilisk V3—and some found the two buttons next to the left-click hard to reach.

It has more buttons than any of our other picks. The G502 X has 12 buttons, 11 of which are customizable. Having more buttons can be handy for gaming, but that many can get in your way. All of the buttons offer crisp, clicky feedback and feel satisfying and responsive. The mouse employs Logitech’s hybrid switches, which combine both optical and mechanical signals. So far we’ve seen only a couple of reports of double-click failure from owners of this mouse, and we’re keeping an eye on owner reviews to see if the issue becomes more prevalent.

As on our top pick, the G502 X’s scroll wheel can toggle between ratcheted and smooth scrolling. In our tests, the G502 X’s rubber scroll wheel felt smooth and less grippy than the Basilisk V3’s aggressively textured rubber wheel. Even so, we had no issues with our fingers slipping around while scrolling or using the tilt-click function.

Its software is compatible with Windows and macOS, but the onboard memory profiles are faulty. Using Logitech’s G Hub software, you can remap buttons and record macros, customize the DPI sensitivity levels and polling rate, and create profiles for individual games. Although the G502 X has storage for up to five onboard memory profiles, it failed to correctly save macros we assigned to different profiles—an issue that many owners have reported. We also tried assigning these functions in Logitech’s separate Onboard Memory Manager app, but the problem persisted. And unlike Razer’s Synapse software, G Hub doesn’t offer a cloud storage option.

There’s no RGB lighting. It isn’t an essential feature, but it is a fun one. If you want customizable RGB lighting, consider one of our other picks instead—the Basilisk V3 has fancy underglow, a light-up scroll wheel, and an RGB logo on the palm rest.

Budget pick

Logitech G203 Lightsync

Excellent performance for less

The Logitech G203 is smaller than our top picks and has fewer buttons, but it’s just as customizable, and its sensor is plenty accurate.

Buying Options

$19 from Amazon

$20 from Walmart

$20 from Best Buy

The Logitech G203 Lightsync is by far the best inexpensive gaming mouse. Compared with our top picks, the G203 is smaller and less comfortable, and it offers fewer inputs, but it has a decent sensor and responsive, satisfying buttons, and it’s customizable. It also doesn’t feel as cheap as its price tag suggests. It’s available in a few fun colors—blue and purple in addition to the usual white and black—and it has customizable RGB lighting zones.

It’s comfortable for small hands and people who favor fingertip and claw grips. Because the G203 is smaller and flatter than our top pick and runner-up and is not ergonomically sculpted, it’s less comfortable for people with average-size or large hands or those who favor a palm grip. One of our larger-handed testers said, “I wish it were taller.”

It has fewer buttons than our top pick, but that’s fine for most games. The G203 has six buttons: two programmable buttons on the left side, left- and right-click, scroll-click, and a button below the scroll wheel that cycles through DPI settings. All the buttons are easy to reach and feel clicky and satisfying, but like any mouse with mechanical switches, the G203 can succumb to double-click failure.

The G203 doesn’t feel as premium as our pick, but it has held up well for years. The G203 is made from cheap-feeling textured plastic that creaks under heavy grip pressure, and compared with the excellent scroll wheels on our other wired picks, the G203’s scroll wheel feels mushier. But this scroll wheel is textured and easy to grip, the down-click is easy to activate, and it’s responsive. And for around $30, this mouse has held up surprisingly well over the years.

Like our runner-up pick, the G203 works with Logitech’s G Hub software. In Logitech G Hub, you can customize the G203’s button behaviors, DPI, and lighting. But the mouse can save only one profile to its onboard memory slot, and assigning profiles in the software can be a bit confusing.

The RGB lighting can sync with other accessories—even those outside the Logitech ecosystem. Whereas many cheap gaming mice lack lighting entirely or offer just one color, the G203 Lightsync has customizable RGB lighting zones on the logo—which is blocked by your palm—and on a cool light strip around the outside of the mouse. In the G Hub software, you can program the lighting to react to your audio or mirror your screen, or you can assign any number of fun effects and presets. And because the mouse is compatible with Windows Dynamic Lighting, it can sync up with other supported peripherals outside of the Logitech ecosystem.

Upgrade pick

Razer Basilisk V3 Pro

A wireless upgrade

The Basilisk V3 Pro is the best wireless gaming mouse thanks to its comfortable shape, well-placed buttons, optical switches, and decent battery life.

Buying Options

$130$100 from Amazon

You save $30 (23%)

$130$100 from Walmart

You save $30 (23%)

$100 from Best Buy

If you want a wireless gaming mouse and don’t mind paying more, get the Razer Basilisk V3 Pro. It’s the most comfortable wireless gaming mouse we tested—it’s virtually identical to the wired Razer Basilisk V3 in size, shape, and build quality, and its buttons and scroll wheel are the same too. The Basilisk V3 Pro also uses Razer’s optical switches and Synapse 4 software for customization. This mouse can connect via Bluetooth or a 2.4 GHz USB dongle, and that dongle connection makes it just as fast and responsive as a wired gaming mouse. It also has decent battery life, and it can charge wirelessly via an optional dock.

