How to Choose the Right Gaming Mouse (11 Things You Must Consider)

This guide is all about how to choose the right gaming mouse.

Let’s start…

What Size Your Hand Is?

You need to determine the size of the mouse hand to find out whether your hand falls into the large, medium, or small category.

Here’s a quick illustration to find the right fit:

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Therefore, the best way to choose the right gaming mouse is to look at the size of your mouse hand and determine what size does it fit your hand.

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What Grip Style Do You Adopt?

It is vitally important for you to know the way you hold your mouse. This is the most important element in choosing the right gaming mouse.

The three most used grip styles are:

  1. Palm Grip Style
  2. Claw Grip Style
  3. Fingertip Grip Style

Palm Grip Style

Your palm rests on the back of the mouse and your fingers lay flat on the buttons. It is the most popular way to hold the mouse. Some also say that it is the most comfortable way to clutch on the mouse.

Due to the placement of the entire palm and fingers flat across the mouse, you get a natural feel and a relaxed hand position that ideal for those who require large, rapid flicks. Clicking can be slower which reduces the control you have on your mouse.

What benefits do we have using the Palm Grip Style?

The Palm Grip Style offers:

  • High Stability
  • Makes the cursor move smoothly and accurately.
  • Relaxed Grip allows delicate movements

What Problems does Palm Grip Style Pose?

  • Less Precision and agility of your movement
  • Causes arm and shoulder strain

Most Used by?

  • Everyday PC users as well as gamers

Here’s an illustration of it:

palm grip tyle thecpuguide.com

Claw Grip Style

Claw grip style sees the fingertips resting against the rear of the mouse. The palm is arched more and has little contact with the arch of the mouse. This way you use the fingertips to press the buttons and your finger hovers over the mouse-like a claw or you can say it forms the shape of a medium arch.

The thumb and pinky rest on the sides of the mouse and your fingers are arched to make the index and middle fingertips perpendicular to mouse buttons. Your palm, however, rests on the back of the mouse.

What benefits do we have using the Claw Grip Style?

  • Favourable for making large, controlled flicks
  • Faster and more agile motion
  • Better Stability and Precision

What Problems does Claw Grip Style Pose?

  • Causes arm and shoulder strain faster (carpal tunnel syndrome)
  • Speed compromises accuracy
  • Less ergonomic than the palm grip

Mostly Used by?

  • Professionals e-sports players. Best for FPS and RTS gaming

Here’s an illustration of it:

 

claw grip style thecpuguide.comFinger-tip Grip Style

You control the mouse with your fingers, unlike palm grip. As a result, you have incredible precision. Because the mouse is not anchored by your palm, it means that you have more finesse with vertical movement.

Merely the contact is with the fingers and this allows for quick and agile movement. In this case, the arch of the mouse is normally lower and the weight is cut down to help achieve swift mouse movements. Hence, if you look at these small little things, you can choose the right gaming mouse.

What benefits do we have using the Finger-tip Grip Style?

  • Maximised speed and precision
  • Faster Clicks

What problems does finger-tip grip style pose?

  • Most Straining on your hand
  • Low Stability

Mostly Used by?

  • Competitive players for example Fortnight pros

Here’s an illustration of it:

thecpuguide.com finget-tip grip style

 

Mouse Ergonomics

The literal definition of mouse ergonomics holds to be the mouse that is designed to perfectly fit the human body. Your hands, elbows, wrists and arms rest in natural position. It, however, also depends on your hand size and the type of mouse you’ll be using. Ergonomic mice coax users into holding their fingers, hands, and wrists at angles comfortable for long-term mouse sessions.

thecpuguide.com determine the mouse size

Input Options

Here are a few of the modern specializes for you to be at the forefront of your game.

Buttons and Dials

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Two-button mice are fading away. Apple does it differently. It includes a single button. However, there are others with a more complex structure. Additional buttons on the top, side buttons, thumb buttons, programmable buttons, exclusive key slider macro buttons, G shift ring finger button, anti-skid scroll wheel, DPI buttons and scrolls, and other intuitive controls.

These multi-buttons sometimes have special software for buttons to be customised and remapped. Hence, this enables a wide range of individualised functionality. The right gaming mouse allows for the productivity to thrust. Sometimes also the complex applications might require you to benefit from the mouse that integrates a variety of buttons. Hence, an optimised gaming experience.

Shooter Mice

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Shooter mice are the most common type of gaming mouse. It uses a conventional left button for primary input and two or three thumb buttons. These buttons help in weapon selection or zoom, secondary fire, or iron sights. This type of gaming mouse is relatively simpler.

It allows everyone to quickly adapt to all kinds of action games using only three fingers. Some shooter mice also have a sniper or precision button. You can depress it to lower the DPI for super-sensitive shots.

Examples include:

  • Razer DeathAdder V2
  • Mamba
  • Logitech G402

MOBA or MMO Mice

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Massively multiplayer online games like the World of Warcraft, Final Fantasy, or strategy games like Age of Empires require a mouse that involves a lot of buttons. These are like as if you get an extra keyboard to use along with the mouse. You can also rebind the keys to whatever you want including the hotkeys and macros.

