This article originally appeared on GameCrate.
The gaming mouse market is a crowded place, full of hundreds of different models with their own size, shape, button arrangement, and color (though they’re mostly black). Though gamers and die-hard fans are often willing to argue forcefully that their favorite mouse is the objective “best mouse in the world,” the reality is that choosing a gaming mouse is a highly subjective thing. Hand size, grip style, and aesthetic preferences are just a few of the considerations that go into determining whether or not a mouse clicks with a particular user (oh, boy, that pun, I’m so sorry). And as we found in our Blind Gaming Headset Showdown, positive or negative views of particular brands can also be a factor.
With our Blind Gaming Mouse Showdown, we tried to strip away as much of the marketing, flash, and extraneous details as possible to provide a new perspective on how some of the most popular gaming mice around (as well as a few less-well-known contenders).
The Method
We recruited six judges with varying levels of mouse-focused gaming experience and differing preferences as to the ideal size, shape, and appearance of a gaming mouse. We then used the Official GameCrate Judge Impartiality Generator (patent pending) to allow the judges to try out six different gaming mice, one after the other, without seeing any of the mice. They didn’t know what brand the mouse was, what it looked like, or how much it cost.
The Official GameCrate Judge Impartiality Generator (patent pending).
The judges became familiar with the mouse by opening up the Windows Control Panel, adjusting the mouse sensitivity to their liking, and then playing Minecraft for a while. They shared their thoughts on the mouse while they did this, letting us know what they liked, what they didn’t like, and whether or not the mouse worked for them.
Once they were comfortable with the mouse, judges visited missionred.com to put their skills to the test. They tried the clicking reflex challenge one or two times per mouse and we recorded their scores. We mixed up the mouse order from one judge to the next to eliminate the issue of mice at the end of the challenge benefiting from increased skill at the game.
After trying out all six mice, the judges ranked their three favorites (gold, silver, and bronze) in terms of which mouse they would actually want to buy and use on a daily basis, for gaming and other activities. We referred to this ranking as “Comfort.” A seperate ranking of gold, silver, and bronze was awarded to the three mice with which the judges scored the highest on Mission Red.
Finally, after all the physical testing was done, we allowed the judges to see all of the mice at once, plugged in and lit up. They then picked their three favorites based purely on the look of the mouse, taking into account color, lighting, shape, and brand if they wished.
A Note
The Blind Gaming Mouse Showdown is not intended as a substitute for a detailed review of the individual mice involved. If these blind tests show us anything, it’s that so much of what we think of as “quality” in gaming peripherals is subjective, rather than objective, so it’s wise to read as many differing views and in-depth descriptions of a mouse as possible before making your purchase to try to determine if the mouse will be right for you. Additionally, since several of the mice in our showdown were adjustable in some way (with optional weights, modifiable height, or detachable parts) we tried to keep those mice as middle-of-the-road as possible. It’s possible that judge preferences would have changed slightly if they had been allowed to tweak the mouse to their individual specifications.
That said, we feel that the Blind Gaming Mouse Showdown brought some interesting aspects of these mice to light, and allowed us to compare them in a useful way. Hopefully the information in this article can be of some use to you in making your mouse purchase decisions in the future.
The Judges
Here is a brief introduction to each of our six judges:
Quibian, editor and writer for GameCrate. He hasn’t done a great deal of mouse-focused gaming in the past.
Rachel, of Newegg TV and the GameCrate YouTube channel. Her primary concerns in a mouse are ergonomics for extended play. She tends to like medium-sized, lighter mice with plenty of buttons.
Jenny, also from Newegg TV. She prefers heavy mice with buttons that she can easily reach despite her small hands.
Jack, one of the people in charge of the advertisements on GameCrate. He likes light mice with responsive scroll wheels, as he prefers to use the mouse wheel to jump in FPS games.
Wallace, a GameCrate contributor. He prefers highly programmable MMO mice.
Chris, another GameCrate contributor. He describes himself as having “big meaty claw hands,” and likes large mice.
Our contenders, on the Dying Light mouse pad we used for the showdown.
The Contenders
Now let’s take a look at the mice that our judges got to try.
Mouse A: Logitech G502. Released earlier this year, the G502 Proteus Core has several interesting features including a metal scroll wheel, adjustable weights, and a max of 12,000 DPI. We reviewed the mouse on GameCrate back in April.
Mouse B: EVGA TORQ X10 Carbon. The TORQ is a high-performance, height-adjustable gaming mouse from popular component manufacturer EVGA. This is another mouse we’vereviewed in detail on GameCrate.
Mouse C: Tt eSPORTS SAPHIRA Team DK Edition. The SAPHIRA Team DK Edition features adjustable weights, on-board memory, and a visually distinctive look.
Mouse D: ROCCAT Kone Pure Military Desert Strike. This mouse from ROCCAT has the same general shape and functionality as their popular Kone Pure line, but with a military-inspired color scheme. It also features seven programmable buttons and customizable LED colors.
Mouse E: Corsair Vengeance M65. One of the most popular gaming mice in recent years, the Corsair Vengeance M65 scores 4 out of 5 eggs with over 200 user reviews on Newegg.
