Mice & Keyboards by stefan @ 2021-11-29
The new, smaller form factor feels nice, no matter if we do use a mobile gaming platform or a fully-fledged desktop computer. We have tested the mouse in Age of Empires IV, ArcheAge: Unchained, Control but also OUTRIDERS. The TrueMove Pro sensor did track flawlessly on our cloth pad and we found the 1800 CPI resolution optimal for our 1440P screen resolution.
At first we would like to thank SteelSeries for offering the Prime Mini 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!"
Another Esports First - Optical Magnetic Switches
While every other switch on the planet inevitably gets slow and spongy over time, Prime’s Prestige Optical Magnetic™ switch stays day-one fresh for 100 million clicks, making it the world’s most reliable switch.
Hear The Difference With Prestige OM™ Switches
The combination of optical sensor, oversized spring and magnetic connection guarantee zero lag, debounce, and a lifetime of consistently crispy clicks.
Smaller. Lighter. All Performance.
The Prime Mini was meticulously engineered to be 12% lighter and in a smaller profile while maintaining the signature Prime form-fitting ergo shape and cutting edge technology that make Prime mice esports-ready.
Winning Is Everything
Co-developed with over 100 of the world’s leading competitive esports players, every aspect of the Prime Mini gaming mouse has been meticulously designed with a single goal in mind: victory.
TrueMove Pro Gaming Sensor
Designed in collaboration with PixArt, world-renowned pioneer in sensor innovation and technology, to outperform the competition with true 1-to-1 tracking, plus tilt tracking to eliminate unwanted tracking during angled drops, tilt slams, and quick flicks.
On-Board Customization
On-the-fly adjustments are are essential for pros and always easy on our Prime line of mice. Choose between 4 polling rates and up to 5 pre-set or customized CPIs directly on the mouse to quickly adjust to the settings best suited to the game you're playing now.
Textured Matte Finish
A new, easy-to-clean textured top surface allows for a dependable non-slip grip for long, intense gaming sessions.
100% Virgin Grade PTFE
Pure PTFE glide skates provide enhanced control and smoothness for silky smooth super light mouse movements. Our glide skates are designed to cover key points of contact and pressure during intense gameplay for maximum performance.
Super Mesh USB-C Cable
Quick swipes and rapid movements are essential to perform your best in game. Our all-new, soft microfiber super mesh cable creates less drag and a lighter feel so it’s easier to hit that crucial shot. And this cable is detachable for when you’re on-the-go to your next tournament.
Shop All Prime Gear
The Prime Mini mouse is part of our combative series of gaming peripheral products, designed with pros. Every component in our Prime products is necessary for maximum in-game performance and nothing more.
Recommended Grip Styles
The ergonomic right-handed shape of the Prime Mini is designed for demanding game play and is especially beneficial for those using claw or fingertip grip styles.
Sensor: SteelSeries TrueMove Pro
Sensor Type: Optical
CPI: 100-18000 CPI in 100 CPI Increments
IPS: 450, on SteelSeries QcK surfaces
Acceleration: 50G
Hardware Acceleration: None (Zero Hardware Acceleration)
Back Cover Material: Black Matte Finish
Core Construction: ABS Plastic
Shape: Ergonomic, Right-Handed
Grip Style: Claw, Fingertip, or Palm
Number of Buttons: 5
Illumination: 1-Zone RGB
Weight: 61g
Length: 120.3 mm / 4.73 inches
Width: 66.2 mm / 2.60 inches
Height: 40.7 mm / 1.60 inches
Super Mesh Cable Length: 2m / 6.6 feet
Switch Type: Prestige OM™ optical magnetic switches
Switch Durability: 100 million clicks
After reviewing the premium SteelSeries Prime Wireless mouse, we were quite impressed by its high-end sensor, the quality of the Prestige OM switches but also the overall comfortable look. The battery life was quite impressive considering the overall 80g weight of the mouse, but the manufacturer went on and developed even smaller versions of the same models in both wired and wireless variants. These are named Prime Mini and Prime Mini Wireless and share the technical specs with the bigger brothers.
This time we have received the wired Prime Mini, which incorporates a TrueMove Pro sensor, with a CPI range of 18000, Prestige OM switches and … has the lowest weight from all Prime series, 61g!
