SteelSeries Rival 310 Gaming Mouse – 12,000 CPI TrueMove3 Optical Sensor – Split-Trigger Buttons – RGB Lighting

I am thoroughly impressed with this mouse, the Rival 310. Overall the build quality is the best I’ve encountered in a mouse so far. I have previously been a Logitech loyalist but am now converted to SteelSeries. I am comparing the Rival 310 to my previous mice (G900, G400, MX510, G7, and various others not pictured), and I can immediately notice the difference in build quality. Just holding the mouse feels good. It is like touching the soft-touch plastics in a luxury car vs your average econo car. This is not meant to be a review of the Logitechs but holding the Rival 310 you can feel the difference. The Logitech G900 (retailed for double the price of the 310) feels thin, hard, and hollow. Shake the Rival 310 and nothing rattles or moves – it feels solid yet relatively light weight and well balanced. The mouse clicks on the 310 feel even no matter where on the button I press. The wheel is smooth, although I feel like the movement between scroll bumps is a little too much. The mouse feet/pads feel good not super slippery on a cloth mat.The only downside, I think it is a little small and flat for a claw grip and I have medium hands. You can see in the pics, the G400 has a higher bump and fits better for me. But with time, I can adjust.I have done some research before making this purchase and watched/read a bunch of mouse reviews and one thing I’ve noticed is the lack of mention of build quality in choosing a mouse. Keep in mind those reviews usually are sponsored. But one thing I do agree with is that modern mouse sensors at the top end of gaming mice are pretty much on par so choosing a mouse based on how it feels and handles becomes more important.For me, build quality is one of the most important factors in choosing a mouse – you are holding and interacting with it and therefore need it to feel solid. I’ll be honest, I’m pretty heavy handed, like a raging monkey so I need something that can take a beating.An easy test, just squeeze your mouse. When I squeeze my G900 it creaks and gives. The Rival 310 does not. In fairness to Logitech, the G400 (much older than the G900) also did not creak and felt like a more solid mouse.Regarding software, can’t complain, it’s pretty straightforward. I appreciate that the software is pretty lightweight compared to others like Razer’s and Logitech’s. I only used it to configure the cpi.I initially purchased the Rival 310 to try out as a replacement for the G900 (broken with double-click problem) but ended becoming a SteelSeries convert.

UPDATE: The right button started to squeak when pressed, so I returned it for Microsoft’s latest Intellimouse Explorer 3 reboot.Usually you expect a new generation of a product to improve on the previous version. In my opinion, this new Rival 310 does not improve upon the earlier Rival 300. It seems like a much lower-quality mouse for the same price.- The Rival 300 has gentle curves, thin gaps, and the top is a single piece of plastic. The surface is smooth to the touch. It looks and feels like a $40 mouse. The Rival 310 has wide gaps and clumsy angles, with a slightly rough surface. It’s hard to tell from the product photos, but in person it looks and feels like a $15 mouse- The Rival 300 is longer and taller, making it more ergonomic. In fact, it’s probably the most comfortable mouse I’ve ever owned (I do have largish hands). The Rival 310’s smaller shape makes it less ergonomic; it’s a little more comfortable than a Razer DeathAdder, but not as comfortable as the Rival 300.There are a few minor upsides to the Rival 310:- The buttons have a slightly more satisfying click- The DPI toggle button is better positioned and much less likely to get pressed on accident.- It supposedly has a better sensor than the 300, but there is no discernable difference in accuracy between the twoBetween this and the Rival 600 both being major disappointments, I’ll look to other brands in the future.

The profile and overall shape of the mouse are ideal for me. The activation force and tactile feedback of all the buttons are excellent as well. Unfortunately, the scroll wheel has an intermittent problem that develops when gaming in which it becomes hypersensitive to the touch of my hand. When this happens just a slight pressure on the wheel causes it to activate (e.g., switch weapons) even though the wheel hasn’t moved another notch. Consequently, to be conservative while gaming, I have to make sure not to assign any function to the scroll wheel. Since this problem is intermittent, I suspect that using the middle mouse button repeatedly puts the wheel out of position (perhaps) and results in this behavior. It’s too bad, because except for this problem, it would be my favorite mouse to use.

