Anker 2.4G Wireless Vertical Ergonomic mouse review

The Anker 2.4G Wireless Vertical Ergonomic Mouse ($25) isn’t going to win any prizes for the catchiest or most original name, but that doesn’t matter. This mouse is fantastic for those with wrist problems or users who spend long hours at a computer. It offers an affordable way to increase your comfort while computing, and it should protect you from pain or future injuries. It has some basic features that will suit productivity, including a DPI selector, navigation buttons and a dongle storage slot to keep everything together while you commute.

It isn’t perfect, using disposal batteries and only featuring a single 2.4G wireless channel. And as a non-gaming mouse, sensitivity naturally tops out at a modest 1,600 DPI.

However, if you’re desperate to up your comfort, relieve pain or prevent injury while you work, and you’re on a budget, this could easily be the best wireless mouse for you. Find out more in my full Anker Wireless Vertical Ergonomic mouse review.

Anker 2.4G Wireless Vertical Ergonomic mouse review: Cheat Sheet

What is it? Erm… a wireless vertical ergonomic mouse (surprised?)

What does it cost? A mere $25 / £23 from Amazon

What’s good? It’s affordable, comfortable and has a DPI selector

What’s not? It uses disposable batteries, and a single 2.4G wireless channel is limiting

Anker 2.4G Wireless Vertical Ergonomic mouse review: The ups

Cheap and cheerful, this mouse is perfect for those on a tight budget who need a vertical mouse to help alleviate or prevent hand and wrist issues. 

Affordable pain relief

Key to this mouse’s appeal is its price. If you’re experiencing wrist, hand or arm pain, a vertical mouse can be extremely beneficial. I suffer from a type of immuno-arthritis which affects my wrists, and know from plenty of personal experience how well these types of mice can alleviate symptoms. 

If you’re on a budget, though, you’ll likely be put off by the steep price of some vertical mice, including the Logitech Lift ($69) or the Logitech MX Master 3 ($99), so it’s great to see Anker offering a much more affordable alternative to help those on with less cash work in comfort.

Vertical comfort

Hilariously, Anker’s website calls the Wireless Vertical Ergonomic mouse “sleek and sexy.” I wouldn’t go that far, but it’s certainly well-designed for its purpose.

Before using the Anker Vertical mouse, I was testing out a much smaller Logitech MX Anywhere 3S, which is an ergonomic nightmare for those with wrist pain. My wrist had begun to click and I was noticing some tightness. 

Switching to the Anker Vertical was a serious relief — this mouse is extremely comfortable, allowing your hand and wrist to rest in a more natural, upright position. My wrist pain began to ease straight away. On the inside of the mouse is a groove to provide support for your thumb, which is beneficial to both comfort and control. The mouse also has a soft, tactile finish, which is pleasant to the touch and prevents your hand slipping.

Onboard DPI selector

While the Anker Wireless Vertical Ergonomic mouse isn’t sensitive enough for fast-paced gaming, especially close-quarters shooter action, it nevertheless features an onboard DPI selector, allowing you to switch between 800, 1,200 and 1,600 DPI. This means you can tailor the mouse’s sensitivity (to some extent) according to your preference. While it sounds basic, you won’t find DPI selectors on lots of mice, even when they have scalable DPI settings — the Logitech MX Anywhere 3S being a prime example.

Admittedly, the maximum 1,600 is a little slow for someone who is used to much higher DPI settings, like myself, but after a few hours of use I became accustomed to it and found it more than sensitive enough for working across two monitors. I’ve no doubt it’ll be sensitive enough for the vast majority of people using the mouse for work. As the Anker Wireless Vertical Ergonomic mouse is a productivity- rather than gaming-oriented mouse, I don’t feel like it’s fair to knock it down for not offering higher speeds.

In addition to a DPI selector, the Anker Wireless Vertical Ergonomic mouse also features two buttons just above the thumb groove, allowing you to navigate backwards and forwards while web or folder browsing.

Dongle slot

With the amount of peripherals I test, I’m always disappointed by how many fail to provide storage for USB Wi-Fi dongles. No such storage makes it incredibly easy to lose dongles in your bag when commuting, for example — especially problematic on devices, like this, where Wi-Fi is the only connection method. Thankfully, the Anker Wireless Vertical Ergonomic mouse has a neat slot for storing its 2.4G dongle, lessening the risk of losing it and rendering the mouse useless.

Anker 2.4G Wireless Vertical Ergonomic mouse review: The downs

This mouse’s shortcomings aren’t serious, and shouldn’t prevent you buying it if your key concerns are ergonomics and price. However, they’re liable to cause frustration to some, so it’s worth considering these cons before you buy. 

Disposable batteries only

Although this is fairly common in this price bracket, the Anker Wireless Vertical Ergonomic mouse runs on AAA batteries. Naturally, this will produce more waste than a rechargeable battery, which may be a pre-purchase consideration. You should be able to find alternative products quite easily. 

Single 2.4G channel

One limitation of the Wireless Vertical Ergonomic mouse is its single channel connection. There’s 2.4G via a USB-A dongle, and nothing else. If you’re using a MacBook Air M2 or an iPad Air, to name a couple of examples, with their USB-C ports, you’ll need to purchase an extra adapter. It would’ve been nice to have a Bluetooth channel too, allowing for easy connection to a wider range of devices.

Likewise, if you’re like me and switch between devices regularly while working, a single channel again proves very frustrating. It forces me to change device when switching between my work MacBook Pro and my Windows 11 PC.

Anker 2.4G Wireless Vertical Ergonomic mouse review: Verdict

With Anker 2.4G Wireless Vertical Ergonomic mouse, the phrase ‘simple but effective’ comes to mind — once I’ve untied my tongue, of course. It doesn’t pack a lot of features, but it doesn’t charge you for them. It gives you just what you need from an office mouse for a very reasonable price. And that’s great, because if you’re having wrist or hand problems, you needn’t be deprived of a pain-relieving ergonomic mouse purely because of  budget concerns.