SteelSeries Rival 650 Wireless Review (Page 4 of 4)

Page 4 - Conclusion

After using the SteelSeries Rival 650 Wireless as my daily driver for the last little while, I have to say I am happy to be back to the SteelSeries fold after giving up my Sensei Wireless in late 2017. Unless price is a concern, in my opinion, saying this is the "World's Best Wireless Esports Mouse" is an understatement. This is probably the best wireless mouse, period. The Rival 650 Wireless is a well-built device that is comfortable to use for palm and claw grip users, loaded with high quality switches all around, and great button placement for easy access. Not only does it have a sweet eight zone RGB illumination system, the RGB LEDs are bright and the lighting is evenly distributed. It even has the Rival 600's weight adjustment system! Of course, all these are icing on the cake if the tracking ability is no good. But the SteelSeries Rival 650 Wireless features probably the highest performance sensor in the market today. The PMW3360-based TrueMove3+ optical sensor delivers high precision, true 1:1 hardware tracking, and even a dedicated depth sensor for lift off distance as low as 0.5mm. The tradeoff for all this performance? You can only go 24 hours between charges. This is actually not bad, and if you ever forget to charge the battery, ten minutes of fast charging will bring you another ten hours of action. Of course, with all the awesome things, there are still a few things I would change about the SteelSeries Rival 650 Wireless. First, include a charging base like the Sensei Wireless. Secondly, make the LEDs programmable to change color based on the battery charge status. Thirdly, make it able to be charged overnight when your PC is off. Lastly, change the mouse-side connector to a USB Type-C port. But these are relatively minor complaints. For about $110 at press time, the SteelSeries Rival 650 Wireless is probably one of the best wireless mice, if not the best wireless mouse money can buy today.

SteelSeries provided this product to APH Networks for the purpose of evaluation.

APH:Renewal Award | APH Review Focus Summary:
8/10 means Definitely a very good product with drawbacks that are not likely going to matter to the end user.
7/10 means Great product with many advantages and certain insignificant drawbacks; but should be considered before purchasing.
-- Final APH Numeric Rating is 7.7/10
Please note that the APH Numeric Rating system is based off our proprietary guidelines in the Review Focus, and should not be compared to other sites.

The SteelSeries Rival 650 Wireless is probably one of the best wireless mice, if not the best wireless mouse money can buy today.

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Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. A Closer Look - Hardware and Software
3. Subjective Performance Tests
4. Conclusion