PCHardCores: Updated: Buying guide: Best gaming mouse: top 9 gaming mice reviewed

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Updated: Buying guide: Best gaming mouse: top 9 gaming mice reviewed

Best gaming mouse rundown

PC gamers have never had it so good. The e-sports scene is enjoying unprecedented popularity, with plenty of (not entirely frivolous) talk about how gaming should be added to the Olympics roster.

Whether you fancy becoming the next League of Legends or Call of Duty superstar, or something more sedate, like leading a vicarious virtual life in an MMO or RPG, one thing is for sure: you will be at an instant disadvantage if you skimp on your choice of mouse.

And there's no excuse for that if you've lashed out eye-watering sums on an overclocked, water-cooled rig festooned with neon lights, or a top-of-the-range gaming laptop.

How to choose the best gaming mouse

Your choice of mouse depends very much on your gaming preferences: if you're into first-person shooters, say, finding the right balance of sensitivity and responsiveness is vital, so you'll need to pay attention to DPI ratings and decide between optical or laser sensors (fear not – leave the technical stuff to us). Whereas if you're into real-time strategy, MMOs or MOBAs, it's vital to pick a mouse that lets you map macros triggering the actions you use most to specially configured buttons.

So, we've picked the 9 best gaming mice: whatever your gaming preferences or needs, one of these will complete your ultimate PC or Mac gaming setup.

Best mouse

1. Roccat Nyth

The most customizable mouse, bar none

DPI: 1200 | Features: Custom button layout, Mid-finger fin switch, AlienFX Illumination, 3D printing support, 2x hotswappable sidegrips

Highly customisable

Contoured body

Can't change length

Roccat's Nyth is one of the more innovative mice in recent times. Clicking a button pops out its 12 side buttons, which you can then re-configure in any order you like - giving you a potential 36 side button combinations. Mapping is done using Roccat's Swarm driver, which lets you create custom button configurations and map buttons to programs. That makes it suitable for not just MMOs, but a whole range of genres - from FPS to MOBA titles. If you've got a 3D printer, you can even 3D print your own buttons for it.

Read the full review: Roccat Nyth

Best mouse

2. Razer DeathAdder Chroma

Sports a classic design and has an insane DPI

DPI: 10,000 | Interface: USB Wired | Buttons: 5 | Ergonomic: Yes | Features: Textured rubber side grips, Chroma lighting, 1000Hz Ultrapolling, On-the-fly sensitivity adjustment, Always-on mode

High DPI

Grips well

Pedestrian design

No macro buttons

Many pro gamers swear by Razer's PC peripherals, and the Death Adder Chroma mouse is one of the most popular gaming mice around. There's nothing too flash about it (except for the ability to make various bits of it glow in different colours), but it feels right in the hand, is light, the rubber side-grips come in handy at frenzied moments, its optical sensor is tried-and-tested and it goes up to an insane 10,000DPI (probably too sensitive for mere mortals, but it's there if you need it). MMO fans may be slightly disappointed by a less-than-generous allocation of macro buttons, though. But in the world of gaming mice, it's considered something of a design classic.

Read the full review: Razer DeathAdder Chroma

Best mouse

3. Roccat Kone XTD

A true button-basher

DPI: 8200 | Interface: Wired | Buttons: 8 | Feature: Ergonmic design, 1000Hz polling rate, 1ms response time, 12000fps, 10.8megapixel, 30G acceleration, 16-bit data channel, 1-5mm Lift off distance, 72MHz Turbo Core V2 32-bit Arm based MCU, 576kB onboard memory, Zero angle snapping/prediction

Fast response time

Software bit gimmicky

With a clever easy-shift system that effectively doubles the number of its buttons, Roccat's Kone XTD scores particularly highly with those who crave macros at their fingertips. But it's a great all-rounder which is built to last, with easily adjustable sensitivity and a rugged wheel. With a 32-bit processor and ability to analyse your mouse-pad and automatically set lift-distance, it might just be the most high-tech mouse on the market. Plus it looks and feels spot-on. Some of the software may be a tad gimmicky, but it provides all the customisability any serious MMO, MOBA or RTS gamer could desire, and can hold its own on the first-person shooter scene.

4. Turtle Beach Grip 500

Laser-guided

DPI: 8200 | Interface: Wired | Buttons: 7 (plus scroll wheel) | Feature: Avago 9800 laser sensor, Omron switches, Customizable software to program buttons, Independently adjust X and Y DPI, Create up to 50 macros with up to 100 commands each, 16.8 million colour effects, Non-slip, soft-touch coating

Independent X and Y axis DPI

Lacks right-edge buttons

Turtle Beach is best known for its gaming headsets, but the Grip 500 suggests it's ready to muscle its way into the gaming mouse market. It's competitively priced, but a decent all-rounder, with 8,200DPI sensitivity for the first-person shooter brigade, and the ability to load several different macro setups into its own memory, which you can switch between on the fly with the help of colour-coded LEDs. With a maximum of 45 macros possible, it's ideal for those who favour MMOs and MOBAs. And aesthetically, it's a bit more discreet than some of its rivals.

