If, at first, you don’t succeed…make a wireless mouse? SteelSeries’ budget gaming mouse, the Rival 3, fell short of the competition earlier this year thanks to a small design flaw. You’d assume that a wireless version would fall into the same trap, but the $49.99 Rival 3 Wireless stands out among basic wireless gaming mice due to a rich feature set. Like its predecessor, the Rival 3 Wireless has an imperfect shell, but the mouse’s upgraded sensor, incredible battery life, and multiple connection options make it a good choice for people looking to go wireless on a budget.
Cut the Cord, Find Your Calling
Other than the missing cable, you won’t see much difference between the Rival 3 and the Rival 3 Wireless. Measuring 1.44 by 2.63 by 4.88 inches (HWD), it’s just a teensy bit wider and higher than the original, which measured 1.34 by 2.63 by 4.64 inches. Wrapped entirely in matte black plastic, save for the single RGB lighting element in the scroll wheel, the Rival 3 Wireless a fairly plain six-button gaming mouse. It has four inputs on top: Two click buttons, a scroll wheel, and a DPI preset cycle button in the center column. On the side, there are back and forward macros. The base panel slides off, revealing its two AAA battery slots and a storage compartment for its 2.4 GHz wireless dongle.
The Rival 3 Wireless is notably heavier than the original—3.74 ounces versus 2.86 ounces. In fairness, most wireless mice are at least slightly heavier than their wired counterparts because of their additional components. To compensate, the mouse runs with only one battery installed, which drops the weight down to 3.14 ounces. Giving people the option to play with only one battery to minimize their impact on performance is an admirable addition, especially for a mouse that clearly feels like it was made to attract competitive play.
Like the standard Rival 3, the Wireless has a slim profile with hard-molded side edges. The design is made for “claw-” and “fingertip”-style players, who don’t rest their hand on the base of the mouse and, thus, don’t concern themselves with the mouse’s ergonomic qualities. With the original, the base’s slope was too shallow to hold the mouse palm”-style without actively gripping it, and the hard right edge made it difficult to comfortably place your ring finger.
With the slight size change, these problems are not quite as pronounced on the Rival 3 Wireless: My ring finger glided over the ridge when getting into position, but generally fell into position gripping the right side. And while the gently cresting base panel is still slippery, my hand slipped less during play. The chassis’ issues are still present, but they are far more tolerable.
Shape aside, the Rival 3 Wireless is much more impressive than the original under the hood. SteelSeries has replaced its budget TrueMove Core sensor, which delivered limited, impressive performance given the Rival 3’s $30 price point. SteelSeries’ new TrueMove Air sensor, which is in the Rival 3 Wireless, tracks up to 18,000 DPI and is accurate at up to 400 inches per second. These are strong numbers for any wireless mouse, not just a simple and/or budget one.
The wireless elements are impressive, too. The Rival 3 Wireless supports both the gaming-standard 2.4 GHz connection via USB dongle and Bluetooth wireless, which uses less power and makes it compatible with smartphones and other port-less devices. Both connections work well in a signal-crowded environment.
Battery life is a Rival 3 Wireless high watermark. With both AAA batteries in place, SteelSeries claims the mouse can get up to 400 hours of battery life. Of course, to get that maximized rate, you must use the mouse’s power-efficiency mode, which turns off its RGB lighting and lowers the polling rate. Even without it, though, you’re getting a very long power cycle. As I’ve said in past reviews, I generally prefer an internal rechargeable battery, but I appreciate that this one gets a lot of mileage per battery.
Tuning the Engine
The Rival 3 Wireless relies on SteelSeries Engine, the company’s configuration app, for its various customizations and settings changes. SteelSeries Engine puts every feature and tweak, from button mapping and lighting customization to power-saving settings, to advanced mouse options like acceleration control and angle snapping, all on a single screen. Everything is easy to find. More importantly, SteelSeries Engine includes short descriptions of its features, accessed by clicking a small question mark near the setting. This helps new users, or anyone looking to step up their game, learn the ins and outs of configuring their mouse to fit their personal playstyle.
While you can create and store as many button mapping profiles as you please locally on Engine, the Rival 3 Wireless lacks an onboard profile storage. As a result, you can only carry your DPI, polling, and RGB customization with you on-device. It isn’t as big an issue as it sounds, though. SteelSeries Engine has a cloud storage feature, CloudSync, that lets you download all of your pre-sets to any compatible computer, so long as you have set up an account.
A New Rival
The Rival 3 Wireless puts SteelSeries budget mouse design in a new context, and it’s much more appealing in that new light. Where $29.99 was a competitive price for a wired, budget gaming mouse, $49.99 is downright cheap for a wireless mouse. Moreover, its high-performance sensor and great battery life make it a value, even compared to wireless six-button gaming mice that cost significantly more. Its flawed, not-so-ergonomic shell, is still an issue that puts it at a disadvantage when you compare it to similar mice, like Razer’s Basilisk X, but it is an impressive specimen, nonetheless. Bargain hunters looking for a low-cost, high-value wireless mouse should not ignore. However, if price is no limit, the Editors’ Choice award-winning Razer Basilisk Ultimate is PCMag’s wireless gaming mouse of choice.
