SteelSeries Rival Optical Gaming Mouse Review

When it comes to competitive gaming, it’s not just the world’s best gamers that are battling it out among each other for the top podium spot. Peripheral manufacturers also face each other in fierce competition when it comes to who’s offering the best gaming gear on the market. SteelSeries has been a significant name on the gaming peripheral market for a long time now, and the SteelSeries Rival is one of the best products they have to offer. Today, we’ll be looking at the Rival to see just how good of a mouse it really is.

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At a first glance, the SteelSeries Rival doesn’t look like much. In fact, it does little to stand out from the crowd. But this is no fashion accessory, and SteelSeries knows it. Applying the principle of “less-is-more”, the Rival manages to look slick, simple and somehow emanates a feeling of confidence. The Rival isn’t here to win beauty contests, it’s here to make you win games, and I respect this approach.

The packaging is solid, without anything way too fancy. Opening the box is relatively easy, with a Velcro system keeping the front panel of the box closed. Once opened, you can feast your eyes on the Rival itself through a transparent plastic mold. The mouse’s main features are listed here, and the box looks good from every angle. Color combinations are tasteful, and the black/orange works fine to bring the mouse out just enough. The previously mentioned plastic layer does a good job of keeping the Rival tucked in tight, preventing scratches or damage of any sort (although, we don’t recommend running the box over with a truck to test how solid the layer really is).

You get a spare insert within the box, as well as some minor paper documentation, but nothing too elaborate. No lengthy manuals involved, mind you. The Rival comes with a “Rival” logo engraved nameplate, but SteelSeries provides an alternative by adding its own logo on the spare insert. And, what’s cool about the mouse is that’s designed so that you can make your own inserts for it, as long as you have a 3D printer around. Feeling a tad narcissistic? There’s nothing to stop you from adding your own name/nickname to the Rival. You know, so people know exactly who they are messing with!

In terms of actual design, the Rival comes with a full black rubbery finish. It’s not overloaded with additional buttons, having just 3 extra buttons (4 if you count the scroll wheel too), but these are fully customizable through the software, even to the point of having keystrokes assigned to them. The mouse is designed with right-handed users in mind, and the first two additional buttons are set in the general thumb area. The rear thumb button is extremely easy to reach and push, while the front thumb button requires a little bit of finger movement. Personally, I have freakishly large hands, so reaching either was a breeze, and I found that the SteelSeries Rival fit perfectly into my palm.

In fact, it’s pretty clear from the start that the Rival is designed for users with larger hands. Not that it’s bad if you have smaller palms and fingers, mind you. Still, if you’re a prime example of bulkiness and manliness and you posses exceedingly large hands that no other mouse can handle, I’m sure you’ll find the Rival capable of accommodating you just fine. I’m a palm-grip kind of mouse user, and I found that my hand fit perfectly on the Rival’s cool rubbery surface, remaining comfortable even after prolonged use.

Which brings me to another point, mainly the rubber. The rubbery finish works wonders for the Rival, especially if you are suffering from sweaty palms normally. Even after hours of use, my palms remained dry on the mouse, and the rubber felt cool and pleasant to the touch. While perhaps not the most visually pleasing design, the rubbery finish is practical, and saves you from constantly wiping off fingerprints from an overly glossy surface.

The only thing I can’t praise design-wise is the location of the tiny button behind the scroll-wheel. For claw-grip users, this button might seem easier to access, but for my own mouse-holding position, it’s a bit of a hassle. Ultimately, this might come down to taste, preference and finger acrobatics, so I’m not going to further insist on the issue. Overall, the SteelSeries Rival is a well-built, solid mouse with an amazing rubber finish. It’s clearly built for gaming, not fashion shows,  and that’s a plus in my book. It’s light-weight will be a plus to many gamers, and even though I regularly prefer heavier mice, I had no trouble adapting to the Rival.

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The SteelSeries Rival has one of the best applications I have ever seen in terms of mouse software, and I’m not saying this lightly. The mouse is easy to set up and install, practically being plug-and-play on newer operating systems. Installing the software for it takes a few seconds and is hassle-free, but the good part only starts once you actually run the Rival’s app. The SteelSeries Engine 3 software works perfectly, reliably and is extremely user-friendly, which is somewhat surprising, given how many customization options you actually have at your disposal.

You can use the Rival’s software to set anything you want. The macro setup utility may look complicated at first, but it’s easy to figure out what to do, and once you do, it becomes a breeze and a pleasure to create custom macros for the Rival. SteelSeries also provides visual customization options in the software, which range from illumination colors to intensity and color modes. Add to that the extremely complex performance adjustments (you can set anything from acceleration and deceleration to CPI levels and polling rates). In essence, you can fine-tune the Rival to your heart’s desire, and everything is done surprisingly easily and quickly.

One often overlooked aspect of the SteelSeries Rival is the fact that it runs perfectly on Macs. Sure, the PC Master Race will quickly jump and sprout insults at me for bringing the Mac into a discussion about a gaming mouse, but the truth is, it doesn’t matter what you play on as long as you have fun. And frankly, Mac users have been neglected a lot by peripheral makers in the past years, so it comes as a nice surprise to see the Rival working smoothly on both Windows and Mac. In fact, the Rival simply is one of the best right-handed mice available for the Mac, hands down, so if you’re an Apple user, look no further.

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There’s not a lot to say about the performance of the SteelSeries Rival. The truth is, you expect it to perform brilliantly, and it meets and exceeds expectations. It’s a mouse refined and designed for ultimate gaming performance, and it delivers. The optical sensor can be boosted up to 6500 DPI, and works well on any surface I have tested it on. I have a really good gaming mat for my mouse, but I tried the Rival out on my desk and even on the back of a book I had nearby, and it performed almost equally well.

In addition, the Rival has a life-cycle of 30 million clicks for the regular buttons, and over 1 million for the additional ones (at least on paper), so it should perform well for a long time, unless of course you’re used to raging in games and taking it out on your peripherals, in which case nothing is guaranteed. The scroll wheel is moderately rigid, providing a good balance between gaming needs and browsing needs.

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I’ve been busy with the SteelSeries Rival for quite some time now. I’ve tested it in various games, and used it for prolonged hours, trying to find some hidden flaw in a seemingly perfectly designed mouse. Truthfully, apart from the perhaps uninspired location of the top additional button and the light-weight of the mouse (which can also be a plus, depending on your needs and preferences), I couldn’t find anything wrong with the Rival. It’s a solid mouse that sheds fancy outfits in favor of performance. It’s fast, precise, simple and ruthlessly efficient. The best part? It’s also rather cheap. The Rival can easily compete with the best mice on the market, but in terms of pricing, it really has little competition.

For what it offers, the current retail price of $59.99 simply seems like a bargain. Of course, the Rival might not appeal to everyone, and that’s fine. It certainly isn’t the prettiest of mice, although I love it for it’s simplicity. Regardless, if you’re looking for a mouse that can greatly improve your gaming performance, provide comfort and reliability, and are also on a tighter budget, go for the Rival. It won’t let you down!