Introduction
When I was in college, I wanted a gaming mouse to use instead of a controller because I found myself always losing when I played Apex Legends with friends. I was on a limited budget and wanted to know why a gaming mouse had to be so much more expensive than a regular office mouse, so I did some research. This article will also share some tips to finding a gaming mouse for a decent price!
But why is a gaming mouse so expensive?
Gaming mice come with a premium price due to their advanced mechanics, such as precision-focused DPI (Dots Per Inch) and innovative in-house design processes. Brands often prioritize innovation and control every step of production, resulting in higher-quality products tailored to gamers’ needs. Unlike OEM brands, which cut costs on design and marketing, these features justify the higher expense to give players a competitive edge.
In this article, I’ll cover some of the specific reasons why this is the case and what you can do to find an affordable gaming mouse using some advanced search methods.
7 Features That Affect The Price of a Gaming Mouse
1. DPI (Dots Per Inch)
This is a metric of how responsive your mouse is to even the tiniest movements you make with your hand. This allows gamers to be extremely accurate when playing games. DPI for an average non-gaming mouse is around 800 while gaming mice have DPI as high as 20,000. Gamers that play online competitive matches need to have as much accuracy as possible.
However, these higher quality sensors will drive up the price compared to an average computer mouse.
2. Customizable Buttons
It’s advantageous for a gamer to have buttons on the side of their mouse that they can use to press. Often times, these “hotkeys” are faster to press on the mouse than the time it would take your other hand to press on the keyboard.
Some examples of hotkeys that gamers will program to their gaming mouse include:
- Weapon Switching
- Power up options
- Ability switching
- Scope zoom
- Crouching
Adding more buttons to a mouse will increase its price because of the hardware demand required to allow for the programming of these buttons.
3. RGB and LED Lighting Features
I haven’t met a gamer who doesn’t want their gear to look cool. Aesthetics is actually a huge component of the gaming community. It sets the mood and theme of your gear and makes it more enticing to sit down and play.
The coolest looking gaming mice have red, green, and blue flashing lights on the side and add to the overall theme of your room. It’s more expensive for a manufacturer to include RGB lighting and customization options into a gaming mouse compared to a general office mouse.
4. Ergonomic Design
A good gaming mouse is designed with the intent of the user to play for up to 2-3 hours before a break. In the interest of wrist and hand support, gaming companies go the extra mile to laser cut gaming mice to make them form fitting to the human hand. Cutting gaming mice into the shape you often see with them also drives up the overall price of production by the time it makes it onto the shelf.
5. Adjustable Weight Features
The weight of a gaming mouse is an extremely personal preference to seasoned gamers. Online first person shooters like Halo Infinite will require a gaming mouse to be light to facilitate quick aiming and snap movements.
Other times, a gamer will want to add weight tokens to their mouse so aiming with their mouse is more forgiving to spazzy movement. Games like Planetside 2 and Arma III are known as slow TTK games (time to kill) because it requires to player to maneuver on the battlefield and rely less on fast aiming reflexes.
Adjustable weight as a gaming mouse feature is not easy to incorporate without increasing the cost of its deign because it will require more space into which the user can insert the weights.
6. Onboard Memory Demand
Gaming mice may include onboard memory to store custom settings, allowing users to take their preferences with them wherever they go without needing to reconfigure the mouse each time.
Often times a gaming mouse comes with a driver software that can be plugged in and programmed to remember a gamers’ settings.
7. Original Equipment Manufacturer Brands (OEMs)
This refers to companies that produce components or products that are then rebranded and sold by other companies under their own brand names. These middle players then mark up the price of the product so they get a commission.
Gaming mice may rely on OEM designs for various reasons, including cost-effectiveness, efficiency in production, and access to existing designs.
While some companies might view this reliance on OEM designs as a way to offer a more affordable product to customers, others believe that customers value the brand’s specific design, features, and quality assurance processes more, even if it means paying a higher price.
Gaming Mouse Features by Price
Below is a table that compares the features of a regular mouse vs gaming mouse and how the price is affected by DPI, number of customizable buttons, and addition of RGB lighting.
Generic computer mouse
| Brand | Model | Price | DPI | Customizable Buttons | RGB Lighting |
| Logitech | M100 | $20 | 1000 | 2 | No |
| Microsoft | Basic Optical | $15 | 800 | 3 | No |
| HP | X1500 | $10 | 1200 | 1 | No |
| Dell | MS116 | $12 | 1600 | 4 | No |
Gaming Mouse
| Brand | Model | Price | DPI | Customizable Buttons | RGB Lighting |
| Razer | Razer DeathAdder | $70 | 16000 | 7 | Yes |
| Logitech | Logitech G502 | $80 | 12000 | 11 | Yes |
| Corsair | Corsair Harpoon | $60 | 18000 | 8 | Yes |
| SteelSeries | SteelSeries Rival | $90 | 20000 | 12 | Yes |
Important Note: Each player is unique in their gaming ability. Check out this article to determine how much DPI you actually need for gaming
6 Insider Tips for Finding Affordable Gaming Mice
1. Search for refurbished or open-box deals
A quality gaming mouse will last 3-7 years according to Google. They are extremely durable and buying a used gaming mouse is a perfectly good option for non-professional gamers. Refurbished and open box purchases still come with warranties as well.
For more details regarding how long a gaming mouse lasts, check out this article.
2. Set Price Alerts using PriceTracker 2.0
PriceTracker 2.0 is a Google Chrome extension that allows you to tag the price of a product you’re searching for in their browser. You can sign up for free to find price alert changes to a specific gaming mouse if you’re not in a rush to make the purchase.
3. Use Comparison Shopping Websites such as Google Shopping
You can plug in the price you’re looking for on theses sites and they will automatically find the site listing that is the cheapest after taxes and everything!
A lot of people default to searching on Amazon but that’s not always the most affordable option to buying a new product.
4. Don’t forget to check manufacturer websites
Sometimes specific gaming companies like Razer and Steelseries will release deals only on their website but not anywhere else. They do this because they usually want their fans to sign up for their email marketing campaigns and will release promotional emails to those who sign up.
5. Look into last generation models
You don’t always need the newest and best gaming mouse to enhance your abilities as a gamer. A lot of professional gamers like Squishy and Verhulst still use the original Logitech G3 series to be some of the best gamers in the world.
When new models of a gaming mouse come out, often times their earlier models will be discounted by the brand that made them.
6. Bundle Deals
If you still plan to buy a good gaming keyboard or need to completely buy your PC setup, you can often get a gaming mouse as part of a theme package. This worked really well for my friend’s wife who setup a twitch streaming studio and was able to save money on the gaming mouse and keyboard because it came with her pre-built PC offer.
Conclusion
Thanks for reading! If you have any questions or comments, feel free to reach out at entertainmentden.ns@gmail.com and I’ll do my best to respond!