SteelSeries Rival 710 Gaming Mouse Review
SteelSeries Rival 710 Gaming Mouse
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The Rival 710 gaming mouse from SteelSeries is a sleek, new mouse that boasts a variety of unique and high-end features such as Tactile Alerts for quick notifications, swappable parts for performance customization, split-trigger mechanical switches, TrueMove3 optical sensor for pinpoint tracking accuracy and an OLED screen for in-game stats. While this may seem a lot to pack into one mouse, at a price point of $129.99 CAD (~$100USD) one should expect to see quite a few bells and whistles attached.
I received the SteelSeries Rival 710 Gaming Mouse for review some time ago. I made a conscious decision to take my time with this review to allow myself many hours of use over many days and with a large variety of different games and applications. After all, the mouse (combined with the keyboard) controls everything you do with your computer, not just gaming. A good gaming mouse should be comfortable and simple enough to use for long periods of time, in-game and out. You may want to check out this roundup for more options.
In this respect, the Rival 710 is in a league of its own. I have never used a more comfortable mouse (everyone’s hands are different, your mileage may vary) that just fit seamlessly into my hand. Even after 6-8hrs of continuous use, often around the time my hand would begin to feel discomfort on any mouse, the Rival 710 provided little to no strain on my hand.
It also sports just the right amount of buttons to be useful but not confusing. I think we can all agree that some mice that go way over the top. (Remember those mice with entire numpads on their side? Honestly, who can use that effectively?) The SteelSeries Rival 710 features exactly 7 buttons that allow for all of the needs of the typical gamer.
The side buttons are placed conveniently near the thumb for effortless reaching and the buttons themselves are exceptionally responsive. Think of the difference in response from a mechanical keyboard and a non-mechanical keyboard. That is parallel to the experience of the mechanical split-trigger switches in the Rival 710 versus similar gaming mice.
The Rival 710’s Tactile Alerts function has the potential to be a serious game-changer
The absolute most useful and unique feature of the Rival 710 has to be the tactile alerts. While, at the time of writing this, there are not many supported games and applications for them, the possibilities are quite impressive. Imagine hopping into a game of Overwatch and having your mouse buzz when your Ultimate ability is ready. Imagine your favourite FPS sending a tactile alert through your mouse when you are low on health.
The QOL upgrade this could provide should not be understated. In the competitive online gaming scene, every fraction of a second that your focus is pulled from your actions can have dire consequences. This includes checking the status of your abilities and your health pool. The Rival 710 has the potential to remove some of the need to look away from the action with its clever use of these alerts.
The OLED screen, on the other hand, feels like the least useful feature of the Rival 710. At first it seemed like a neat idea, but I quickly realized that I never look at my mouse while using my PC. Ever. It also goes against everything that is helpful about the tactile alerts. While those allowed the user to retain focus on the task at hand and have alerts driven to them without needing to avert their eyes, the OLED screen would require you to take your eyes off the screen to read it.
As with the tactile alerts, there are few supported apps for the OLED screen, with Discord being one of them, but I don’t find myself wishing there were more uses for the OLED screen because I simply forget it is there.
While the OLED screen may not be useful, it does not detract from the functionality of the Rival 710 in any way. The only thing that does, in my opinion, is the restriction of being able to switch between 2 CPI sensitivities. I have had many gaming mice and the last 3 or 4 have all had 4 presets to switch between. In practice, I use 3 different settings for different functions and so having only 2 to switch between is a noticeable issue.
While this problem may be limited to the few of us who utilize many different mouse sensitivities on-the-go, it is noting that this function is commonplace in gaming mice and lacking on the Rival 710.
Overall, however, the Rival 710 is a great gaming mouse. It is comfortable, it boasts many useful features and it has only very mild downfalls. It does drop off in value slightly due to the fact that you are paying for features like the OLED screen which I am confident very few people will sufficiently use.
If you are interested in the benefits of tactile alerts, are looking for a comfortable and customizable gaming mouse and you have the budget for it, the SteelSeries Rival 710 Gaming Mouse is a solid choice and a unique step in gaming accessories.
For more information on the Rival 710 and other SteelSeries accessories, visit: https://steelseries.com/