I've never really chased marketing numbers when it comes to gaming peripherals — 8kHz polling rates, 40,000 DPI, or 7.1 surround sound. I'm not an esports player anyway, so any supposed competitive advantages of expensive gaming gear are wasted on me. That said, I did give in to one popular trend in the recent past: wireless peripherals. The convenience, comparable performance, and better esthetics convinced me to invest in an all-wireless setup. Everything seemed perfect until reality reared its ugly head.

My all-wireless setup wasn't exactly flawless

You win some, you lose some

It all started two years ago when I bought my first wireless mechanical keyboard. Typing on a 2.4GHz connection didn't feel any worse than on a wired one, so I added a wireless gaming mouse and headset to my setup soon after. The honeymoon period lasted a few months — I was enjoying the convenience of a zero-cable setup and the excellent performance of my wireless peripherals. Most of my time was spent writing or playing single-player games, so I was more than happy with my purchase.

Once the novelty wore off, I started having some doubts about my decision. My Razer Barracuda X started experiencing mic issues, and my friends' complaints about it didn't help. The battery life also declined over time, and I was seeing myself charge the headset once every week, which was bad, considering my usage. Similar issues cropped up on my Aula F87 — the battery life dropped from around two weeks to a few days over a few months. To add to that, the keyboard started missing inputs when I typed a little too fast. And my Razer Deathadder V2 X started exhibiting a slight delay whenever I moved the cursor after a brief pause.

I moved the wireless dongles around to eliminate any interference, but the connectivity problems didn't go away. I'm still using the same devices, but that's because my tolerance levels have grown over time. It would take a lot more to force me to switch, but I'm considering it.

My desk looks better, but what did it cost?

To quote the mad Titan, "Everything"

A major motivator behind switching to wireless peripherals was a cleaner desk setup. I had used wired peripherals for over 20 years, so it wasn't like I wasn't used to them. When I saw how much better my setup could look, however, the wheels began turning, and slowly but surely, I eliminated almost all the cables from my desk. It started with the keyboard, but the mouse and headset weren't far behind. After replacing each of my wired devices, my desk was undoubtedly less cluttered, and I could move everything around without caring about a permanent tether to the PC.

The trade-off, however, made itself clear only after a few months. All the issues I described previously made me reconsider the switch to an all-wireless setup. I had already spent a considerable amount on these devices, so I tried to convince myself that what I was going through was nothing more than buyer's remorse. When it was clear that I wasn't imagining the connectivity and battery life issues, I started seeing the merit in the arguments of the "wired peripherals" gang. They might not look as good on your desk, but nearly every problem I was facing would vanish if I switched back.

I'm ready to go back to wired peripherals

The time is now

What used to feel like a dated setup is now looking pretty attractive. My patience with my all-wireless setup is growing thin, and I'm already imagining all the things that would get better if I switched to a wired keyboard, mouse, and headset. Firstly, there would be no more battery anxiety. These days, I'm always worried about my keyboard's "low battery" indicator flashing in the middle of a game or my headset beeping, demanding to be plugged in. All the gaming interruptions would be a thing of the past.

Additionally, I wouldn't have to keep my rechargeable batteries around. My wireless mouse goes through a single AAA battery in less than a week, and keeping spare batteries recharged is becoming too much work. I have separate wireless keyboards and mice for travel anyway — having wired models on my desk that lack portability isn't a big deal. I would lose some of the esthetic appeal of my desk, but having reliable peripherals that don't need recharging every week is the bigger consideration.

Wireless gaming peripherals are far from perfect

I admit I gave in to the craze for wireless peripherals, but it's never too late to go back. Wired peripherals would eliminate each of the problems I'm experiencing in my all-wireless setup. I would have to give up on some of the convenience of wireless peripherals and introduce clutter into the setup, but the highlight would be a dependable set of peripherals that just work.