When you ask a pro gamer what gear matters most for top-tier performance, most won’t mention CPUs or GPUs. The answer, surprisingly often, is something as small and personal as a mouse or keyboard. Sounds like marketing fluff, right? But miss a headshot in Valorant by 0.1 seconds, or misclick your StarCraft army during a final push, and you’ll realize just how real that impact can be.
In 2025, peripheral brands are in an all-out war. Logitech, Razer, and SteelSeries are still going head-to-head, while niche players like Finalmouse and Wooting are aggressively carving out their space. We teamed up with a range of players—from passionate amateurs to seasoned pros in games like CS:GO, Valorant, Apex Legends, and League of Legends—to test this year’s best gear. Not in a sterile, lab-spec way, but in real matches, with real stakes.
Take Thomas Grant, for example—a semi-pro CS:GO team captain from the UK, nicknamed “Midnight Gunner.” He’s the kind of player who demands a mouse that’s ultra-light, yet durable enough to survive the occasional rage slam during ranked games.
His current pick? The Logitech G Pro X Superlight 2. Upgraded in early 2025 with a new sensor and improved switches, this featherweight mouse clocks in at just 60 grams. “You forget it’s even in your hand,” Thomas told us. He once pulled off an ACE with it—three flick AWP shots followed by two close-range shotgun blasts. Smooth like a dance.
But not everyone’s into ultra-light mice. Samantha Joy, an Apex Legends player from Texas, prefers a more tactile feel. She swears by the Razer Viper V3 Pro—a slightly heavier build with perfectly placed side buttons. “Late game in Apex, it’s all about tracking and ability timing. Without satisfying clicks, I lose my rhythm,” she says.
Mice are deeply personal, but when it comes to keyboards, there’s more agreement: fast, linear, low-latency wins every time.
That’s where the Wooting 60HE continues to dominate. With proprietary analog tech and Rapid Trigger features, its 0.1mm actuation gives it an edge that’s hard to explain—until you try it. Some North American League of Legends players we spoke to put it bluntly: “Once you go Wooting, everything else feels prehistoric.”
Of course, not everyone can justify the steep price tag of a high-end analog keyboard. For those on a budget or just looking for a solid, no-fuss experience, the Keychron K1 Max or Razer Huntsman V3 TKL offer excellent value. The Keychron is hot-swappable, ultra-thin, and wireless; the Huntsman delivers that signature optical switch experience with the kind of industrial polish that makes you feel good just touching it.
Jack Miller, one of our casual-but-dedicated Valorant testers from Ohio, put it best: “I play a couple hours every night after work. I’m not going pro—but this keyboard makes me feel like my fingers are getting a massage.”
One overlooked factor we wanted to include was long-term reliability.
Many flashy low-cost peripherals perform great right out of the box—but a few months in, the scroll wheel dies, keys start ghosting, or the RGB goes berserk. Brands like Logitech, SteelSeries, and Corsair may not always dazzle you with specs, but they win the durability game. Thomas, for instance, has used his G Pro for nearly two years. It’s scratched, dented, and slightly faded—but still going strong. “It’s like an old war buddy,” he jokes. “Worn out, but loyal.”
So, what’s our final verdict?
If you’re playing competitively and have a budget of $200+, the combo of the G Pro X Superlight 2 + Wooting 60HE is elite-tier. If you’re more of a casual grinder who just wants a responsive, comfy setup to unwind with Overwatch 2, the Razer Viper + Keychron K1 duo will absolutely do the trick.
Just remember, no gear can save bad reflexes. As Thomas put it with a laugh, “Most players don’t lose because of their mouse—they lose because they’re sleep-deprived and over-caffeinated.”
In the end, esports gear isn’t just about stats. It’s about rhythm. Feeling. That perfect flick shot. That satisfying macro combo. That quiet “nice” you whisper at 2 a.m. after a clutch win.
Sometimes, the right click really does change everything.
