The Best Mouse (and Mousepad) for Every Kind of Gamer

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Featured in this article

Best Wireless Mouse

SteelSeries Prime Wireless

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Best Corded Mouse

SteelSeries Sensei Ten

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Best Under $50

Logitech G203

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Picking a gaming mouse is a very personal endeavor. Everyone’s hands are different, everyone’s preferences and needs are different, and we all play different games. That’s why we’re lucky to live in the golden age of gaming mice, with major manufacturers pouring engineering muscle into one-upping one another. The result is a market loaded with high-quality yet relatively inexpensive mice.

We’ve tested quite a few, and while we can’t tell you precisely which mouse is right for you—you may prefer wired or wireless, more or fewer buttons, and obviously everyone’s hands are a bit different—we have a variety of recommendations. These are the best gaming mice for every kind of gamer we can think of, plus a couple of mousepads for good measure.

Be sure to also read up our other buying guides, like the Best Gaming Headsets, Best Wireless Gaming Headsets, and Best Keyboards, for more gear recommendations.

Updated October 2023: We’ve added the Logitech MX Anywhere 3S, Logitech Pro X Superlight 2, and Razer Naga V2 Pro.

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Photograph: Logitech

Looking for a Great Mouse? Look at Your Palms

Palm Reading

One aspect to consider when shopping for a mouse is its size. I used to use Logitech’s G305 until I realized it’s way too small for my palm size—I was forcing myself to grip it a certain way and was straining my wrist in the process. Not good. This also depends on how you hold your mouse. Are you using your whole palm? Just your fingertips? Or are you using it claw-style, with your fingertips and bottom of your palm touching the mouse?

I recommend measuring the distance from the tip of your middle finger to the bottom of your palm, then finding a mouse that’s roughly the same length. You can do this with your hand’s width too to make sure the mouse you’re buying isn’t too wide or too narrow. Rocket Jump Ninja has a nifty tool that lets you input your measurements and spits out mouse recommendations based on your hand size. Razer has a handy guide too, but it only recommends Razer-made mice. By measuring your hand, you can enjoy a much more comfortable gaming experience. That’s how I found out that Logitech’s G604 is the best size for me—my wrist says thank you. —Julian Chokkattu
Photograph: SteelSeries

Best Wireless Mouse

SteelSeries Prime Wireless

I’ve always had a soft spot for Steelseries gaming mice. They’re always so balanced: nice lights but not too many; not too expensive; and lovely, understated design. But it wasn’t until the Steelseries Prime Wireless mouse that I really, truly, madly, deeply fell in love. The Prime Wireless mouse is a perfect fit for a wide range of hand sizes, and it isn’t cluttered with extra buttons.

It’s designed for professional esports play, and it shows. The mouse is quick and responsive, and the buttons are nice and clicky. The reception range is impressive too. I’m about 10 feet away from my PC tower most of the time, and even with obstructions, the Prime Wireless never loses connection or starts skipping across the screen (even when it’s low on battery, which doesn’t happen often). It also glides effortlessly across just about any surface you put it on.
Photograph: SteelSeries

Best Corded Mouse

SteelSeries Sensei Ten

This mouse is a modern take on a classic design. The Sensei Ten is ultra-small, super lightweight, and packed with impressive technology. It features a built-in tilt-tracking sensor that ensures the mouse doesn’t lose its place, even when you pick it up and move it—for instance, when you’re at the edge of your mousepad and need to quickly get back to the center. It can save you precious milliseconds when you need to move your mouse, making the Sensei Ten well-suited to competitive play. Its sleek and approachable design also makes it a killer choice for anyone looking for a quick, light, and comfy gaming mouse.
Photograph: Logitech

Logitech G203

Budget gaming mice often forgo a lot of the conveniences and performance you get out of nicer models, but the Logitech G203 never feels like it’s lacking. It’s shockingly inexpensive but can compete with much pricier mice. The sensor has a lower maximum sensitivity than you’ll get out of a more expensive offering—8,000 dots per inch—so if you need that top-end sensitivity, you’ll want to look elsewhere. But it features six buttons, compatibility with Logitech’s G Hub software, and most importantly, has RGB lighting.

