The Lightest Gaming Mouse (Review) in 2024
Getting tired of lifting and dragging a heavy mouse around? If you want a lighter, more responsive experience, then finding the lightest gaming mice may be just what the doctor ordered.
In the article below, we haven’t just snagged the lightest gaming mice in the world, listed them in descending order, and called it a day. We’ve found the two lightest mice for each hand size- small, medium, and large- and compared them all based on pricing, features, and more. Even if you aren’t actually interested in the whole “lightweight” part, there are still plenty of great mice on this list worth taking a look at.
What is the lightest gaming mouse?
Just like there are people with small hands, there are people with large hands. Heck, it’s safe to say that there are people with medium hands, too. With that in mind, we’re going to research the lightest gaming mouse and show you what we have found so that you can make an informed purchase. Let’s hop into it.
Small and Light Gaming Mice:
#1. Cooler Master MM710
Sensor Type: Optical | Interface: USB | Buttons: 6 | Lighting: N/A | Max DPI: 16000 | Weight: 54 G | Grip: Ambidextrous
First and foremost, let’s talk…the lightest gaming mouse there is.
The Cooler Master MM710 isn’t just the lightest gaming mouse on this list- it’s also the cheapest!
“Okay,” some of you may be saying, “Guess I’ll just grab this one and call it a day, then.”
Notsofast! While this is certainly a well-designed mouse, one of the reasons that it’s the lightest is also because it’s one of the smallest. It doesn’t matter if the mouse is ultra-lightweight if it’s too small for your hand to hold it comfortably, so be sure to take a look at the other mice we’ve gathered up, too!
That bit aside, this match is pretty hard to beat if it fits your hand size. Its sensor is quite accurate, its build quality is solid, and it’s pretty cheap. It doesn’t really bother with much in the way of extra features beyond being lightweight, though. If you want RGB, wireless functionality, or a ton of extra buttons, you won’t find that here.
This is just a real solid, real small, and real light gaming mouse. If that’s all you need, go for it- otherwise, consider some of our other picks.
Verdict: The lightest overall gaming mouse
#2. Glorious PC Gaming Race Model O-
Sensor Type: Optical | Interface: USB | Buttons: 6 | Lighting: RGB | Max DPI: 12000 | Weight: 58 G | Grip: Right-Handed
The Glorious Model O- is the second-lightest overall gaming mouse, and is also made for small hands. Unlike its cheaper rival above, though, it comes with a lot of extra features!
For the cost of roughly twenty more dollars and only 4 more grams, you get a fully-fledged RGB mouse, which looks just awesome thanks to the holes in the shell. The sensor, the grip, and pretty much everything about this mouse is also considered top-notch, and is considered a favorite in the gaming mouse community.
Like its larger cousin, the Glorious Model O, it bears great resemblance to the Zowie FK series in terms of shape, which leads to a very comfortable grip. (Provided its size matches your hands’, of course.)
If you want a little extra out of your small and light gaming mouse and don’t care about 4 more grams of weight, then the Glorious Model O- is a great pick.
Verdict: The second-lightest overall gaming mouse
Medium and Light Gaming Mice:
#3: Glorious PC Gaming Race Model O
Sensor Type: Optical | Interface: USB | Buttons: 6 | Lighting: RGB | Max DPI: 12000 | Weight: 68 G | Grip: Right-Handed
The Glorious Model O is…
Okay, if you’re reading this article in order, you’re probably getting the idea. The Glorious PC Gaming Race (the manufacturer, not the subreddit) has pretty much taken over the market of lightweight gaming mice. With a shape inspired by Zowie and a weight-shedding process inspired by modders of yesteryear (who drilled holes into their mice to make them lighter), Glorious has cornered the market on lightweight gaming mice.
The only real downside of a Glorious mouse, when compared to any other option, is the fact that it still has a wire, pretty much. (Well, that and Cooler Master still managing to steal the ultra-lightweight crown in the small mice market.) Even then, the wiring for this mouse- and the other mice on this list- is still made to be as lightweight and smooth as possible to provide the least interference with your movements.
