As much as a good battery life is going to be a high priority when it comes to buying a wireless gaming mouse, sometimes the need to nestle your rodent neatly in its own dock and go "aww look, it's sleeping" will quickly knock battery life off the top of that list. And while gaming mouse docks are often disregarded as a novelty or even a gimmick, it's hard to deny their practicality. I mean, plugging in? In 2025? Why waste my energy on something so tedious?

Thankfully, the MSI Versa Pro Wireless gaming mouse and Mouse Dock Pro are all about the path of least resistance. Since the world is now moving into some strange, AI-fuelled Edo period I'm betting the use of gaming mouse docks will start to see a resurgence, too. Alright, better prep yourself for further laziness productivity rants as we get into why the MSI Versa Pro Wireless and Mouse Dock Pro is quickly becoming my new favorite gaming accessory duo.

Aside from the huge, lit-up logo and RGB-studded side panels there's a certain sleek simplicity to the Versa Pro and Mouse Dock Pro. Granted they sit closer to that modern gamery aesthetic than the distinguished retro vibe of the 8BitDo Retro R8, for example, and only coming in black it alienates the more gaudy peripheral enjoyers out there, but I can appreciate the restraint having tested so many pro FPS mice covered in weird holes and the like.

The Versa Pro's silhouette is reminiscent of a chunkier, more cohesive-looking Logitech G502 Hero, and it's clear MSI has taken a heap of inspiration from it as one of the best mice on the market.

MSI has opted for a broad curve in its approach to ergonomics that allows the hand to sit flatter. The lightly-recessed diamond grip side panels and comfy thumbrest gently cradle my thumb, while giving me something to hang onto that isn't silicone. Not that I'm averse to silicone grips—they do work. Just more often than not they're the first thing to go on a gaming mouse. The omission here indicates a longer shelf life.

Durability isn't something MSI has overlooked either. The chassis takes a good hard squeeze without flinching, and the Omron optical switches MSI has opted for are rated at a 70-million-click lifespan, so it should last a while unless you start yeeting it across the room.

Of the many, many buttons on the MSI Versa Pro most are blessed with that swift and satisfying click you want from a gaming mouse. All bar one: the infinite scroll switch. Don't get me wrong, I am an infinite scroll stan until the end times—this being a scroll wheel that can freewheel—but as it wobbles under my fingertip there's something a little more Fisher-Price about that specific button than the rest.

Still, the sheer number of buttons included is something MSI should take pride in. I'm talking four-way scroll wheel, three thumb buttons, two up top beside the standard left and right clickers, and even a DPI shifter on the bottom. All these are available to program as you see fit, which really adds to the productivity and convenience factors for FPS gamers and MMO players, or anyone else taken by the need to macro.

All that programming happens through the MSI Center software which, as is tradition for gaming accessories, is one of the worst things about the whole package. The barrier to entry is huge. In order for the Versa Pro to even show up in the software, MSI needed to grill me about the exact date, location, and store of purchase, along with the product serial number, before it would acknowledge the existence of a mouse at all. No, I don't want to upload an invoice, thanks. I just want to check my polling rate.

I passed the inquisition, but MSI Center still bugs me with the odd popup advertising Norton 360—for which the only options are install now and snooze—but the software interface itself is intuitive, and the act of creating and assigning macros is incredibly easy.

Insofar as accuracy goes, all the tests came back with steady arcs and minimal discrepancies. The main thing is that it's accurate, and while it doesn't have the ridiculous polling rate of its dock-paired twin Razer Viper V3 Pro, most gamers just don't need it. Besides, it's features like 8K polling that really mess with battery life.

The lightbars flanking the scroll wheel started to flash red at around 30% to indicate a low battery, with the RGB flicking off automatically to give me a few hours to get to a save point and pop the Versa Pro back onto its cute little magnetic plinth. All in all, it kept going with RGB on for around 24 hours before I had to charge up. While that's not even close to the lightless Viper V3's 95 hours at 1,000 polling, 80 hours sans RGB isn't the worst battery life I've encountered. Plus, you can charge as you play easily since the docking station also has a USB port for easy access.

If you're not concerned about wireless tech, the Logitech G502 X does all this with the addition of a swappable sniper button and for less cash. Super serious gamers might consider the Deathadder V4 Pro instead, but often these flashy wireless gaming mice with docks are far too expensive to warrant the frills. If you want to cover your bases without going overkill, you could do a heck of a lot worse than the MSI Versa Pro and Dock around the $100 mark.