The best 10 mice in comparison

Broadly speaking, there are two main types of mice: gaming mice and productivity mice. If you’re looking for a mouse for gaming, there’s much more to consider in terms of specs. Plus, the kind of game that you play will determine the type of mouse you should look into buying. For example, FPS players tend to prefer lighter mice with good acceleration and high maximum speed to reduce tracking errors and ensure high precision. On the other hand, if you mainly play MMORPGs, you’ll probably want a mouse with a high number of programmable buttons, which can be assigned to in-game actions and macros.

In terms of productivity mice, ergonomics are essential. On top of that, you’ll probably want to consider mice with features such as a thumb scroll wheel to make work a little easier.

Mouse buttons & programmable buttons

As mentioned above, the number of buttons is an important factor to consider when purchasing a mouse. Having at least two side buttons is recommended. For gaming, you can assign them to commonly-used actions, and for day-to-day use they can be useful for things like going back or forward in the browser.

Using the included software, you can also program the buttons for different functions, whether it’s Windows/Mac shortcuts or in-game actions. With this in mind, it can often be beneficial to choose a mouse with a high number of programmable buttons. 

Scroll wheels

Nearly every mouse has at least one scroll wheel (the exception being mice like Apple’s Magic Trackpad). For additional utility, you might want to consider a mouse with a tilting scroll wheel or a thumb scroll wheel, which makes it easy to scroll horizontally. Although it’s not important for all users, it’s a minor feature that can make a big difference if you work with things like video editing or large spreadsheets.

DPI settings

Regarding general use, DPI is not so important to the average user. But it can be a crucial spec if you’re looking for a gaming mouse. DPI stands for dots per inch and is the number of pixels the cursor will move across the screen per inch of mouse movement. The ability to adjust your DPI is vital to get the correct sensitivity for your playstyle. People often prefer a different DPI depending on what game they are playing, so it’s also advantageous to have a mouse with a DPI switching button so you change it without going into the software settings.

Connectivity and polling rate

When looking to buy a productivity mouse, the connectivity is largely a matter of personal preference. If wires don’t bother you, you can opt for a simple USB mouse. Bluetooth mice have obvious benefits if you prefer to go wireless, and with Low Energy Bluetooth now standard, the battery can last many days before being recharged.

For wireless gaming mice, you might want to avoid Bluetooth if you require top performance, as it can introduce some lag. For average games, you probably won’t notice it. But in competitive multiplayer games, such as MOBA or FPS titles, it could be the difference between life and death. In this case, you’ll want to invest in a USB or 2.4GHz wireless mouse with a very high polling rate. The best gaming mice have a polling rate of at least 1000Hz (1 millisecond).

Onboard memory profiles

This feature allows you to save a custom set of mouse settings to the onboard memory. It’s mainly a feature that interests gamers rather than productivity users. With different profiles saved to the mouse, you can easily switch between them depending on the task you're performing (or game you are playing). It’s also useful if you use the same mouse between different devices. Top gaming mice will have at least one onboard memory profile, which means you can save your preferred settings and they will carry over to another device. For example, when switching between your desktop PC and gaming laptop, or using the mouse with a console like the PS5.