At first we would like to thank SteelSeries for offering the Rival 3 Wired Gaming Mouse for testing and reviewing.

 

About SteelSeries:

"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!"

Outshine the Competition

Using the same cutting-edge technology as our pro line of gaming products, including brilliant Prism lighting, a new performance-focused sensor, and unreal levels of durability, the Rival 3 was made for gaming.

 

TrueMove Core Sensor

Enjoy true 1-to-1 tracking in a lightweight sensor designed specifically for Rival 3. With a range from 100 to 8,500 CPI (counts per inch), you can play with stunning accuracy, speed, and consistency.

 

Built to Last

With high-grade polymer and the same 60 million click switches as our most expensive mice, every component has been engineered from the ground up with hyper-durable materials intended to last for years.

 

Light and Ergonomic

Lightweight materials in an ergonomic shape help to reduce strain on your hand and shoulder, providing effortless comfort for hours of intense gameplay.

 

On-Board Memory

On-board memory allows you to save polling rate, keybinds, and 5 CPIs directly on the mouse, making it easy to have the perfect settings from game to game and on-the-go.

 

Glow Up

Best-in-class affordable products with SteelSeries’ cutting-edge innovation and premium performance.

 

Rev Up the Engine

SteelSeries Engine Software unlocks an impressive arsenal of Engine Apps that make customization of the 3-zone RGB lighting easy and intuitive. The Discord and GameSense Engine Apps allow for chat notifications, in-game events, and more.

Recommended Grip Styles

The right-handed shape of the Rival 3 is designed for a player’s highest demand for comfort. Whether you deploy a claw or fingertip grip the shape will provide perfect comfort for long and intense gaming sessions.

 

 

SteelSeries has started year 2020 with new product launches, but now at more affordable prices; the series includes the Rival 3 Gaming Mouse in a wired format, the Apex 3 water-resistant keyboard but also the Apex 5 keyboard with hybrid switches and OLED display. In this article we will concentrate upon the Rival 3, that comes with a very light chassis, 6 programmable buttons, 3 lighting zones and more important, the TrueMove Core sensor that is able to track up to 8500 CPI (native, not interpolated).

 

The product is shipped inside a very compact cardboard enclosure, that allows the user to look at the mouse appearance in operation; here we will also find of the product highlights and the fact that it is compatible with both PC and Mac platforms:

 

 

 

The technical specifications are available on the side:

 

 

 

The opposite side does show another side photo of the product:

 

 

 

Some more details on the product features are available on the back side of the box:

 

 

 

In order to keep the production costs low, the internal packaging has been simplified as well:

 

 

 

Inside the multi-language Quick Start Guide, we will learn of the main mouse components, but also how to operate the SteelSeries Engine unified software:

 

 

 

Let’s look in more detail over the Rival 3!

 

 

 

The mouse does come with a chassis more suitable for claw or fingertip grip but if the user has a smaller hand we could not exclude a palm grip as well; for this model, SteelSeries has went for a matte plastic finish, that can pick finger oils on the left/right click buttons but they are easy to remove as well (if rubber would have been used, cleaning would have been more difficult):

 

 

 

The mouse does share some design elements with the Rival 110, but the new construction has the left/right button section split from the rest of the chassis; in the middle we have the DPI selector, the rubberized scroll wheel, while the switches for the frequently used left/right are rated for 60 million actuations as with the Rival 650:

 

 

 

In the back, we will find the RGB-enabled SteelSeries logo:

 

 

 

The left panel does come with two thin, easily accessible programmable buttons:

 

 

 

While the mouse does feature an ambidextrous shape, no programmable buttons are available on the right side:

 

 

 

The bottom area does show three separate large PTFE feet, which are quite easy to remove and replace; in the middle we have the TrueMove Core sensor, with a maximum CPI value of 8500 (adjustable in increments of 100), 35g acceleration, 300 IPS and a maximum polling rate of 1000:

 

 

 

The 1.8m USB cable is not braided is surely flexible enough; it ends up with a customized shape connector:

 

 

 

As soon as we have plugged the mouse in a spare USB port, all RGB segments started lighting up:

 

 

 

 

 

The SteelSeries Engine unified software is widely known in the gaming peripheral space and after connecting the mouse, it was detected right away:

 

 

 

No matter if we are talking about an entry level or high-end product, plenty of configuration options are available within the GUI:

 

 

 

On the left side we will be able to spot the area for programming the buttons:

 

 

 

We have plenty of functions to choose from:

 

 

 

Default Function

Keyboard Buttons

Macros

Media Buttons

 

Mouse Buttons

Deactivate Button

Keyboard Functions

Launch Application

Launch Configuration

Launch Engine Apps

OS Shortcuts

Record Macro On-The-Fly

 

The Macro Editor opens in a separate window:

 

 

 

While initially there are only two CPI steps defined, we can enable more with the desired values:

 

 

 

Acceleration/Deceleration can be customized from the same area as well:

 

 

 

Next, we can work with Angle Snapping and Polling Rate:

 

 

 

The Illumination tab does allow configuration on three different segments; we can see that the back logo is linked as a segment with the RGB bottom frame:

 

 

 

We have some RGB profiles we can choose from for configuration:

 

 

 

The whole color palette is available for selection:

 

 

 

Color Shift

Multi Color Breathe

 

We can disable the illumination as well:

 

 

 

Due to its low weight and comfortable shape, we have used the mouse without any issues while writing several reviews but also while playing titles such as DOOM, Star Wars: The Old Republic and Bioshock 2. Up to 2560x1440 screen resolution we did not see the need of using higher CPI values than Rival 3 can offer, while the left/right click buttons have a nice feel to it, while being quite silent. Even if we are talking about an entry-level product, we do have the RGB LED lighting system split on three different segments, with different configuration options; SteelSeries does also mention that with this mouse they have used the brightest LEDs to date, measuring around 750 lux.

 

Rival 3 can be fine-tuned more via the SteelSeries Engine 3 software, while button mapping can be stored to the included onboard storage. In terms of buttons, we do have custom SteelSeries for the left and right click, that are rated for up to 60 million actuations; please take into consideration that most mice in this price range come with buttons rated up to 20 million actuations and some even 10 million!

 

Yes, we know that we have mentioned that this mouse is entry-level in terms of pricing, but how much does it cost? Well, you can find it online now for just about 36 Euros!

SteelSeries Rival 3 Wired Gaming Mouse is Recommended for:

 

 

We would like to thank again to SteelSeries for making this review possible!