SteelSeries Rival Pro Mini Gaming Mouse: my first SteelSeries mouse to review. I saw “mini” and immediately thought of a laptop mouse, but I was wrong. Quoting from their page: massive 8k polling, unlimited battery life, and featherlight 49 grams; it has my attention straight away, so let’s see how it performs after a few weeks of use.
Opening the box, you get the mouse, Ultra Wideband USB-C base station, second battery puck, spare grip tapes, a new set of feet for different surfaces, and a 2m USB-C to USB-A cable. Manufacturers continue to impress me with the technology inside their mice and their weight; the SteelSeries Rival Pro Mini Gaming Mouse is no different, weighing 49 grams for the black ergonomic version I was sent to test or 50 grams for the white version.
Dimensions are 12.07cm x 6.5cm x 4.5cm. It feels very smooth, yet not slippery at all, with a polished ABS plastic finish; a nice SteelSeries grey logo ghosts down the bottom as well. The mouse wheel is a striking orange silicone, with rubber grip where your finger sits; the Power and DPI change buttons are underneath the mouse, and a small indicator light on the front side shows connection and battery status.
The shape is described as a claw or fingertip, and honestly, I haven’t had a mouse feel this comfortable. It has what I would describe as an upward arc from left to right, fitting the contour of your palm perfectly, putting your hand in a relaxing position, and I have big hands.
The “mini” in the title refers to the shorter length for fingertip grips and an aggressive claw grip, rather than the full size with full palm grips and a relaxed claw grip.
Claims of unlimited battery life intrigued me. The mouse includes an ultra-wideband USB-C receiver that acts as a charging station for a battery puck, which technically gives you unlimited battery. Measuring in at 5.5cm x 2.5cm x 3cm, you have one puck inside the mouse and a second one included, which sits on the receiver charging, so swapping them over would be 10 seconds maximum- a great system.
From the pucks I have tested in the past, these are extremely light. These pucks give you 16 hours per battery, 32 hours total together at 8k polling, and 60 hours (120 hours total) at 1k, which are great numbers that keep you from having to change during long gaming sessions.
Make no mistake, this isn’t just for charging; the mouse is pushing out 9k polling, which is one extra packet every 8 to ensure you get a solid 8k polling, a very nice redundancy feature built in for gaming. You can also downgrade your polling rate to save battery when you aren’t gaming, down to 4K, 2K, and 1K.
The receiver uses ultra-wideband 20x bandwidth, making it immune to other wireless interference and delivering true 8K polling without peaks and troughs for competitive eSport gaming, while pushing beyond the limits of standard 2.4GHz wireless. Coupled with a .35ms response time for ultrafast clicks, this mouse ranks among the top eSport gaming mice on the market.
The onboard sensor is the TrueMove 42K Pro optical sensor, a modified version of the PixArt PAW3955 sensor. The SteelSeries version has native 42,000 DPI, an 800 IPS tracking speed, a staggering 20,000 frames per second in maximum performance mode, and 70 G acceleration. The sensor also includes tilt tracking when lifted, repositioned, and placed down, even at an angle, and it stays consistent, eliminating tracking errors during intense gaming.
The software is web-based: the StellSeries GG Web application. You can customise a lot if you want to set up the mouse to your liking: sensitivity and binds, performance, tracking tools, and power and device. I am not one to mess around with a lot of settings, but when I loaded up the application, it had a firmware update for the mouse and base station, so don’t forget to check periodically.
I say this a lot in my reviews, but I genuinely mean it: the SteelSeries Rival Pro Mini Gaming Mouse has become my daily driver. I love the weight and ergonomic design, which helps to reduce fatigue. The battery puck system is just a brilliant concept; no longer do you have to worry about swapping cables to charge or charging mouse pads- a simple system you can change in 5-10 seconds.
The modified sensor at 42,000 DPI and the way the mouse sends 9K polling for redundancy, ensuring you get a consistent 8K polling, is a master stroke and a must for anyone who takes their gaming seriously. I cannot fault this mouse in any aspect, and if you are in the market, make sure you check it out, as in my view, there might be a new contender for the king of the eSports gaming mouse.