Speaking of…
Verdict: The lightest medium-sized gaming mouse
#4: Razer Viper Ultimate Wireless
Sensor Type: Optical | Interface: Wireless/USB | Buttons: 8 | Lighting: RGB | Max DPI: 20000 | Weight: 74 G | Grip: Ambidextrous
Now for the wireless mice!
The Razer Viper Ultimate Wireless (and the G Pro Wireless linked below) are both fairly light and completely wireless. While they technically weigh more than the wired options, going fully wireless means that any possibility of interference aside from plain old user error is rendered effectively impossible. Tests from trusted third parties, like LinusTechTips and Rocket Jump Ninja, have also revealed that these mice, despite being wireless, have virtually no latency.
On top of all those benefits, they’re also ambidextrous! Unlike large-and-lightweight mice, which are inexplicably only being built for right-handed users at the time of writing, these medium-and-light mice are ambidextrous. In addition to being totally wireless, RGB, and offering the best sensors on the market…we’re hard-pressed to complain about anything for either the Razer Viper Ultimate Wireless or Logitech G Pro Wireless.
Except for the price. Expect to spend a pretty penny on either of these.
Want a slightly cheaper but slightly heavier wireless alternative? Get the Logitech G Pro Wireless instead
Verdict: The best overall light, wireless gaming mouse
Large and Light Gaming Mice:
#5. Razer Deathadder V2
Sensor Type: Optical | Interface: USB | Buttons: 8 | Lighting: RGB | Max DPI: 20000 | Weight: 80 G | Grip: Right-Handed
The Razer Deathadder V2 is our pick for second-lightest large gaming mouse. It’s…well, that, but also offers a lot more features that make it worth considering beyond lightweight alone.
For instance, the Razer sensor in this mouse offers a whopping 20000 DPI and is fairly accurate. While we’ll dive into stuff related to sensors and DPI in the informational sectional of this article, rest assured that all of our picks have accurate sensors ready to be used with competitive gaming.
In addition to the Razer sensor, you get full RGB through Razer’s Chroma software and hyper-responsive clicks thanks to Razer’s “lightspeed” switches. (Instead of using mechanical switches like most mice and gaming keyboards, click detection is based on an optical sensor, resulting in a faster response time.)
Unfortunately, like every other lightweight-but-large gaming mouse we could find…this one is only for right-handed users. Sorry, lefties.
For a fully-featured, fully-sized mouse that doesn’t have any big holes cut into it, this is a pretty lightweight mouse. However, it does get lighter…
Verdict: The second-lightest large gaming mouse
#6. Glorious PC Gaming Race Model D
Sensor Type: Optical | Interface: USB | Buttons: 6 | Lighting: RGB | Max DPI: 12000 | Weight: 69 G | Grip: Right-Handed
If you can afford it, the Glorious Model D is the lightest large gaming mouse on the market. While it has a big price jump over all the other Glorious models, everything else you would expect is present here. This mouse has an excellent RGB implementation, solid build quality, and the lightest weight in its class!
The only real issues we have are nitpicks. Like every other large-but-light gaming mouse we could find, this one is for right-handed users only. We aren’t sure why left-handed users are being left out in this segment of the market, but it just isn’t right.
… sorry for the wordplay.
Beyond the rights-only grip issue, we also have the fact that his mouse is about $30-$40 more expensive than other Glorious Models. You can opt for the White version of the Model D to reduce this disparity, but it’s still more expensive than the rest of its family for no readily apparent reason. If any of you reading know why, we’d love for you to tell us in the comments.
Even so, for large-handed users who need the lightest mouse possible, this is the best option.
Verdict: The lightest large gaming mouse
FAQ and Choosing Your Light Gaming Mouse
Now for the part where we break down all the tech-y info! By the end of this section you should have the info you need to choose the right mouse for you, but let us know if you have any other questions.
