Alienware Pro Wireless Gaming Mouse review: The smoothest mouse I've ever used

When you think of Alienware, the first thing that likely comes to mind is either the company's laptops or pre-built gaming desktops. Alienware also makes a wide range of PC accessories, however, and its latest products are a step above and beyond anything the company has made in the past.

Designed and developed in tandem with over 100 esports athletes, this is the Alienware Pro Wireless Gaming Mouse, half of Alienware's new competitive wireless mouse and keyboard duo.

Dell's premium gaming subsidiary has clearly focused a lot on the details with its new peripherals, and the result is genuinely one of the smoothest, most comfortable gaming mice I have ever used. The Pro Wireless Gaming Mouse isn't swimming in features (if anything, its software holds it back a little), but the core experience is among the very best I've tested. If you're willing to pay the premium cost, the Alienware Pro Wireless Gaming Mouse enables the best performance in competitive games.

• Read our in-depth review of the Alienware Pro Wireless Gaming Keyboard

Disclaimer: This review was made possible with a review unit provided by Dell. The company did not see the contents of the review before publishing.

Alienware Pro Mouse: Pricing and specifications

Pricing highlights

• The Alienware Pro Wireless Gaming Mouse retails for $149.99, counting it among the more expensive wireless gaming mice.
• You can choose between two colors: Lunar Light white and Dark Side of the Moon black.
• It's a straightforward, high-performance, ambidextrous wireless mouse that connects via 2.4GHz wireless.

The Alienware Pro Wireless Gaming Mouse is aimed directly at competitive gamers and esports athletes and is the pinnacle of Alienware's newfound efforts in the space. It'll be competing with the best from Razer, Logitech, and other established brands in the gaming mouse market, and it boasts the price tag befitting of that category. The Pro Wireless Gaming Mouse retails for $149.99 at Dell.

That price isn't unreasonable for a high-performance, lightweight wireless gaming mouse, but the Pro Wireless Mouse doesn't boast as many standout features as some of its direct competitors. Instead, Alienware has focused on the core experience and making it as good as possible, including wireless stability, smoothness, and comfort.

In the box, you get the Alienware Pro Wireless Gaming Mouse, the 2.4GHz wireless USB Type-C dongle, a 2m braided USB Type-A to Type-C cable, and a unique USB Type-C to Type-C adapter that makes it easy to switch between wireless and wired modes (for charging). The Pro Wireless Gaming Mouse was designed alongside its equally premium, focused companion; you can pick up the Alienware Pro Wireless Gaming Keyboard for $199.99 at Dell.

Alienware Pro Wireless Gaming Mouse — $149.99 at Dell (White) | Dell (Black)

The Pro Wireless Gaming Mouse isn't the fanciest-looking mouse in the world, but it does offer a fantastically balanced and high-quality experience whether you're gaming, working, or creating. Alongside its keyboard partner, it's even better.

Also see — Alienware Pro Wireless Gaming Keyboard for $199.99 at Dell (White) | Dell (Black)

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Alienware Pro Mouse: Design and build quality

Design highlights

• At first glance, the Alienware Pro Wireless Gaming Mouse looks similar to many other plastic mice.
• Handling the mouse makes it clear that this is a premium product, however, with a fantastic shape, soft and grippy texture, and reassuring build quality.
• Attention to detail is great, too, with a dedicated button for switching between profiles, an RGB indicator light on the side, and housing for the USB dongle.

Alienware has avoided the flashy RGB lighting, dramatic flairs and curves, and exaggerated thumb rests of other gaming mice. To some, this will be a downside (and that's fine), but Alienware is catering to a crowd that prioritizes comfort, performance, and consistency. In these regards, the Pro Wireless Gaming Mouse excels.

This is a symmetrical, ambidextrous mouse that Alienware claims is well-suited for "all grip types." That's an ambitious promise, but I can say that the Pro Wireless Gaming Mouse has been very comfortable for me. It's the perfect size and shape regardless of how I'm using it, and the plastic is textured in a way that almost feels soft without losing grip or picking up oil and smudges. All the buttons and controls are in the right places, and subtle curves ensure that your pinky and thumb aren't being dragged along. It's one of the most comfortable mice I've used, comparing favorably to the best from Razer.