It has the same great shape and size as our top pick. The ergonomic shape is comfortable for hands of all sizes, the buttons are just as crisp and precise, and the scroll wheel has the same satisfying feel and can toggle between tactile and smooth scrolling.

It can connect wirelessly via Bluetooth or USB dongle. During our testing, with the dongle plugged into a desktop computer about 3 feet away, we didn’t experience any lag, latency, or connection issues. By default, the Basilisk V3 Pro has a 1,000 Hz polling rate—the same as that of wired gaming mice—and according to Rtings.com’s latency tests, this wireless model is a little faster than even some wired mice. It also offers a Bluetooth connection, which can be convenient for productivity tasks.

The mouse comes with a wireless extender, and it offers built-in dongle storage. If you do encounter hiccups with the wireless connection—because all USB 3.0 devices can emit wireless interference—the Basilisk V3 Pro includes an extender for its USB dongle so that you can place it closer to the mouse and farther from the source of interference. We also appreciate the small cavity on the Basilisk V3 Pro’s underside for storing the 2.4 GHz USB dongle when you need to take your mouse with you.

You can even charge it wirelessly. Razer sells a version of the Basilisk V3 Pro that comes with a charging puck and the Razer Mouse Dock Pro, but they cost a lot more on top of an already expensive mouse, and you can’t use the mouse when it’s docked. In our testing, the puck was easy to install, and the magnetic dock stayed put on the desk and effectively charged the Basilisk V3 Pro overnight. We also enjoyed the extra synced RGB lights on the underside of the Mouse Dock Pro.

It has long battery life for a gaming mouse. Razer claims 90 hours of battery life when the mouse is connected via the USB dongle and set to the default 1,000 Hz with the lights on at the default 33% brightness. Although we don’t have a formal battery test for mice, in our real-world testing we have found that Razer’s battery life estimates are accurate. Regardless, you can extend the battery life by forgoing the lighting and lowering the polling rate to 500 Hz or 125 Hz when you’re not gaming. You can also check the remaining battery percentage in Razer’s Synapse software and tweak how long the mouse takes to enter sleep or low-power mode.

It offers customizable RGB lighting that supports Windows Dynamic Lighting. The Basilisk V3 Pro has 13 zones of RGB lighting that shine through the scroll wheel, the palm logo, and around the bottom of the mouse. You can use the Chroma app in Razer’s Synapse 4 software to customize it, and unlike the wired Basilisk V3, this wireless model can sync to other, non-Razer peripherals through Dynamic Lighting on Windows.

You can use it in wired mode, but most third-party cables don’t fit. The Basilisk V3 Pro comes with a braided USB-C cable for charging, and the mouse works in wired mode while it’s plugged in. But because the Basilisk V3 Pro’s charging port is recessed, most third-party cables don’t fit. We’d prefer a design that allows for any replacement cable rather than relying on Razer’s specially shaped plastic housing.

Budget pick

Logitech G305 Lightspeed

A cheaper wireless mouse

The G305 Lightspeed is small, has fewer buttons, and lacks lighting, but it’s accurate and responsive. It’s also lighter than our upgrade pick and blessed with longer battery life.

Buying Options

$30 from Amazon

$30 from Best Buy

If you want a less expensive wireless gaming mouse, your best option is the Logitech G305 Lightspeed, which forfeits some buttons and features but still offers great performance. This mouse has no lighting, only one onboard memory profile, and no Bluetooth wireless connectivity. However, it’s comfortable despite being small, and it offers even longer battery life than our upgrade pick does.

Like our budget pick, the G305 is best suited for smaller hands and claw grips. The G305 is identical in size and shape to our budget wired pick, the G203 Lightsync. Compared with the Basilisk V3 Pro’s design, the G305’s shape isn’t ergonomically sculpted to the hand, it lacks a thumb rest, and it’s smaller in every dimension. But it’s slightly lighter, and we found it comfortable to use for hours on end without cramping or discomfort.

It has six programmable buttons. You can customize any of the buttons in Logitech’s G Hub software, which is intuitive to use and available for both Windows and macOS. But the mouse can store only one profile to its onboard memory, and as with our other Logitech picks, assigning the onboard profiles can be confusing.

It can connect wirelessly via USB dongle, but it lacks Bluetooth and cannot work in wired mode. In our tests, we never experienced any lag, latency, or connection issues. But if you do encounter problems, the G305 Lightspeed offers no option for you to use it with a wired connection, and if it dies on you mid-game, you can’t recharge it with a USB cable.

