The Microsoft Arc Mouse is a good ambidextrous travel mouse, but it isn’t well-suited for other uses. It offers excellent portability, with a lightweight, compact design, and it supports Bluetooth connectivity, so you don’t have to worry about losing a receiver. It’s decently comfortable, but might be a bit too small if you have extra-large hands. Unfortunately, this isn’t a very good mouse for gaming, as it has very high click latency and only one programmable button.

The Microsoft Arc Mouse has a very unique design. It’s good for travel, and its snap-to-power-on feature hasn’t been tested on any other mice we’ve reviewed so far. It connects via Bluetooth to your source and needs AA batteries to work. It’s a great choice for light productivity work and everyday browsing. However, the click latency is significantly higher than most mice, and its max CPI settings and polling rate are very low, so it isn’t a suitable choice for gaming.

For other options, see our recommendations for the best wireless gaming mouse, the best wireless mouse, and the best gaming mouse.

Microsoft surface arc touch mouse

The Microsoft Arc Touch Mouse Surface Edition ($69.99) is sold as an accessory for the company’s Surface line. Clad in the same “dark titanium” (which as far as I can tell is a fancy word for black) as Microsoft’s convertible tablets, this stylish, compact, portable mouse is a worthy companion for any Surface tablet. I’ll let you in on a secret, though: It works just as well with most other Bluetooth-enabled computers.

Two things make the Arc Touch Mouse ($69.99 at Amazon)(Opens in a new window) a good accessory for a Microsoft Surface tablet. First, the Surface is a device in need of a mouse. Particularly in its first two iterations, its touchpad is puny, and the capacitive touch sensor that it has in lieu of mouse buttons is not particularly sensitive. The second is that the Arc Touch Surface connects via Bluetooth, which frees the tablet’s single USB port for some other device. That makes it a much better choice for use with a Surface than the original Microsoft Arc Touch , whose wireless dongle requires a USB port.

The device measures 0.6 by 2.3 by 5.1 inches (HWD) and weighs just 2.3 ounces. It takes two AA batteries that fit in a compartment underneath. When the mouse is turned off, its top is perfectly flat. To power it on, you flex the end nearest you downward, which causes the middle to arch upward; hence, the “arc” in the product’s name. This creates a comfortable curve around which to cradle your palm and fingers. To power the mouse off, you just fold it flat again.