Over time, laptop mice have change into costly. Every part has change into costly. It may be irritating to take a look at a listing of gaming mice and see even the most affordable choices approaching $80, particularly when video games now value $80 and new graphics playing cards often cross the $1,000 mark.
That is the place budget-oriented mice are excellent. Most high-end mice are previous the purpose of diminishing returns for the typical gamer, with most by no means needing the precision of a superbly balanced, ultra-lightweight, 8,000-Hz esports-level mouse. These are all nice-to-have options, however they aren’t obligatory for on a regular basis gaming, the place lag, latency, and body charge drops will seemingly have extra of an impression in your sport than your mouse lacking a millisecond of motion.
Amongst funds mice, the SteelSeries Rival 3 Gen 2 shines. It doesn’t prioritize excessive lightness, unnecessarily excessive polling charges, or different eye-catching metrics. As a substitute, this mouse focuses on delivering rock-solid specs which can be ok for the typical gamer. I examined each the wired and wi-fi variants of the Rival 3 Gen 2, which retail for $35 and $60, respectively.
Price range Efficiency
{Photograph}: Henri Robbins
Each fashions come geared up with Pixart optical sensors able to as much as 18,000 dots per inch (DPI) and 400 inches per second—much more succesful than the typical workplace mouse, and greater than sufficient for normal gaming. The mouse operates at a 1,000-Hz polling charge, which is just about customary for gaming mice as we speak. The sensor feels snappy and responsive, and I didn’t discover both mannequin to lag or miss inputs throughout common use.
The wired and wi-fi fashions have almost similar sizes and styles—the one important distinction between the 2 is the panel seams on the wi-fi mannequin. The scale of the Rival 3 Gen 2 finds a fantastic center floor, superb for average-size palms however usable for almost any measurement. The mouse’s form is customary however efficient, and whereas it doesn’t have fairly the refined and clean sculpt of Razer’s Viper line, it’s serviceable, has intuitive button placements, and feels comfy throughout extended use. The 2 thumb buttons are sized nicely for straightforward entry, and the middle button behind the scroll wheel is brief sufficient that I by no means unintentionally press it, however tall sufficient that it may be pressed simply and shortly.
The wired mannequin weighs round 80 grams with out together with the cable (and round 100 with it), and the gentle braided cable doesn’t get caught or create friction throughout common use. Whereas it’s nonetheless not as handy as a wi-fi mouse, equipment like mouse bungees aren’t obligatory in any respect. The most important useful distinction between the wired and wi-fi fashions is the load: The wi-fi mannequin weighs 110 grams with batteries, which is considerably extra mass to maneuver round.
Regardless of the added weight, the Rival 3 Gen 2 wi-fi nonetheless feels nimble and simple to maneuver; the massive, clean ft on the underside glide effortlessly throughout each desks and mousepads. The added weight from the batteries is noticeable, however they’re positioned increased up within the mouse as an alternative of the very backside. This makes it really feel much less such as you’re dragging across the additional weight, because the batteries are nearer to your hand and positioned extra centrally to the mouse.
