Mice & Keyboards by stefan @ 2016-10-07
SteelSeries have really outdone themselves with a really innovative mouse which brings a lot of new features to the already crowded gaming market, has great accuracy thanks to the included sensor (with the possibility to exchange it when if needed), a comfortable shape which is suitable for palm, claw or fingertip grip styles, but also well-placed extra programmable buttons.
At first we would like to thank SteelSeries for offering the Rival 700 Gaming Mouse for testing and reviewing.
"From day one, SteelSeries has been focused on making high performance gaming gear used by the most demanding, top professional gamers worldwide and peripherals that provide superior quality and a competitive edge to gamers of all skill levels. We believe, as most gamers do, in winning, not trying!
What originally began with two people who recognized the need for superior, high-quality/performance gaming gear that would give gamers a competitive edge, has grown into a global leader in gaming and entertainment gear sought after for their high performance capabilities.
Fast-forward to today, and we’ve come a long way since our first glass mousepad. We have global offices in North America, Europe, and Asia, providing an integrated portfolio of products designed specifically for gaming. Fueling our growth is you, the gamer!
While we are proud of our technology and product innovation, we are even more excited about how these products are developed to meet the needs of gamers. Many companies may claim to develop superior gaming products but few actually do. Instead, they spend countless hours with lab engineers trying to force fit a new technology with bells and whistles and mediocre functionality for the end-user.
At SteelSeries, we develop our products with a small internal team and a vast network of technology partners, channel partners, game publishers, and gaming communities around the globe. We aren’t afraid of being challenged and implementing new ideas. Our main goal is to always to listen to the collective feedback of our professional gaming community.
We won’t bore you with cheeky slogans, trying to underline our authenticity as gamers. We fully acknowledge that the best professional gamers in the world know more about what they want and what will make them better, than we do. We are proud to be working with our partners, but we can’t take credit for their invaluable input and feedback. Instead we tell it like it is: they help us. We want to know what works and what doesn’t. For this reason, SteelSeries creates innovative solutions that provide a competitive advantage for all gamers.
Critical to our company’s success is also our reinvestment in the gaming communities and the individuals who support them. As a result, our corporate philosophy is to take a substantial portion of our revenue and put it back into the gaming community to help spur industry growth. We support our community in numerous ways, ranging from co-hosting tournaments like Iron Lady and King of the Hill, and supporting gaming competitions of all sizes, to promoting the top and up-and-coming gaming teams/organizations.
Put simply, SteelSeries does not claim to invent or reinvent the gaming industry. Nor do we focus on one specific product, copy other companies or follow the crowd.
Instead we leave it to you, the gamer, our customer/partner/inspiration, to decide if we are deserving of such declarations and accolades. What we do promise, however, is to remain committed to you. We will continue to work with you and the gaming community to make the best products possible and give you that competitive edge. We will continue to do our best to support the growth of the professional gaming industry and give back to the gaming communities. By doing so, we don’t just talk a good game, we win!"
What Triggers You?
No two alerts are the same! You choose which in-game events automatically trigger a tactile alert, and you have complete control over how each one feels. Health, ammo, mana, disables, headshots, and stuns can all be individually set to start a Tactile Alert. For example, the moment you get stunned, you can set an alert to go off and stop the instant the duration of the stun ends.
Completely Customizable
Customize the vibration patterns, duration, triggers and more. Set an Alert that feels like a heartbeat when you are low on HP or set an alert to do a quick buzz to congratulate you on every last hit. Choose between a wide array of patterns such as: Short and Long Buzz, Fast and Slow Heartbeats, Sad Trombone, Double Click, Triple Click and much more - the possibilities are endless!
Zero Recoil
The Tactile Alerts have been carefully placed in the center of your mouse, so you feel the pulse strongly in your palm. By directing the pulse to only move up through your hand, as opposed to left and right, Tactile Alerts will never impact your mouse’s tracking so you can keep your pixel-perfect aim.
OLED display
Count your headshots
Knowing is half the battle, and that is why we’ve equipped the Rival 700 with a completely customizable OLED Display. Access on-the-fly sensitivity settings, in-game statistics, button mapping, and personalize the display with your gamer name or favorite team’s logo.
Claim Your Mouse
You have the ability to put whatever you’d like on the OLED screen. Claim your battlestation by placing your gamer name right on your mouse. You can even upload animated gifs. The big questions is, what will you put on yours?
Real-time Stats
In between rounds and while waiting to respawn, in-game stats are right at your fingertips. Stay up to the minute on in-game stats like your headshot percentage, gun accuracy, gold per minute, and much more.
On-the-fly Customization
Effortlessly switch between settings for your different games or weapons. With the OLED display, customize your CPI, lift off distance, swap between profiles, and view key binds all directly on the Rival 700 without having to worry about installing software.
