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Are Gaming Accessories Worth their Price?

The ongoing pandemic has confined billions of people all over the world to their homes. Many of us are now working from home and having fun from home, too – for lack of better alternatives, as restaurants and pubs, movie theatres and gyms are closed. This, of course, means that we are sitting on our bottoms a lot more, either working in our home office or playing games on our PCs and consoles. In these times, having quality gear – not just the device running the game but all the accessories and peripherals – is more important than ever. After all, nobody wants to be stuck at home with a broken mouse or keyboard, right?

Perhaps this is the best time to reflect a bit on if gaming accessories and peripherals are worth their prices or not.

Furniture

Casual gamers who only play on weekends – for lack of time, mostly – are likely sorry for not having invested in a quality desk and chair sooner. Many of these casual gamers are now forced by the measures taken by the government to work from home, so their “few hours on weekends” have transformed into “office hours every day”.

Having a good, sturdy desk that has the right height, having a comfy chair that will keep you in the right position during the hours you spend in front of your desk are very important for your health.

Should you buy a gaming desk? Well, that one is probably not worth the investment. And how about a gaming chair? Well, this is where things get a bit more interesting. Comparing office chairs with gaming chairs will show you that the latter type has some extra padding and accessories at times, and the two categories are very similar price-wise… so why wouldn’t you go with the slightly better option with the much cooler design for a small extra amount?

Peripherals

There are many gaming peripheral “brands” that slap an RGB led inside their products and promote them as “gaming” accessories at a premium. Make sure to avoid these – aside from being of questionable quality, they also lack the post-sale support and the warranty of a serious brand.

Take a look at these two mice, for example. The one on the left is a “generic” brand – it sure looks better, right? But the one on the right is a Logitech G102 Prodigy with a 6,000 DPI resolution, 1ms response time, six programmable buttons, and switches guaranteed to last for at least 10 million clicks. While there certainly is a difference in their prices, the brand product will last longer and work better.

Yes, a gaming mouse is worth it – and not only if you are a hardcore gamer – but you have to be wary of the brand you buy. And the same goes for keyboards.

Monitors

For gamers serious about their craft, the difference between a 60Hz and a 120Hz monitor can mean the difference between winning a match and qualifying for an eSports tournament and… well, losing it. For the casual gamer, in turn, it’s all about the experience – and for them, having the best, fastest, highest-resolution and highest refresh rate display is not that important. Still, the price difference is often small enough for it to be worth paying for an overall better-quality display.

So, are gaming accessories worth the premium you have to pay to have them? In general, they do – but you have to be careful to choose products that are truly high-quality and not let the flashy design and friendly price fool you. And this is especially true now when you’ll likely use them way more than normal.

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