Finding the best gaming mouse is a challenge, but we're here to help. I've tested hundreds of gaming mice over the years so I'm pretty confident in these gaming mouse recommendations. I've also included a general guide so you can choose the right gaming mouse based on your favourite games, hand size and more at the bottom of the page.
It's also worth mentioning that there's no clear best gaming mouse on the market - but there are definitely better and worse options based on our extensive testing. While we have taken what critics and users think when making our selections, these are still just starting points to guide your own experimentation, rather than a definitive ranking. Don't worry if your favourite mouse didn't make the list - we probably considered it, but ultimately went with a different option.
To make things easier for you, we've got quick links to our 10 current recommendations - and to our detailed guidance on choosing the perfect mouse to suit you, including how to measure your hand size, whether wireless is worthwhile and other common questions. Click through to the topic you're interested in below, or read on for the full article!
DF Direct Weekly #188: Death Stranding Xbox, God of War Ragnarök PS5 Pro, Switch 2 Back Compat! Best gaming mouse overall
The Razer Viper V3 Pro is an all-star mouse that ticks all the boxes: a comfortable symmetric design, an ultra-light weight of 54 grams, reliable 2.4GHz wireless, rapid optical switches and a high-end sensor. There's nothing I would change here, and you can easily use the Viper V3 Pro to excel in anything from Minecraft to Counter-Strike 2.
USB-C charging and up to 95 hours of battery life make this a very easy mouse to live with too, or you can crank the polling rate up to 8000Hz to maximise performance on high refresh rate displays - there's even an option in the Synapse software to automatically enable this for gaming but lower it outside of games to save on battery life. There are certainly cheaper and arguably better value options available, but if you want the absolute best, the Viper V3 Pro has to be in the conversation.
Ultra-light alternatives? Check out our roundup of the best ultra-light gaming mice for FPS!
Second-best gaming mouse overall
The Logitech G502X Plus is the latest iteration on the immensely popular G502 series, which is known for its large number of programmable buttons, dual-mode infinite/ratcheted scroll wheel and wide, comfortable design. The flagship G502X Plus uses a hybrid optical-mechanical design that offers the fast feedback of opticals and the tactility of mechanical switches. The weight has also dropped substantially (100g for the G502X Plus vs 114g for the G502 Lightspeed) - a response to the continuing trend towards ultra-light options - and the thumb button has been made reversible and even removable, allowing it to fit a wider range of hand sizes and user preferences.
The mouse's RGB lighting looks fantastic too, with a diffuse look and a nice retrowave gradient out of the box. Taken together, the G502X Plus feels like a much more modern mouse than its predecessors, while maintaining the characteristic features, ergonomic right-handed design and relatively high weight that made it popular in the first place. For fans, there's plenty to appreciate.
Best budget gaming mouse
The SteelSeries Rival 3 is a top-tier budget mouse for small to medium-sized hands. It has a surprisingly low weight of 77g, making it technically an ultra-light, and a good shape with matte plastic that's easy to manoeuvre in claw or fingertip grip styles. The sensor is a top optical, similar to the well-respected PixArt 333m, and the Rival 3 also includes RGB lighting and six buttons - a great haul for a budget mouse.
While the Rival 3 is an ambidextrous shape, side buttons are only on the left side and these are quite slim. The mouse's cable is also sub-par, being made of rubber and staying quite inflexible, making a mouse bungee a wise move. The mouse feet are also a bit worse than those found on more premium mice. However, both of these elements can technically be upgraded by the user, so they're wise cost savings that don't hurt this mouse's potential in any meaningful way.
Best budget wireless mouse
The Logitech G305 belongs to a rare group of wireless gaming mice that are both relatively affordable and perform just as well as their wired counterparts. The G305 is a classic that offers long battery life (250 hours on a single AA battery), low-latency 2.4GHz Lightspeed wireless and an acceleration-free optical sensor that performed well in our testing.
You can swap in a Lithium Ion AAA battery with an adapter to lower the weight significantly - from ~100g to ~80g. This reduces battery life slightly and changes the balance, but the mod makes it feel more responsive in the hand so I personally prefer it.
If you like the egg-like shape of the G305 but want something a little more powerful, the Logitech G309 offers Logitech's newer Hero 25K sensor, optical switches, Bluetooth connectivity, a lower weight of 86g (before Li-Ion trick) and 300+ hours of battery life. These myriad improvements make it preferable overall, but its higher price at present makes the G305 the better value pick for most people.