The product is shipped inside a small cardboard enclosure, showing the mouse in operation:
The list of included items, along with the technical specifications can be found on the side:
The opposite area comes with a side view of the Prime Mini:
On the back, we will notice the main highlights:
After unsealing the box, we will note that the mouse sits securely inside a black cardboard mold:
With the Prime Mini, we will also receive the needed USB cable and the Quick Guide:
Inside the guide, we will find a description of the main product components, how to work with the software and so on!
The USB cable is detachable and on the mouse side is USB Type-C, while the interface which goes to the computer is USB Type-A. SteelSeries markets this cable as Super Mesh, being very flexible in order to create less drag and a lighter feel overall:
The shape of the mouse is retained from its bigger brothers, coming with a premium ABS-polycarbonate shell, with a VDI30 tactile microtexture body for optimal grip. In terms of dimensions, the Prime Mini has a length of 120.3mm, a width of 66.2mm and a height of 40.7mm. By having a smaller size, it is ideal to be used when traveling along with your gaming laptop:
The Prestige OM switches are also found here for the left/right click buttons, incorporating an optical sensor, an oversized spring but also a magnetic connection. The rubberized scroll wheel is the only RGB segment on this mouse:
On the left side we will note the resting area for the thumb, but also two extra buttons, easily accessible:
On the curved back, we will note a subtle SteelSeries logo:
The right side does not house any additional interfaces, quite usual for mice designed for right handers:
The bottom area comes with 100% pure PTFE feet, while in the middle there is the TrueMove Pro sensor lens. This sensor is capable of 450 IPS / 50G and a maximum 18000 CPI. While this high value can be considered overkill when having a single monitor setup, when working with multiple displays it can come in quite handy. The CPI level selector is also placed on the bottom and if we need to switch to another polling rate value, we need to keep the same button pressed:
Thanks to the use of an USB Type-C interface on the front, it is easier to connect the cable to the mouse and start gaming right away!
The RGB lighting can be configured with a lot of options from the dedicated software:
As the autorun with Razer devices, as soon as we have plugged in the Prime Mini in our test computer, we were invited to install the SteelSeries GG:
The software can be used by logging in with your SteelSeries account:
GG comes with multiple tabs on the left side, Home being the intro screen, bringing the latest news:
The Moments section allows gameplay recording with different settings:
Our old friend, Engine is available next and is the place to go for configuration purposes. Firmware updates will be run from here as well:
A section with giveaways is also available in the next menu:
The Settings area allows configuration of the GG application in detail:
Before working with the software, we have updated the Prime Mini firmware to the latest version:
The Prime Mini configuration options are all available from the same vindow:
The five programmable buttons can be mapped with new functions, via the dedicated section:
Here is the list of functions we can work with:
A dedicated Macro Editor can be opened in a separate window:
The CPI steps number and value is easy programmable:
Acceleration / Deceleration options are next:
Angle Snapping options can be configured as well:
Same goes for Polling Rate:
The RGB scroll wheel can be configured from the Illumination Effect area:
We have a few presets to choose from:
Each of the presets has its own settings to choose from:
The new, smaller form factor feels nice, no matter if we do use a mobile gaming platform or a fully-fledged desktop computer. We have tested the mouse in Age of Empires IV, ArcheAge: Unchained, Control but also OUTRIDERS. The TrueMove Pro sensor did track flawlessly on our cloth pad and we found the 1800 CPI resolution optimal for our 1440P screen resolution.
We did remind the nice feel of the Prestige OM switches from the Prime Wireless and the grippy texture really helps with comfort, along with the low weight of just 61 grams. The shoelace-like cable completes the experience and it’s like you would be using a wireless version of the same mouse.
In SteelSeries GG we have tons of customizations available, related to the sensor, RGB but also the programmable buttons. If we have more compatible peripherals from the same manufacturer, we can sync the RGB effects together, for a nice effect.
At the beginning of October, this mouse was available online for as low as 46 Euros, but since the electronics crisis the components are harder to get and the number of products are less and less on the market; at the time of the review, the mouse could be found on the SteelSeries online store for about 52 Euros.
We would like to thank again to SteelSeries for making this review possible!