While there is no shortage of quality mice around the $50 mark, the $20–$30 price range is often neglected. There's the SteelSeries Rival 3 for $29.99, but that's pretty much it. Originally, the Light² 100 had a severe issue related to malfunction speed, but now that this has been rectified in a firmware update, the Light² 100 at last joins this rather exclusive circle of worthwhile budget mice. Sporting the same EC2-like shape, the Light² 100 inherits many of the strengths of its bigger brother, the Light² 200: a very low click latency, high button quality across the board, tactile scrolling, and excellent stock mouse feet, including a set of replacement mouse feet. Additionally, the usual software customization options are provided, including for the rich RGB lighting. The cable is also the same, and while it's not exactly stiff, it sure could be more flexible. Unlike the Light² 200, the Light² 100 lacks holes for weight reduction, but depending on one's preferences, this may actually be preferred.

The only area where the Light² 100 feels budget is the sensor, which is PixArt's PMW3325. While the implementation in the Light² 100 is among the better ones, two main issues can be noted compared to more modern sensors: First, there's a rather significant base sensor delay of roughly 2 ms across the entire CPI range. Second, CPI deviation is massive, which makes it necessary to first go into the software and adjust each CPI step individually just to get them anywhere close to target. Other than that, performance is serviceable, and even LOD is still under control. In summary, at just $24.99, the Light² 100 provides excellent value for money and no doubt is worthy of our Budget award.

Update January 24th:
Since the time of writing, a firmware update has been released that addresses the main flaw originally present on this mouse, which is the poor malfunction speed at higher CPI steps. Applying this firmware update is strongly recommended. The conclusion above has been adjusted to properly reflect the performance with this firmware update applied.