Mouse F: Razer Ouroboros. Another popular choice among established gaming mice, the Razer Ouroboros includes removable side-fins and adjustable dimensions for customizable comfort.
The Scoring
After all the judging was done, we set about determining the overall champions for the areas of Comfort, Performance and Appearance. To rank the mice, each first-place vote a headset received from a judge was worth ten points, second place scored five points, and third place was two points.
And Now Let’s Take A Look At The Results!
Comfort
The gold medal for comfort goes to…
Logitech G502!
The G502 Proteus Core earned two first-place votes, two second-place votes, and a third-place vote from our judges. They described it as having a “good grip,” a nicely sized and placed scroll wheel, and a solid size and shape overall. Several judges expressed their approval of the scoop thumb rest on the left-hand side, and the cool metal of the wheel also earned praise. A few judges mentioned that they didn’t like the placement of the side thumb buttons very much, but that wasn’t enough to keep the G502 from emerging as the winner for overall comfort and judge preference.
The silver medal for comfort goes to…
Corsair Vengeance M65
With two first-place votes and a second- and third place vote too, the Vengeance was just narrowly edged out by the G502 for the comfort gold. Judges were conflicted about the extremely rough and grippy texture on the sides, but they were generally big fans of the size and support of the mouse. The easily accessible sniper button on the left side was a big hit, and judges repeatedly praised the overall “ergonomics” of the mouse. One judge said that the mouse was “definitely higher end” and guessed that it would sell for $90 — significantly more than its current $60 price tag.
The bronze medal for comfort goes to…
Tt eSPORTS SAPHIRA
The most affordable mouse in our showdown held its own against some much pricier contenders, with one first-place and two second-place votes. The judges who liked the SAPHIRA praised its large size and “fat” body, which provides a lot of support for the entire hand. One judge remarked that it had a “really good mouse wheel.” The texture split the judges, with some liking the smoothness of it but others saying it was almost slippery. In the same way, some liked its “simplicity” while others found it to be lacking in functions. The buttons on the left side of the body were universally criticized as being too small and hard to press.
Performance
The gold medal for performance goes to…
ROCCAT Kone Pure Military!
This was an absolutely stunning landslide victory for the ROCCAT mouse. Four of our six judges scored their best on the reflex clicking challenge with this mouse, and for the other two judges it was the second-best. Though the ROCCAT didn’t get much recognition for its comfort from the judges — several found it to be a bit undersized and light and generally unremarkable — it blew every single other mouse out of the water when it came time to actually do some high-performance clicking.
The silver medal for performance goes to…
Logitech G502
One first-place and three third-place scores was enough to land the G502 Proteus Core in second place for performance. Judges praised it as requiring the proper amount of force for a click and for gliding smoothly on the mouse pad.
The bronze medal for performance goes to…
Corsair Vengeance and Tt eSPORTS SAPHIRA
These two mice tied in this category, with the judges widely split on each.
Looks
The gold medal for looks goes to…
EVGA TORQ X10!
The TORQ was a big winner among the judges in terms of looks, with three first-place votes and one second-place vote. Judges loved its angular look, symmetrical red side buttons, and high-quality mouse wheel. The carbon fiber texture was also a big hit.
The silver medal for looks goes to…
Razer Ouroboros
Razer’s black and green color scheme appealed to several of the judges, and it came in just barely behind the TORQ with two first-place votes, two second-place votes, and a third-place vote. The modular nature of the Ouroboros makes it look a lot like a Transformer, and made it a hit with the judges visually.
The bronze medal for looks goes to…
Logitech G502
The G502 Proteus Core makes another appearance here, thanks to being selected first, second, and third for looks by three different judges. The bright glow of the “G” on the mouse body was a feature praised by the judges.
The Grand Champion
First in Comfort, second in Performance, and third in Looks makes the Logitech G502 Proteus Core the clear overall winner for our first Blind Gaming Mouse Showdown. GameCrate praised it as a high-quality mouse at a reasonable price-point in our original review, and our blind test provided quite a lot of support for that original judgement.
Congratulations to the Logitech G502!
What We Learned
After running these six mice through this showdown, some interesting things came to light. First, there didn’t seem to be a strong correlation between the price of the mouse and how well it did in terms of comfort and performance, though the two most expensive mice were the clear winners in terms of looks. The TORQ and the Ouroboros were likely hampered in our showdown by their adjustable, modular nature — it’s very possible their scores could have improved for Comfort and Performance if they had been adjusted exactly to the hand of the particular judges. That said, both of those mice would have needed to do significantly better in those categories in order to make it into the top three.
It was also interesting to see how well the ROCCAT did in terms of performance with all six judges, even though it wasn’t picked by many judges as their favorite in terms of comfort. Perhaps ROCCAT should look into adjusting the texture or shape of their mice a bit in order to make them more immediately appealing to the hand, while still trying to maintain the clearly superior performance they’ve managed to provide.
Finally, just as we found in our Blind Headset Showdown, it’s fun to see how people evaluate products when they are missing information about the appearance, price, and brand. The Tt eSPORTS SAPHIRA did quite well for itself in Comfort and Performance, while some of the more expensive mice struggled in those same areas. There’s a great deal that goes into our individual evaluations of gaming peripherals, and the question of which mouse is “the best” is a very difficult one indeed.
