Whether you’re gaming on your PC or just trying to get some work done, having a dependable and accurate mouse can make a big difference. Selecting text and clicking into the right spreadsheet cells is one thing, but once you’re gaming, it gets even more important to have a great mouse, and there are many gaming mice to choose from. Unfortunately, with all those options, there are plenty of duds and many that just cost more than anyone should have to stomach (we’re talking the price of a decent processor).Fortunately, we’ve tried out so many mice, we know which can still muster solid performance while boasting a price tag that’s more gentle on the eyes. In fact, some of these gaming mice even borrow the design and features of their more expensive counterparts but manage to stay a bit more affordable by dialing back things like RGB lighting or fancy connectivity options. Most of these options will cost you less than $50 while still delivering a great mouse that will track accurately enough for you to start working on your muscle memory and train those flick shots.Cheap Gaming Mouse Deals (Updated 6/5/20)
Below, you’ll find wired and wireless mice that may seem simple at first, but that will work great whether you’re a new gamer or a seasoned competitor.
TL;DR These are the Best Budget Gaming Mice:
1. SteelSeries Rival 3
Best Budget Gaming Mouse
Sensor: TrueMove Core Optical Sensitivity: 8,500 CPI Shape: Right-Handed Buttons: 6 Connection: Wired Weight: 77g
Don’t fool around with the rest when you can game on the best. Budget mice aren’t all created equal, but the SteelSeries Rival 3 (read our review) shows just how good they can get. It has six buttons, delivering just the right amount to come in handy for most games. It also has SteelSeries’ tried and true design, with a leaning toward minimalism that won’t make your mouse stand out if you also take it into work (as long as you tone down the RGB lighting).The mouse wouldn’t mean much if it wasn’t also accurate, but the Rival 3 is using a TrueMove Core Optical sensor for accurate, one-to-one tracking. It may not be as capable as some of the higher-end mice, but its ability to handle movements up to 300 inches-per-second and 35G accelerations should be more than enough for all but maybe pro gamers with serious flick shots.
2. Corsair Harpoon RGB Wireless
Best Budget Wireless Gaming Mouse
Sensor: Optical PixArt PMW3325 Sensitivity: 10,000 DPI Shape: Right-handed Buttons: 6 Connection: 2.4GHz wireless done, Bluetooth Battery life: 45 hours Weight: 99g
The Corsair Harpoon RGB Wireless is the cheapest and best budget wireless gaming mice available on the market. For just $50, it’ll connect to your gaming PC or gaming laptop, and even other devices using both its 2.4GHz wireless dongle and Bluetooth.It also comes packing an impressive 10,000 DPI sensor and Omron switches, which are rated for 50 million mouse clicks. Overall, the Corsair Harpoon RGB Wireless is a well-rounded gaming mouse that will last for 30-45 hours between charges.
3. Cougar Surpassion ST
Best Budget Ergonomic Gaming Mouse
Sensor: Optical PixArt PMW3250 Sensitivity: 3,200 DPI Shape: Right-handed Buttons: 6 Connection: Wired Weight: 95g
Trying to stay on a budget for a cheap gaming mouse, doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice on ergonomics. The Cougar Surpassion ST is a gaming mouse that should be a perfect fit for right-handed gamers and it has 5 programmable buttons.It also packs a PixArt PMW3250 optical sensor with a maximum 3,200 DPI rating, which users can tweak with a physical slider underneath the mouse. There’s also a second physical slider for adjusting the polling rate.
4. SteelSeries Rival 110
Best Budget Ambidextrous Gaming Mouse
Sensor: Optical TrueMove1 Sensitivity: 7,200 DPI Shape: Ambidextrous Buttons: 6 Connection: Wired Weight: 90g
The SteelSeries Rival 110 (read our review) is a mouse that feels like it should cost twice as much, so at $30 it’s a heck of a bargain. It doesn’t offer the sky-high DPI rate of the Corsair mouse, and its shape is a bit more bulging, but it offers all the features you’d find in a mouse twice the price and has a premium design that’s rare in this class of peripherals.Like the Harpoon it features a six-button layout, RGB lighting, and textured side grips. In our testing, we felt the Corsair Harpoon was just a bit more comfortable due to its smaller size, but if you have bigger hands you should check out the Rival 110.