Multiplayer Online Battle Arena Video Games like League of Legends all have some common design elements. It could be contextual skills that need to be activated quickly to stay competitive. As a result, MMO moue emerged with an incredible 12-button grid just for the thumb. These mice are super amazing for games that involve a lot of custom-bound skills or unit groups.

Examples include:

  • Razer Naga
  • Corsair Scimitar
  • Logitech G600

Ambidextrous mice

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So, these types of mice are designed for both right or left-handed users. It’s also best for those who prefer slimmer mice. Because they are symmetrical in shape, the focus is on the length, weight, and grip profile so that they are suitable for a wide range of users regardless of their grip style. Most of these mouse types use a relatively simple-shooter-style button layout with thumb buttons on both sides.

Examples include:

  • Razer Abyssus
  • Logitech G900 and G300
  • SteelSeries Sensei

Mobile Mice

A great ‘on the move’ mouse, it is a perfect companion for gamers because of its portable characteristic. These are often wireless and much lighter than the standard ones, hence are of great advantage to gamers who prefer a tip grip style. The smaller body means more manoeuvrability and ease of use.

Examples include:

  • Razer Orochi
  • MadCatz RATM
  • Microsoft Wireless Mobile Mouse 4000 

Hybrid Mice

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A hybrid mouse is the jack of all trades. It combines more than the standard two shooter thumb buttons but a little less than the elaborate ‘MMO’ grids. It offers great flexibility to work with any gaming genre at. A hybrid mouse may also include thumb wheels that more easily shift between shooter and MOBA tasks. The mouse may have a 2×3 grid of shooter-style buttons to offer the best of all the worlds.

Examples include:

  • Razer Naga Hex V2
  • Logitech G602
  • SteelSeries Rival 500 &  700

Lighting

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LED lights are an additional primary feature most gamers want to add up to their setup. Some mice already come with software that can customize the lighting for you to match it with the aesthetics of the setup and the game. Lights also add in extra flair as well as feedback during the gaming systems.

The gaming mouse comes with different designs and cuts to match the rest of your PC light show. Therefore, it is all on you what glow you want.

Sensors

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There are two of them:

Optical Mouse: They use LED lights that shine on the very top of a surface. They work best with certain kinds of surfaces such as fabric mouse pads and other non-glossy materials. Optical Mouse have the best sensors because of its reactive sensor and gaming experience.

Also Read: How to choose the right mouse pad

Laser Mouse: These are more expensive and more sensitive. They generate more noise, and vibrations in the tracking. It also exhibits lag. Laser mice also work from distance further from a surface meaning that if you lift it up a little from the mouse pad, it will register the movement.

But, a gamer would be happy with it. The reason is its ability to work on just about any kind of a surface.

All in all, laser mice might not always be the best choice.

Weight of the Mouse

It can destroy your gaming experience badly if the weight you want is not adequate. If you are more of a mouse flicker, then definitely you would want a light weight mouse. Otherwise, it’s all good for normal surfing.

Latency

Latency means ‘input delay’. In gaming, low latency is supremely important for competitive gaming. You can fix this lag easily by following simple steps.

Sensitivity

Sensitivity means dots per inch. The higher the DPI, the less physical distance the mouse needs to move on a surface to register the movement. Some prefer high sensitivity to move the cursor pointer swiftly with smaller hand motions. While, Others prefer the opposite.

CPI is count per inch. It represents the physical resolution of the camera that is used in the mice sensors. It represents sampling per inch. Both the DPI and CPI must be taken into consideration to improve the sensitivity of your mouse.

Wired or Wireless

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Wireless mice are a little expensive but they are considered to be more precise compared to wired. Wireless gaming mouse are easier to carry around, smaller and eat up less space on your desk. However, wireless also have equal disadvantages.

Most people argue that charging and maintaining is an extra cost. Likewise, after some time, the battery drift or become annoyingly unresponsive and we know that batteries are not commonly recycled which leads them to trash.

It has also been seen that wireless mice involve latency. This means that there is a split-second delay. While this problem is getting over with time and advancement. Some mice also use a USB cable for charging and they can be plugged into the PC to act as wireless mouse, while the battery is being topped off.

Wireless nowadays, have migrated towards bluetooth wireless technology that causes much less interference with other wireless devices.

Tilt Scroll Wheel

choose the right mouse

This recent innovation allows you to tilt the screen both horizontally and vertically. The ability to scroll both ways is handy when especially you are viewing a large document.

Mouse Feet

Mouse feet is the bottom of the mouse. They keep the mouse bottom elevated off of the pad to minimize the friction while keeping it close enough for the sensor to track properly.

Conclusion

I am 100 percent sure, that my guide has helped you towards choosing the right gaming mouse.

I’ve covered in detail every feature and element of a gaming mouse that can help you decide the best gaming mouse for yourself.

RGB lightenings, extra added features, customisations, and all super cool things are all that will help you get the right gaming mouse.

 

Joe Warne
Joe Warne
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