My Favorite Wired Mouse

Sometimes a cable makes for a good deal.

Photo taken by the author.

Look, I get it. Gaming peripherals are expensive. The PC world is full of high-end gear and flashy marketing trying to get you to upgrade when you spent a fortune getting what you already have.

Wireless mice are all the rage right now. The tech behind them has improved dramatically since its inception. I remember when wireless mice were laggy, awful messes that weren’t fun at all — but those days are long gone. All of the major manufacturers now offer high speed transmission that essentially meets wired performance levels, to where you would never notice the difference without some extremely precise measurement gear.

Still, since wireless is where most of the development and hype is, it’s also home to ever-increasing pricing. Razer just launched an eye-searingly expensive mouse for $280 that sold out its initial print run in five minutes, which was disappointing to see. The price bar for a good “flagship” wireless mouse currently sits around $140, and the success of the Viper Mini Signature means this might continue to creep up.

What if you don’t want to spend more than $100 but you still want to get a truly high-end gaming mouse experience? It turns out, it’s not that hard — as long as you don’t mind a cable.