SteelSeries Rival 3 Wireless Gen 2 Review

Steelseries' Rival 3 Wireless Gen 2 wired rodent is, arsenic we said successful our review, the fund master: cheap, reliable, well-built, and precise successful twitchy FPS games. There’s a crushed it’s 1 of our favourite gaming mice. For the past week I've been investigating the Rival 3 Wireless Gen 2 wireless, and the differences are much important than an absent cord.

This wireless mentation is acold heavier, chiefly due to the fact that you person to insert AAA batteries. It has nary customisable RGB, its click latency is higher, and it's rather a batch much expensive. On the different hand, its sensor has a higher maximum DPI, and it promises hundreds of hours of artillery beingness successful the close condition.

SteelSeries Rival 3 Gen 2 Wireless – Design and Shape

This is simply a heavy, dense mouse, and it'll beryllium excessively dense for immoderate people. With some AAA batteries inserted, it weighs conscionable shy of 110g – treble galore lightweight gaming mice. The rodent works good with 1 battery, dipping the value beneath 100, but it's inactive beefy.

As idiosyncratic who prefers lighter mice, the Rival 3 Gen 2 inactive felt smooth, and inactive glided good connected its PTFE feet. I could inactive whip it astir my mousepad and marque precise adjustments erstwhile needed, and neither my manus nor limb ached portion utilizing it.

But there's nary denying it required much effort. I was perpetually reminded of its heft – it surely didn't consciousness similar an hold of my arm, and I enjoyed utilizing it little than the 77g wired version, which I tested for comparison. I could consciousness the quality erstwhile I took 1 artillery out, and I preferred it, but it's inactive hard to wholeheartedly urge the Rival 3 Gen 2 wireless to anyone who's utilized to lightweight mice.

Its sensor sits little down the assemblage than for astir mice. The further guardant a sensor is, the much it volition determination to lucifer good adjustments of your fingers. A low-down sensor means your fingers request to determination further to marque the sensor question the aforesaid distance. Combine that with its value and you person to enactment much effort than mean to marque those tiny adjustments.

Putting the important value to 1 side, there's tons to like. I ever interest astir physique prime with cheaper mice – nary worries here. This is simply a coagulated rodent with bully bones. I tin compression it, twist it, and prod it without immoderate creaking oregon signs of weakness.

You tin bargain it successful 4 colours: black, white, lavender oregon aqua. I tested the achromatic mentation and enjoyed the arctic look against my achromatic mousepad.

The main assemblage of the rodent slides backmost to uncover the artillery compartment. It requires a decent level of force, making it virtually intolerable to unfastened accidentally, and it feels choky and unafraid erstwhile shut. You tin besides descent the tiny USB dongle – which enables low-latency 2.4GHz wireless transportation – into this compartment, wherever it sits snugly, and there's a sturdy power to flick betwixt Bluetooth and 2.4GHz connections.

The signifier is identical to the wired version. It's almost symmetrical, but the near broadside is much angular to accommodate the crook of your thumb. Its debased illustration is comfy successful fingertip oregon claw grips. I tried it successful thenar grip and the right-hand ridge sat awkwardly against my pinky finger.

Its near and close clicks are bouncy, responsive, and perfectly spammable. When I truly deed them hard, some for investigating and successful a panic during rounds of Arc Raiders, they dependable loud, echoey and cheap, but nether mean conditions they dependable airy and crisp.

The broadside buttons are annoyingly bladed and there's astir nary spread betwixt them, but contempt that I ne'er misclicked. The summation of a DPI power fastener – positioned smartly truthful you can't accidentally nudge it – is welcome, and the scroll instrumentality is conscionable good for a fund mouse. It feels a small escaped and rattly, but ne'er caused maine immoderate problems.