Its battery is estimated to last nearly three times as long as that of our upgrade pick. The top of the G305 Lightspeed pops off to reveal one AA battery and a cavity to store the USB dongle. Logitech reports up to 250 hours of battery life for this mouse—nearly triple Razer’s 90-hour estimate for the Basilisk V3 Pro. Although we don’t have a formal battery test for mice, we’ve found Logitech’s estimate to be consistent with our experience, and you can use the G Hub software to check if the battery level is low or high, though it doesn’t give an exact percentage.

The mouse has no RGB lighting, but it comes in a handful of distinctive colors. If you want to add a pop of color to your desk in lieu of lighting, the G305 Lightspeed adds a few two-toned looks to the customary black and white schemes: a cute lilac option with a royal-purple accent down the scroll wheel, blue with a mint accent, and mint with lilac.

If you want a super-light wireless gaming mouse: As its name suggests, the Logitech G Pro X Superlight 2 Dex is very light at just 2.1 ounces—for comparison, the Basilisk V3 Pro is 3.95 ounces. It’s comfortable, and its buttons are easy to reach, but we still prefer the more ergonomic shape and button placement of the Basilisk V3 Pro. The G Pro X Superlight 2 Dex also has fewer buttons and lacks RGB lighting, and it can’t connect via Bluetooth. But it’s the best super-light option we’ve tested that nails all the essential features without feeling flimsy or cheap.

If you prefer the Basilisk shape but want a cheaper wireless option: The Razer Basilisk V3 X HyperSpeed offers a shape nearly identical to that of our upgrade pick, the Razer Basilisk V3 Pro, but it costs nearly twice as much as our wireless budget pick. This version has RGB lighting only in the scroll wheel, it uses mechanical switches, and it has nine buttons instead of 11. It’s powered by a AA battery, which gives it longer battery life—Razer claims it will last up to 285 hours with the wireless dongle connection and up to 535 hours connected via Bluetooth.

If you’re left-handed or ambidextrous: The Logitech G Pro 2 Lightspeed Wireless is the best gaming mouse we’ve found for left-handed people. It has an ambidextrous design with magnetic, programmable thumb buttons that can attach to the right or left side, and it comes with extra button covers that can snap onto the opposite side to prevent accidental clicks. At 2.82 ounces, it’s one of the lightest mice we recommend. But it can’t connect via Bluetooth, and its reported battery life of 60 hours (with the lighting on) is the lowest of our picks.

If you have small hands: The wired Razer Cobra and wireless Cobra Pro are particularly comfortable if our top picks are too large for your hands. Both models offer a comfortable shape for all three grips, easy-to-reach buttons, and Razer’s optical switches. We were unable to save keyboard functions to the wired Cobra’s onboard memory, so you’ll need the Razer Synapse software running to customize that model; this wasn’t an issue on the more expensive wireless Cobra Pro.

Razer has released new, more expensive versions of our top pick and upgrade pick, the wired Razer Basilisk V3 35K and the wireless Razer Basilisk V3 Pro 35K. We’re currently testing both mice, which are identical in shape, size, and build to our current picks but have a new sensor that raises the maximum sensitivity from 30,000 DPI to 35,000 DPI. The wired Basilisk V3 35K also adds Razer’s Optical Gen-3 switches, which our upgrade pick uses.

We don’t think the new sensor is worth paying an extra $30 for right now, but we’ll continue testing these models, and we may recommend them if they drop in price.

If your gaming mouse dies earlier than you expect, it’s most likely because the mechanical switches under the buttons have failed. The contact point inside the mechanical switches can degrade and cause the mouse to register a double-click when you click only once. This failure can happen for a variety of reasons, including worn or corroded switch contacts—caused by humidity, how hard you click, or even just regular use—or the way gaming-mouse software interprets the resulting click signal. (An ordinary mouse can fail this way too, but you’re probably not clicking as hard or as quickly on a spreadsheet or on Facebook as you are in Dota 2.)

One gaming mouse product designer told us that wireless mice are more susceptible to this problem because their lower voltage, which conserves battery life, can accelerate corrosion in the switch. iFixit’s Arthur Shi explains in an article that “in a low-voltage switch, with possibly worn or corroded contacts, the amount of signal noise from the switch mechanism can overwhelm the mouse’s filters and let through phantom clicks.”

After reading thousands of gaming mouse reviews, we’ve discovered that this issue affects gaming mice with mechanical switches from every brand but impacts a relatively small percentage of owners. Companies also seem to cover this issue in their warranties and will swap out mice that develop this problem. So we don’t dismiss every gaming mouse that uses mechanical switches, but we do note those that do.

While some companies continue to use mechanical switches, many have moved to optical switches or hybrid switches, which use both mechanical and optical switches. (Asus has taken a different approach by making the switches in some of its gaming mice easy to pop out and replace.) We’ve seen a couple of reports of double-click issues on hybrid switches, and we’re keeping an eye on owner reviews for models that use such switches.

