Best Gaming Mouse For 2021: Razer, SteelSeries, and More

The Good

• Large size makes it comfortable for large hands
• Big side buttons are easy to press
• Long battery life

The Razer DeathAdder V2 is a fantastic gaming mouse, especially for fans of shooters with big hands. It's been Razer's flagship mouse for a long while, and its affordable price makes it an even more attractive option. Its bigger size fits nicely into larger hands, and the left and right mouse buttons feel great for shooters like Rainbow Six Siege and Valorant. It also features two large programmable buttons close to where your thumb rests naturally on a mouse. These work excellently for commands such as throwing a grenade or performing a melee attack as well as special abilities in games like Overwatch. That said, the limited number of programmable buttons might make it a less attractive choice for fans of MMOs and other genres that require easy access to macros and certain commands.

The DeathAdder V2 Pro was released last year as the first version of Razer's DeathAdder to boast wireless connectivity--and it has an impressive battery life to boot. Like the regular V2, it comes with buttons that let you adjust the DPI sensitivity, allowing you to go from more sluggish cursor movements to extremely fast ones instantly. Razer's own software lets you adjust each of the five sensitivity modes to your liking.

The Good:

• Very affordable price
• Compact form factor
• Easy-to-use controls
• Long battery life provided by AA battery...

The Bad:

• ...though some may find the AA battery requirement frustrating

The Corsair Katar Pro Wireless gaming mouse is about as streamlined as you can get. Its compact form factor feels good to hold for long sessions, and its limited number of buttons keep things simple for mapping controls and adjusting DPI sensitivity. The 10,000 DPI optical sensor may not match up to higher-end mice, but it still provides plenty of sensitivity for most people.

One thing to note about the Katar Pro Wireless is that it operates on a single AA battery. While this may seem inconvenient, this makes it possible to provide a total charge time of 135 hours, and if you have a pair of rechargeable batteries, you'll be good to use the Katar Pro for as long as you want--mice with internal, non-replaceable batteries will lose charge over extended use.

The Good:

• Sturdy build
• Attractive look
• Excellent mouse buttons
• 50 hours of battery life
• Great RGB lighting...

The Bad:

• ...that unfortunately takes a toll on the battery life

The Roccat Kain 200 Aimo is a sturdy-feeling mouse, made of a mostly plastic shell that's accented with a touch of metal to give it a sharp look. It's buttons are satisfying to press. Two thumb buttons feel comfortable and are perfect for remapping, while the DPI button right below the scroll wheel allows you to adjust the 16K DPI optical sensor's sensitivity on the fly. Using the Kain 200 is an excellent experience, gliding nicely across mouse pads and feeling accurate in the thick of action.

It features a battery life of up to 50 hours, more than enough for several days of play before charging is required. One downside, however, is that if you use the RGB lighting, there's a noticeable drop in battery performance--Roccat's site says it drops to 35 hours with illumination on. The Kain 200 is an excellent mouse, and if you can live without the RGB lighting, then it's definitely worth picking up.

The Good

• Usable in both wired and wireless modes
• Adjustable scroll-wheel tension
• 100-hour battery life
• 11 programmable buttons
• Comes with charging dock

The Bad

• N/A

With a sharp shape and comfortable ergonomics, the Razer Basilisk is another one of the best gaming mice we’ve tested. It's slightly smaller than the DeathAdder, but it still felt good in my large hands. And like most of Razer's gaming mice, it shined in our tests. The Basilisk comes in three different variations, which all share the exact same shape but offer different options. The first is the Basilisk X HyperSpeed, which allows for both Bluetooth and 2.4GHz wireless connectivity. It comes with six programmable buttons and is powered by one AA battery. It's the most basic of the three variations, containing only one on-board memory profile and no RGB lighting. The wired Basilisk V2, on the other hand, boasts five onboard profiles, 11 programmable buttons, and 2 RGB lighting zones as well as customizable scroll-wheel resistance--the latter makes it so you can move the scroll wheel with no clicking or all the clicking in the world. However, the Basilisk V2 can't be used wirelessly.

The third variation is the Basilisk Ultimate, a mouse you can use both wirelessly and wired. It uses the 2.4GHz standard for its wireless connectivity, and I didn't experience any latency in my use of it. Plugging it in with the included soft cable turns it into a wired mouse. This also charges the mouse to prepare it for your next wireless session--there's also an included dock you can place the mouse on between sessions. I was impressed by the number of programmable buttons and how natural they felt on the mouse's chassis. As someone with large hands, I normally prefer a slightly larger mouse, but the Basilisk's comfortable ergonomics superseded its smaller size, making a strong case for itself as a great gaming mouse.

