PC Gaming peripheral makers are going to must step up their recreation, as SteelSeries proves for the third time in below a 12 months that it is aware of how one can make an almost unbeatable gaming mouse.
At $59 (about £45, AU$70), the SteelSeries Rival 310 is the mid-priced accomplice to the equally priced Sensei 310. These two sit under the higher-end Rival 600 at $79 or £79 (about AU$100). The value additionally places it competitively near the $69 (about £69, AU$99) Logitech G Pro Gaming Mouse and the $49 (£34, AU$59) Cooler Master MasterMouse MM520.
On the time of writing, the SteelSeries Sensei 310 and Rival 600 each sit on the high of our rankings for greatest gaming mice. And, after spending a while with the Rival 310, it’s protected to say that SteelSeries is the corporate to beat with regards to gaming mice, as a result of the Rival 310 joins its siblings on the entrance of the pack.
Design
The Rival 310 has a easy, clear design. And, it has nearly every thing one ought to anticipate from a gaming mouse: two predominant buttons, a clickable scroll wheel, two thumb buttons, and a CPI swap. There’s even two zones of RGB lighting, with the SteelSeries emblem and the scroll wheel each being independently lit. Nonetheless, the sunshine is only aesthetic, as it will probably’t be set to replicate CPI settings or in-game statistics.
Matte black plastic covers many of the mouse, with a grey silicone used for the aspect grips and scroll wheel. Whereas a lot of the mouse’s kind is easy curves, just a few areas have sudden angle modifications that add a little bit aggression into the aesthetic. However, even these angles are rounded off to maintain snug. The plastic is described by SteelSeries as “Fingerprint Resistant” and does an incredibly good job of hiding palm sweat or finger grease.
The development is stable. The plastic feels mild, however after giving it some some onerous squeezes, we’re satisfied it’s a tricky little mouse. Even the silicone aspect grips really feel robust, as we are able to’t simply pry them out or scratch them with our fingernails.
The one simply breakable facets we suspect are the principle mouse buttons, the place a sizeable hole on the entrance leaves a bit an excessive amount of house for one thing to jam its approach in and pop the buttons off (regardless that we wager they will simply pop proper again on). We’re undecided concerning the USB cable both, which is barely bolstered, nevertheless it’s onerous to inform simply how properly.
In our hand, the Rival 310 feels a tad too small for a correct palm grip, as our fingertips prolong previous the entrance of the mouse. However, now we have fairly large arms. And for large-handed claw grips, the mouse is an efficient dimension. Most players will probably discover the dimensions snug.
Happily, no matter grip type, the silicone siding is a implausible assist. They don’t really feel gummy and supply glorious grip to select the mouse up throughout liftoffs. Although the fitting aspect is slanted downward, the Rival 310 continues to be simple to carry confidently with even a mild squeeze.
The Rival 310 is a bit on the sunshine aspect, weighing simply 88.three grams. For some this will likely really feel too mild. Although we sometimes like a hefty mouse, we really feel good with the load because of the sturdy development. The rubber cable could annoy some who’d hope for braided, however we’ve had sufficient braided cables fray from rubbing on the sting of our desk that we’re not so involved with rubber over braided cable.
Efficiency
We had a pair weeks away from severe gaming earlier than testing the Rival 310, so we weren’t positive how issues would go, however the unimaginable monitoring of this mouse made it simple for us to dive proper again into a number of the best video games.
We are able to solely say the Rival 310 delivers on each facet of efficiency. For one, SteelSeries actually is aware of how one can put a button on a mouse. Regardless of the place we click on on the first mouse buttons, the actuation feels constant. The identical is true for the thumb buttons. Having continuously blown key moments in Overwatch by popping our final due to an unintentional thumb click on, we’re completely happy to say that’s a lot simpler to keep away from on the Rival 310.
When it comes to uncooked specs, the Rival 310 boasts as much as 12,000 counts-per-inch (CPI), accuracy at speeds over 350 inches-per-second and as much as 50Gs of acceleration, and a 1ms polling fee. That’s topped off with one-to-one monitoring at as much as three,500 CPI. Whereas we don’t have a lab the place we are able to put these numbers by way of a scientific check, we don’t see any hitches, hiccups, or inaccuracies in our intense firefights in PUBG, Rainbow Siege Siege, CS:GO, or Overwatch.
And, after all, the gaming expertise is actually what issues.
In each recreation we play with the Rival 310, we are able to really feel how constant our mouse actions are. We discover it extremely simple to snap onto a goal in all the video games we play, even when our skill to regulate our recoil just isn’t fairly as nice (however that’s by no means the fault of the mouse).
Our solely criticism concerning the efficiency is a small one, and that’s the the CPI swap can solely toggle between two settings, and there’s no indicator of which is chosen. After all, anybody trying to benefit from one-to-one monitoring is probably going going to stay with one CPI setting for nearly every thing, wherein case the CPI button can simply be remapped to do one thing else solely.
We haven’t been enjoying a lot R6 Siege, Overwatch, or CS:GO lately, however what higher video games to check the TrueMove three sensor on. Fairly to our shock, we have been on fireplace. We nonetheless wrestle to win when simply the very tippy high of somebody’s head is peeking out, however that’s as a result of we’re not that good.
All over the place else, we really feel like our performs are understanding nice, and solely impeded by our personal shortcomings. We are able to lead our staff to victory in a CS:GO gungame. We sometimes earn top-frag in a recreation of R6 Siege, even getting some kills we are able to’t consider. We are able to even pull an ace proper by way of our rustiness (although for the one we acquired, the enemy staff was down one participant, so it was an asterisk Ace).
Going for just a few aggressive placement matches in Overwatch, and to not dismiss our teammates effort, we’re a severe menace enjoying DPS. Even flailing round with a mace as Brigitte feels nice, realizing the place every swing would go even when we have to draw our mouse over a bit to get the hit.
Closing verdict
Is the Rival 310 the right mouse? Possibly. If finances is an element, then it’s completely a high choose in its worth vary. After all, the feel and appear is probably not to everybody’s liking, nevertheless it’s gaming efficiency is nearly as good as you will get for about $50.
We are able to consider only a few causes to not choose the Rival 310. Two of these causes are the Rival 600 and Sensei 310, and that choice comes down to cost and private desire. The one robust purpose we are able to see to select a distinct mouse is that if wi-fi is a precedence. The Logitech G305 Wireless appears promising, however till we assessment it, we are able to’t say there are any wi-fi mouse at this worth level which are aggressive.
With Rival 310, Sensei 310, and Rival 600, SteelSeries continues to point out that it’s making the very best mice for the very best costs.