SteelSeries have been a brand I’ve disregarded for the past few years, mainly due to their low-durability headsets and average quality control on their mice. Before you reach out for your pitchforks, let me tell you this is the first time I can wholeheartedly recommend a SteelSeries product.
A challenger approaches!
After hearing praise from one of my friends regarding the Rival’s high quality sensor & no acceleration, I got a little curious; so curious I decided to order it along with some other tech stuff.
I’ve used a mix between my Logitech G602 & Gigabyte M6900 as my daily driver for the past year or so, the moment I tried out the Rival with Titanfall my expectations got blown away. While the G602 is still a strong contender, I really have no use for the M6900 anymore.
The Rival can be used by claw/palm-grippers alike, although I personally like the claw grip better.
The Software
If you’re the kind of gamer who likes customizeable LEDs on their peripherals, you’ll be pleased to know that you can customize the color of the SteelSeries Rival Logo & scroll wheel, even with hex color codes! (#FF1800 for example)
Click on the picture to enlarge
If you’re the kind of gamer who likes customizeable LEDs on their peripherals, you’ll be pleased to know that you can customize the color of the SteelSeries Rival Logo & scroll wheel, even with hex color codes! (#FF1800 for example)
As seen on the pictures, you can change the level of acceleration/deceleration on the Rival, along with changing the level of angle snapping. Polling rate can be changed too, but I see no point in running it on lower than 1000Hz anyways.
You can have 2 DPI level profiles, and change the DPI profiles on the go with the lower middle mouse button. The LED’s are subtle, but definitely noticeable.
Construction and Design
The only downside to the Rival is the little above average construction quality, the Rival gets dirty really quickly due to the matte plastic finish to the mouse in the main area. Your ring/little finger have a decent bit of room to rest in the rubber grip area, same goes for your thumb.
I’ve got to give credit to SteelSeries for this, the Rival’s side buttons have got to some of the best feeling side buttons I’ve personally tried. The back button takes up a large portion of the surface area for your thumb, which is nice because the back button is the button I use the most, both in gaming and browsing. The scroll wheel is nice, above average quality than the majority of the gaming mice, which is a plus!
SteelSeries makes their own right/left switches for this mouse, they feel really nice at the punctuation point although they are a little louder than regular mice clicks.
3D printable nameplate? Errh…
SteelSeries is known for putting gimmicky designs in their products, this is one of them. The Rival comes with 2 nameplates out of the box, one with “Rival” and one with “SteelSeries. I honestly don’t get the point of this design decision, it’s nice I guess, but I’d rather have a slightly lower price.
Nemesis Thoughts about the Rival
The Rival is about the 10th mouse I’ve owned. No piece of equipment can ever be perfect to me but I always love trying new things. I wasn’t expecting much out of the Rival considering I am not a huge fan of Steelseries products in general. However, as an avid FPS player, it is hands down one of the best Ive used. A lot of people would say that it’s almost a DeathAdder copy and they wouldn’t be that far off from the truth. The feeling of the mouse does cater to those that like the DeathAdder type grip style it provides. To me the mouse is very light, but not light enough where I can’t control it. You won’t find a weight system or a complicated modification system of making the mouse more catered to you, but you do get what you need along with a few extras. The software (not bundled) does what you need without making things overly complicated. The one thing I wish the mouse did have was a few more buttons. Often times in FPS and even MOBAs 4-6 buttons is preferred. The grip textures on the left and right side of the mouse provide something Id like to see in other mice. It gives me a place where I can grip down on with force without slipping or losing control of any movement, it’s a nice touch for sure.
Conclusion
As stated at the start of this review, this is the first SteelSeries product I can recommend to my friends, I’m very impressed by the sensor & customizeability of the mouse. It comes at a nice pricepoint with only a few compromises.
If you’re looking for a new gaming mouse, this is definitely a strong contender.
Pros
Very high quality sensor
No acceleration/angle snapping
Highly customizeable LEDs
Low-to-Medium pricepoint of $69
Own in-house designed switches by SteelSeries
Cons
Matte texture gets dirty very quickly, wears off within months
Questionable design decisions
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