LMB + RMB
The Left and Right click buttons are built with a special reinforced plastic, unlike any other mouse to-date. This makes the mouse more durable, and helps to evenly distribute the force of each click, making for a more consistent feeling.
Extra covers
Swap out the top cover and choose between different materials and designs (sold separately). Covers
2 cables
Equipped with two swappable cables, gamers can choose the best cable length for their battlestation.
Sensor
Out-aim, out-frag, out-perform with the best optical gaming sensor. Armed with the Pixart 3360, the Rival 700 delivers the truest tracking experience in a gaming mouse to date.
Improved sidegrips
The Rival 700 side grips are clad with an entirely new blend of double-injected rubber that gives gamers the ultimate grip over their game.
Nameplate
Handy with a 3D printer? Why not design your own Rival 700 nameplate? To switch out the nameplate, simply pry the existing one off at either end (a fingernail or the tip of a pen can do the trick) and pop your new one in.
GameSense
SteelSeries Engine talks directly to your game, powering Tactile Alerts and changing your device’s illumination in real time. Health, ammo, and cooldown timers are just a few things that you can integrate into your gear.
Customization
Take control of this beast with SteelSeries Engine 3. CPI, polling, lift off distance, macros, and even the customizable OLED screen can be changed with the click of a button.
Prism RGB
We’ve equipped the Rival 700 with our acclaimed Prism RGB Illumination. Choose between over 16.8 million colors in both the mouse wheel, and the palm rest, all customizable in SteelSeries Engine 3.
Swap Your Cover
The Rival 700 top cover pack includes two black swappable top covers so you can always get the right look and feel for all the games you play.
One is a sleek with a glossy finish. The other cover is textured with our anti-sweat finish.
Glossy and Anti-Sweat Top Covers
Prefer Laser? We Have You Covered
Built for the Rival 700, the Pixart 9800 is the most advanced laser gaming sensor on the market. Swap out the sensor in seconds and you're ready to go.
Here we are again at it with another computer mouse review, but this time coming from the well-known manufacturer SteelSeries. Rival 700 is currently their top-of-the-line offering, which does feature fully-customizable OLED display, tactile alerts, a RGB lighting system, removable covers but also interchangeable gaming sensor modules. The mouse is shipped inside a small cardboard enclosure, which features the signature SteelSeries design, similar to the one we have found with the Siberia 350 and also the Siberia 800 previously tested products. The top area is showing a photo with the product in operation, along with its main highlights and compatible operating systems:
On one of the sides we will learn that the mouse is equipped with switches rated to 30M actuations:
The manufacturer also informs us that the tactile alerts do generate small pulses for notifying us regarding certain in-game events:
On the back side, SteelSeries explains some more product features, including the personalization software, SteelSeries Engine 3:
After removing the top packaging layer, we will get to see a unique packaging model (black/orange color combination), which opens up in the middle:
Besides the actual Rival 700 mouse, we will get a smaller cardboard enclosure, with the rest of the bundle:
To be more precise, we are receiving not one but two USB cables, along with a Quick Start Guide; why two cables you may ask? Well, we do have a braided long cable for PC use but also a softer PVC short cable for laptop or other convertibles use:
Both cables do sport gold plated connectors for optimal contact, along with a notice that we should go the manufacturers’ website in order to install the utility and drivers:
The mouse does have the following dimensions: 124.85mm (height), 68.46mm (width) and 41.97mm (depth). It was designed for right-handers and supports palm, claw and fingertip grip styles. It is offered in two color tones: dark grey with a nice matte texture on the back cover, while the rest of the finishing is black. While the finishing on the left-right buttons is smooth, the Rival 700 does not feature a rubber layer here, a design feature we do really appreciate because it does not show dust accumulation or collects skin oils right away:
On the back side of the mouse we do have a SteelSeries logo, which does feature RGB backlighting:
This is not all! A removable RIVAL nameplate is also in the back area which can be replaced with our own models in case we do own a 3D printer:
If we do check out the left mouse area, the first thing which pops up is the two orange plastic dots; these are intended to a tactile spot so you will know at all times where to place the thumb for easy access of the two programmable buttons. One more programmable button is available near the OLED display which can be programmed as a sniper button so not for very frequent access. This area is accompanied by a rubber surface which sports a dotted texture:
Speaking of the OLED screen, this one is protected by a shiny plastic surface:
The right side does feature a dotted rubber layer in order to add extra grip:
In the frontal area of the mouse, besides the left/right buttons and the scroll wheel we do also have an additional central programmable button, which is initially set as a CPI selector:
If we turn the mouse on its back, we will get to see a really modern design, with PTFE feet in the corners so the Rival 700 will move smoothly on the surface we will use it on:
The area where we do actually connect the USB cable was built in a quite unique way and features a small plastic lever for removal purposes:
