News Can Wireless Gaming Mice Really Be Trusted?

CrispySilicon

Distinguished
May 13, 2006
10
0
18,510
So over the years, I've used everything from mx500, several years worth of the G gaming series, including last few years. Now I'm using the MX series and I'm happier with it. The reponse is the same. I've never had an input lag problem even with the "regular" wireless mice like the mx500 long ago. The only nice thing about the gaming mice is the buttons (if you want to configure the software to make them work). The mouse wheel of all things is what drove me to the current MX. I've broken every mouse wheel on every mouse from tumbling off my couch. The MX has the most solid build quality, especially the wheel.
 

Math Geek

Titan
Ambassador
i use a bluetooth razor basilisk x hyperspeed and have not had any issues with it dropping connection in any task.

the stupid power saving feature will turn it off after a minute or so of sitting idle which takes a second to restart when i want to move it again. that is REALLY annoying having to wait on it before starting a new task. but that is only after sitting idle for a while. when playing a game, it does not happen as it never sits idle for any length of time :)

quick response time and so on does not make me miss the wired mouse at all
 
  • Like
Reactions: hotaru.hino

InvalidError

Titan
Moderator
No matter how good wireless mice get, I'm still sticking to wired for all my primary input devices for one simple reason: never need to worry about batteries dying.

The only wireless keyboard/mice I have are mini 2-in-1 ones that I use when I want to remotely control my PC, mostly while I am streaming shows and movies on the TV connected to it.
 
It seems like today, Bluetooth is the weakest link when it comes to wireless performance. If it has its own dongle, it's usually good enough if not practically the same as being wired for most people

Batteries for me have never been a problem. Except for the first wireless mouse I bought, a Logitech G7, every wireless mouse lasted for most of a full year from the batteries that it came with. And since I switched to Eneloops, I really don't have to worry about finding fresh batteries. My gripe now is that recent wireless gaming mice have internal batteries that last for maybe a few days at most. To me, what's the point of going wireless if I'm going to have to reach for the cable 3-4 times a week and it has to be plugged in for a few hours each time?
 

CrispySilicon

Distinguished
May 13, 2006
10
0
18,510
No matter how good wireless mice get, I'm still sticking to wired for all my primary input devices for one simple reason: never need to worry about batteries dying.

The only wireless keyboard/mice I have are mini 2-in-1 ones that I use when I want to remotely control my PC, mostly while I am streaming shows and movies on the TV connected to it.

Only had one mouse that was a problem with and it was one of the non-rechargable G series.

My MX initial charge lasted me literally weeks of constant heavy use. Charges extremely quickly as well. I don't say that lightly.
 

husker

Distinguished
Oct 2, 2009
1,202
220
19,670
Do the users of wired mice not notice the added drag or pull from the cord? Perhaps it is not really noticeable until after experiencing wireless freedom. It seems to me that a constant annoyance like that is far worse than the tiny chance of a stutter or, god forbid, you have to waste 3 seconds plugging in your mouse when the battery is low. By the way, many models allow you to continue using the mouse while it charges.
 

mrv_co

Distinguished
Jan 18, 2016
141
84
18,660
I use wireless keyboards, trackpads and a mouse for most everything except gaming. The main reason I stopped using a wireless mouse for gaming is the 'running out of battery at the worst possible moment' issue. Sure, proactive charging of your gaming mouse works great... until you forget to practively charge your gaming mouse.
 

punkncat

Champion
Ambassador
To reduce desk clutter and to free up placement issues I use wireless mouse and keyboard for "standard office stuff". For the items that aren't rechargeable I use lithium batteries.

With that said...I am far from an avid gamer but still used a wired connection when gaming on my "main" rig. I keep a wire ready to plug in for it. If the quality of the base unit is the same, no matter what when you introduce more component and circuitry to go through you are introducing input lag. Wireless is going to be slower than wired.
Whether it's perceptible or a factor is another argument. I suck bad enough that I like to blame the controller, but.....
 
Do the users of wired mice not notice the added drag or pull from the cord?
If you have drag or pull, you didn't give the mouse enough slack to work with. That's easily correctable.

I use wireless keyboards, trackpads and a mouse for most everything except gaming. The main reason I stopped using a wireless mouse for gaming is the 'running out of battery at the worst possible moment' issue. Sure, proactive charging of your gaming mouse works great... until you forget to practively charge your gaming mouse.
I never really had this anxiety of "running out of battery at the worst possible moment" Usually wireless devices have a tell-tell sign that they're about to run out of power beyond any notifications in software or dummy lights. And even then, if the worst possible moment is I miss a shot and die, oh well.
 

InvalidError

Titan
Moderator
Do the users of wired mice not notice the added drag or pull from the cord?
If you feel the drag, then you probably aren't setup correctly. Most of the drag comes from excess cable dangling off the edge of the keyboard/mouse shelf and is easily removed by anchoring it so you only have the ~12" required for full motion range plus some slack for comfort.

A simple way to anchor the mouse cable is to twist it with the keyboard's cable. That's what I ended doing after knocking my MS Sidewinder weight organizer/anchor off of my keyboard tray one too many times.
 
