PC gaming is a very serious pastime for many a hardcore gamer. As such, there are a lot of gaming mice. So many gaming mouses, in fact, that trying to decide on a single size and style — especially on a budget — is much more complicated than scouring Reddit and Amazon’s top lists to find an answer. Unless you know exactly what your gaming needs are and what grip you use, I recommend getting to a store to try some out — and figure out your personal preference — before you buy. Ergonomic design, the addition of a scroll wheel, battery life, if you want to use a mouse pad, if the mouse has a laser sensor, mouse sensitivity, if the mouse has a fingertip grip or ambidextrous design, whether or not the mouse is programmable or open to customization — these factors are all paramount to the best possible gaming experience.
The good news is that you don’t have to spend a lot to get a good gaming mouse with excellent performance and accuracy. What’s below are some of our favorites that fall below $50. Plus, we’re currently testing new mice that were announced at the end of 2019, so expect this list to change as we weigh the pros and cons of each . If you think I’ve overlooked any other great sub-$50 gaming mice, leave a comment to let us know what you think is the best cheap gaming mouse. Also, if you need a new gaming keyboard, too, here are our current picks for less than $100.
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Steelseries already has an excellent cheap gaming mouse in its lineup with the ambidextrous Sensei 310, which is further down on this list. However, its new $30 Rival 3 is also surprisingly decent. The ergonomic right-handed six-button mouse is very light at 77g (2.7 oz.) and uses the company’s TrueMove Core sensor with an 8,500 CPI and one-to-one tracking for precise movement. This wired mouse uses the same switches as its $120 Rival 650 mouse and, while the buttons require a little more force than others we’ve tested, it has a fair amount of configuration possibilities, including three zones of RGB LED lights that Steelseries says are the brightest its used in any mouse.
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Roccat packed a ton of functions into this 99-gram ambidextrous RGB budget mouse with a braided cable. Its Swarm software lets you program its 10 mouse buttons for up to 20 functions with its Easy Shift feature that gives you access to a second set of commands. Plus, there are a bunch of preset profiles for games. If you like macros, but don’t like a bulky mouse, consider the Kova.
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You can dismiss Razer because it’s popular or you feel it’s all hype. But the fact is, this is a good budget gaming mouse for any gamer. It’s comfortable, particularly if you use a palm grip, with an accurate speedy 16,000 DPI sensor and a lightweight body. The programmable Synapse software lets you tweak its lights and seven buttons as much as you want, and you no longer need to sign in. And it’s covered with a two-year warranty.
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If you want some extra flash in a fast, accurate and light gaming mouse, this SteelSeries rival is a fine ergonomically designed pick for quick movements and good gaming. At 100 grams, you can use the Surge with a fingertip or claw grip, and it’s ambidextrous, too. Other pros are that it’s designed with six programmable buttons and a ring of RGB light that run around the entire body. It’s a plug-and-play mouse, but you can program the lights and buttons with the company’s NGenuity software.
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The G305 is the only one here that doesn’t have RGB lighting. However, it’s also the only wireless mouse on our list, and without that extra lighting, this wireless gaming mouse lasts longer — up to 250 hours of continuous PC gaming. It takes a single AA battery that hides under the palm rest with its Lightspeed wireless USB adapter. Even with the battery, though, this PC gaming mouse weighs less than 100 grams. The small size, relatively low profile and weight was comfortable used with claw and palm grip styles. It’s also an ambidextrous gaming mouse. All in all, it’s a great choice among wireless gaming mice, with good battery life, if you don’t want a lot of buttons or lights.
The price hovers around the $50 mark, so if it jumps a bit over that, I recommend waiting it out for a price drop or sale.
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If you spend a lot of time playing FPS games, this is a great pick for an FPS gaming mouse. While plenty of mice have ways to quickly adjust DPI (dots per inch) on the fly, the removable thumb clutch is perfectly placed. And two sizes are included to adjust for your hand size. The other helpful design feature is the tension adjustment on the scroll wheel. A small acceleration wheel on the bottom lets you pick just how fast you want the scroll wheel to turn for those times when you need greater accuracy like selecting weapons.
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SteelSeries recently announced a 10th-anniversary edition of this mouse called the Sensei Ten. It has a couple new customization features that make it worth paying extra for (though you can currently get it for around $42) like tilt tracking for when you hit your mouse pad at an angle. That said, the 310 is less expensive, just as lightweight and also has accurate tracking thanks to its esport-quality optical sensor. The side buttons are on the small side, but you get a set on each side of its ambidextrous design.
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