Best Wireless gaming mouse under 150$

I'm looking for a new wireless gaming mouse, and yes I understand that wired gaming mouses are obviously better, but wireless is a must for me. I was looking at some Razor products, but do they offer the best wireless gaming mouses?

 

I personally love my G700. Logitech has always done right by me, and their drivers and configuration software actually works really well.

 

There is no "best", because each person has different criteria.

The two you want to look at are going to be the Logitech G700 and the Razer Mamba. Out of those two, I would say go for the Logitech G700, because it has the best performing sensor you can find on any mouse (Avago S9500), has longer battery life between recharges, has a tiny receiver (unlike the Mamba), and costs $75 vs $130.

 

I love my Mamba. I paid $70 for it instead of the full $130, but I'd still be quite happy with it at full price because it's an excellent mouse.

Its shape is, without contest, the most perfectly contoured form I've ever used in a mouse. It fits my hand flawlessly, and I don't even feel that it's there when I use it. All the contacted surfaces (entire top of the mouse, all buttons, and the thumb and pinkie grips) are rubberized, so fingerprints on the glossy black plastic parts really aren't an issue.

Button placement is perfect. The way my hand rests on the mouse, every button is easily accessible without any hand-shifting, but at the same time I never accidentally click one I don't want to. The buttons themselves have ideal tactile feedback; perfectly clicky, neither mushy nor hard to trigger.

As for battery life, unless you're using your mouse for over 14 straight hours (if you do this, please, go outside ), it's a non-issue. I take the mouse off the charging dock in the morning and I drop it back on when I go to bed at night, and I have never had it go below 1/3 bars of battery, let alone actually run out. And in the worst case, if you do end up gaming for 24 hours straight and the battery gives out, you can just plug the mouse in and use it in wired mode while it charges.

With regards to the charging dock/receiver, it's a good design. Sure, it's not as portable as the G700's micro receiver thing, but the convenience of having it function as a charger is so worth it. Unlike the G700, which can only charge while the mouse is plugged in, you can just drop the Mamba on top of the receiver and charge it whenever you're not using it. And people tend to overstate its bulk; the entire charger/receiver unit is about half the size of the mouse itself, and weighs next to nothing. If I take my Mamba anywhere, I can just slip the charger in the pocket of my jeans with no trouble. The Mamba was not designed with portability as a priority, but it's not like you'll have a hard time carrying it anywhere if you want to.

Overall, it's a top-notch mouse and I highly recommend it to anyone.

 

If the Mamba is being considered then i dont see why not the R.A.T. 9 is, ive never owned one so i cant speak for it perfomance wise. But on a spec sheet, it is wireless, it is the most customizable mouse you can find. Though it uses the same poor sensor the Mamba uses (philips twin eye) and has a similarly large wireless receiver as the Mamba, difference is that it uses a swap and go battery system unlike the docking to charge for the Mamba.

If i were to recommend the very best in wireless, the G700 is the way to go, with a tiny usb reciever for portability, top notch sensor with no Z-axis issues. Im sure most forum members here would say so. Oh and its like $50 less than the Mamba, so there you go.

 

I wasn't aware the Razer Mamba used a Philips Twin Eye sensor.

I would have to strongly recommend against the Cyborg RAT9. I owned a Cyborg RAT7. The Cyborg RAT7/9 is comfortable and configurable. But the big weakness is that the laser imaging sensor on that mouse is absolutely terrible.

Hardcore mice nerds currently consider the Avago S9500 laser sensor to be the best sensor in mice, in terms of precision, reliability, tracking speed, and tolerate for imperfect mouse surfaces. High-end Logitech mice predominantly use that sensor (Logitech G500, G700, G9X), as well as a few other mice here and there from various vendors.

The Cyborg RAT 7/9 and the Razer Mamba both use a Philips Twin Eye sensor. There is a known issue where the mouse cursor moves when you lift the mouse from the surface of the mousepad. This is called the Z-Axis issue, and is a notorious problem of mice using Philips Twin Eye. The sensor is also not tolerant of imperfect mouse surfaces, which pretty much requires that you always use a clean mouse pad.

Ask any hardcore mouse nerd, and they will tell you that Philips Twin-Eye sensor is a piece of junk for the reasons I stated above.

 

It's not a piece of junk; you just don't like it.

Use a big mouse pad so you don't have to pick up your mouse every 5 inches and Z-axis tracking becomes a non-issue. And even when I do lift it up, the cursor moves barely a couple millimeters, and that's only if I lift it from certain angles. As for mouse surfaces, my Mamba works just fine on my eXactMat that's over two years old and gets brushed with a paper towel maybe once every six months.