The BasicsBeginning of Jan I purchased the Rival 310. The mousewheel on my G403 had lost some tactility and the R310 checked virtually all the boxes. 3360 variant sensor, 50m omron switches, RGB and a safe shape. I used it for 6 days before writing this review. My Nit-Noidy thoughts are as follows.The Good: The mouse is very light but manages to feel well made and not hollow. The mouse was balanced in the hand regardless of grip type, no “heavy butt” problems here. The clicks all around feel good. Resistance is significantly more than a G403, but less than a Huano. The side buttons are some of the best I’ve ever used – medium resistance and tactile without appreciable pretravel etc. I appreciated that the middle click was one of the easiest to press in, some mice have a middle click so stiff that its utility is virtually eliminated. Some folks have said that the scroll wheel feels cheap, I differ on this point. There is no rattle or wobble and the tactility is excellent with very light resistance – that means it is good for both gaming and browsing. One of my favorite aspects of the mouse vs the G403 are the subtle groove ledges flanking the scroll wheel. I tend to keep my fingers close to the scroll wheel and something about that ledge just felt right. The plastic texture on the mouse is good, it gives you a feel of the mouse but does not quite evoke a feeling of “premium” like some of Corsair’s products. The sensor is outstanding as you would expect, I just wish it were placed a little farther forward. Lift off distance is low. The shape is very safe and comfortable, especially for a palm grip. It also works fine for fingertip and claw, but only assuming larger hands. Last but not least, the software is EXCELLENT. I’d considered Logitech to be the gold standard here, now I’m thinking Steelseries. The Logitech G software is around 270mb last I checked, is clean, functional and lightweight. The Steelseries software was only a 108mb download and managed to be even more intuitive with more functions than Logitech’s offerings for the G403. One thing that the R310 does not have that many Logitech mice have is sensor surface tuning, but I never missed it.The Middling: The cord is the least stiff of any I’ve tried and kinks were worked out very easily. However, the rubber on the cord is more “grabby” than most when it comes into contact with soft mousepads. (Not an issue with a decent bungee.) The primary clicks are tactile, but not quite light enough to be considered properly “MMO spammable” in my opinion. The DPI button is out of the way but a little too far aft of the scroll to be useful for time-critical functions. The mouse has everything you need, not much you don’t. That said, I’d have liked to see an equivalent “G-Shift” option in the software to add more possible macro functions. The mouse isn’t as viable to cross over to productivity work like the G502 with all its bells and whistles, but it’s still ok.The Bad: The silicone sides have a subtle mush to them, which is kinda meh. They do not feel great despite the nice patterning. They can retain a little bit of heat and do not fare particularly well for grip when/if the going gets moist…I think the choice is adequate for what it is intended for, and it SHOULD be fairly durable, but I’m not 100% sure. I would have much preferred the same textured plastic on the sides as on the top. My copy had slight pretravel on the left click with definite differences in click sound and feel between left and right click. My copy developed also developed a slight rattle on the aft thumb button after a few days. The mouse is very long while being wider and relatively low compared to the G403. If you have average or smaller hands, fingertipping the mouse will lead to either clicking the primary buttons toward the rear of the mouse (meaning stiffer clicks) OR you’ll continually have the butt of the mouse bumping into your palm when looking/shooting down in-game. Using a claw grip for me meant reducing the thumb surface touching the mouse, making it feel less controllable. My in-game performance was still very good, but the mouse definitely caters to palm and/or large hands. For me, it felt like there was a whole lot of mouse wasted forward of the scroll and aft of the thumb and I ended up clicking about even with the back of the scroll wheel. If the mouse retained its basic shape while being shorter, it would be a more versatile option for more people, but might sacrifice awesomeness factor for big/palm types.Conclusion:Despite the questionable choice of silicone, the mouse is fantastic overall and performs as a top-tier option in my opinion. The software is probably the best I’ve ever seen. It is an easy recommend for any grip style, but with the caveat that your hand ideally be 18.5cm+ in length. It is because of the many good qualities of this mouse that the unsuitably large size makes me sad :(Nit-Noid Grade: B+

Honestly, so far, the best ambidextrous/left-handed mouse I’ve used in years.I’ve gone through Razer mice, and found both that the thumb buttons weren’t quite in the right place for me, making them difficult to actually use in game, and lately, I have to say their quality/durability has fallen off. First Razer mouse I used, an original copperhead, is actually still functional but very worn and looks it. Last Razer mouse, Orochi, lasted less than 2 months before a main button stopped working.After that, tried EVGA, just because the price was amazing. I got 2 Torx 3X Laser mice. Same problem with thumb button, needed to somewhat turn mouse to use thumb buttons, making them less than convenient and undependable in game. Also, very quickly, inside of 2 months, the rubber on the mouse wheel loosened, making the wheel close to completely non-functional. Also, for my hand, somewhat small, the whole mouse seemed somewhat long and flat.I then tried the logitech G300 mouse, but found the mouse a strange shape, very high, with the left and right buttons ‘grooved’ so low it was impossible to hit those buttons and the middle mouse button/wheel at the same time, which I do for some games. I also could not use the ‘thumb’ buttons and right mouse button at the same time, as the ‘thumb’ buttons faced straight up and were designed to be pressed by the same finger that pressed the right mouse button – index finger in my case as I’m left-handed. Again, I use that combination of thumb and right mouse button in some games, so the Logitech mouse was a no-go for games.Finally I tried this mouse, the SteelSeries Sensei 310 Gaming Mouse. It feels so good, just perfect in my hand. the thumb buttons are in the right place to use w/o twisting the mouse, and I may even be able to use the 2 buttons on the other side. As I am not pressing them accidently, I think I can leave them active and use them, a first for an ambidextrous mouse in my experience. The materials feel good, the switches seem solid so far, and the software is great once you get used to it. It even has a cloud feature, so I can keep the settings the same for the mouse I use /w my laptop, and the one I use /w my desktop.The only other mouse I’d consider is the second newest Logitech wired/wireless one, G900, (I don’t need Lightspeed charging of G903), but the G900 Still costs over $100, more than 2x the cost of the Sensei 310.Again, for me, so far, 2 months in, this is best ambidextrous/left-handed mouse I’ve ever used – just great design overall.