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Alienware Pro Mouse: Performance

Performance highlights

• In terms of raw numbers, the Pro Wireless Gaming Mouse isn't the most performant on the market, with alternatives from Razer besting it in multiple categories.
• In actual usage, though, Alienware's flagship mouse feels excellent for all use cases, thanks to its fantastic base performance and wonderful design.
• Something about the additive-free PFTE feet Alienware is using here, combined with the light weight, make this the smoothest mouse that has ever graced my desk.

If you just want to compare numbers, the Alienware Pro Wireless Gaming Mouse will be bested by competitive options from companies like Razer. Let's just consider the budget-oriented $70 Razer Viper V3 HyperSpeed, for example. Dots-per-linear-inch (DPI)? 26,000 vs. 30,000. Inches-per-second (IPS) max speed? 650 vs. 750. Max acceleration? 50G vs. 70G. Max wireless polling rate? 4,000Hz vs. 8,000Hz. The Pro Wireless Gaming Mouse isn't best-in-class in any one category... And it doesn't matter.

This mouse is an incredible performer. It didn't just keep up with me — it surprised me and stood out among all the other high-performance mice I've used. Very stable wireless connectivity is a part of it, sure, but a lot of it comes down to the design. This mouse weighs less than 60g (Alienware actually lists it as weighing "<60g," so it's likely somewhere between 59 and 60g), and that weight is very evenly spread through the mouse. The optical switches are also bolstered by magnets that increase responsiveness and durability, and these buttons do feel marvelous.

The game-changers for me, though, are the PFTE feet. Sure, most companies are using this specific type of plastic for a smooth glide in their high-end mice, but Alienware has pulled off some kind of black magic here. The company told me its PFTE feet are "additive-free," hence the light blue coloring. Whatever makes these feet different makes the Pro Wireless Gaming Mouse wonderfully smooth on any surface. It's an even, effortless glide that resists dust accumulation, and it's so good that when I used my Viper V3 HyperSpeed, I almost felt like I was dragging the mouse around.

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Alienware Pro Mouse: Wireless connectivity

Connectivity highlights

• The Pro Wireless Gaming Mouse mostly relies on a 2.4GHz wireless connection via a USB Type-C dongle but can fall back to a wired connection when charging.
• Wireless performance is best-in-class, with near-instant connections, splendid stability, and no noticeable latency.
• However, likely due to weight constraints, the Pro Wireless Gaming Mouse does not feature the Bluetooth capabilities of its keyboard companion.

I have experience with other wireless Alienware accessories, so I had no doubt the Pro Wireless Gaming Mouse would be a strong performer. Connection is nigh-instantaneous when powering on the mouse, and once you're connected, you don't have to worry about stutters, drops, or latency. Even with a bevy of other wireless products on my desk and in use, I never noticed any interference, either. It's also worth highlighting that the dongle supports 4,000Hz polling rates out of the box — no extra purchase is necessary.

It's impressive that Alienware accomplished so much in such a tiny dongle, but you can also plug the mouse in directly whenever you want. You'll need to if you want to take advantage of 8,000Hz polling, for example. Sadly, there's no Bluetooth here, though. Normally, I wouldn't mind (it keeps weight and costs down), but the Alienware Pro Wireless Keyboard does support Bluetooth in addition to 2.4GHz and wired connections, making it an excellent multi-device keyboard. Unfortunately, its mouse partner is not nearly as effective in a multi-device setup.

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Alienware Pro Mouse: Battery experience

Battery highlights

• The Alienware Pro Wireless Gaming Mouse boasts up to 120 hours of battery life with a 1,000Hz polling rate.
• If you opt for a higher-performance 4,000Hz polling rate, that expected battery life drops down to 32 hours.
• Both of these numbers are higher than the average for premium wireless mic, and Alienware's unique dongle/cable setup makes it easy to juice back up.

