What is Mouse Smoothing? 

When you are looking for a mouse to complete your gaming setup, you might stumble upon some confusing terms. Like, mouse smoothing or angle snapping. If you are here reading this article, it’s probably what happened.

But don’t be alarmed just yet or think you need to expand your skillset because mouse smoothing seems to be a thing of the past. Still, you might stumble upon it and wonder what it is, so here are some answers. 

Modern gaming mice are far more accurate than they were just a few years ago, which is why “mouse smoothing” is still a part of the terminology. Old sensors, which were sometimes even trackballs, were not nearly as accurate as the standard optical sensors we have today. 

Basically, older mice did not have a high DPI (dots per inch) count, which made the movement of the cursor hard. Often, it would look like you moved the mouse abruptly. This used to be countered with mouse smoothing. 

Essentially, to account for the delay, the computer tries to guess where you are going to move the mouse next based on your current movement. However, your computer trying to predict your movement is not good for gaming. Well, not good for specific games. 

When you are gaming, you basically train your hand muscles to know the distance you need to “travel” on-screen to complete a task. With mouse smoothing, the movement of your hand is altered, and you don’t have control over it, which can mean that you don’t end up where you intended or you miss your target. So, mouse smoothing can be detrimental for a game like League of Legends.

If you are playing a game where accuracy and speed are prioritized, like League of Legends, you might not want to get a mouse with mouse smoothing. 

However, mouse smoothing might be helpful for other tasks like editing photos or even playing games where accuracy is not a priority. Nevertheless, because of affordability and advancements in technology, it is highly unlikely this issue will come up in your day-to-day life. 

Most newer mice, especially gaming ones, do not even have the mouse smoothing option. But in case you want to double-check, you can find out by searching for your mouse online and see if the manufacturer mentions mouse smoothing. If you can’t find anything online, try opening MS Paint and drawing a circle, and if the circle is almost perfect, you might have mouse smoothing. 

Also read: Is MSI a Good Gaming Laptop Brand?

Conclusion

If you have a newer gaming mouse, it’s highly unlikely mouse smoothing will impact your League of Legends aim or be a problem for you. However, you can double-check if you have some doubts. If your mouse does have smoothing, you might not want to throw it away just yet because it can still be used for most day-to-day things. 

For example, if you also use your PC for work, you can still use a mouse with smoothing without a problem. Also, if you are playing other less aim-reliant games, your mouse with smoothing should be fine. 

If you’re interested, you can also check out our list of the best mouses for butterfly clicking.

Also read: Best drag clicking mouses