Mice are probably the most important PC peripherals that affect your gaming experience. Yes, that’s right; if you don’t have the right mouse, you may not be able to perform as well as you could be. But why you should invest in a good mouse. And should you really buy a gaming mouse to have an advantage over your opponents? Let’s discover this together below!!
Are gaming mice worth it?
To make it short, yes, they definitely worth it. Gaming mice are loaded with features that help you improve your gaming performance significantly compared to regular mice, including better quality sensors, high DPI range, user-friendly software, and durable build quality.
How much should you spend on a gaming mouse?
We highly recommend avoiding overspending on a gaming mouse, especially if you got other PC components to purchase. But according to our experience, a good gaming mouse will cost you around $50 to $100.
This may look expensive for some of you, but it definitely worth the money. Often an expensive mouse is considered a great investment as it features a solid build design, ergonomic shape, high-quality mechanical switches, and much more. And therefore, it should last for a long period of time.
Are cheap gaming mice any good?
Usually, a cheap gaming mouse will have some compromises. Yet, this doesn’t mean that you can’t find a good budget-friendly mouse. Actually, during our last mice review, we came across a mouse that has really caught our attention despite its low price tag; it’s the SteelSeries Rival 3 gaming mouse.
How can a gaming mouse make a difference?
Gaming mice will affect your overall performance in many areas, but we will focus only on the major ones. First of all, they are equipped with a better quality sensor that tracks every move. This latter will result in a fantastic in-game accuracy and hence, a higher win rate.
They also got additional side buttons that can be assigned with your in-game abilities. This will result in a faster reaction time, and it should improve both your gaming experience and performance. Also, these buttons are often programmable, and therefore, you can create special macros that can do the hard work for you, cool right!!
On the other hand, most of the cheap mice are not equipped with these features. And on top of that, they got low-quality sensors as well as high latency. And hence, by using them in your FPS games, you will have terrible accuracy.
How long do gaming mice last?
An average lifespan of a gaming mouse for an avid gamer will be around 2 to 3 years. Yet, its lifespan can be extended if the mouse is made from high-quality materials.
What to look for when shopping for a gaming mouse?
In order to purchase the perfect gaming mouse, there are some factors that you will have to consider, and these are:
Sensor
The sensor is unquestionably the most important feature in a gaming mouse, especially if you are a competitive FPS gamer. A high-quality sensor will allow your mouse to track every move on your desk, which will result in better in-game accuracy. And trust me, you don’t want to miss your kill shot just because your mouse’s sensor wasn’t precise enough.
Shape:
As gamers, spending several hours playing our favourite titles is inevitable. However, this latter often result to hand tiredness. That’s why you will need an ergonomic shape if you want to prevent hand fatigue.
Moreover, to choose the perfect shape, you will have to look for your hand size and grip style. By considering these two factors, you will be able to pick the right gaming mouse that will allow you to play your preferred titles all day long without having any hand trouble.
Dot Per Inch (DPI)
It is a measurement of how many pixels your mouse will divide in your mousing surface, which will affect its sensitivity. In other words, increasing the DPI settings will increase your mouse cursor’s speed on the screen, while a low level of DPI will slow it down. If you want to learn more about DPI and how it works, we recommend taking a look at this piece of valuable information from “Howtogeek”.
Now you are definitely wondering what the difference between DPI and sensitivity is? DPI is a hardware feature, and you can only access it either with mouse buttons or mouse software. On the other hand, sensitivity is a software feature that can be found on Windows settings and in your selected game.
In most cases, a very high DPI level will lead to more errors, making your in-game accuracy less precise. Therefore, we highly recommend mixing between the in-game sensitivity along with the DPI. Also, there are no such best settings for everyone. And to find the perfect one, you will have to tweak the settings until you find the one you are comfortable with.
Switches
Most current gaming mice are equipped with mechanical switches. So, to choose the ideal one, you have to check the brand of the switch being used and how many clicks it is rated for.
Polling rate
It referred to how many times your mouse will send the data to your computer. In other words, a faster polling rate means faster response time. Mice that have a 1,000 Hertz polling rate are operating at a 1ms delay.
Conclusion
Finally, a good gaming mouse should be game-changing. They last for a long period of time, they are loaded with amazing features, and they should provide you with a comfortable gaming experience. You will indeed have to drop a significant amount of price in exchange for these functionalities. But please bear in mind that you will be the real winner in the long term.