Wired

We liked the MSI Forge GM100’s comfortable palm support and extra center buttons, two features that our budget pick lacks. But the buttons weren’t quite as crisp or satisfying, and we found the scroll wheel too smooth.

Although the NZXT Lift 2 Symmetrical was comfortable, its buttons felt way too mushy.

The NZXT Lift 2 Ergo’s shape was not as comfortable as that of our top pick. It also has fewer buttons and lacks RGB lighting.

Wireless

The Logitech G Pro X Superlight 2 was a former pick in this guide for a super-light option, but we’ve replaced it with the new Logitech G Pro X Superlight 2 Dex. This model is still a great mouse, but the new version has a curvier shape that provides more comfortable palm support.

We liked the lightweight feel and shape of the Keychron M2 Wireless, M2 Mini Wireless, and M3 Mini Wireless, but they were not as comfortable as our picks. The default sensitivities also felt off in Bluetooth mode, and adjusting the DPI requires you to plug your mouse in with the receiver or a wired connection, set the polling rate to 125 Hz, and then customize the DPI before switching back to Bluetooth mode—hoops you don’t have to jump through with any of our picks.

The Lemokey G2 Wireless is a compelling superlight gaming mouse for the price. But at this writing, the mouse can be configured only in wired mode, and you have to go through the same tedious process as with the Keychron mice to adjust this model’s DPI for Bluetooth mode.

The Razer DeathAdder V3 HyperSpeed and Viper V3 Pro are light, but compared with the super-light mouse we recommend, their slim shapes felt less comfortable and supportive in our tests.

The right- and left-click buttons on the Logitech G309 Lightspeed made a high-pitched sound when pressed, and the scroll wheel was a bit wobbly. This model is also more expensive than our budget pick.

Other dismissals

We dismissed the following mice because they were less comfortable than our picks, exhibited design flaws, felt too heavy, or had poorly placed buttons:

• Asus ROG Gladius III, ROG Spatha X, TUF Gaming M4 Air, and TUF M4 Wireless
• Cherry Xtrfy M64 Wireless, Xtrfy M64 Pro Wireless, Xtrfy M68 Wireless, and Xtrfy M68 Pro Wireless
• Cooler Master MM311, MM711, and MM712
• Corsair Dark Core RGB Pro, Darkstar Wireless RGB, Harpoon RGB Pro, Katar Pro XT, M55 RGB Pro, M65 RGB Ultra, M65 RGB Ultra Wireless, M75, M75 Air Wireless, Nightsabre Wireless RGB, and Sabre RGB Pro
• HyperX Pulsefire Core, Pulsefire Haste 2, and Pulsefire Haste Wireless
• Keychron M3
• Logitech G303 Shroud Edition, G403 Hero, G502 X Plus, G502 X Lightspeed, G703 Lightspeed Hero, G705, and G903 Lightspeed
• Mad Catz RAT 8+ ADV
• Microsoft Pro IntelliMouse
• MSI Clutch GM31
• Razer Atheris, DeathAdder Essential, DeathAdder V2 Mini, DeathAdder V2 X HyperSpeed, DeathAdder V3, DeathAdder V3 Pro, Orochi V2, Viper 8K, and Viper V3 Hyperspeed
• Roccat Burst Core, Burst Pro, Burst Pro Air, Kone Air, Kone Pro, Kone Pro Air, and Kone XP Air
• SteelSeries Aerox 3, Aerox 5, Prime, Prime Mini, Prime+, Prime Wireless, Prime Mini Wireless, and Rival 3

We eliminated the following mice for cheap build quality and buttons, or for simply falling short of our picks in build quality:

• Alienware Pro Wireless
• Asus ROG Gladius III Wireless and ROG Keris II Ace
• Corsair M75 Wireless and Nightsword RGB
• HyperX Pulsefire Haste 2 Core Wireless and Pulsefire Haste 2 Mini Wireless
• Razer Deathadder V2 Pro, Viper V2 Pro, and Viper Ultimate
• Roccat Kone XP
• SteelSeries Rival 5
• Turtle Beach Kone II, Kone II Air, and Burst II Air

The following wireless models all rely on mechanical switches that are susceptible to the double-click failure:

• Asus ROG Harpe Ace Aim Lab Edition
• HyperX Pulsefire Haste 2 Wireless
• Logitech G Pro Wireless, G Pro X Superlight, G502 Lightspeed, and G502 Hero

We dismissed the following mice for having faulty or limiting software:

• Alienware Wireless Gaming Mouse (AW620M)
• Asus ROG Keris Wireless AimPoint and TUF Gaming M3 Gen II

This article was edited by Kimber Streams and Caitlin McGarry.