SteelSeries Rival 650 Wireless Gaming Mouse Review
SteelSeries Rival 650 Wireless Gaming Mouse
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SteelSeries has developed quite the reputation for offering high quality accessories that utilize cutting-edge technology to deliver industry-leading performance. As you might expect, you will find an appropriate price tag to match the quality and level of precision offered by these products. The newly released SteelSeries Rival 650 Wireless gaming mouse is no exception, self-promoted as the first True Performance Wireless Mouse, and after putting it through the ringer for more than 40 hours of use, we are ready to put that claim to the test!
I have always been a skeptic when it comes to wireless mice. I mean, after all, how many people are walking away from their computer, mouse in hand? To me, it always felt like a wireless mouse just added the uncertainly levels of the wireless radio and the battery charge. I understand its convenience for laptops where cords can be a hassle to constantly detach and reattach, but for a stationary PC rig I never saw the practicality of it.
That was, until I booted up the Rival 650 Wireless mouse for the first time. From the get-go the Rival 650 Wireless fit perfectly in my hand, and I quickly found the combination of weights that best suited me for overall mass and balance (2x 4g weights on either side in the middle positions, if anyone is curious).
When I started looking at all of the options for configuring the mouse, I was blown away by all of the thought and consideration that had been put into the design of this device. As previously mentioned, I was always highly concerned with the impact of having to charge a wireless mouse, so I immediately set out to maximize battery life.
This was extraordinarily simple as the SteelSeries accessory app tells you the projected battery life of the mouse in real-time as you modify the settings. I quickly enabled the optional sleep timer, set it to 4 minutes and then turned on the Illumination Smart Mode which disables RGB lighting while your hand is covering the mouse, saving even more battery life. The Rival 650 Wireless mouse is also equipped with Fast Charge, allowing 10+ hours of use with as little as 15 minutes of charge time.
OK, enough about the battery, how does the Rival 650 Wireless mouse actually perform? Simply put, like a dream. Up until now I have been using another gaming mouse that I always believed had smooth tracking and good liftoff detection, but those beliefs were shattered by the drastic and immediately noticeable performance increase offered by the Rival 650.
Its 1000Hz, 1ms latency means that there is absolutely no lag whatsoever and the TrueMove3+ sensor ensures the most accurate movement imaginable. Combine this with the secondary, independent depth sensor that decreases lift off detection distance to 0.5mm and you have a seriously noticeable increase in control and precision with the Rival 650 Wireless mouse.
For me, the Rival 650 also hits the perfect median of extra buttons and settings. With 3 thumb buttons and only 2 sensitivity presets, I will admit I was slightly disappointed at first glance. I quickly realized, however, that I only ever actually use two different mouse sensitivities anyway. I have my higher sensitivity that I use when surfing the web, etc. and then my lower sensitivity for precision gaming. All other adjustments are made within individual games, which all have their own sensitivity settings anyway.
One last feature that it would be remiss of me to leave out is the charging cable itself. That’s right, the charge cable. More specifically the adapter that comes with it. Once attached, the adapter turns the charge cable into a USB extension when not in use with the Rival 650.
This counteracts any inconvenience that could be found with having to dedicate 2 of your USB ports to the mouse (one for the wireless dongle and one for the charging cable). I found this also allowed the charging cable to sit inconspicuously on my desk while I was not using it so that it was easy to find when I did in fact need to plug in my Rival 650 (which was not very often).
Overall, the SteelSeries Rival 650 wireless gaming mouse is indeed a true performance wireless mouse. While I cannot confidently say it is the first of its kind (there are too many products of which I am ignorant) I can without a doubt say it is the best experience I have had with any mouse, including the wide range of gaming mice I have had the pleasure of testing.
My hat goes off to the good folks at SteelSeries for knocking it out of the park yet again.
Visit: https://steelseries.com/gaming-mice/rival-650-wireless to pick up your Rival 650 today!