I haven't really needed to charge the Alienware Pro Wireless Gaming Mouse since I began testing it. At all. I've been using it for weeks, and it just keeps on chugging along. Alienware's estimated 120 hours of battery life at a 1,000Hz polling rate seems reasonable, as I've been getting impressive endurance at the 2,000Hz I've landed on. This mouse is certainly above average when it comes to premium wireless gaming mice with internal, rechargeable batteries.

When it comes time to charge, you can simply unplug the USB Type-A to Type-C cable from the Type-C to Type-C adapter (the 2.4GHz dongle is taking up that second port) and plug your mouse directly into your computer. This charges it and enables superior performance, should you want it. It is possible to drain the Pro Wireless Gaming Mouse significantly faster if you enable the wireless 4,000Hz polling rate, but even then, up to 32 hours is more than enough to make it through the most intense gaming sessions.

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Alienware Pro Mouse: Other features

Other features highlights

• The Pro Wireless Gaming Mouse also relies on Alienware Command Center for most of its extra features, but it at least fares better here than the Pro Wireless Gaming Keyboard.
• You can remap the buttons, calibrate the lift-off distance, automatically reduce the polling rate to preserve battery life and customize up to five DPI/polling rate profiles stored on the mouse.
• It's still light on options versus some of the competitors, like customizable debounce time, motion sync, and even hardware niceties like RGB lighting and charging docks.

I criticized the Alienware Pro Wireless Gaming Keyboard for its lack of software features and the instability of the Alienware Command Center. The Pro Wireless Gaming Mouse still doesn't excel in this area, but it does perform better than the keyboard. I've had issues with Alienware's software not recognizing the mouse, but those issues weren't nearly as common or pervasive as with the keyboard. Once you're in, there's a more well-rounded set of features that more-or-less covers all the basics.

You can remap all the buttons with custom macros, edit the primary mouse button settings, edit the lift-off distance, and more. Some of the truly in-depth micromanaging features found with other mice (like the GravaStar mice I tested) aren't here, though. Most gamers shouldn't mind — The Pro Wireless Gaming Mouse feels incredible to use out of the box. I also like that each of the five onboard profiles can have a custom DPI and polling rate.

Following the trend, there isn't a plethora of extra hardware features to be found here, apart from a nifty place to store the wireless dongle. There's no RGB lighting or wireless charging dock, and you only have the two standard extra buttons on the side. Again, though, most of the gamers considering this mouse won't mind because it's the core experience that matters most.

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Alienware Pro Mouse: Competition

There are countless great gaming mice available to buy right now, but one of Alienware's biggest competitors in the competitive scene is absolutely Razer. If you want an ambidextrous wireless gaming mouse that can go toe-to-toe (and even beat in some categories,) the Alienware Pro Wireless Gaming Mouse, there's the Razer Viper V2 Pro. Right-handed? There's the Razer DeathAdder V3 Pro. Want to save a lot of cash on a wireless mouse? There's the Razer Viper V3 HyperSpeed.

• Recommended gaming keyboard: Alienware Pro Wireless Gaming keyboard for $199.99 at Dell
• Recommended gaming monitor: Alienware 27 360Hz QD-OLED Gaming Monitor (AW2725DF) for $899.99 at Dell

There's a reason Razer dominates our list of the best gaming mice, but there are plenty of other great options from companies like Logitech, SteelSeries, and even HyperX with the HyperX Pulsefire Haste 2.

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Alienware Pro Mouse: Final thoughts

You should buy this if ...

You should not buy this if ...

Up until this point, I genuinely believed that Razer had locked down its place as my personal keyboard and mouse. Some of my favorite accessories of all time have come out of the black-and-green company, so I didn't expect Alienware to shoot out of left field with one of its most improved products in years. The Alienware Pro Wireless Gaming Mouse (and keyboard) may be staying on my desk for quite some time; they're that good.

The design, construction quality, performance, ergonomics, and focus on the best possible core experience make the Alienware Pro Wireless Gaming Mouse a stupendously easy recommendation. Sure, Alienware Command Center is still kind of a mess, and you're missing out on some of the extra features you can find elsewhere, but for those who want to play the best PC games at a competitive level (while also working and creating on the side, if you want), you truly can't go wrong with this peripheral... Even considering how expensive it is.

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