5. Mad Catz R.A.T.M

Small rodent

DPI: 6400 | Interface: Wireless | Buttons: 12 (10 programmable) | Feature: GameSmart Multi-platform, USB Nano Dongle, Bluetooth, 1 year from 2 AAA batteries, Adjust grip in 0-15mm in 5mm increments, dang

Adjustable grip

Fits better in smaller hands

Finding the right mouse is a perennial problem for gamers who prefer laptops to PCs, but Mad Catz's R.A.T.M has been specifically designed to solve that conundrum. As is typical for laptop-specific mice, it's tiny (which could prove problematic for the giant-handed), but at least it's size-adjustable, and packs surprisingly decent specifications for such a tiny package, with 6,400DPI sensitivity and a clever four-way button that can run five macros. And it's wireless – with a built-in Bluetooth dongle so it works even if your laptop doesn't have native Bluetooth. Worth considering for those who place portability at a premium, but like to play MMOs and MOBAs.

6. SteelSeries Sensei

A shot in the (32-bit) ARM

DPI: 6400 | Interface: Wireless | Buttons: 12 (10 programmable) | Features: Customisable lift distance, Button functionality and CPI, Ilumination, Macros, SteelSeries Engine, 32-bit ARM CPU, 1 - 5,700 CPI, 10.8-MP HD image correlation at up to 12,000 FPS, Tracking movements of up to 150 inches per second

Customisable "lift distance"

Bland design

SteelSeries peripherals have a huge following among the professional gaming community, and many pros swear by the Sensei. With 11,400DPI sensitivity and a handy eight macro buttons, it comfortably straddles the first-person shooter/MMO/MOBA divide. Meanwhile, underneath its deceptively conventional looks, it's precision-engineered for all the precision and sensitivity you could desire. And it even lets you customise its "lift distance" – so whatever surface you use it on, you can get it performing perfectly. We can't vouch for your general level of talent, but the SteelSeries Sensei will at least put you on a par with the pros in terms of equipment.

7. Logitech G602

Battery warrior

DPI: 2500 | Interface: Wireless | Buttons: 2 | Features: 250 - 2,500 DPI, 20G max acceleration, Max speed 6.6ft/second, 250-hour battery life, 9.8ft wireless range, In-game sensitivity switching, Performance mode, Logitech Gaming Software

Low DPI

8. SteelSeries Sensei [RAW]

White hot metal

DPI: 62155 | Interface: Wired | Buttons: 8 | Features: Advanced macros, Scalable pointer speed from 90 to 5670 in increments of 90, 10.8-Megapixel HD image correlation at up to 12,000 FPS, Tracking movements of up to 150 inches per second, White illumination, UPE material

Scalable pointer speed

Low DPI

The Sensei [RAW] is a cut-down, and considerably cheaper, version of the classic Sensei, which keeps all the Sensei's most important attributes, but does away with some more exotic features – notably the 32-bit ARM processor and the LCD display. In terms of all its mechanical bits, though, it's the same as the Sensei. So you get that tournament-honed feel and precision (and it's available in a nice rubberised finish, too). Worth considering if you're pretty sure that you don't possess the raw talent to make it to the very top of the online gaming world, and happen to be a tad impecunious – yet still want a mouse that handles impeccably.

9. Logitech G502 Proteus Core

Tunable gaming mouse

DPI: 200 - 12,000 | Interface: Wired | Buttons: 11 | Features: Control weight and balance, Comes with five 3.6g weights, 11 programmable buttons, In-game DPI shifting, Dual mode mouse wheel, 32-bit microcontroller, 3 on-board profiles, 1 millisecond report rate, Mechanical microswitches, Rubber grips

Adjustable weight and grip

No right-hand buttons

If you like a bit of weight in the hand, as it were, Logitech's bombastically named G502 Proteus Core is undoubtedly the mouse for you. That's because its weight is customisable: it comes with five weights that you can add and reposition (making it nose-heavy, say) to your heart's content. Beyond that, its specification is sufficiently tasty for it to have made inroads into the pro-gaming community, with 12,000DPI sensitivity (adjustable on the fly) and 11 programmable macro buttons. And even its wheel can be adjusted between clicking and scrolling. A top-notch all-rounder.