 

About Mamba. While it is certainly a great mouse, I ended up mostly using it in wired mode. There are 2 issues:

1. It doesn't have any kind of low battery warning, like Logitech has so it can just give up during the gaming (which can be really annoying).

2. You can let it charge overnight but then you have to have the computer turned on (because it's charging through USB). The other option is to connect the cable directly into it so you can charge its battery this way. But then, it doesn't really work as a WIRELESS mouse.

With logitech G7 for example, you have a low battery warning on the screen and there are actually 2 batteries - so you just swap them whenever 1 runs out. The other one is always charging. I haven't had any issues with Z-axis; you are aware the mouse is supposed to used in 2D plane, right? I (and my friend) used it on their Megasoma, Destructor, Kabuto and Goliathus surfaces and works great on all of them. It works amazing on Destructor - I just don't like it because its pretty hard. My friend doesn't mind it tho.

 

There's a display panel on the left side of the mouse, just below the two DPI buttons. When you switch DPI, it shows what DPI setting you're on for a moment, but it usually displays the battery level out of 3 bars. When it gets to one flashing bar, it's time to charge.

Your computer doesn't need to be on to charge via USB.

 

The nice thing about the G700 is you can configure a button to show you the remaining charge, while leaving the lights out most of the time.

Depends on the computer. Some models do have USB powered while the machine is off, others don't.

 

Ah, didn't know that. Mine charges while the computer's off

Also, you can disable the Mamba's lights while still leaving the battery display on as well with the driver software.

 

Wow this thread got a lot more responses in such little time than mine did.

But my thread is the same thing as yours..There aren't many mouses more than $150.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/accessories/573062-best-wireless-gaming-mouse.html

 

I own both the g700 and mamba and i recommend the g700 over the mamba.

The mamba ain't a bad mouse at all but its not worth 130$ which i bought at release day, But ya the g700 has a much better sensor and i prefer the shape of the g700 over the mamba which mainly why i bought it about a week ago.

And again its way more portable i just take out the micro usb receiver from my desktop and pop it in my m11x and put the mouse in the bag


Remember too the g700 has almost the same sensor as the xai which i also own and its considered the best gaming mouse most of the time I also recommend the g700 over that too.

I just wish i would've got the g700 at release over all the mouses i bought..


I do agree the dock is nice on the mamba but i think i prefer the charging on the g700 better and its way easier too connect and disconnect the cable.

 

Easier to connect + disconnect a cable than to just drop the mouse on top of a dock?

 

i think he meant easier to connect the cable to G700 over connecting the cable to the Mamba. If connecting the cable to the Mamba is similar to connecting the cable to the orochi, then i would have to agree with him, the cable was hard to get the right position to insert in properly.

 

Ah.

It's not quite the same as the Orochi; it's a similar mechanism, but there's a lot more room to work with on the Mamba.

 

Yep that's what i meant The g700 cable goes right in very easy and come out the same way, The mamba has that locking system were you have too push the button too unlatch, I didn't have a problem with it but i find the g700 way much faster doing it.

And its much secured too which i have cats and most of the time they go on my desk and when i wake up i find my mamba off the dock lol sure i can charge it threw the wire instead but that would defeat the propose of the dock

But ya im not saying the mamba is bad at all which it isn't but the g700 is just right for my needs And i also like the sensor better and not just because of the high dpi which i find is weird lol I have the dpi on mine set from 1000 1500 and 2100max but the overall performance.

 

Plus with the G700 mostly made from durable rubber and plastic finishes, it is a very rugged mouse. The Mamba is prone to scuffs and scratches from its use of glossy materials that cover half of the mouse if you ask me.

Therefore I think in terms of durability, the G700 is sure one of them.

 

Ya i also agree about that, The bottom of my mamba has scatches all over the bottom very fine but they are there. And the g700 just feels more solid in the hand.

Also i don't think the g700 has any rubber on it, It feels mostly all plastic too me but it does have grip like it has a rubber coating but its mostly rough plastic but so far im liking it that way, My ony main concern does it hold up well in the long run like will it keep it nice dull rough finish or will it start too turn shiny?

But ya if it stays like that i like this better than the rubber coating.

 

On a related note, the Logitech G700 is on sale for $56.99 USD shipped after rebate, from B&H Photo.

Link to the NBF thread in Tech Deals & Bargains:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/notebook-tech-bargains/576401-logitech-g700-57-usd-shipped-after-rebate.html