What To Look For In A Gaming Mouse For The Best Experience
There is really no harm in buying a random mouse with good reviews from a reputable brand, especially if you are a casual gamer. In fact, it is precisely what most gamers do. Gamers generally give little thought when it comes to getting a new mouse.
However, if you are a competitive gamer and want to extract the most performance from your mouse, buying any random mouse won't cut it. You will have to be a bit more particular about what features you want your mouse to have so that your gaming experience can be much better. To help you with that, here is our complete guide on what to look for when getting a new gaming mouse.
Objective Standards
When a gamer starts to look for a gaming mouse and decides that they want to be particular about the features of the mouse, the first thing they look at includes only objective standards. For example, the sensor type, the types of switches used, and the build quality of the mouse.
All the features mentioned above indeed matter a lot for a gaming mouse. In fact, they are the most important features of a gaming mouse. If a gaming mouse has a bad sensor and switches, the gaming mouse will not perform well. Also, if the gaming mouse has a poor build quality, it will not last long. However, you should really not be worried about them while getting a new gaming mouse.
You might be thinking to yourself, "if all those are the most important features of a gaming mouse, why wouldn't you want to be worried about them while getting a new mouse?" Well, the simple answer is that most reputable gaming mouse manufacturers these days already use top-of-the-line parts for their gaming mice.
Reputable manufacturers spend a lot of money on research and development, and they test their products extensively. All this is done to ensure that their products provide top-notch performance and last a long time. So if you are getting a gaming mouse that is manufactured by a reputable manufacturer like Logitech or Razer, then you can rest assured that they will only have the industry-leading sensors and switches and will have a tough and long-lasting build.
Besides, if you start checking out the sensor and switch types for each mouse that you look at, it will take a ton of time. So it is better to just look for a reputable mouse manufacturer. After finding a gaming mouse that fits your subjective standards, take a look at reviews from reputable sources.
Subjective Standards
As we have already mentioned, you should not worry about a mouse not having the top quality sensors or the best switches if the mouse is from a reputable manufacturer. But if that's not what you should look at, then what features should you consider while getting a gaming mouse?
While getting a new gaming mouse, you should always look at subjective features. In this way, the mouse you will buy will be catered to your preferences. The mouse will feel as if it belongs in your hands if you pick the right mouse. Here are some of the most important subjective standards to look at.
Personal Ergonomics
The first thing that you should look at while getting a gaming mouse is whether it suits your personal ergonomics. Personal ergonomics can include a lot of things, but the most important one is hand dominance. In other words, the first questions that you should ask yourself are which hand you prefer to use the mouse with and is the gaming mouse catered to this type of hand dominance.
Right-handed people will have no issue because they can use any gaming mouse on the market. However, the left-handed gamers will have to get an ambidextrous gaming mouse. Ambidextrous gaming mice are symmetrical from the center, so both right-handed and left-handed gamers can use them.
Play Style
Right after deciding if you need a normal gaming mouse or an ambidextrous gaming mouse, the next thing that you should take a look at is your play style or the type of games that you play. The question essentially boils down to whether you play shooter games or if you play MMO or MOBA games.
When you play either first-person or third-person shooters, you really don't need a lot of buttons on your gaming mouse. Most gamers that play only shooter games will want to set the mele, grenade, or push-to-talk function to one of the extra buttons on their mouse. So if you are also that kind of gamer, then all you need is a maximum of two extra buttons on your gaming mouse.
However, if you play MMO or MOBA games, then you might need more than two extra buttons on your mouse, a "LOT" more than two. The thing is, MMO and MOBA games usually include tons of different key combinations to execute specific actions. Most gamers set these combinations to single keys called macros. If there are several extra buttons available on a gaming mouse, most gamers prefer to utilize those for macros because it is faster to use them. Some gaming mice come with over ten extra buttons.
So the bottom line is that if you play shooter games, then you should not go for gaming mice that have five or ten extra buttons. Trust us, you won't be needing them. However, if you play MMO and MOBA-style games, then you will definitely need those extra buttons.
Grip Type and Hand Size
Humans come in different shapes and sizes. In the same way, some people have large hands, and others have relatively smaller hands. The way that gamers hold a gaming mouse that feels most comfortable to them while gaming also differs from person to person. So, if you are looking for a gaming mouse, the size of your hand and the type of grip that you prefer will determine which gaming mouse will feel most comfortable for you.
First, let us talk about hand size. The size of your hand is made up of two measurements, namely the length and the width. To figure out the length of your hand, measure from the base of your hand to the tip of the middle finger with a ruler or a measuring tape. To figure out the width, measure from the knuckle of the thumb to the outer edge of the palm.
If your hand has a width of less than 8.5cm or 3.3inches and a length of less than 17cm or 6.7inches, then it will be considered a small hand.
If the width of your hand is between 8.5 to 10cm or 3.3 to 3.9inches and its length is between 17 to 20cm or 6.7 to 7.9inches, then you have medium-sized hands.
Finally, if your hand has a width of more than 10cm or 3.9inches and a length of more than 20cm or 7.9inches, then it will be considered a large hand.
To figure out what grip style you use to hold the mouse, take a look at which parts of your hand are in contact with your hand.
If most of the sections of your fingers and the lower part of your hand are in contact with the mouse, then you are using the palm grip. In other words, if you like to hug your mouse with your hand, then it's a palm grip. A larger mouse is best suited for this grip style.
If only the tips of your fingers and a section of the lower part of your hand are in contact with the mouse, with your hand shaped like it's trying to claw the buttons, then you are using the claw grip. A medium-sized mouse is best suited for this grip style.
Finally, if only the tips of your fingers are in contact with the mouse while the lower part of your hand rests on the mousepad, then you are using the tip grip. Almost all mouse sizes can be used with this grip style.
Conclusion
When getting a gaming mouse, you don't need to care about what type of sensor and switches it is using. If you are getting one from a reputable brand, it will only have top-notch parts.
However, what you do need to look at is what's your playstyle, what hand you hold your mouse in, your hand size, and what grip you prefer.
There are tons of other features that you can take into consideration as well. For example, you can get a wireless mouse instead of a wireless one if you get irritated because of all the wires pr you can get one with RGB to customize the design. Just make sure that you have checked several reviews from reputable sources for the mouse you are about to buy.
