Bear in mind anything above 2k polling is just extra CPU cycles which will be wasted. I did a metrics test recently, up to 7% CPU usage at 1000Hz which is normal, but that jumps to up to 11% at 2000Hz and you may or may not see a difference, though for the sake of a few % CPU time on one core, any game where you do super quick snap movements may benefit, it is 0.5ms vs 1ms after all of polling latency. Once you go above 2K though that's the point of diminishing returns, so don't fret about not having 4K or 8K. At 8K polling the CPU use jumps to an up to 17% which is unreasonably high.
I can't think of any game that benefits 8K polling but some competitive shooter players say they can tell the difference. Perhaps a monitor that's well over 240Hz is needed for that I don't know but I don't even play those games so 240Hz OLED and single player games does me fine at 1-2K lol.
See this:
So yeah, button feel, shape and the wheel are my main checklist, if these items don't feel great then it's a no go as a main gaming or general mouse. If gaming then weight is important too. My last fav gaming mouse was the Endgame XM2we, amazing mouse which I gave away to my nephew when I got the V3 HyperSpeed.
As for mouse pads, I have had a bunch over the years from solid to fabric and really I found little in the way of advantages for gaming, so ended up settling on what was most comfortable under my arms and hands. With that in mind a thick fabric pad like those made by Titanwolf (as in my pics) work best I found. They are fabric so after a year or two do wear down, but given they cost like £17, I just buy a new one once a year and use the old one as shelf liner in the shed for my rattle cans and car cleaning stuff. Some say the glass mats or Artisan mats have better sensor tracking, yet the sensors have been capable of their rated tracking on shiny surfaces for years so having a different mouse surface isn't going to improve what's already excellent, so just like mice, go with what satisfies comfort. That's one rabbit hole I know there is zero need to go down lol.
You then have Razer, Corsair and others making their own brand big mouse surfaces that look and feel just like those by Titanwolf at 3x the price... Probably get made in the same China factory I swear.