Best wireless gaming mouse
The Logitech G Pro X Superlight 2 is one of the best gaming mice on the market and certainly the most popular option amongst esports athletes. Like the Razer Viper V3 Pro in our top slot, it combines a lightweight (60g) design with a high-end spec sheet: Hero 2 optical sensor, hybrid mechanical/optical switches and 2.4GHz Lightspeed wireless at polling rates up to 8000Hz. You can expect an impressive 95 hours of battery life max, with battery life if you choose to push polling rates higher - which generally only makes sense for those using high-end 360Hz+ monitors.
The impressive hardware available with the Superlight 2, combined with the mouse's streamlined shape, low weight and lack of cable drag, make it an absolute pleasure to use, even in the most demanding titles, like Counter-Strike 2, Rainbow Six: Siege or Valorant. We're happy to recommend it to most gamers, given its medium size (125mm/4.9" long, 63.5mm/2.5" wide). Even if you have never considered wireless mice before, the Superlight 2 is good enough to make an exception. It's also available in three colours - black, white and pink.
Best premium gaming mouse
The Razer Basilisk V3 Pro is the firm's high-end asymmetric wireless mouse, with bleeding-edge specs and a raft of features for a premium price that does feel largely justified. This mouse ticks a lot of boxes, with a right-handed ergonomic design that can perform well enough in a wide range of game genres, from FPS to MMO, although its high button count (11) and relatively high weight (112g) push it more towards the latter category.
Both switches and sensor are Razer's own designs, with third-generation optical switches and a Focus Pro 30K Optical Sensor, and they performed well in our testing with good tactility (switches) and perfect tracking (sensor). Battery life is solid too, at up to 90 hours over Razer's HyperSpeed Wireless. As usual for Razer products, RGB lovers are well catered for with the scroll wheel, logo and underside all illuminated and powerful Synapse software. Given the comfortable shape, top-tier internals and long battery life, I'm happy to give the Basilisk V3 Pro our recommendation.
Most comfortable gaming mouse
The Glorious Model I is a beautifully lightweight mouse in the mould of the popular Logitech G502 and Razer Basilisk, offering a high button count and a wide, comfortable shape. Unlike those mice though, the Model I features a high-quality flexible cable that makes it feel almost wireless, an ultra-light 69g design and high-quality mouse skates.
The effect is transformative - you still get the ergonomic right-handed design that so many people love, complete with a shelf for your thumb and four side buttons, but you also have a dramatically better package for first-person shooters and other fast-paced, competitive games. The side buttons are also replaceable, allowing you to opt for different shapes or flat panels that remove the buttons you don't need. However, you don't get the fancier scroll wheels of either of the Model I's inspirations, so you might still consider Razer or Logitech's offerings if this feature is important to you.
Best gaming mouse for small hands
If you have smaller hands, choosing a smaller mouse makes sense - and these days you don't have to sacrifice anything in terms of specs or features either. The Lemokey G1 is our new favourite here, offering excellent specs and safe, streamlined design at a fairly aggressive price point. The shape reminds me of a smaller Lamzu x Fantic Maya - a mouse that we already recommend in our best ultra-light gaming mice roundup - and feels excellent in the hand, with a nice matte coating and a kerb weight of only 55 grams.
The internal specs are competitive too, with a Pixart 3950 or 3395 optical sensor, Huano blue shell pink dot switches, and polling rates up to 8KHz wired or wireless thanks to a Realtek 8762G MCU. There's even a 600mAh battery, which is larger than you'd typically find in a mouse this size. Bluetooth is also available, which I found useful for working on a laptop.
Overall, this is a great mini mouse if you can get it, delivering top specs with excellent value.
Best gaming mouse for large hands
The Razer Deathadder V3 Pro is our top gaming mouse recommendation for people with larger hands, as it delivers excellent gaming performance while being comfortable to use all day with an ergonomic right-handed design. The mouse ticks all of the requirements for a modern gaming mouse, with a lightweight design (63g), high-end Focus Pro 30K optical sensor, optical mouse buttons and reliable 2.4GHz wireless.
