A Close Look At The New SteelSeries Rival 600: A Better Gaming Mouse
What's In The Box?
What's In The Box?
The Rival 600 is the latest gaming mouse from SteelSeries, and it sports a few features that make it stand out from other mice. First off, it has three side buttons whereas most gaming mice only have two. On top of that, the buttons are positioned in an ergonomic fashion that makes them easy to actuate with your thumb. The Rival 600's weight is also adjustable; the side grips pop out easily where you can insert up to eight 4g weights (four on either side). In addition to firm left/right clicks and the accurate TrueMove3 optical sensor, the Rival 600 has full range RGB lighting (if you're into that sort of thing). In the gallery above, we walk through what the mouse offers and look at it from all different angles.
It's available now and carries a suggested retail price of $80 USD / £80 GBP. For more on SteelSeries PC peripherals, check out our review of the Rival 310/Sensei 310 mice or the Apex M750 mechanical keyboard. If you're still searching for the right mouse, be sure to look through our roundup of gaming mice.
SteelSeries Rival 600
SteelSeries Rival 600
You'll notice that the Rival 600 is not designed to be ambidextrous, it's specifically for right-handed users. The body of the mouse slopes slightly downward on the right side and peak of the hunch fits nicely for those who prefer a palm-grip style. But the Rival 600 is also lightweight and low-profile enough for claw-grip and fingertip grip users.
Side View (Left)
Side View (Left)
The three side buttons are positioned in a way that makes them easy to click and easy to distinguish one button for another. They have a soft actuation that doesn't require too much force. You may find the forward-most button a bit hard to hit if you're using a palm-grip and your thumb can't reach that far. As for the grip itself, the silicone material has a slick rubbery feel that isn't very sticky. Thankfully, the groove is deep enough for your thumb which makes the mouse easier to pick up and swipe around.
Side View (Right)
Side View (Right)
Not much happening on the right side of the Rival 600, but it sports the same slick rubber silicone material as the right side, which is just good enough for claw-grip and fingertip-grip users.
Left/Right Clicks, Scroll Wheel, And DPI Switch
Left/Right Clicks, Scroll Wheel, And DPI Switch
One of the more subtle, but important aspects of the Rival 600 is the firm, responsive left and right clicks. They have a nice spring that makes repeated clicks easier to execute; no squishy feelings here. The scroll wheel has a distinct tactile response for each increment, although clicking down the wheel is squishier than we'd like. On-the-fly DPI switches are common for mice today, so its no surprise to see one here, which allows you to sequentially swap through two different settings. You can also customize which DPI settings you want to swap between, up to 12,000 DPI in increments of 100.
RGB Backlighting
RGB Backlighting
If RGB backlighting is something you're into, the Rival 600 offers you a little bit more than most mice. In addition to the SteelSeries logo and scroll wheel lighting up, two strips that separate the side grips from the mouse body light up as well. The SteelSeries Engine software suite gives you plenty of options to customize the color scheme and lighting effects.
Detachable USB Cable
Detachable USB Cable
A detachable USB cable is common among SteelSeries mice and the Rival 600 is no exception, which makes it a bit easier to take on the go. However, there are specific grooves on the housing of the cable input and in the mouse itself that make it so you can't really use any micro USB cable. If you happen to lose the cable provided, you might be out of luck.
Front View
Front View
One notable improvement over the Rival 700 mouse is that the Rival 600 is designed so the USB cable doesn't rub against whatever surface or mousepad you're using. The provided cable is housed in a flexible rubber material as opposed to the braided cords common in modern input devices.
Adjusting The Weight (Left)
Adjusting The Weight (Left)
When you pop out the left side grip, the four weight slots are exposed. With this design, you can customize the weight distribution in addition to the overall weight. The slots themselves are made of a flexible silicone; it might be tough to get the blocks in place but won't get dislodged when using the mouse.
Adjusting The Weight (Right)
Adjusting The Weight (Right)
The right side grip pops out easily as well and also has four slots to insert the 4g weights. Again, this design lets you tinker with weight distribution.
Weight Blocks
Weight Blocks
With a total of eight 4g blocks, you can add 32g to the overall weight. The Rival 600 has a base weight of 96g, which is just right for someone who prefers a lighter mouse, but can weight as much as 128g.
Bottom View
Bottom View
Here you can see the TrueMove3 optical sensor made in partnership with PixArt, which makes a majority of gaming mice sensors. The Rival 600 also features a separate depth sensor, and through the SteelSeries Engine software, you can customize the liftoff distance from 0.5mm to 2mm; the height at which your mouse stops tracking movement. Steelseries claims ultra-low latency and true 1 to 1 tracking with its sensor. Simply put, the mouse was as precise as you could ask it to be and without any tracking issues regardless of what type of surface you use.
Overall Impressions
Overall Impressions
After spending several hours using the Rival 600 in games such as Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (in which precision matters a great deal), we can conclude that it's one of the better options on the market. Left-handed users will want to look elsewhere, but for right-handed folk, the Rival 600 offers top-notch accuracy, ergonomics, customization, and features. On top of weight distribution options and RGB backlighting, small tweaks like sensor lift-off distance are some of the smaller things that make it one of the more flexible gaming mice.
We've covered plenty of PC peripherals on GameSpot, so be sure to check out our review of the SteelSeries Rival 310/Sensei 310 mice or the Apex M750 mechanical keyboard. If you're still looking for the right mouse, look through our roundup of gaming mice.
from GameSpot http://ift.tt/2ER1hDC