BEST GAMING MICE 2016

With a comfortable shape, textured grips and 11 big, programmable buttons in a convenient layout, the Logitech G502 Proteus Spectrum (an updated version of the excellent G502 Proteus Core) has a great feel and stellar performance, and is the best overall gaming mouse on the market today. The device isn’t specialized for any one genre, but it handles FPS, RTS, MMO or anything in between with grace and aplomb. Users can adjust the Proteus Spectrum’s weight and set its scroll wheel to feel either resistant or almost frictionless. The Logitech Gaming Software can even scan your computer for games, automatically create profiles to fit them and customize the mouse’s illumination with full RGB backlighting.

When you play MMO games like World of Warcraft, you’ll have a row of skills stretching across your entire monitor that you’ll need to access right away. You can use the number keys on your keyboard, but you can access them more efficiently from a Razer Naga Epic Chroma. This mouse has 12 numbered buttons on the side that you can hit with your thumb, leaving your fingers free to control your avatar and camera. The Naga Chroma functions perfectly in both wired and wireless modes, and lets you choose your own color scheme.

Hardcore FPS fans don’t need many buttons to succeed, but they do need comfort and precision. The Corsair Vengeance M65 delivers on both counts. Corsair designed this large mouse specifically with FPS players in mind. The device sports eight programmable buttons, including one that enters a “sniper mode” to slow down the DPI and let players aim more accurately. Players who want to fine-tune the feel of the mouse can also tinker with three adjustable weights and switch among three DPI settings on the fly. With deeply customizable profile software, the Vengeance M65 also functions as a good generalist mouse.

When it comes to strategy games, you don’t need much: just a quality sensor, a cozy grip and a few extra buttons. The Razer Mamba Tournament Edition delivers on all counts, featuring a laser sensor that goes up to 16,000 DPI and the extremely easy-to-use Razer Synapse 2.0 software to help you program button assignments, profiles, macros and whatever else you need to lead your forces to victory. It doesn’t hurt that the Mamba is big and comfortable, and offers plenty of colorful, customizable LED strips. For gamers who want a cordless option, the Razer Mamba ($150) is almost identical to its Tournament Edition counterpart, save for flawless wireless features and the ability to adjust the heights of the left and right buttons.

When your computer is basically just a box for multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) games like League of Legends and Dota 2, you don’t need a thousand buttons getting in the way. The Logitech G303 Daedalus Apex takes this philosophy to heart and provides a small, comfortable, minimalist design with as little as possible between you and the game. Whether you’re a casual MOBA fan or looking to go pro, the Daedalus Apex’s springy, responsive buttons and shape that’s designed to keep your palm firmly in place make it a good choice. In addition to a powerful sensor, the G303 also sports full RGB illumination options for a pleasant aesthetic touch.

What can $40 get you in the world of gaming mice? How about a comfortable design, two big thumb buttons, three DPI settings and no cumbersome software? The Turtle Beach Grip 300 is a simple, elegant and attractive mouse with a small price tag and a good deal of functionality. The Grip 300 is lean and inexpensive, and particularly well suited to gamers who enjoy FPS, RTS and other genres that thrive on low DPI and few extra commands outside of “left click” and “right click.” While it won’t wow tournament-level gamers, the Grip 300 is perfectly good for everyday play in almost any genre.

The Roccat Kova is back in action, with an overhauled design, a comprehensive software suite and some colorful backlighting. Better still: It is fully, 100-percent, no-questions-asked ambidextrous. The Kova is an excellent choice for those of the sinister persuasion, as it features a totally symmetrical design with an equal number of thumb buttons on either side. Lefties may also find the mouse’s left-hand mode, built right into the software, useful for jumping right into the action without having to painstakingly reprogram each button. In terms of gaming features, you can set the Kova up to 7,000 DPI, link five different profiles to games and access a secondary button configuration with the Easy Shift [+] feature.

Gaming on Macs has improved considerably over the last few years, and most gaming mice will work fine if you just plug them in. (Installing a third-party program called USB Overdrive may be necessary to use all the extra buttons and user profiles.) That said, Razer has gone out of its way to ensure that its mice are compatible with Macs. Any Razer mouse in its “Powered for Mac” category is optimized for Apple operating systems, which means that both the hardware and software will run on a Mac as well as they would on a PC. Choices range from the MMO-friendly Naga, to the compact Taipan, to the powerhouse Ouroboros.

With the G900 Chaos Spectrum, Logitech has shattered pervasive myths about wireless gaming mice once and for all. The G900 is not only faster, more responsive and more reliable than most of its wireless competitors; it even gives wired gaming mice a run for their money. With an ergonomic, ambidextrous grip to suit both palm and claw players, and customizable thumb buttons, the G900 sports a design that’s both comfortable and beautiful. The Logitech Gaming Software can automatically create profiles for hundreds of games, or you can program up to five onboard profiles — perfect for competitive players who want to take their settings with them.

Almost any mouse on this list is good for everyday play, but gamers looking to compete at a high level may need something with a little more room for tweaking. Enter the Mad Catz R.A.T. Pro X, which justifies its high price tag with a wealth of customization options. Users can swap out the mouse’s thumb rests, finger rests, palm rests, scroll wheel and even its sensor, using only their fingers and a small screwdriver. Almost everything on the mouse is adjustable, and its robust software helps you optimize the peripheral for perfect performance in the most competitive environments.

If you want to compete at the highest levels, it helps to have every command you need right at your fingertips. The SteelSeries Rival 500 is a large, comfortable eSports mouse with a ton of customizable buttons. The mouse is positively festooned with buttons, including two that can double as a thumb rest if you don’t need them. Aside from that, the Rival 500 operates on the easy-to-use SteelSeries Engine 3 software and offers full RGB lighting on both the scroll wheel and the palm rest. A sensor that goes up to a staggering 16,000 DPI will help those with mult-monitor setups.