No offense to anyone, I doubt very much anyone here is that level of gamer where this becomes an actual issue.

I use a budget combo of wireless mouse and keyboard connected to a budget tv and input lag has never been an issue, my internet however remains connected via NIC on a budget internet connection
 

imnotagamer007

Honorable
Feb 22, 2014
145
2
10,695
For competitive gaming wired is a must for me, even one bit of lag from a wireless mouse can result in losing the match so I don't want to play around with it. For casual gaming/browsing wireless is fine though.
 
  • Like
Reactions: spentshells
Oct 23, 2020
1
0
10
i use a bluetooth razor basilisk x hyperspeed and have not had any issues with it dropping connection in any task.

the stupid power saving feature will turn it off after a minute or so of sitting idle which takes a second to restart when i want to move it again. that is REALLY annoying having to wait on it before starting a new task. but that is only after sitting idle for a while. when playing a game, it does not happen as it never sits idle for any length of time :)

quick response time and so on does not make me miss the wired mouse at all

I have the Razer Viper and Logitech G305. The Razer has a much shorter wake up time compared to my old Mamba Wireless and the Logitech G305 doesn't do that in performance mode and is instantaneous and yet the battery life of the Logitech lasts for 2 or more months on performance mode. Actually it's on month 3 and the AA battery has yet to die.

The writer of this article should not be taken as an expert as expert and pro gamers who have tested wireless mice say that lag is practically non-existent nowadays though Logitech still has the upper hand compared to Razer. Maybe the writers need to stop reviewing subpar mice from companies like Corsair.
 

Math Geek

Titan
Ambassador
i don't feel any lag in mine. i had to turn it down some as it was over-responsive out of the box. i'd try to move a couple inches and end up moving the cursor across the screen, lol

i do like it being one less cord on my desk which already has plenty of other things to clutter it up :)
 
  • Like
Reactions: spentshells

waltc3

Reputable
Aug 4, 2019
420
223
5,060
Three things I've never used--a wireless mouse, wireless keyboard, or wireless modem (actually, in one home we lived in I did use a wireless setup for the wife's box, but she received from my system--which was wired.) Today we are both fully wired. Aside from frequency interference with wireless devices, I loathe the idea of putting batteries in my mouse or keyboard! No way...;) Wired is faster, more secure, no batteries required.
 

Math Geek

Titan
Ambassador
my keyboard is about a year old and its on the batteries that came with it still. i imagine eventually they'll die but so far so good :)

i do have my wired one ready to go for when it does die. i don't keep extra batteries around as almost nothing uses them anymore so they just sit there taking up space and collecting dust. not even sure what kind they take so i'll have to buy some to replace with once they actually die.

i can understand staying wired though, i still use a wired controller since they seem to have tons of connectivity issues. or at least i get that impression reading the common threads in this and other forums around the intertubes about issues connecting them.
 

ashburner

Distinguished
Oct 13, 2009
53
5
18,535
I have a Logitech G305 and I love it. It's wireless and I play competitive Overwatch. I've had top tier wired mice and can't tell any difference. In fact, the number one used mouse in Professional Overwatch is wireless. These are pro players with 240-360Hz monitors. My cheaper G305 works great. The batteries last 4-5 months at 12+ hours a day. I keep a set of Enerloops on the charger to switch them out in 10 seconds. I'll never go back to wired.

Facts.... these guys use every advantage they can get. https://prosettings.net/best-overwatch-mouse/
 

JayGau

Honorable
Dec 20, 2016
99
19
10,535
I bought a Logitech G900 a year ago and it's the best mouse I ever had. I can use it either wired of wireless so I plug it time to time during the day to make sure it's always well charged and leave it unplugged when gaming time comes at night (I just let the cable lying behind my keyboard so it takes literally 2 seconds to plug/unplug it) and it's so good that I cannot feel any difference between the two modes. At least nothing that human sensitivity can notice. There is no lag at all when wireless and the precision is as good as when it's wired.

But the USB 3.0 thing is true: if I plug the dongle directly into the back of my MB the mouse is almost unusable. There is so much lag and the communication breaks so often that it's a pain even to do some slow tasks so gaming is just not possible. But if I plug it into the USB 2.0 port of my mouse pad it works flawlessly. A USB cable extender also works and it's what I was doing before to get my mouse pad. It think the important is to be far from the USB 3.0 ports and the problems go away.

If this mouse dies one day I will likely buy the exact same model again because there is no way I can go back to wired mouse for gaming (the cable is too annoying) and this one is close to perfection.

edit: I should have written above that I cannot feel any difference between the two modes AT THE SCREEN but of course the freedom of the wireless is much better than wired. I have the Corsair MM800 RGB POLARIS mouse pad that is very slippery and you can move your mouse almost like it's flying on a air cushion but it also means that you can feel the cable pulling the mouse and it's annoying.
 
Last edited:

Ellimist

Distinguished
Jan 30, 2005
20
3
18,515
I've got the G903 and the powerplay mat. What battery issues?

I tried wireless mice over the years. I got the 903 as you can use it plugged in as well if you don't like the wireless but honestly at least as far as Logitech are concerned the wireless is spot on no issues now.