So, SteelSeries want to remain separate from all of that and do their own thing. The result is the SteelSeries Rival 710, an incredibly ambitious gaming mouse. SteelSeries is a company that has a lot of respect in the competitive scene. This is thanks to their great sensors, performance, and durability.
All of that continues with their Rival 710. We applaud SteelSeries for trying to add new features to this gaming mouse. With that said, we are here to find out if they are worth the extra cost. This is an in-depth review of the SteelSeries Rival 710. By the end of it, you’ll hopefully be sure if this mouse is for you or not.
Packaging and Contents
The unboxing experience for SteelSeries products is quite simple at this point. They have the usual orange and white color scheme for all of their boxes. We always appreciate a good looking box to put on the shelf. As usual, the front of the box has a picture of the mouse and all of the main features. The left side has a picture of the mouse, while the other has all the specs.
Last but not least, the back of the box briefly breaks down all the features available with this mouse. The actual mouse is inside the usual black cardboard box that you can pull out from the sleeve. Finally, we are greeted by the Rival 710 which is tucked away nicely in soft packaging.
We get two cables inside of the box, one is braided and the other is rubberized. Apart from that, we get a quick start guide and paperwork. For some reason, SteelSeries also provides a laser sensor if you order from their website. Surprisingly, the sensor on the Rival 710 is removable. We always appreciate extra accessories, but this is a bit strange. Optical sensors are the norm, and the sensor on the Rival 710 is one of the best out there. So, we don’t see why anyone would want to switch to the laser sensor. We can’t really call this a flaw, but it is quite bizarre.
Design and Closer Look
While other manufacturers are moving towards the trend of creating small and lightweight mice, SteelSeries is going a different route. They know that there is still a huge audience that demands large gaming mice. And there’s no mistake about it, the Rival 710 truly is a large mouse.
Now, this is either by design or because of the number of features SteelSeries wanted to cram in here. This mouse has an OLED display on the side. This displays information depending on the game you’re playing. You can customize images, or make it display a GIF. However, it is entirely black and white. The feature is there if you need it. We think it’s a novelty but an interesting thing to show off nonetheless.
Of course, you can use a screwdriver to entirely remove the excellent optical sensor from this mouse. Maybe SteelSeries plans to release new sensors, and you can upgrade to those. However, none of that is confirmed, so take it with a grain of salt.
While this is a large mouse, it is surprisingly comfortable in the hand. Instead of hard plastic, the Rival 710 uses a soft-touch material that covers almost the entire body. For longer sessions, this is one of the best gaming mice we’ve tried. The entire mouse feels premium and screams of quality. It has two-zone RGB lighting as well, which further adds to the futuristic look of the mouse.
Comfort And Grip
The Rival 710 is a large and heavy gaming mouse. It weighs in at 135g, which is much more than your average medium-sized mouse. However, we know that many people are fans of this style, and we have to agree with them. If you don’t mind the size or the weight, this is an excellent gaming mouse.
The front of the mouse is flat enough that you can comfortably palm grip it. Even if you have larger than average hands, this mouse will fit you perfectly. You can’t quite fingertip grip it, since the entire surface is so large. Some people might be able to claw grip as well. It’s not a safe shape, that’s for sure.
However, it’s not intended to be. People who are looking for lightweight mice are not going to stumble across this one in the first place. The flat front, the subtle slopes, and the rubberized coating all help with the grip. All in all, we can’t complain too much when it comes to comfort.
Haptic Feedback
We’re willing to bet you never thought of seeing a haptic engine inside of a gaming mouse. Well, SteelSeries has managed to accomplish just that. A haptic engine is located at the back of this mouse. It can be programmed so that it starts vibrating after a certain button press. This could be helpful in MOBA games where you need to keep track of one certain ability. However, it’s quite different than the rumble feature we’ve seen in most controllers till now. And if you’re wondering, no, it is not compatible with games that have rumble either. It is a cool feature to have, and it could be useful to some folks. However, it’s not really a must-have and doesn’t have wide utility.
Sensor and Gaming Performance
The SteelSeries Rival 710 uses the same sensor found in the popular Rival 600. We are of course talking about the TrueMove 3 sensor. It is by far one of the most accurate and precise sensors on the market. It features one-to-one tracking throughout the entire CPI range. Rest assured performance is spot on.
The sensor is limited to 12,000 CPI. Sure, this is lower than the usual 16,000 CPI seen in other high-end mice, but that’s not practical is it? Regardless, the gameplay is buttery smooth with this mouse in any game we tried. You don’t have to tweak the mouse for every game either, as the onboard memory and CPI button will handle that for you. Compared to the Rival 600, it lacks the secondary sensor used for liftoff distance tracking. While it works well on the Rival 600, we don’t feel like many people will notice this omission. Overall, we’re quite pleased and impressed with the gaming experience provided by this excellent mouse.
Software
The SteelSeries software experience is familiar and easy to use with the Rival 710 gaming mouse. However, since the Rival 710 has a few bonus features, customization opens up even more here. Apart from the usual friendly experience, there is a lot to like here.
Not only can you customize technical settings, but you can also change the look of the OLED display. It can save up to five onboard profiles. This includes visual customizations and button mapping. In the software itself, you can create as many profiles as you want. A fun fact: SteelSeries Engine 3 is one of the few mouse programs that work on both Mac and PC.
Customizing things like the sensitivity, button mapping, acceleration, angle snapping, and polling rate is straight forward. For the haptic feedback, you can set a tactile cooldown timer. This way you can configure it to any program and trigger it when you wish. Even uploading an image to the Rival 710’s OLED screen is easy. It’s as easy as uploading an image to the app. The software will do all the work behind the scenes. You can go quite deep into this software. It even has several game and app integrations. While you may not use all the features here, it’s always great to have the option available.
Conclusion
Overall, using Rival 710 is a very enjoyable experience. Hidden beneath all those fun features is a solid gaming mouse. SteelSeries could have just installed their TrueMove 3 sensor inside of a large chassis, and we’d still be happy with it. However, they went the extra mile to include features that are fun to use. However, there is a fine line between enjoyment and usefulness in this case. When you get this mouse, you’ll feel like you are experiencing something new all over again. However, the novelty for features like haptic feedback and the OLED screen can wear off quickly for some people. Unfortunately, these features also drive up the price. On the other hand, while this is an undeniably expensive gaming mouse, we feel like it’s worth the money for some folks. Just because it has some features not everyone will use, doesn’t mean we can deduct points from it. It’s an excellent large gaming mouse, with one of the best sensors out there. The Rival 710 is severely underrated, and that’s probably due to the gimmicky features. However, give it a chance and you just might find an excellent gaming mouse for yourself.
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