Difference between Optical and Laser Sensors
First and foremost, let’s cover the difference between optical and laser sensors. While all the mice in this article use optical sensors, it’s still important to know why that matters, especially since “laser” sounds way cooler.
The short version is that optical sensors are almost always better. That’s because they don’t add any acceleration to the data they’re reading, so as long as you have raw input enabled in the games that you’re playing, your mouse movements will be perfectly consistent, all the time. Where optical sensors falter in comparison to laser sensors is surface compatibility. Transparent, reflective, and uneven surfaces will work very poorly with an optical sensor, whereas a laser sensor can be used on just about anything.
Laser sensors also used to offer more raw DPI than optical, but that gap has long since closed. We’ll discuss the impact of DPI just up next, but the real downside of laser sensors is that they have built-in acceleration that cannot be disabled. This makes them a poor choice for high-level competitive play, especially FPS, where building muscle memory matters more than anything else. For casual play, though, this isn’t really a big deal.
Is high DPI just marketing?
Yes and no.
The sky-high DPIs you’re seeing in these spec sheets are definitely not necessary for competitive play. They’re meant to boast the pure power of a sensor more than anything else, with practical DPI ranges considered to be well below the 10K mark in most scenarios, nevermind 20K or 30K. As long as your mouse can support a raw DPI of 10K or more, you’re probably fine- and even then, you don’t actually need to use a DPI that high. While it’s difficult to see the difference with the naked eye, higher DPI scaled to the same (feel) sensitivity is smoother and more accurate. However, scaling this to ridiculously high numbers- like 20K- will provide diminishing, if any, returns. With the available sensitivity settings in games, you may also end up hitting engine limits as far as setting fractions-of-fractions of a particular sensitivity setting goes. To see this demonstrated in real-world testing, watch the video we’ve embedded below- it’s incredibly educational on the matter.
Do extra mouse buttons matter?
It depends on you, honestly.
Most of the mice on this list prioritize weight and shape over the sheer number of buttons. Not only do buttons add weight to a mouse, but lightweight mice are favored most by FPS players who move their mice around a lot but want as little disruption as possible. The button configuration and shape of these mice fit that profile fairly well, and works fine with most games in the shooter genre. Battle royales like Fortnite or PUBG may benefit from more mice buttons, but those form factors come at the expense of precise control. If you want to look at a wider gamut of mice, check out our Gaming Mouse Buying Guide.
Mouse size and hand size
We’ve divided this article by mouse size in addition to weight because if we focused only on the lightest mice, we’d also be focusing only on the smallest mice. While our #1 and #2 picks are certainly feats of engineering, they aren’t suited for every user on the market. They aren’t even the most popular- the best-selling mice on Amazon are all suited to medium or large-sized grips rather than small ones. With that in mind, we focused on providing the best options for the three different categories.
Mouse weight and the benefit of wireless mice
Last but not least, let’s talk about the actual topic of the article- mouse weight!
The idea behind a lightweight mouse is one that doesn’t interfere with your movements, especially for FPS games. Not needing to lift or drag your mouse any more than is necessary helps build good muscle memory, and by extension, good aim. At least, that’s the idea- if you’re used to a much heavier mouse, there will be a transitional period where you have to learn to compensate for the lighter weight.
We don’t think weight is the only factor that matters here, though- we also think wireless functionality makes a big difference. Any seasoned FPS gamer can tell you tales of a mouse cable getting snagged or getting in the way at an inopportune moment. Even in less extreme cases, mice cables offer more resistance moving upward than moving downward, and that in itself adds inconsistency.
With that in mind, we didn’t see a version of this article where we didn’t feature the Razer Viper Wireless or the Logitech G Pro Wireless. They’re both lightweight, they’re both wireless, and they’re both considered among the very best mice you can buy today. If you can afford them and they fit your hand size, we highly recommend giving them a try.
Parting Words
And that’s it!
We hope this article gave you all the information you needed to make an educated buying decision, and that all of your questions are answered. If you need any help, leave a comment below and let us know!
Until then…work your tracking and practice those flick shots!
Also, turn on raw input. It’s 2020.