The Good

• Fantastic ambidextrous shape
• Strong click action
• Incredibly high-resolution sensor

The Bad

• Limited lighting options

I'm one of those weirdos who likes to use his mouse with both hands, depending on the scenario--left-handed for work and everyday tasks, and right-handed for playing PC games. I've been searching for a good gaming mouse that felt natural and comfortable for both, something the SteelSeries Rival isn't. After trying the original SteelSeries Sensei back in 2011, I immediately ran out to get one. I was still using that 8-year-old mouse in 2019, which hopefully tells you how great the build and longevity of the Sensei is.

After swapping out my original Sensei for the updated model for a few weeks, I'm happy to report that it feels more or less the same--which is to say, fantastic--though there are some subtle, welcome improvements. The matte polymer shell coating feels a lot nicer and sturdier than the original shiny metallic Sensei, and way better than its rubberized RAW editions. There's also a noticeably stronger and nicer action to the button clicks, too--the Ten uses dual-spring mechanisms instead of singles, and they are good for 60 million clicks (though I can't vouch for that just yet).

The Sensei Ten sadly ditches the onboard customization of the original in favour of a software-only solution for its programmable buttons, and it lacks the more extensive RGB customization of some of SteelSeries' other mice. But it does feature SteelSeries' current TrueMove Pro sensor, a high-resolution 50–18,000 DPI optical sensor that will supposedly maintain 1:1 tracking, even at high speeds or if you lift your mouse. It's probably overkill if you're not a top-level competitive player who needs to crank their sensitivity to ridiculous heights, but it helps make the Sensei Ten feel smooth, precise, and good to play games with on a variety of different surfaces. It's nice to have the cutting-edge tech, but it's the form factor, build, and feel of the Sensei that makes this line my all-time favourite.

The Good

• At 69 grams, it's one of the lightest gaming mice available
• Ambidextrous design that's comfortable for all grip styles
• Soft, tactile, and low-noise clicks

The Bad

• Side buttons are a bit squishy

Razer is well-known for its robust roster of all things PC gaming, from gaudy accessories and headsets to flashy mice and keyboards. The brand has also become synonymous with extravagant RGB lighting. But it often gets the basics right with many of its peripherals, and the Razer Viper is emblematic of that. Within the lineup of shiny, glowing mice is a modest one that is super-lightweight and comfortable to use for any grip style.

The Razer Viper comes in at just 69 grams, making it one of the lightest gaming mice available (even lighter than Razer's own Deathadder Elite). It's an absolute joy to use, evident in my time using it for work purposes and playing a handful of competitive games. Mouse swipes, precision aiming, and picking it up to reset mouse position have all been effortless, but not just because it's lightweight. Its simplistic (and ambidextrous, another thing it has on the Deathadder Elite and Razer Naga) design is comfortable to use in the claw, palm, or fingertip grip despite its slightly longer body, and the subtle rubberized textures on the side help .

Both left and right clicks are light to the touch, which makes them a tad less noisy and easy-going for rapid clicking. If there's one shortcoming, it's that the side buttons near the thumb (of which there are two on each side) are a bit squishy when pressing in. Many of us have also come to expect on-the-fly DPI switching buttons typically found near the scroll wheel, and unfortunately, the Viper doesn't have one.

The Good

• Multiple RGB lighting zones
• Granular DPI settings
• Excellent Value

The Bad

• N/A

As far as RGB lighting goes, mice tend not to get as flashy as keyboards. Among configurable RGB-lit mice from leading manufacturers, the Ironclaw's two-zone RGB lighting--the Corsair logo and the inner section of the scroll wheel--makes it one of the most colorful options. The accent lights on the side provide a little additional illumination, indicating your current profile and DPI settings.

Speaking of, the range maxes out at 18,000 DPI, and can be configured by increments of 1, giving you extreme control over the sensor, which complements the tight latency of a wired gaming mouse. Seven buttons round out the configurability of the Ironclaw, providing a little bit of everything for the player who likes to personalize the look and functionality of their RGB mouse.

The key features that make the Ironclaw worth a look can also be found on more expensive mice, but at $59.99, it has all of the qualities of a gaming mouse corsair fans have come to expect for a good price. It's an all-around feature-rich offering that won't break the bank.