Technical Specifications Explained

Polling Rate determines how often your mouse reports its position to your computer. Higher rates mean more accurate tracking. 1,000Hz means 1,000 reports per second.

DPI (Dots Per Inch) or CPI (Counts Per Inch) is a measurement of how far your cursor moves per inch that the mouse moves.

There are two main things that affect your mouse's move speed:

• DPI/CPI - The number of dots or counts the mouse moves per inch.
• Sensitivity - The settings that can be easily adjust in most games, or in the operating system's mouse settings.

The combination of DPI/CPI + Sensitivity will determine your mouse's move speed on your screen.

Acceleration is what makes your mouse track well during rapid movements (accelerating from a stop, changing directions).

Higher means better tracking during fast flicks and sudden movements.

Just like a car, your mouse has a speed at which it can accelerate. Some cars can go from 0-60mph in 2 seconds without spinning out and losing control. You want your mouse to be able to do that, figuratively speaking.

IPS represents your mouse's maximum tracking speed. Higher IPS means your mouse can keep up with faster movements without malfunctioning and losing accuracy.

A car has a maximum speed at which it can go. The same is true for your mouse.

The lift-off distance is the distance (in millimeters) your mouse needs to be lifted off a surface before the sensor stops tracking your mouse movement.

If you play with very low sensitivity settings, you will likely want a mouse with a lower lift-off distance. This is because when you lift the mouse off the surface to reposition the mouse (as one does with extremely low sensitivity, and a large mouse pad), the mouse pointer will continue to move if the lift-off distance is too high, which will lead to unexpected, unwanted mouse movement! You only want the mouse to move when you want it to.

The sensor is the technology used to track mouse movement. There are two main types:

• Optical: Reads surface with an LED light
• Laser: Reads surface with a laser

The sensor is most of what is behind each mouse's performance stats like DPI/CPI, IPS, and Acceleration; often you are able to glean a lot of information about a mouse just by knowing the name of its sensor.

Sensor manufacturers have websites detailing their sensor's stats, for example:

Browse Pixart optical mouse sensors
• PixArt PMW3389DM-T3QU
Browse Broadcom optical sensors (ambient light, IR, UV)
• ADNS-3090 [Datasheet]
Logitech Hero

Motion Sync is a sensor feature that synchronizes the mouse's sensor reports with the host PC's polling intervals, aiming for more consistent tracking.

Hardware/Software Acceleration is a feature that makes the mouse pointer move faster the faster you move your mouse.

An oversimplified, made-up example:

It is generally recommended you turn off Mouse Acceleration. When it is on, it will make it harder to learn how to consistently and accurately move your mouse, as most software/hardware acceleration is bad. Ultimately, it is up to your preferences.

There is a notable exception, though.

You can use a highly customizable mouse acceleration program called Raw Accel. Raw Accel allows for extremely in-depth, customizable mouse acceleration.

This allows you to do things like have the mouse move a set speed until a certain point, then have it move at a different speed (sudden change, instead of gradual change).

Angle Snapping is a sensor feature that automatically corrects mouse movement to create perfectly straight lines when you attempt to move in a straight direction.

When enabled, if you try to draw a horizontal or vertical line but your hand naturally wavers slightly, the sensor will "snap" your movement to a perfect straight line. This can make drawing or precise movements appear cleaner.

However, angle snapping is generally not recommended for gaming, as it can interfere with natural mouse movement and reduce the precision of your aim.

Smoothing is a sensor processing technique that averages mouse movement data over multiple frames to reduce jitter and create smoother cursor movement.

While smoothing can make mouse movement appear less jittery, it comes with a significant trade-off: it introduces input lag. The sensor needs time to collect and average the movement data, which delays the response between your physical mouse movement and the cursor movement on screen.

For gaming applications, smoothing is generally not recommended as the added latency can negatively impact performance, especially in fast-paced games where precise, immediate response is crucial.