If we take time and remove the four screws around the PixArt PMW3360 (optical, supported CPI from 100 up to 16000, IPS of 300, acceleration of 50g and a polling rate of 1ms), we then can remove the whole module for replacement; if we do not prefer the pre-installed module, then we could also go for the Pixart 9800 laser gaming sensor module, which features a maximum CPI value of 8200, 150 IPS and 30g acceleration force for 30 Euros extra:
The inside compartment does feature the power rating of the product but also the 12-pin connector for the module:
The stock module is pretty compact and quite sturdy even when removed from the Rival 700:
The USB cable connector is fixed properly if we will hear a small click and the plastic lever will be at the same height with the connector; the removal happens without incidents if we press down on the small plastic lever:
The third removable component of the Rival 700 is the back cover; SteelSeries is happy to offer replacement covers (one sleek and glossy, but also one textured with their anti-sweat finish for just 19.99 Euros):
Right after we do connect the mouse to a spare USB port the embedded RGB LEDs will start lighting up:
The OLED screen is easy readable can be fully customized via the SteelSeries Engine application:
Right after we do install the SteelSeries Engine 3 utility, its main interface will detect the connected peripherals to our system and perform firmware updates when necessary:
The Library tab is the place to find all your game profiles:
Gamesense makes use of alerts during the three preset games which do support this technology (CS:GO, DOTA 2 and Minecraft) by the help of the OLED screen for displaying stats during the match like K/D ratios, but will also vibrate when set actions do happen:
This is not entirely all; the technology does also make use of the RGB lighting for signaling different game events such as health:
We are returning to the main configuration interface, from where we can work with the current profiles (any of the profiles saved on the PC can be uploaded to the hardware slots of the mouse), edit any button function, configure the OLED display, the LED lighting or sensor options (CPI ½ steps sensitivity, acceleration/deceleration, angle snapping or polling rate:
Each button can be programmed with one of these functions:
Media Buttons:
The buttons can be also deactivated:
With the press of a single button, we can straight launch an application:
Or launch a preset configuration:
Next, we can assign one of the available OS shortcuts:
Macros can be also assigned to the Rival 700 programmable buttons:
SteelSeries did not forget to include custom illumination effects, which open up in a dedicated window (in the current example we do have ColorShift enabled):
Here are the modes which we can set and configure further:
Steady mode with presets:
Multi-Color Breathe mode:
Trigger mode is also interesting because the colors will switch only when a button is pressed:
When not needed, we can disable the LED lighting entirely:
Macros can be recorded in a different window:
Besides the usual 128pxx36px white/black drawings, we can also load animations for the OLED screen which do playback at a rate of 10FPS (seem pretty fluent even at this rate):
Besides the preset triggers for the vibration feature, we can set ones of our own:
Here are the vibration modes we can assign:
We cannot deny that the shape of the Rival 700 makes it undeniably one of the most comfortable mice we have tested so far; we did try it in The Division, Counter-Strike Source, Paladins, Ghost in Shell, Quantum Break but also Paragon and the response to our movements was very accurate, while the top CPI button is easy accessible when we do need to change the current value. While Rival 700 seems initially a wireless mouse offering, it is not but the manufacturer has chosen to build it this way in order for the user to take advantage of the two supplied cables and during travel we can always remove the USB cable from the mouse.
The RGB LED light setup is not as advanced as the one we have seen with Corsair (along with their CUE software), but it is integrated into Gamesense, which means that it reacts to the actions if the current game is supported.
The first novelty element is the inclusion of the OLED screen, which is fully configurable to the user and thanks to the Gamesense feature, it will display different information during the matches (we have support currently for CS:GO, DOTA 2 but also Minecraft). Besides that, we can also set it to display any black/white image we would like in the set resolutions, but also upload animations, which do play quite smoothly at 10FPS.
The second novelty element represents the vibration feature integrated in this mouse, which reacts to the in-game actions (integration with Gamesense), but we can also set cooldown actions ourselves to any other titles from the SS Engine interface.
We also have a third novelty element, which is the interchangeable sensor modules; while the initial module contains a PixArt PMW3360 sensor (optical), we can switch it when needed with an optional PixArt 9800 (laser) sensor.
As optional accessories, the Rival 700 mouse also gets swappable top covers; we can remove the original one in order to replace it with one sleek and glossy version, but also one textured with an anti-sweat finish.
SteelSeries have really outdone themselves with a really innovative mouse which brings a lot of new features to the already crowded gaming market, has great accuracy thanks to the included sensor (with the possibility to exchange it when if needed), a comfortable shape which is suitable for palm, claw or fingertip grip styles, but also well-placed extra programmable buttons.
We would like to thank again to SteelSeries for making this review possible!