SteelSeries Rival 310 and Sensei 310 Review

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By Chris Amidon

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SteelSeries is launching two new mice today, and thanks to the deployment of an all-new custom sensor it's boasting they feature “the world’s first TRUE 1:1 tracking at 3500DPI." It's a bold claim, and it means that wherever your hand goes, so does the cursor, under any conditions. There's no jitter, no lag, and no extraneous movements that can happen even with pro-quality mice.

The new models are the Rival 310 (See it on Amazon) and Sensei 310 (See it on Amazon); both share the exact same design, though the Rival is for right-handers and the Sensei is ambidextrous. As far as the 1:1 tracking goes, I feel like I’ve heard this before from various companies, but is it for real this time? I spent some time with the Rival 310 and Sensei 310 in order to find out. Both mice are selling for $59.99, which is about average for a competitive, high-end mouse.

Design and Features

The Rival and Sensei 310, at 88g and 92g respectively, are considerably lighter than the Rival 300’s 130g. But this isn’t to say they feel cheap. On the contrary, the 310s (both mice) feel balanced, and the weight loss dramatically improves the feel of sweeping movements, like when turning your character around completely. There is a feeling of hollowness, but there's a noticeable sensation of weight at the bottom of the mouse. I measured the length and width of them and it appears to be around 130mm by 70mm, roughly the same as the Rival 300. The Sensei is slightly shorter at around 125mm, however. Both mice are what I'd consider slightly smaller than average, with the Sensei being slightly shorter than the Rival, making them both suitable for either palm or claw grip action.

The Rival and Sensei 310’s both feature six foot cords that are not braided, which is a disappointment on a high-end mouse since this type of cord is usually more prone to fraying. The USB cords actually look kind of cheap compared to the fancy braided cords found in many gaming mice.

Both mice feature a "split trigger" design with separate areas for both left-and-right buttons, along with a button behind the mouse wheel that lets you switch CPU on-the-fly which can be configured in the SteelSeries Engine software. A small, gradual ridge similar to that on the Rival 300 surrounds the CPI switch on both sides, offering a bit of protection so you don't accidentally trigger it. I tried to “accidentally” hit the DPI switch while using the buttons and mousewheel normally, and found it was impossible. I would have preferred the CPI switch slightly more forward towards the mousewheel, but it isn’t inaccessible by any stretch of the imagination.

Both mice boast Omron switches that are good for 50 million clicks, and to my fingers they felt just right; not too heavy or too light. They’re satisfying and responsive, and easily match any other mouse I’ve tried. The Rival six programmable buttons, two buttons on the left-side of the mouse, while the Sensei features a symmetrical design with two buttons on both sides of the mouse. Both mice also feature textured silicone side moulding to help prevent finger slippage during gaming sessions.

The multi-color Prism RGB illumination on the Rival and Sensei are identical, and can be changed in the SteelSeries Engine 3’s configuration panel. Lights are found around the mousewheel and on the SteelSeries logo at the rear of the mouse. It can display 16.8 million colors in a variety of different illumination effects, from multicolor breathe to colorshift to color change on button press. You can also just pick your favorite color and leave it there. If you’re the type that attends LAN parties or goofs off at work, your settings will be saved in onboard memory.

All of this isn’t really revolutionary in the world of gaming mice. Many mice have Omron switches, RGB lighting, and similar dimensions. The big news with this mouse is the "all-new" sensor, which Steelseries has christened TrueMove 3, which SteelSeries engineered in collaboration with Pixart, the industry leader. According to the company, it is based on the legendary Pixart 3360, but is a custom design that boasts true 1:1 tracking from 100 CPI to 3500, and additionally utilizes jitter reduction from 3500-12000 CPI. This means that the Rival and Sensei can accurately track at speeds up to 350 inches per second. To give you an idea of what that means, the Razer Lancehead, for example, is reported by Razer to be able to track up to 450 inches per second, so this number from SteelSeries isn't the highest, but rather SteelSeries is claiming it's the most accurate.

Software

The SteelSeries Engine 3 software allows you to adjust mouse button inputs, CPI settings, and color options, and includes an intuitive macro editor. A nice feature is the live preview, which allows you to see your color settings in the software as soon as you make them.

It’s fairly standard mouse software, with no crazy bells and whistles, but it’s easy to use, opens quickly, and doesn’t use a lot of system resources. The software lets you easily program each of the six buttons on the Rival, or eight buttons on the Sensei.

The 310s’ CPI switch allows the user to switch between two presets, which can be configured in the Steelseries Engine. No indication via lighting notifies you when you’ve switched. CPI range of the mouse is 100-12000 (True 1:1 is only up to 3500 CPI though.) In the software, you can set one for, say 800 CPI, and the other for 3500 CPI. You then press the button to switch back and forth between these settings.

Gaming

To see how the new mice worked in gaming I played some Battlefield One and Overwatch, and played even more erratically than I usually do, attempting to throw the mouse for a loop. After many hours of playing my opinion is the sensor is really nothing short of amazing. It was flawless. The buttons also clicked solidly and cleanly, and the scroll wheel turned smoothly with zero play or lag. I never felt like I was losing my grip on the mouse even during long sessions, and during long, fast, sweeping movements, the mouse glided smoothly and responded exactly how I demanded. I outdid my usual performance. As always, this could of course be mental, but either way, I felt results.

The only thing I'd change about these mice, which I mentioned previously, is the location of the CPI button, as it felt like it was slightly too far back from the mouse wheel. For testing I used 800 and 1600 CPI and felt it provided an excellent range for my playing style. The textured sides' deep grooves were superb, and made it feel  like my sweat was wicked away due to the deep grooves in the pattern. I tested both mice equally, and felt that for my preference and style of grip (palm,) the Rival slightly edged out the Sensei overall.

Purchasing Guide

Both the Rival 310 and Sensei 310 have an MSRP of $59.99, and since they are launching today the price is exactly that at all retailers. Both mice are available on the SteelSeries website, and will be in-stock on Amazon shortly according to a company rep.

• See the SteelSeries Rival 310 on Amazon

• See the SteelSeries Sensei 310 on Amazon

The Verdict

The SteelSeries Rival 310 and Sensei 310 are some of the best mice I’ve ever used, and I predict that many pro gamers will be trying them out soon. The only real complaint I have is the unbraided cord and the location of the CPI button, but those are pretty minor concerns. They're both accurate, comfortable, and it's excellent that you can choose either right-handed or an ambidextrous design.

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