Here are the only 3 I kept

I never gave much thought to what peripherals I spent my money on. This led to impulse purchases that, unsurprisingly, ended in disaster.

Once I sat down and did some research, I found three unexpected gems that quickly became my all-time favorites, but before I got there, I spent a lot of money on subpar headsets and mice.

I Hate Gaming Headsets, So Naturally, I’ve Tried Nearly a Dozen

I won’t even try to make sense of it.

Credit: Monica J. White / How-To Geek

To say that I’m not a fan of gaming headsets would be an understatement. I’ve tested many of these and found time and time again that they are an inferior solution compared to buying a decent pair of headphones and a standalone microphone. My daily driver is a pair of Audio-Technica headphones combined with an Antlion ModMic. (If you’re unfamiliar, this essentially turns your earbuds into a headset, but the microphone is much better.)

However, I kept trying to find a headset I liked, and many of them turned out to be complete failures.

Things changed for me when I received the SteelSeries Arctis Nova 7. It was the first headset that I honestly found to be somewhat worth the price. It was comfortable even when used for hours; the microphone was solid; sound quality was acceptable in games and movies. I ended up using it for over two years and didn’t have much to complain about.

Most recently, however, I tried the $250 Razer BlackShark V3 Pro. It wasn’t easy for me at first, but once Razer rolled out a few firmware updates, I thoroughly enjoyed this model. It has the best microphone I’ve ever heard in a gaming headset, and chatting on Discord has never been better.

The BlackShark V3 Pro dethroned the Arctis Nova 7 for me, but there’s a huge price difference between the two, so if you’re looking for something more budget-friendly, I can still fully recommend the SteelSeries option.

Battery life

Up to 70 hours

Noise cancellation

ANC

The Razer BlackShark V3 Pro is a premium headset, but I find it to be worth the price. You can probably get a better deal just by buying a separate pair of headphones and a standalone mic, but if you want a headset, these are fantastic.

This mouse was an expensive gamble, but it paid off

You may or may not need it.

Credit: Monica J. White / How-To Geek

I play all kinds of games, but MMOs are something I always come back to, so I had my eye on the Razer Naga for years before finally giving in and trying one out. This is an MMO mouse, which means it comes with many additional programmable buttons (up to 20), and this particular model also has replaceable side plates.

This was an important decision, as it is an expensive mouse. I generally buy more affordable mice because I don’t play a lot of games where the mouse matters much. (Read: I’m bad at competitive gaming.) But my love of World of Warcraft and my efforts to become a better gamer got the better of me, and I got the Razer Naga V2 Pro.

The Naga V2 Pro is a powerful mouse, with a resolution of 30,000 DPI and a polling rate of up to 1000 Hz. It is also heavy (134 g) and bulky; not really ideal for a small hand using a palm grip.

At first I absolutely hated it. Setting it up is a huge, huge chore. You not only have to bind all these different buttons to abilities, you also have to relearn how to play the game with all these new key combinations.

But once you get used to it, there’s no going back. Not a day goes by that I don’t put the extra buttons on this Naga mouse to good use, and I was so close to returning it. I’m glad I gave it a chance.

That said, it’s definitely not for everyone. Most people don’t need an expensive gaming mouse, and this model is only useful for MMO players.

Wrist Pain Pushed Me to Get Creative

This is what I get for spending half my life on PC

Credit: Monica J. White / How-To Geek

Now, there’s another thing I’ve never been a fan of: vertical mice.

I knew they had their uses and I understood that for some people they were comfortable and represented the very essence of ergonomics. To me they seemed strange, and even more so when held in hand. I accepted that they weren’t for me and moved on, but the long hours in front of the PC eventually started to catch up with me in the form of occasional wrist pain, which ultimately led me to the Logitech Lift Wireless Vertical Mouse.

I’m not going to lie: there was definitely a bit of an adjustment period. Using this mouse was awkward, and the different wrist position actually hurt my shoulder (go figure).

But it turns out you need to practice using a vertical mouse. I paced myself, using it for a few hours at a time until the discomfort slowly improved.

I firmly believe this mouse played a big role in making my wrist pain go away, and I now use it during the work day and then switch to my gaming mouse when I’m actually gaming.

How to experiment without wasting money

Avoid everything I did, basically.

Credit: Monica J. White / How-To Geek

I spent a lot of money on futile attempts before finally finding devices I liked. Testing technology is what I do for a living, so that’s good, but I see now that I could have landed on the right headset and mouse without spending well over $1,000.

The key was figuring out what I wanted from my gear and then reading reputable reviews. It’s easy to get lured by a great sale, but these days I never buy without doing thorough research – it too often leads to disappointment.