Mouse sensors, explained from scratch

What the sensor actually is

On the underside of your mouse is a tiny camera. It takes thousands of photos of your mousepad every second and compares each photo to the last one to work out which way the mouse moved, and how far. That is the whole job. Everything else people argue about online is just settings layered on top of that camera.

So when someone calls a sensor good, they mean it reads your movement honestly across lots of speeds and surfaces, without adding its own guesswork. Every current flagship sensor does this well, which is why you can mostly stop worrying about the sensor and pick a mouse by its shape and weight instead.

DPI: your sensitivity setting

DPI stands for dots per inch. It simply means how far the cursor travels when you move the mouse one inch. At 1600 DPI, one inch of mouse movement moves the cursor 1600 dots across the screen. Higher DPI equals a faster, twitchier cursor.

The key thing: DPI is a preference, not a quality score. A 26,000 DPI mouse is not more accurate than an 800 DPI one, it can just move in finer steps. Most competitive players actually keep it low, between 400 and 1600, and 800 is the most common choice by far. You only need really high DPI for very large or 4K monitors where you want to fly across the screen.

eDPI: comparing your aim to other people

If you ever want to copy a pro player's sensitivity, you cannot just match their DPI, because the game has its own sensitivity slider too. The number that combines both is eDPI: your DPI multiplied by your in-game sensitivity.

For example, 800 DPI at 0.5 sensitivity and 400 DPI at 1.0 sensitivity feel exactly the same, because both come out to 400 eDPI. When you want to match someone, match the eDPI, not the raw DPI.

Polling rate: how often the mouse checks in

Polling rate, measured in Hz, is how many times per second the mouse tells your PC where it is. 1000 Hz means it reports once every millisecond. A higher rate means fresher information and slightly less delay between your hand moving and the screen reacting.

IPS and the G rating: speed limits you will never hit

IPS (inches per second) is the fastest you can swipe before the sensor loses track and your aim freezes for a moment. The G rating is a similar limit for how quickly you can change speed. Both sound important, but modern sensors handle 650 to 750 IPS, which is far faster than any human swipes on a normal pad.

In plain terms: on any current mouse, you will never move fast enough to hit these limits. You can ignore both numbers when shopping.

Lift-off distance: a small comfort setting

When you play at low sensitivity, you sometimes lift the mouse, move it back to the middle of the pad, and put it down again to keep swiping. Lift-off distance is how high you can lift before the sensor stops reading. A low setting is usually nicer, because the cursor does not drift while the mouse is in the air.

• Most good mice let you choose roughly 1 mm or 2 mm in their software.
• Thick pads or grip tape can shift it slightly, so recalibrate in the software if you change your setup.
• Some brands (Logitech, Razer, Pulsar) can scan your exact pad to tune this even more precisely.

Settings you want turned off

A few features try to be helpful but actually hurt your aim by changing your movement after you make it. They are usually off by default on good mice, but it is worth knowing the names.

Smoothing

Averages out tiny movements to look cleaner, but adds delay and makes the mouse feel disconnected from your hand. Off by default on flagships; some budget mice switch it on at very high DPI.

Prediction (angle snapping)

Quietly straightens your lines for you. Handy for drawing, terrible for aiming. Leave it off.

Acceleration

Makes the same hand movement go different distances depending on how fast you move, which wrecks muscle memory. Turn off both the mouse setting and Windows 'Enhance pointer precision'.

Sensor names you will see on the box

You do not need to choose a mouse by its sensor, but here is what the names mean so they are not a mystery.

PixArt (PAW or PMW)

PixArt makes the sensors in most gaming mice. You will see model numbers like PMW3360, PMW3389, PMW3395, and the newer PAW3950. They are all excellent. Brands like Endgame Gear, Pulsar, Glorious, and Lamzu use PixArt sensors with their own tuning.

Logitech HERO

Logitech's own sensor. The HERO 2 (in the G PRO X SUPERLIGHT 2) is built for low battery use, which is how that mouse lasts around 95 hours per charge. Tracking is just as good as PixArt's best.

Razer Focus / Focus Pro

Razer's sensors are usually PixArt parts with Razer's own software. Focus Pro 30K (in the Viper V3 Pro and DeathAdder V3 Pro) tracks well even on glass pads.

The short version

1. Any modern flagship sensor is great. Pick the mouse by shape and weight, not by sensor.
2. Set 800 DPI and 1000 Hz polling. Adjust feel with the in-game sensitivity slider.
3. Make sure acceleration is off, in both the mouse software and Windows.
4. Ignore the giant DPI numbers and the IPS and G ratings on the box. They are marketing.