Photograph: Logitech

Best for Comfort

Logitech MX Master 3S

The MX Master 3S isn’t a gaming mouse per se, but it’s also better at being a gaming mouse than many dedicated gaming mice. It features a few extra customizable buttons, plus a horizontal side scrolling wheel. It’s also ridiculously comfortable. Logitech’s been making mice for years, and this mouse benefits from all that experience, with a smooth arc for your palm and a rest spot for your thumb. It even includes a button in that spot where your thumb naturally rests.
Photograph: Razer

Best Mouse With a Dock

Razer Viper Ultimate

There’s a lot of technology packed into a top-of-the-line gaming mouse. The Razer Viper Ultimate features optical switches and industry-leading wireless response times lower than 0.2 milliseconds. But the most important criterion for a gaming mouse is a simple one: How often do you think about it? A good gaming mouse has helpful features, but a great gaming mouse should be an extension of your hand. You shouldn’t have to think about it. It should be intuitive. The Razer Viper Ultimate is all of that.

It comes with a charging dock and an itty-bitty wireless dongle. The dongle stores inside the mouse when it’s not in use. Oh, and it’s ambidextrous. It’s not our best overall wireless mouse anymore, but it’s still a killer pick and the best wireless mouse with a charging dock.
Photograph: Logitech

For Competitive Gaming

Logitech Pro X Superlight 2

For fast-paced games like FPS shooters, speed matters more than anything else. The few milliseconds between when your brain tells your finger to press a button and the game registering the button press can be the difference between virtual life and death. Wireless mice are often at a disadvantage on this front, but Logitech’s Pro X Superlight 2 is one of the few that rivals wired mice. It also features two programmable side buttons, an internal compartment to store its USB wireless receiver, and it’s comfortable for most people’s hands.

Photograph: Roccat

For a Snappy Click

Roccat Kone Pro Air

Roccat’s Kone Pro Air mouse is a favorite in my household. It’s ultralight; the internal, semitransparent lighting scheme is gorgeous; and its buttons are unbelievably snappy. They offer sharp, rich clicks that make you feel like you’re really sending that Doom Eternal cyber-monster straight back to hell. It’s a little less reliable at range than most of our other favorite wireless mice, but if you’re a normal person and keep your mouse on your desk, you won’t have any problems.
Photograph: Logitech

For Easy Wireless Charging

Logitech G Pro Wireless

Logitech’s G Pro series was designed with input from esports professionals. Lightning-fast response times and proper ergonomics ensure that the additional buttons are right where your fingers rest. The wireless receiver delivers 1-millisecond response times, so you won’t miss headshots due to lag. The buttons are satisfying and sturdy, with mechanically tensioned springs underneath both the left and right buttons, and separate key plates for accuracy.

It lasts around 48 hours on a single charge, but if you want to completely forget about charging, get the wireless charging-mat bundle.
Photograph: Razer

For Lefties

Razer Lancehead Tournament Edition

The Razer Lancehead is a great mouse for anyone, including left-handed players. Unlike some of its competitors, the Lancehead is designed with an ambidextrous chassis that easily fits in your right or left hand. Plus, it’s a high-quality Razer gaming mouse, so the sensor is quick on its feet, and the buttons are every bit as responsive as they should be.

Photograph: Logitech

For No-Frills Traditionalists

Logitech G Pro Wired

Simple and straightforward, the Logitech G Pro corded mouse is a workhorse. It’s sturdy, with satisfyingly responsive clicks and an elegant design language—custom-tuned with feedback from esports professionals. The lighting on the back of the mouse is just right, enough to mark it as a gaming mouse but not so much that your desktop becomes a trippy planetarium show. This mouse provides the responsiveness you need for competitive play without any frills or design flourishes that get in your way. It’s a pro-grade device, through and through.
Photograph: SteelSeries

For Button Mashers

SteelSeries Aerox 9 Wireless

One of Product writer Eric Ravenscraft’s favorite ways to play games is with a mouse that has just … way too many buttons. That makes the SteelSeries Aerox 9 Wireless one of the best mice around. It has twelve buttons on the side, all of which can be customized with specific keys or macros. If you’ve ever played an MMO, you know there are never enough buttons.

