What determines a good gaming mouse?
Many of us have heard that if you're a competitive PC gamer you have to have a decent gaming mouse. What constitutes a good gaming mouse? A good gaming mouse is much more sensitive and responsive than a regular one. Many also come with extra customizable controls that can be the difference between victory and defeat in competitive genres, like MOBAs and FPS shooters. Gaming mice come in a variety of shapes and sizes and is not a one size fits all solution.
The first thing to consider is comfort. The shape and form factor would be the most important consideration. Some larger mice may not feel comfortable if your hands are smaller. The button positions may not be ergonomic depending on whether you are right or left handed. Extra controls may be nice for some but for others, it slow you down as you hunt for the correct controls. Programmable mice makes things a bit easier since we can program gaming tasks to a particular button depending on how easy it is for your fingers to access.
The next thing is to test responsiveness of the mouse. How quickly and precisely does the mouse react to your movements? Mouse makers will tout their DPI, or dots per inch specs to show how sensitive their mouse is. A higher DPI implies that your cursor will move further relative to the mouse movement. Most gaming mice have a programmable DPI range which can be selected by the user. Gaming mice can have a DPI of over 15,000, compared to utilitarian mice' 1,000. The advantage of having a high DPI is that we can perform reactive actions quicker, because our cursor moves faster. The disadvantage is that the higher sensitivity, the harder the mouse is to control because the cursor is moving so quick.
Another factor to take into account is polling rate. The polling rate is how often your mouse will report its position to the computer. A high polling rate means the mouse tells the computer where it is more often. That's good since it means the cursor will more accurately reflect mouse movements. A high polling rate also means the computer has to work harder to understand where the mouse is since it receive more data per second.
The next thing to consider is whether you want a wired or wireless mouse. Wireless mice have been refined over the years and don't have the latency issues they used to have. A good wired mouse will still be more responsive than a wireless mouse. What the wireless mouse gives up in responsiveness, it makes up with less clutter. With a wireless gaming mouse, we don't have to worry about the wire getting caught on something. Most high end mice top out at 1,000HMz and some will let the user change the polling rates. Although it's hard to tell the difference between 500Hz and 1,000Hz, there is a noticeable difference between 125Hz and 1,000Hz since the mouse will stutter a little more. Polling rate is important but, as with DPI, don’t assume that a higher number is always better.
Finally, there is aesthetics. Some gaming mice have multi colored lighting that can be adjusted to suit the player's preference. Its worth noting about how many individually lit zones the mouse has, since this will determine the size and scope for RGB customization. Some gaming lights will light up different controls different colors so you can visually discern controls slightly quicker. If you want to synchronize the lighting effects between other peripherals, you'll need to buy into the same brand ecosystem.
It all will come down to how much are all the extra features are worth. We can purchase a standard, utilitarian mouse for under ten dollars while gaming mice can run several hundred dollars. High sensitivity is good but too much is bad. High polling rates are good but again, too much is bad. What it will come down to is how comfortable the mouse is to use and will it do what you need it to do. Anything else is just showing off but who doesn't like to show off every now and then?