There are some nice bundled extras too, including grip tape and a super-flexible cable that feels almost wireless to use when charging via USB-C. However, you'll have to pay extra for a HyperPolling dongle that supports the mouse's maximum 8000Hz polling rate - and accept a dip in battery life from 90 hours at 1000Hz to 17 hours at 8000Hz.
Overall, an awesome mouse that feels brilliant to use - if you can accept the slight difference in shape from past DeathAdder models, which will be a boon to some and a detriment to others.
Best MMO mouse
If you like to play games that require lots of different keys for your spells and abilities, choosing a mouse with plenty of side buttons can a nice way to keep up. The Corsair Scimitar RGB Elite is our pick for the best MMO mouse, thanks to the twelve buttons arranged in a grid on its side panel. Varying textures make it easy to identify each button in tense situations, and the entire grid can be moved forward or back to suit your hand size.
The mouse is about the same length (120mm) but wider (78mm/2.9") and heavier (122g) than the other mice on this list, which aids comfort but doesn't allow for as precise mouse movements. Still, a top-notch PixArt 3391 optical sensor and nice clicky buttons make this well-suited for most game genres. Corsair's software is also extremely powerful, giving you the tools you need to set up each button with the right macros.
Overall, we think the Scimitar RGB Elite is the best option for MMO gamers, just squeezing out our previous pick, the Razer Naga Trinity. This mouse's replaceable side panels make it better for FPS gaming, but we prefer Corsair's software and button layout.
The first step is normally to identify what games you're going to be playing most often. Most genres will be perfectly playable with any kind of mouse, but competitive titles such as PUBG, Counter-Strike, DotA 2, StarCraft 2 or Fortnite place higher demands on mouse precision, making mice with accurate optical sensors and light weight designs more desirable. Similarly, MMOs like World of WarCraft will benefit from having a higher number of buttons than normal for binding your most-used spells and abilities. The first four mice we recommended above are all suitable for FPS and MOBA games, while the last is designed expressly for MMOs or other games that require a large number of hotkeys. If you're playing games outside of these genres, choosing any of the mice on the list will be just fine.
Secondly, your hand size will determine how comfortable a given mouse is to use. Most people will be happy with a medium-sized mouse, including the first two recommendations, while those on the outer edges of the bell curve should start with our 'for small hands' and 'for large hands' recommendations. To find your hand size, keep your fingers together and measure from the tip of your longest finger to your wrist.
You can also measure your hand's width from the bottom of your hand, across your knuckles and past your thumb. You can compare these two hand measurements, length and width, with a mouse that you're considering. A mouse that is about 60 per cent in both dimensions should be suitable for your hand size.
For reference, my hand size is 200mm x 100mm, so I personally look for mice that are around 120mm x 60mm. Different grip styles can also influence your ideal mouse size; claw and fingertip grips will hover around the 60 per cent mark, while palm grips are flatter and therefore mice that are closer to 70 per cent of your hand size will feel more comfortable.
Setting a game type and a hand size should narrow the field of potential options substantially. From here, we would recommend mice that include optical sensors (eg the PixArt 3310 and above), low weight (~95g or less), a smooth shape and at least two side buttons. In terms of manufacturers, some of the best-trusted brands are BenQ Zowie, Logitech and SteelSeries, but mice from Corsair, Finalmouse and Razer are also popular and could be worth considering.
Of course, there are also specs and features that are relatively unimportant and should be considered last when choosing a mouse. I would place high maximum DPI settings, RGB lighting and good software into this category for most people, although of course all three features are nice to have. Extremely high (>3200) DPI options aren't evidence of a good sensor, RGB lighting is normally covered by your hand and most mice software include similar functionality with varying degrees of usability.
Finding the best gaming mouse for you can be a lengthy process, but it is also a rewarding one. We hope this guide has given you at least a place to start; good luck!
How much DPI do I need?
It depends on the games you play, but 3600 DPI is probably sufficient for most purposes. For accuracy's sake, training yourself to use a lower DPI like 400, 800 or 1200 may be beneficial.
What options are there for left-handed PC gamers?
The short answer is that most left-handed gamers survive using symmetric mice, with few true left-handed gaming mice available. We've included several of the former above, and we are looking for true left-handed mice to test and include on this list in the future.
Can you recommend some gaming mouse pads?
Sure, we have a full roundup of the best gaming mouse pads.