Marketing gimmicks don’t sway the argument
In the sprawling, hyper-competitive world of PC peripherals, choosing a new mouse feels like a declaration of identity more than a simple purchase. I’ve been branded on Discord servers by the mouse I use, and there’s a clear set of features that set gaming mice apart from the ones that truly mean business. However, a good mouse, at its core, is an extension of your hand — a tool that should fade into the background, seamlessly translating your intent into action on the screen. The perfect mouse is the one that has exactly the features you need and none of the ones you don’t.
The sad reality is that there’s been little groundbreaking evolution in mouse mechanics in the past five years, and marketing machines are hell-bent on selling you features you’ll use just one percent of the time, if at all, you need them to begin with. In a bid to stand out, manufacturers often load their products with features that sound revolutionary on the box but offer diminishing, if any, returns in practice. I’ve fallen for the hype more times than I’d like to admit, paying a premium and forgetting about the features a week later. I’ve learned a few hard lessons about what truly matters, and what’s just expensive fluff. These are the mouse features I regret spending money on, along with a breakdown of why I’ll never fork over cash for them again.
Switchable weights
A solution in search of a problem
I remember the era when a premium gaming mouse wasn’t complete without a tiny, clunky case filled with little metal pucks. The idea was that you could fine-tune the weight and balance of your mouse to achieve the perfect «feel.» I spent hours experimenting, adding a gram here, removing one there, convinced I was dialing in my aim like a professional marksman. In reality, all I was doing was making my mouse heavier for no good reason. The entire industry has since sprinted in the opposite direction, with ultra-lightweight mice becoming the standard, and justifiably so. A lighter mouse is just easier on the body, no matter your application.
I don’t see scenarios where having a heavier mouse would make me a better gamer or boost my productivity. Every flick, every swipe, every minute adjustment requires you to overcome that inertia. Over a long gaming session or a full workday, that added weight translates directly into increased strain on your wrist and forearm. No matter your grip—palm, claw, fingertip, or some hybrid of these, your muscles work harder to move a heavier mouse.
Sure, a tunable weight kit doesn’t make the cursor a leaden brick, and there’s an argument that the mouse comes to rest quicker after a glide when heavier, so you won’t overshoot click targets.
