I Tested 15 Gaming Mice This Year – These 3 Stand Out, for Very Different Reasons

I've had the privilege of becoming IGN's "mice guy" successful 2025, and since past I've amassed capable transportation boxes to physique a tiny castle, covered my table successful dongles, and, astir importantly, clicked caller gaming mice tens of thousands of times.

I've tested 15 mice this twelvemonth (you tin work my existing reviews, with plentifulness much to travel successful 2026). I haven't scored them each but aft sizing each of them up, 3 basal out, each satisfying precise antithetic tastes.

While they're not needfully the 3 highest-scoring, they're the trio that comes to caput whenever a person asks maine to urge one.

Corsair Sabre V2 Pro: The Light One

When I held this rodent for the archetypal time, I cackled similar a tiny kid connected a trampoline. It is astir laughably airy astatine 36g. I enactment much java successful my French property each morning. That weightlessness is not conscionable a gimmick – arsenic I wrote successful my review, it feels similar an hold of my limb and zips crossed my mousepad.

Most mice badged lightweight, including our picks for the champion lightweight mice, are betwixt 50g and 65g. For example, the HyperX Pulsefire Haste 2 Mini is my favourite compact rodent and is hardly dense astatine conscionable 59g. But erstwhile I swap it successful for the Sabre V2 Pro it feels similar a ceramic successful my hand.

The Sabre V2 Pro is airy to a fault. I person nary thought however overmuch Bluetooth modules measurement but I'm assuming Corsair omitted it to support the rodent arsenic airy arsenic possible. That decision, combined with a important corded dongle, makes it hard to question with – a shame due to the fact that a rodent this airy should surely beryllium portable. The broadside buttons consciousness cheap, with 1 disappearing astir wholly wrong the ammunition of the rodent erstwhile you property it, and portion that ammunition is mostly sturdy, I recovered a spot connected the apical wherever it caved similar play-dough erstwhile I pushed.

But I hide each those problems the infinitesimal it's backmost connected my mousepad and I'm whipping it side-to-side, grinning betwixt headshots. It has brought maine much joyousness than immoderate different rodent I've tested and if value is your apical priority, past you'll emotion it too.

SteelSeries Rival 3 Gen 2 Wired: The Budget One

As I hunt for the champion gaming mouse, my investigating skews expensive: High-end mice outgo $100 oregon more. This month, however, I yet tried the Steelseries Rival 3 Gen 2, an older rodent that you tin often bargain for little than $30/£30. It reminded maine that a bully gaming rodent needn't upset your monthly budget, and that a batch of the flashy numbers attached to costly mice are selling guff.

On insubstantial it lags behind. Its polling complaint – the fig of times it reports its presumption to your machine – is capped astatine 1,000Hz, wherever galore modern mice scope 4,000 oregon 8,000Hz. Its maximum dots per inch (DPI), a measurement of sensitivity, is either 8.5K oregon 18K, depending connected whether you spell wired oregon wireless. Again, that's acold down the competition. So are its maximum tracking velocity and its click latency, the lag betwixt your carnal property and it registering connected your PC.

In practice, I barely consciousness a difference.

Take the polling rate. My 240Hz refresh complaint surface and coagulated PC specs are bully capable for maine to timepiece a quality arsenic I propulsion high-end mice up to 2,000Hz and 4,000Hz (hand connected heart, I cannot consciousness immoderate quality with 8,000Hz). But those changes are truthful tiny that sometimes I interest I'm imagining them. Slender benefits are worthy less, successful my eyes, than the terms driblet to the Rival 3 Gen 2 mouse. It is simply fantabulous value.

The wireless mentation is coagulated but weighs much than 100g, which is excessively hefty for maine to urge wholeheartedly. The wired mentation is simply a much tenable 77g, and cheaper too. It is 1 rodent I'd urge without hesitation to anyone connected a budget.

Razer DeathAdder V4 Pro: The Michelin-Starred One

One rodent to regularisation them all. I reviewed the Razer DeathAdder V2 successful 2020 and utilized it for years afterwards, truthful I expected bully things from the V4 Pro. The $170/£170 terms lone raised my expectations.

Somehow, I was inactive blown away. This is simply a near-perfect gaming rodent and the champion I've ever tested.

It's not truly down to its awesome specs expanse – though that surely helps. Alongside 8,000Hz polling rate, you get 45,000 DPI and 900 inches per 2nd of tracking. Those numbers are mostly meaningless but they are industry-leading, and I similar having the reassurance that nary substance however acold computing tech advances successful the adjacent 5 years, my rodent volition ne'er beryllium the limiting factor.

It's everything astir those specs that I love. Its weighty, spherical, embossed dongle houses 3 LEDs that archer maine everything I request to cognize astir my rodent astatine a glance. Its perfectly weighted near and close clicks, crisp and bouncy, and its taught, tactile scroll wheel. Its sturdy ammunition and grippy coating. Its mammoth battery, which lasts 150 hours astatine 1,000Hz polling rate.

If I'm being hypercritical – and I deliberation you should beryllium for a rodent costing this overmuch wealth – past it'd beryllium bully if Bluetooth were an option, if the DPI fastener was connected the apical of the rodent alternatively than the bottom, and if Razer's Synapse bundle was little bloated.

But those are specified gripes. It is the eventual gaming rodent and if wealth was nary object, this is the 1 you should get.