How to Choose The Best Gaming Mouse

Have you ever found yourself in the middle of a monster fight whilst playing your fighting game and you find that you’re loosing because your mouse can simply not keep up with the moves that you’re trying to make? Maybe its time for a new gaming mouse? However of all the gaming mice on the market, which one do you choose? Which mouse is the best gaming mouse?

Yes we all have some personal preferences in the way that our mouse works, but in the heat of a major battle, you want to know that your mouse can keep up and help you to win the fight, not cause you more problems than you already have.

What You Need to Consider When Buying the Best Gaming Mouse?

Ultimately deciding which is the best gaming mouse for you comes down to knowing your preferred game and the options / customization’s that will make you perform better whilst playing that particular game.

A simple mouse with a left and right button can be used to play computer games, but this does not mean that any mouse will be able to help you win at computer games and therefore if you want to really play computer games, you’re going to need the best gaming mouse.

In today’s world, a specific gaming mouse is considered one that has either an optical or laser sensor, an adjustable DP, an adjustable Polling rate up to and ideally above 1000Hz, a good grip meaning that it will not slip around in your hand and a selection of customizable buttons meaning that you can easily customize your mouse to each and every game that you play.

Sensor’s

The Mouse’s sensor is probably the most vital thing to consider when buying a gaming mouse as without a good sensor, you’re going to find it really hard to be accurate and precise. Typically there are two types of sensors that are used today, “Optical and Laser” each with there own added benefits and drawbacks.

• Optical sensors are most commonly found in cheap models as they are much cheaper to produce and whilst their tracking and sensitivity is okay, the top of the range optical sensor mice use infrared sensor which provides better DPI and stability over different surface types.
• Laser sensors which are typically found in more expensive mouse’s offer, much better tracking but are very sensitive to the surface that they are operated on and to get the best out of a laser sensor, you need to make sure that you have a good surface to operate them on.

Typically the best gaming mouse’s will use a combination of both a laser and optical sensor (Dual Sensor) which try to combine the fantastic accuracy of a laser and the superb stability of an optical sensor.

DPI

DPI or Dots per Inch refers to the speed at which a user can move the cursor across the screen. A mouse with a higher DPI will move the cursor across the screen fast than a mouse with a lower DPI. Most importantly for our gaming mouse is both the range of DPI number and the fact that we can customize this as we play our games. For example, when playing a shoot-em-up game, we want a high DPI number as we want our cursor to move quickly across the screen, however, if we are playing a sniper game where we need precision, not speed then we want to adjust this number lower to improve our accuracy.

Polling Rate

Gaming Mice work by processing data from the mouse sensor back to the computer. Its polling rate is how many times per second this can be done. A 1000Hz polling rate means that our mouse can send information back and forth 1000 times a second. Our gaming mice as a minimum should be 1000Hz, however, the bigger this number is the better the control of our mouse is going to be and therefore the better the accuracy of our game.

Customizable Buttons

When playing games it’s important to have a choice and given you may need a selection of buttons to be able to perform well during your game, having the choice is something that you should look for when buying a gaming mouse. Most gaming mice will come with at least one extra button to adjust the settings of your mouse, however some can come with up to 20 buttons that are fully programmable.

Scroll Wheel

A scrolling wheel is common on nearly all mice, however, a gaming mouse will have a solid feel and provide some decent feedback when turning as the last thing that you want to is to scroll your wheel past your weapon of choice if you’re playing any shooting games for example.

Wired OR Wireless

In the past, hard core gamers have sworn that mice should come with a Wire as they seem to perform better than a wireless mouse. A mouse with a wire, the cable is used to allow signals to travel between the mouse and computer, however with a wireless mouse, the air is used to transfer data which can cause lag which is a real problem if time is of the essence when playing your computer games.

Mouse Grip

This is an area that a review is very hard to make a decision about as your mouse grip and what you prefer is a personal choice that you can only decide what is right and what is best for you. Luckily, mouse makers, make a range of different shapes and sizes to suit your taste. Some manufacturers take this step further and allow you to change the centre of balance or adjust the height or pitch of the palm.

Regardless of which gaming mouse you end up choosing, remember there is very little difference between the latest 2019 models and those from the year earlier.  If you can get yourself a top of the range 2018 model, for anyone but a professional gamer, the differences are so small you wont be able to notice it.  Buy yourself a top of the range mouse, mouse pad and gaming station and enjoy your gaming.