this thing's incredible

The $18 Doodad That Makes This TikToker’s Wired Gaming Mouse Feel Wireless

Photo-Illustration: retailer

I’m a big gamer, and I’ve always had a thing for electronics and tech. (I built my first computer about two years ago after watching a bunch of YouTube videos.) I mainly play first-person shooter games, like Fortnite and Valerian, which are all about latency and speed. You want to be as fast and as light as possible, and if you have a wired mouse, like I do, the weight and tug of the cable can slow you down. My mouse weighs only 50 grams, so the smallest pull on the cord can drag the mouse back. That can be pretty detrimental because it prohibits you from being able to flick your arm around.

I was fed up with the tugging, but I couldn’t find a wireless mouse I liked for the money I was willing to spend. The Razer Viper Ultimate, which is the standard for a wireless mouse in the gaming community, costs $150. Cheaper wireless mouses aren’t nearly as good, and besides, a wireless mouse is always somewhat of a risk, since it uses batteries, which can be heavy, and you risk them dying in the middle of a game. So I decided to stick with my wired mouse, the Glorious Model O, which is pretty well known in the gaming community because of how light it is. But I made one important addition: a bungee.

I’d been hesitant to get one because a popular TikToker, Carterpcs, said they were useless. He says you’re better off taping the mouse wire to your monitor instead. He has a huge following, something like 1.2 million followers, and his fan base listens to him and trusts him — so much that whenever someone talks about a mouse bungee on TikTok, people go crazy. But I decided to give it a shot, and I’m glad I did because it’s one of the best pieces of equipment I own.

A mouse bungee is nothing like using tape. It looks nicer, for one thing, and it helps straighten the cable out. If you stick the bungee at the back of your desk, it holds the cable up in the air (as opposed to the angled line from your monitor that you get with tape), basically floating, causing no drag against the mouse. Also, unlike tape, it’s simple to adjust. I chose this particular one because it can work for most mouses out there, as long as your cable isn’t too thick. With the bungee attached, my mouse, which I got for $50, feels just like the Razer. It’s really improved my game. I don’t think I could say that about a piece of tape.

Even though I was scared of getting flamed, I posted a video about my bungee (below). Surprisingly, a lot of people came to me saying they have it and love it, too, even if it is pretty taboo in the TikTok world. Some still thought tape worked just fine as Carter said, but really, that’s only because they haven’t tried a bungee. You can’t know how much you need it until you have one.

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The $18 Doodad That Makes a Wired Gaming Mouse Feel Wireless