Mice are Bad

I’ve owned a large number of high-end computer mice, and I hate all of them. I have never found a mouse that actually just works, for long enough to not have to replace it twice a year.

High end mice I’ve owned:

• Razer Mamba (original): Battery expanded after a year or so, to the point where the mouse wouldn’t sit flat. Could probably just replace the battery but it’s not in great shape at this point.
• Razer Mamba (2012): Battery expanded much more quickly than the original. The Synapse 2.0 software was also so bad that whenever it was installed, the mouse DPI would switch randomly every minute or so without reason, and the software-bound buttons had several-second delays. Without the drivers installed, it actually worked great other than the battery bloat. The scroll wheel is much louder than the original Mamba.
• Logitech G700s: Battery life was so terrible it wouldn’t even make it through a day of light use without being plugged in, completely negating the value of a wireless mouse. Didn’t bother using it more than a few days because of that issue.
• Logitech G502: Sensor stopped tracking accurately after a few months, completely unusable. Was perfect until it just didn’t work.
• Razer Deathadder Stealth: Generally fine, but had major build quality and software issues. I ended up using it without drivers on my Mac setup for a while and it was good enough I guess.
• Logitech G602: The middle mouse button stopped working within a few months, usable but frustrating.

I’ve also owned a few mid-range mice that were fine but nothing great. I’ve had a particularly hard time finding a mouse that is both reliable and comfortable for my hand. The Razer Mamba/Deathadder form factor is about perfect, but Razer’s software is unusably bad so I typically end up using knockoffs. The Havit Pro Gaming mouse ($15 Chinese Deathadder clone) was basically perfect. It didn’t last more than a year, but it was so cheap and so good that I bought several of them. Sadly, they discontinued it and replaced it with a new model that’s far cheaper and just doesn’t actually work at all.

At this point I’m using a PICTEK gaming mouse that seems to be a clone of the Havit clone, so I’m several steps away from an actual Deathadder, but it’s not a bad mouse. This one was $19, and so far it’s lasted longer than any $50-120 mouse I’ve owned from Logitech or Razer. It don’t really like this mouse, but I have yet to find anything good enough to actually replace it with.

If you have a big mouse that has lasted you more than a year, please let me know what it is so I can buy a few dozen of them. Maybe one day I can stop buying terrible mice.

Update!

2020-10-15

I’ve purchased a Glorious Model D, and I mostly love it. My only complaint so far is that some of the RGB LED modes don’t have a brightness control, so I can have a rainbow, but only a bright rainbow 🙃

The form factor is perfect, the driverless operation is exactly what I want from a mouse, and the tracking is fantastic, with no perceivable latency. I might have finally found a good mouse.