Gaming in India has recently exploded in popularity, with many companies offering console quality shooters on mobile devices. Many mobile gamers have since moved on to PC gaming on desktops and gaming laptops, and eSports players like Ankit “V3nom” Panth have risen to compete at an international level.
If you're an aspiring gamer, be it casual or competitive, a mouse is a must-have peripheral. A gamer's mouse is an extension of their hand, a lethal weapon used to dominate any arena or battlefield. We've compiled a list of the five best gaming mice you can get under rupees 10,000, to help you gain that competitive edge over your rivals.
SteelSeries Rival 600 - Rs. 8,999
If RGB lighting is something you like, then no mouse on this list does it better than the SteelSeries Rival 600. Two LED strips run down the middle of the Rival 600, which along with the SteelSeries logo on the base of the palm rest, can be customized to the color and lighting pattern of your choice.
The slightly angular body weighs 128g and is subtle yet well designed enough to provide a comfortable grip, with a total of seven programmable buttons including three thumb buttons on the left (limiting it to right-handed users), a textured scroll wheel, and a dots-per-inch (DPI) sensitivity adjusting button below it.
The SteelSeries Engine 3 software has a clean and user-friendly interface, allowing for easy customization of the RGB light profiles, and hassle-free binding specific functions or macros to the programmable buttons.
One of the thumb buttons functions as a 'sniper' button during FPS(Front Person Shooter) games, lowering the DPI sensitivity, which greatly assists the player in lining up the perfect shot. That said, the mouse is capable of exceptional performance in games, which holds up to SteelSeries' track record of manufacturing excellent gaming peripherals. The internal Pixart TrueMove 3 optical sensor supports up to 12,000 DPI, making for a very fluid gaming experience. The mouse also has a secondary sensor for True Depth Perception, that tracks lift-off distance, removing all possibility of lessened accuracy due to accidental lift-offs.
The ergonomics of the mouse can be further improved with its adjustable weights, which come in a set of eight and weigh 4 grams each. The side panels of the mouse are magnetized, making it convenient to detach, and beneath them are four slots each for the weights, giving the player the choice to personalize balance and heft.
The SteelSeries Rival 600 is a beautifully designed gaming mouse aimed at FPS shooters, that offers a top-notch gaming experience and customizability, and will appeal to both competitive and casual gamers alike.
Corsair M65 Pro RGB - Rs. 5,999
The Corsair M65 Pro RGB gaming mouse is a relatively inexpensive device with a design that limits it's usability to right-handed, primarily FPS, players. If you belong to that category, then this mouse is worth considering for your next purchase.
The build quality is solid, with a unibody frame made out of what Corsair claims to be aircraft-grade aluminium, and weighing 115 grams. The top panel is made out of plastic with a soft-touch finish, while the sides are textured for better grip. The mouse features a well laid out six programmable buttons apart from the left and right-click buttons, including the clickable scroll wheel, DPI adjuster, and three left-side thumb buttons. The third thumb button is significantly more prominent, and functions as the sniper button. The 12,000 DPI optical sensor and surface tuning capabilities of the M65 Pro allow for extreme precision while gaming.
The device also offers tunable weights like the SteelSeries Rival 600, which can increase the overall weight to 135.5 grams. However, the installation and removal of these are not the snap-on methods of other mice, rather it involves using a flathead screwdriver to remove screwed on panels and physically dislodging the weights, which might be potentially less convenient for some users.
Corsair's proprietary software, the Corsair Utility Engine (CUE) is known to be highly user-friendly and flexible, even for beginners. It can create program-specific profiles for the M65, bind buttons to functions or keyboard macros, adjust DPI levels, and customize the RGB lighting. The software's Dashboard feature also monitors your computer's CPU temperature, fan speed, and more. The mouse's polling rate can be adjusted between 1000 Hz and 125 Hz in order to make the overall cursor movement seem smoother and the dedicated memory in the device means your custom profiles can be saved for instant use at any system.
The Corsair M65 Pro is a fantastic value for a right-handed FPS gaming mouse, with an extremely accurate sensor, well-optimized software, and solid build quality, and if you want, you can even get the mouse in white.