SteelSeries Rival 3 Gen 2 Wireless – Performance and Gaming

We loved the SteelSeries Rival 3 Gen 2 wired's gaming performance. It showed that, for astir people, you don't request to walk hundreds of dollars connected a mouse. On insubstantial this wireless mentation is antithetic successful 2 noticeable ways. Its sensor has a higher maximum DPI but its click latency – the clip betwixt your carnal click and it registering connected your PC – is longer.

Huge DPI numbers are often pointless. The 8.5K DPI sensor connected the wired 1 felt good, and I honestly couldn't consciousness overmuch of a quality with this 18K one. And a 1.9ms click latency is inactive debased capable for maine to not consciousness the delay. So successful world it volition execute conscionable arsenic good arsenic the wired version: nary better, nary worse.

I tested it successful a assortment of games including Arc Raiders, Cyberpunk 2077, Fortnite, and Blue Prince for a premix of casual clicking and flicky shooting. It was responsive and accurate, and I felt my rodent movements, including tiny adjustments and accelerated flick shots, were reflected connected screen. It ne'er held maine backmost during multiplayer matches.

Its max 1,000Hz polling complaint – the fig of times the rodent reports its presumption to your PC – falls abbreviated of high-end show mice, but successful my acquisition you get diminishing returns arsenic polling complaint rises. As I determination up to 2,000Hz and 4,000Hz I can, conscionable about, consciousness a quality successful smoothness and responsiveness. It helps that I person the set-up to instrumentality vantage of a higher polling rate, including a caller graphics paper and a 240Hz refresh complaint screen. But the quality is tiny and staying astatine 1,000Hz is perfectly good for astir players, particularly those connected a budget.

You tin besides little the polling complaint oregon power to Bluetooth to prevention tons of artillery (which I'll sermon much successful a moment). Cutting the polling complaint to 500Hz felt good for a singleplayer crippled similar Blue Prince, arsenic did playing connected Bluetooth: you suffer immoderate show but you don't truly request it, and the other artillery beingness is much than worthy it.

The mouse's value will, I feel, beryllium the biggest origin successful whether you bask gaming with it oregon not. If you're utilized to a lightweight rodent it mightiness propulsion disconnected your aim, astatine slightest initially earlier you get utilized to it.

SteelSeries Rival 3 Gen 2 Wireless – Battery Life and Software

Steelseries makes lofty claims astir artillery life: 175 hours via the 2.4Ghz transportation oregon a staggering 450 hours implicit Bluetooth. Connecting to Bluetooth was ever casual and instant, and it's an fantabulous enactment for low-stakes singleplayer games. You'll request to bargain caller batteries erstwhile they tally retired truthful being capable to compression hundreds of hours from each 1 is brilliant.

On 2.4Ghz connection, you won't get 175 hours unless you little the polling rate. Again, successful singleplayer games similar Blue Prince that's wholly viable but successful multiplayer games, playing beneath 1000Hz tin hamper your performance. If you instrumentality to 1000Hz you'll get astir 100 hours of life, successful enactment with different modern gaming mice. Just marque definite you banal up connected AAA if you're going to usage it agelong term.

I similar that Steelseries lets you instrumentality retired 1 artillery to chopped the value to little than 100g. You fractional the artillery life, but for maine the improved consciousness was worthy the sacrifice and, ultimately, it's the aforesaid full beingness connected 2 AAA batteries.

As for software, the SteelSeries GG app looks intimidating astatine archetypal but is really rather elemental and intuitive. The fundamentals – DPI accommodation and polling complaint – beryllium alongside different settings that are explained clearly, specified arsenic a battery-saving mode, cursor smoothing connected Bluetooth, and abstracted sensitivity for X and Y-axis movements.

What it lacks is the analyzable RGB customization of the wired mouse. The lone lighting connected the Rival 3 Gen 2 wireless is connected the scroll wheel, blinking bluish for Bluetooth transportation and cycling colours erstwhile you alteration DPI, and you can't alteration them successful immoderate way. If you truly attraction astir RGB past the wired mentation is your champion bet.