When it comes to gaming mice, grip styles refer to how users hold the mouse, which can affect comfort, precision, and performance during gameplay. There are three primary grip styles commonly recognized in the gaming community:

• Palm Grip: The entire palm rests on the mouse, with fingers lying flat across the buttons
• Claw Grip: The palm rests only partially on the back of the mouse, while the fingertips are arched, resembling a claw
• Fingertip Grip: Only the fingertips touch the mouse, with the palm not resting on it at all

Which one you use is a matter of personal preference — just try it out and see what feels best for you. Some gamers use a mix of these styles, or have come up with their own unique grip style.

Mouse weight is measured in grams, and it determines how heavy the mouse is. Most people typically consider lighter mice to be better:

• Easier to use for long periods of time
• Easier to move quickly

Some mice offer adjustable weights that can be put in / taken out of the mouse.

The shell refers to the outer casing or housing of the mouse that you physically touch. It's the main body that contains and protects the internal components while providing the surface you grip during use.

• Solid: Traditional design
• Honeycomb: Typically lighter weight, but allows dust entry

Solid Shell

Honeycomb shell with the rear part of the mouse partially covered

Finger Rest is a place to set your thumb or little finger on.

This can prevent your thumb or pinky from dragging along the mouse pad when moving the mouse.

The types of mouse wheels are:

• Notched: Standard scroll wheel; rotates in discrete steps, providing tactile feedback with each step
• Free: Wheel spins without resistance; good for fast scrolling through long documents
• Tilt: Tilt the wheel to either side to scroll horizontally
• Adaptive: Scroll slowly: Notched Wheel. Scroll fast: Free Wheel

Some mice have toggleable Free/Notched.

Some people really dislike freewheel. So keep that in mind if you are checking out a mouse that has free-wheel only (no toggle), and haven't experienced it before. Others, still, quite enjoy it.

Switches are the mechanical components that register clicks when you press the mouse buttons. They consist of a spring-loaded mechanism that completes an electrical circuit when pressed.

Switch types include:

• Mechanical: Traditional switches that use physical contact to register clicks
• Optical: Uses light beams to detect clicks, eliminating physical contact and potential double-click issues
• Magnetic: Uses magnetic fields to detect switch activation, offering fast response times and durability
• Hybrid: Combines different technologies (optical, magnetic, mechanical) to achieve specific performance characteristics or tactile feel

Switch lifespan is typically measured in millions of clicks.

Sensitivity is how fast your cursor moves on the screen. It is determined by the combination of the DPI/CPI of the mouse and the sensitivity setting in your game or operating system.

Players are often described as "high sens" (small physical movements) or "low sens" (large physical movements, requiring bigger mousepads) based on their preferred cursor movement speed.

cm / 360, also known as inches / 360, measures the distance your mouse needs to move to turn your in-game character a full circle (360 degrees) in a 3d world.

This is related to both your in-game mouse sensitivity settings, as well as the DPI that your mouse is currently set to.

Debounce Delay is the period of time a mouse waits after a click to register it, preventing multiple clicks from being registered due to the mouse switch physically bouncing after being activated.

DPI Variability is the discrepancy between the DPI set on your mouse versus the actual DPI that is observed/measured.

Changing these will result in different effective DPI for your mouse:

• Mouse pad
• Mouse skates
• Mouse

This is because, even if you have the same sensor in your new mouse as your old mouse, the placement of that sensor (how far it is from the mouse pad) will change the effective DPI. This can also happen if you put on some different mouse skates which will change the distance between the mouse pad and the sensor.

This is mostly just nice to know that if you try to copy someone else's DPI and in-game sensitivity settings, you won't get exactly the same results if you have a different mouse or mouse pad. Also, if you get a new mouse, it will likely be slightly different.

Online DPI Variability Analyzer, for those of us who don't have an accurate measurement device at home. Make sure to read the limitations and notes for that tool.