5. Razer Basilisk Essential
Best Budget FPS Gaming Mouse
Sensor: Optical Sensitivity: 6,400 DPI Shape: Right-handed Buttons: 7 Connection: Wired Weight: 95g
The Razer Basilisk was our pick for the best FPS gaming mouse, and this Razer Basilisk Essential (read our review) gaming mouse essentially gives you the same great experience for less. Normally priced at $50, this mouse features a fantastically ergonomic design for right-handed users with a deep groove for your thumb to sit in and a soap bar shape that’s been tilted slightly for your hand to rest comfortably on.Aside from the standard mouse buttons, the Razer Basilisk Essential has a DPI clutchbasically a paddle on the side of the mousethat works better than any sniper button I’ve used on a gaming mouse. compared to the regular Razer Basilisk, the only thing that’s been toned down on the Essential version is its optical sensor maximum DPI is only 6,400which should still be plenty fast for most PC gamers.
6. Cooler Master CM310
Best Budget RGB Gaming Mouse
Sensor: Optical Pixart A3325 Sensitivity: 10,000 DPI Shape: Ambidextrous (single-sided thumb buttons) Buttons: 8 Connection: Wired Weight: 100g
The Cooler Master CM310 (read our review) is a darn good mouse, especially for its $30 asking price. It comes with all the ritzy features you’d expect from a more expensive mouse including RGB backlighting and a Pixart A3325 gaming-grade optical sensor. This gaming mouse also feels great in the hand for both right- and left-handed users thanks to its ambidextrous shape and rubber sides.7. Logitech G600
Best Budget MMO Gaming Mouse
Sensor: Laser Sensitivity: 8,200 DPI Shape: Right-handed Buttons: 20 Connection: Wired Weight: 133g
MMO gaming mice are typically expensive since they have so many extra buttons, but you can regularly find the Logitech G600 going for $30. Even without its regular discount, the Logitech G600 has always been one of the best MMO gaming mice with its 20 programmable buttons and 8,200 DPI laser sensor.Unlike most gaming mice, the Logitech G600 has three primary mouse buttons with the third being a G-Shift button you click with your ring finger. Hitting this key switches the side buttons to a second set of commands, which is perfect for MMO games that often give you two action bars of abilities and items to play with anyway.
8. Razer Abyssus Essential
Ambidextrous Awesomeness
Sensor: Optical Sensitivity: 7,200 DPI Shape: Ambidextrous Buttons: 3 Connection: Wired Weight: 80g
Razer’s $30 Abyssus V2 (read our review) has the same textured sides we appreciate on the Roccat Lua and a supremely comfortable design that makes it a joy to hold and use for gaming. It’s missing the side buttons we’ve come to expect on a mouse, however, and it’s on the smaller side of the spectrum for a gaming mouse, but that makes it great for fingertip control.Its maximum DPI is also a low-ish 5,000, which is just one-third of what the Corsair Harpoon can do, but since most people usually max that out at around 4,000 DPI it should be fine. On the other hand, it offers up to five DPI presets, which is a lot for a budget mouse, and it also features customizable lighting too.
Overall though, it’s just a really, really comfortable mouse, and for $30 it’s great for desktop gaming or for tossing in your bag for a road trip.
What to Look for in a Budget Gaming Mouse
In this day and age, you really don’t have to sacrifice a lot when you’re trying to save a buck on a gaming mouse. Many of the cheap options out there offer a high level of DPI and polling rate to keep up with even the best premium gaming mice. That said, not all mice are built equal; some offer more buttons with others are ergonomically designed for a certain handiness (usually for right-handed users), so there are a few things to consider when choosing the right peripheral for you.The first and most important thing about choosing the right mouse for you is its shape. For the most part, mice come in exactly two shapes: ambidextrous or ergonomic. While it might seem like a simple choice that all right-handed users should pick an ergonomic shape while left-handed are left with whatever is ambidextrous, the way you hold the mouse is just as important too.
To that end, there are also two primary types of mouse grip: palm and claw. For the former palm grip technique, you’ll want a mouse with a tall back that can support your handas well as some level of pinky and ring finger support. Claw grippers, on the other hand, should look for a mouse that’s relatively short and has a small footprint.
Kevin Lee is IGN’s Hardware and Roundups Editor. Follow him on Twitter @baggingspamMark Knapp is a regular contributor to IGN and an irregular Tweeter on Twitter @Techn0Mark
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