If you’d prefer a wired option (and one that’s not $150), Logitech offers a comparable version: The G600 is normally $40. Eric’s been using this one since around the time Cataclysm came out and couldn’t be happier with it. But it is tethered, so if you need a wireless option, the Aerox is the way to go.
Photograph: Razer

For Tinkerers

Razer Naga V2 Pro

Our previous pick for this category, the Razer Naga Trinity, is still a great mouse, but the Naga V2 Pro has superseded it in just about every way (including price). Like the Trinity, the V2 Pro comes with three interchangeable plates with various arrangements of programmable buttons. However, this set no longer includes a plate with a circular array of six buttons, like the Trinity, and instead includes a more natural panel with six buttons laid out in a curved grid. Underneath, it also has a slot for an optional wireless charging puck, and the mouse features Razer’s ultra-customizable scroll wheel.

Photograph: HyperX

For Renegades

HyperX Pulsefire Surge RGB

The HyperX Pulsefire is a solid all-around gaming mouse at a reasonable price. It features customizable RGB lighting, quick response times, a comfortable chassis, and a couple of extra buttons right under your thumb. It might not have all the features of more expensive offerings—like removable side plates or a wireless charging mat—but it’s a great choice for most gamers. It’s a snappy performer, and it’s not going to break the bank. Especially since it’s often on sale.
Photograph: Logitech

For the Traveling Gamer

Logitech MX Anywhere 3S

Product writer Eric Ravenscraft spent his first week of playing Starfield on a laptop in a hotel room, and the MX Anywhere 3S was a big part of why that wasn’t a miserable experience. It pairs with up to three devices via Bluetooth, charges via USB-C, and gets a claimed 70 days of battery life on a single three-hour charge. And while we haven’t thoroughly proven that claim true, it’s lasted for weeks without dying, which is plenty for us. It also has a perfectly balanced heft that makes it comfortable to use even in a less-than-ideal environment (like a hotel room) without feeling either too flimsy or too heavy.
Photograph: Steelseries

For Small Desks

SteelSeries QcK Mousepad

One of the cheapest things you can do to upgrade your PC gaming experience is to invest in a high-quality mousepad. If you’re a mouse-and-keyboard gamer, having the right surface for your trusty little rodent can be super helpful. Not only do you have a nice little area of your desk cordoned off for mouse use, but you also get a surface designed to be as friction-free and slick as possible—so you’ll be as quick as possible.

SteelSeries’ QcK mousepad is one of my all-time favorites. The medium size is perfect for most desks, even small ones. It’s well made and doesn’t fray easily—cheaper mousepads often fray at the edges, which ruins the aesthetic a good mousepad can lend to a workstation.

Photograph: Grovemade

For Small Desks and Soft Vibes

Grovemade Wool Felt Desk Pad

This doesn’t seem like your usual gaming accessory, because it’s not. It’s a wool felt pad from Portland, Oregon, company Grovemade, and it’s large enough to fit a keyboard and a mouse with room to spare. It feels soft and plush under your wrists, and all of the gaming mice on this list just glide over its surface, it’s like they’re sliding on glass. It’s a big surprise, honestly. Not to mention, a felt desk pad adds an air of sophistication and style to any desk, without making it seem too uptight. The light great color looks amazing under RGB lighting in a dark room. It’s an easy and affordable way to inject some unique style into your work (and play) space.
Photograph: Ryan King/Getty Images

What Makes a Good Gaming Mouse?

It’s Not All About RGB

Here are a few features that really separate a gaming mouse from a regular came-with-my-PC kind of mouse:

Extra-sensitive optical sensors: Gaming mice should have more sensitive optical sensors that can detect smaller movements more quickly than a standard mouse.

More buttons: At a minimum, a good gaming mouse should have a clickable scroll wheel, a button for adjusting sensitivity, and two buttons where your thumb rests. Those extra thumb buttons can be lifesavers in competitive games.

Better buttons: They should also have higher-quality buttons, and more of them, than a standard office mouse. The left and right buttons should have individual switches inside, tensioned to register rapid clicks and reinforced to withstand more frequent clicks than a normal mouse. Top-of-the-line gaming mice often feature proprietary mechanical switches inside that give them a more tactile feel when you click.

Don’t buy the dpi hype: Dots per inch is a metric that describes a mouse’s overall sensitivity. A higher dpi means it can respond quicker, which is helpful in competitive online games. However, even if your mouse can go all the way up to, say, 20,000 dpi, most people (even in online games) keep their sensitivity around 800 to 1,600 dpi. So more doesn’t necessarily mean better.