Razer DeathAdder Elite - Rs. 6,099
Weighing just 105 grams, the Razer DeathAdder Elite is the lightest mouse on this list, making it the best option for competitive FPS gaming. The well-built body is shaped for right-handed use and suits any grip style - palm, claw or fingertip - and hand size comfortably. Besides the clickable scroll wheel and the left and right mouse click buttons, it has two programmable thumb buttons that are large enough to prevent mistaking one for the other during an intense gunfight.
The device has an extremely accurate 16,000 DPI sensor, the PMW-3389 designed and manufactured by Pixart in collaboration with Logitech, with a resolution accuracy of 99.4% and a 450 IPS rating, making it blistering fast and capable of getting the best our of high-intensity matches.
The Razer DeathAdder Elite may not have all the RGB, multiple button bells and whistles of the other gaming mice here, but it more than makes up for it with the flawless tracking, comfortable body shape, and extremely lightweight, and should be your choice if you primarily play titles like Overwatch or CS: GO.
Razer Naga Trinity - 8,999
The Razer Naga Trinity is hands down the most customizable and versatile mouse out there today. With three interchangeable magnetic side plates, you can equip the Naga Trinity with a whopping 12 thumb buttons in a 4x3 grid layout for the best MMO gaming experience, 7 in a hexagonal pattern for MOBAs and single-player titles, and 2 buttons placed side-by-side for FPS games. Including the left, right and middle click mouse buttons, the DPI adjusting button in the middle and the tiltable and clickable scroll wheel, the Naga Trinity offers the user a range of 9 to a ridiculous 19 customizable button options. Razer has also set utilities for mapping the buttons in-game for popular MMOs, allowing for convenient rearrangement mid-game.
The removable side panels do not in any way make the mouse inferior in terms of grip comfort and build quality, and the textured side grip, 120 g weight, and Razer's highest resolution 16,000 DPI 5G optical sensor makes it a pleasure to use for FPS gaming.
For those looking to get a mouse, but can't decide between two-button and multi-button layouts, the Razer Naga Trinity is a perfect choice, offering three accurate, well-designed mice in one, with RGB lighting to boot.
Logitech 502 Hero Gaming Mouse - Rs. 6,495
The Logitech G502 Hero is a fan favorite right-handed mouse among MOBA, MMO, and FPS players alike, with a design that is so beloved, it hasn't been altered for six years since it's original iteration. The body has a sharp, angular, gamer-friendly design, with a soft matte plastic surface. It is shaped to accommodate even the biggest hands, while the tapered off base will appeal to palm grip players. The thumb rest on the left perfectly accommodates the player's thumb, while the grip on it and the side are textured for higher accuracy. The mouse is well-equipped with 11 programmable buttons, including the left and right-click buttons, two buttons along the edge of the left click button for DPI adjustment, a button in the centre, a tiltable and clickable scroll wheel, the two thumb buttons, and a third sniper button towards the front.
The G502 weighs 121 grams, which is a middle ground for a balance between FPS and other titles, but for anyone who prefers more heft, the bottom panel of the mouse can be removed to add on a maximum of 5 adjustable weights that can bring the device up to 139 grams. On the inside, the G502 Hero packs Logitech's proprietary industry-leading Hero optical sensor that supports up to 16,000 DPI. The left and right-click switches are highly durable Omron switches, rated for 50 million clicks, and are highly responsive with very little actuation force required.
The scrolling wheel is made out of metal, with a button below it that allows you to switch between smooth scrolling, that offers no resistance to scrolling the wheel and makes web browsing and coding much easier, and notched scrolling, that limits the scroll to one notch at a time making it perfect for in-game functions like weapon changes.
Logitech's G Hub software makes mapping button layouts and adjusting DPI ranges a breeze, and you can even store five profiles set in it in the mouse's local storage for more versatility. The RGB lighting on the Hero is much more muted compared to other gaming mice, but the single RGB Logitech logo actually looks better than entire strips of RGB, and it can be customized to your preference using G Hub.
If you're on the lookout for your first gaming mouse, but don't know what weight or size or the number of buttons you need, the Logitech G502 Hero strikes the perfect balance between versatility and ease of use.
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