Best wired mouse 2024

Image of a black wired mouse on a white desk next to a figure of someone with brown hair.
Credit: Logitech


Image of a black wired mouse on a white desk next to a figure of someone with brown hair.
Credit: Logitech

The best wired mouse can help you ascend to new levels of productivity, improve your gaming skills, and experience next-level comfort on your desktop.

While the best wireless mice are good and all, sometimes you need a lighter and more lagless option, and that's what the best wired mouse offers. With no batteries to stress about or connection issues to contend with, they're a strong choice.

With so many options to choose from though, it can be tough to know what to look for. Fortunately, we've made a list of five excellent options based on specs, reviews, prices, and features to help you out. Let's get into it...

Best wired mouse

  1. Logitech G502 X - a very well-rounded choice
  2. SteelSeries Rival 5 - best option for gaming
  3. Logitech M100 - a great budget pick
  4. HyperX Pulsefire Haste - lightweight excellence
  5. Kensington Orbit Trackball - a more ergonomic choice
Logitech G502 X product image of a white wired mouse featuring grey details and Logitech branding.
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Credit: Logitech

1. Logitech G502 X

Best wired mouse overall

Weight: 89 grams
DPI: 25,000

At the top of our list is the Logitech G502 X because this thing can do everything. Seriously, we're pretty sure it can give back massages if used correctly (for legal reasons we have to say that it can't). It has a staggering number of features that make it an excellent option for those who need it for work, creative types, gamers, and anyone who does a bit of everything.

More specifically, it has Lightforce switches for incredible speed and reliability, a well-placed DPI button that you can actually replace with a cover if you're not going to use it, and a comfortable design that'll gently cradle your hand as you're using it. It also has 13 programmable buttons, which is more than enough for nearly any kind of computer user, thus making it a top choice for work, gaming, and more.

Reasons to buy:

  • More features than you're ever likely to use
  • It looks great and performs even better

Read More: Best mice

SteelSeries Rival 5 product image of a black wired mouse featuring pink and light blue lighting.
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Credit: SteelSeries

2. SteelSeries Rival 5

Best wired gaming mouse

Weight: 85 grams
DPI: 18,000

If you're after a top mouse specifically for gaming, the SteelSeries Rival 5 is it, and while it's not head and shoulders above the competition, it's at least a head above them. The competition is just really intense, and finding the best gaming mouse for each person can change things based on what they're looking for. This mouse is the best of most worlds though.

It has beautiful RGB lights, which are very important, don't let anyone tell you otherwise. It also has nine programmable buttons, 18k DPI, and an incredibly low response time. It'll move exactly as you want it to, at high speeds, and the extra buttons mean you can offload things like secondary skills or special items to your mouse instead of your keyboard, making you even more effective in every game.

Reasons to buy:

  • Amazing adjustable DPI
  • Glides with ease to make movement in-game even smoother

Read More: Best ergonomic mice

Logitech M100 product image of a white wired mouse with black details around the edge and around the scroll wheel.
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Credit: Logitech

3. Logitech M100

Best budget wired mouse

Weight: 90 grams
DPI: 1,000

Sometimes, the only thing you need from a mouse is a low price. If you're after the best cheap wired mouse, then the Logitech M100 is the mouse you should put down some cheese for. But just a little bit of cheese to obtain something that can do its job of clicking things on a screen very well.

Despite the low price, this mouse is ambidextrous, can be easily plugged into, and used on multiple operating systems, and it's not bad to look at either. It's the ideal mouse for those who don't care about being fancy, and just need a mouse that gets the job done.

Reasons to buy:

  • Absurdly cheap
  • Compact for travelling

Read More: Best Mac mice

HyperX Pulsefire Haste product image of a black wired mouse featuring a honeycomb structure and a red detail around the scroll wheel.
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Credit: HyperX

4. HyperX Pulsefire Haste

Best lightweight wired mouse

Weight: 59 grams
DPI: 16,000

The HyperX Pulesfire Haste isn't a weapon for people who don't like things with lots of holes. It's covered in a honeycomb hole pattern that helps keep it incredibly light, and we really mean that. It weighs just 59 grams, making it feel as though there's almost nothing there when you're moving it around.

The upside of this is that you'll be able to do things faster and with way less stress on your joints. Any task will be easy because you can do so with a featherlight mouse. On top of that, it has some subtle RGB lights, and six programmable buttons as well. It's just a very comfortable and light mouse that's perfect for gaming, editing, and anything else you may need to do.

Reasons to buy:

  • Incredibly light thanks to its honeycomb structure
  • A lovely selection of buttons to map to your liking

Read More: Best budget vertical mice

Kensington Orbit product image of a black, wired mouse featuring a blue trackball in the centre.
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Credit: Kensington

5. Kensington Orbit Trackball

Best wired ergonomic mouse

Weight: N/A
DPI: ???

Ergonomics is one of those things that you're likely to end up caring about as you get older, probably the first time you pull something in your back standing up off the sofa. If you're laughing at that unknowingly, this will happen to you, we're sorry to be the bearers of bad news. The good news though, is that there are ways to offset these kinds of problems, and the Kensington Orbit Trackball is one of them.

This mouse has an optical trackball which means you don't have to move your wrist around to move the cursor around. It also has two programmable buttons and a gentle incline that acts as a wrist rest of sorts. Not only that, but this thing can be used by left and right-handed people easily, and it's surprisingly compact too, making it the ideal ergonomic choice for most people.

Reasons to buy:

  • Amazing for your joints with the trackball
  • It can be used by both left- and right-handed people

Read More: Best trackball mice

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Sometimes, you have questions that don't have answers. This isn't one of those times...

Why should you choose a wired mouse over a wireless one?

A wired mouse makes connecting your device a lot easier because sometimes a wireless mouse can just decide to stop working for a bit, and it also eliminates the need for batteries. That means it's usually lighter as well, which is a nice bonus on top of everything else.

You also don't have the stress of recharging it, which means you can use a wired mouse whenever you need it and until it falls apart on you.

Do pro gamers use wired mice?

Wireless mice can sometimes come with input lag, and when you're playing a game where every fraction of a second counts, that's simply not viable.

As a result, a lot of pro gamers still use wired mice, because there's no input lag with them in general. It's worth considering if you're a competitive gamer in any field, really.

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