For people who use computers all day, wrist pain can be a huge issue. One of the best ways to alleviate it for your dominant hand is to use a mouse that guides it into a more neutral position and offers better support. You need an ergonomic mouse.
But with so many designs out there, all with different features and looks, how do you know which is the best ergonomic mouse for you? Although there will always be personal preference involved with choosing a mouse, if you pick one of our favorites below you’re unlikely to go wrong.
The best
Logitech MX Vertical ($ 100)
Building off of developments in its other ergonomic mice, Logitech’s MX Vertical is the company’s first real attempt at a tall mouse that tackles problems associated with long-term mousing discomfort. Logitech claims it can offer up to a 10 percent reduction in muscle strain with extended usage. While that sort of metric is hard to accurately test, we did find it supremely comfortable during our testing. Better yet, it’s intuitive and easy to get to grips with.
With a hefty, but not overblown tilt angle of 57 degrees, the MX Vertical remains functional as an everyday mouse, while still providing the benefits of a more ergonomic peripheral. Its natural wrist positioning forces you to rest your hand in a position that is more conducive to long-term wrist health.
On top of all of its ergonomic features, this mouse actually looks good, too. Its combination of rubber and aluminum gives it a premium finish and feel, completing the package that for $ 100, feels well worth it to enjoy the benefits of ergonomic mousing. With wired and wireless options over Bluetooth (up to four months of battery life) and USB, it should work fine while you’re on the move or when tethered to a desk. Despite stiff competition, the MX Vertical steams ahead as the best ergonomic mouse you can buy today.
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The rest
Logitech MX Master 2 ($ 66)
The true purpose of an ergonomic mouse is to provide comfortable, full-hand support for the user and encourage good forearm posture while providing a solid input option for traditional computing tasks. With an expansive thumb rest and design that cushions and molds to the palm, the MX Master 2 is a supremely comfortable and functional mouse.
The MX Master 2 sports a sensitivity of 4,000 DPI and its wireless battery life of 70 days means you don’t need to continually worry about recharging the battery. With a great blend of features and comfort, it’s a fully-featured ergonomic mousing solution.
Exclusively available for right-hand users, the hand-sculpted design of the MX Master 2 is specially made to keep your wrist in as neutral position as possible in the horizontal orientation. It uses a laser sensor (rather than optical) so can track on any surface, recharges quickly (three minutes gives you a day of juice) and it can be paired over Bluetooth with up to three different devices.
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Evoluent VerticalMouse ($ 90)
Not every ergonomic mouse actually looks like a mouse. The Evoluent VerticalMouse comes from a line of thinking that the horizontal wrist position is the antithesis of a neutral forearm and wrist position, so it rectifies that by giving you a “VerticalMouse” instead — a little like a more extreme version of our favorite Logitech mouse.
Designed to be held with four fingers on one side and the thumb on the other, the VerticalMouse is effectively a traditional mouse mounted on its side. But along with the scroll wheel, left and right-click mouse buttons, there’s an additional center button — or far-right, depending on your perspective.
There is a significant learning curve with the VerticalMouse as it is very unlike most mice you will find elsewhere, but once we got used to it, we found it very comfortable and supportive. It’s no good for gaming and with a price tag for the wired version as high as $ 85, it’s quite pricey for a niche-use mouse. Its DPI of 3,000 is adequate, however, and if you’re at all concerned about giving it a try, Evoluent offers a 30-day trial period for new users.
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Microsoft Sculpt ($ 60)
Taking a much more minimalist approach to ergonomic mouse design, Microsoft’s Sculpt mouse is a rounded blob that’s designed to offer solid palm support without any extraneous features. It has a thumb rest to cushion your thumb into the side of the mouse, but it’s bulbous design, as we called it, is intended to teach you to lift your wrist off of your mat or desk when using it — encouraging the use of forearm muscles, rather than wrist tendons, to support your hand.
Effectively, the Sculpt aims to have you do the hard work of supporting your wrist and mousing hand yourself, rather than acting as an overall supportive tool for you.
The Sculpt has the usual pair of left/right-click buttons and a central scroll wheel that can move in four directions. It also has a side-mounted “Windows” button which gives Windows users quick access to the Start menu, and a secretive “back” button hidden near the rear of the mouse for faster browser navigation.
This wireless mouse is powered by just two AA batteries and connects up to your PC using an included 2.4GHz USB dongle.
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Razer DeathAdder Elite ($ 70)
Many gaming mice use ambidextrous designs that are more catered to claw or finger-grip mouse styles, but there are a number that also offer good ergonomic support and the Razer DeathAdder Elite is one of them. One of the best mice we have ever reviewed, it offers amazing features for gamers, while still providing decent support for your wrist and hand, no matter your grip style.
With the classic DeathAdder look and feel, this mouse features a subtly shaped body to offer decent wrist support during long gaming sessions. Although it doesn’t have a rest for your thumb, it does have an indentation for you to grip with and there is plenty of shelf space for your fingers on the other side.
By virtue of being a gaming mouse first, this rodent has arguably the best specifications of all of the mice on this list. It sports a true 16,000 DPI optical sensor, with mechanical switches for long-life and support for Razer’s Chroma RGB lighting system. It also supports Razer’s powerful back-end software for key remapping and color customization.
Unlike many of the best ergonomic mice, Razer also produces a left-handed version of its DeathAdder Elite, too.
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Editors’ Recommendations