Steelseries Rival 600 Review – Your PC and Mac Gaming Mouse

May 9, 2019

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steelseries rival 600 introduction

There are gaming mice and then there are great gaming mice. As you continue reading this Steelseries Rival 600 review, you will see why this one is one of the greatest of all times. But I am sure you have read such sweet words about other gaming mice somewhere else. That is why in this review, we will leave no stone unturned as we explore the features and the benefits of the Rival 600.

Some of the things that you can expect in this mouse include the stylish and nice finishing. Then there is the comfortable grip and the maneuverability. If you add customizable weights to the mix, you will agree that these make the mouse one of the best in the market. However, it is a bit pricier at $80 in most online marketplaces. However, for people who know a good gaming mouse, they know that a price is not pricier if the mouse can back it up with the best features.

One of the most important things in a gaming mouse is customizability. This gives you a personalized mouse that can meet your needs perfectly. Some people love a heavy mouse and some love a light one. Some love all the flashy colors that they can get while others just want theirs subtle. Well, whatever you need in your mouse, Steelseries Rival 600 enables you to make your mouse as personalized as possible.

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Contents

1 Steelseries Rival 600 Review: Summary of the features
2 Steelcase Rival 600 Review: A closer look at the features
3 Steelseries Rival 600

Steelseries Rival 600 Review: Summary of the features

High quality gaming grade sensor makes the tracking excellent without missing a beat. The tracking starts at 100DPI to 12000DPI. Whether you like your DPI low or high, this mouse tracks without jittering.
The build quality looks quite good. The casing of this mouse has been reinforced with fiber making it even more long lasting.
Wide customizability where users can even customize the weight of the mouse – there are all of 256 weight arrangements to try out until you find your center of gravity. Find your best weight combination for good performance.
For long hours of gaming, you get a very comfortable grip with this mouse. It does not matter whether you hold the mouse claw or palm style, you will find it quite cozy.
The mechanical switches for the buttons are rated for millions of clicks. This says quite a lot about the durability of this mouse.
The 8-zone RGB lighting is quite impressive. What is a gaming mouse without flashy lights and colors? It might as well be a regular office mouse. The good thing though is that you can turn the LED lighting off if you like.
The intuitive and user-friendly Steelseries software makes customizing your mouse to suit your tastes and gaming needs a walk in the park. Even if this is your first time to tweak a mouse, you will love it.
The cable is coated with rubber. In addition, it is detachable. This means that a damaged cable does not spell the end of your gaming mouse. Just buy another cable.
There are 7 programmable buttons in this mouse. This alone can tell you that you do not have an overcrowded mouse. It is easy to use and you will remember the functions that you assign each buttons easily.
Finally, this mouse does what it is supposed to do, play games. It is not specifically made for any one genre or one type of game. You will find that it plays pretty well across board, all games. The downside though is that you will have to create a profile for each game.

Steelcase Rival 600 Review: A closer look at the features

The design and the build quality

The looks of the gaming mouse that a person chooses matter quite a lot. The Steelseries Rival 600 is quite the looker. RGB LED strips stream down the sides of the mouse, seeming to converge at the place where the right and left click buttons start. This stylish LED look is then complimented by the logo that lights up beautifully on the front of the mouse.

As for the build, there are many things to say. First, the mouse has been built with a casing of plastic, which has then been fiber-reinforced. This casing looks a bit too smooth for many people, but there is nothing to worry about. It is not a print magnet.

steelseries rival 600 design

Just like a performance car, this mouse really looks well built. It has some nice angles that are not too “shouty” if you know what we mean. If we were to rate the mouse out of ten for the design, we would give it a nine because it looks really good.

Let us now look at the size of the mouse. It is big! And in gaming mice, we have seen that most of the time, big is good and small is not so good. While most of the gaming mice top out at 5.1 inches of length, this one goes all the way to 5.2 inches.

This is a good and comfortable size especially if you have. The width is 2.7 inches at the widest point at the back and 2.4 inches towards the front. The height is 1.7 inches at the highest point.

Without the detachable rubber cable, this mouse weighs 96 g. However, it has many weight combinations and you can customize the weight to 128 g.

Although we will discuss about the buttons later, you will see that the Steelseries Rival 600 has 7 buttons. This is not very different from the Corsair M65 Pro RGB which has 8 buttons, and whose performance is almost similar.

Performance

There is no need to have a good-looking mouse but have it perform ever so poorly. However, as you have seen so far, it is quite possible to have the looks and the performance oomph as well.

The tracking is so superb, doesn’t matter whether you are playing on low DPI or high DPI setting. You will have a great time. There is no lapse between clicks and the display of the commands on the computer. It is almost instant.

What matters about performance is how well a mouse can play a game. This is a non-specific game mouse, you can expect it to play all RTS and FPS games fairly well, perhaps even excellently. We say perhaps because if you do not get your settings right, then you may have some trouble with your gaming.

The buttons perform excellently. They click nicely, and the right and left click buttons are mounted on quality switches rated for 50 million clicks.

Users always marvel at just how this mouse lacks drift or lift. The reason for that is the dual sensor technology. However, this is something that other gaming mice have managed to do with just one sensor. Dual sensor means no extra weight or lag in performance, so whether you get a mouse with one or two sensors, it is still good.

With the highest sensitivity of the sensor rated at 12000DPI, this is indeed a high resolution and most likely, you will never get to use it at its highest. Most games require a maximum of 4500DPI.

You will also note that in the software you cannot assign more than two DPI settings for one game. While some gaming mice allow you to assign up to five DPI settings for one game, this one is different. It can be either a plus or a negative depending on how you look at it. Most people though just like to set two DPI ranges for their game and they stick with that.

Get a gaming mat for smooth gliding of the mouse. Because of the rubber cord, you may find that mouse performance can be affected by the surface.

Steelseries Rival 600 Buttons

When it comes to the buttons, the Rival 600 is even better than its predecessor – the Rival 500, which had all of 15 buttons. Rival 600 has 7 programmable buttons. Three of these are the thumb buttons, located on the left-side. Then there are the left and right click buttons, the clickable scroll wheel as well as the DPI adjustment button that is located just beneath the scroll wheel.

That is all! There is no overcrowding, which means that the buttons are larger and easier to memorize. Then, you can assign the buttons different functions.

steelseries rival 600 Buttons

RGB lighting

This is a very practical mouse. However, it also has quite an aesthetic side to it. It looks as if the mouse has RGB LED lighting dividing the panels.

At the base of the mouse, there is a well-lit logo. Of course, you can change the color of the LEDs to whatever you want from the more than 16 million colors available. The lighting zones include the scroll wheel, the logo, LED strip on the right and left panels and so on.

You can change/set up the RGB lights, you know, just to make your mouse colorful. This is possible by changing the colors going by the light zones. For example, you can change the color for the left panel such that it is different from that of the right side panel. You can also assign a different color to the logo (which is also a light zone) to illuminate differently from the rest of the light zones.

Steelseries Rival 600 software

To program your gaming mouse, you must install the software. The Steelseries Engine 3 software is user-friendly and intuitive and setting up your mouse need not take too much of your time.

When you open the software, it will show you any saved profiles. If there is any for your favorite game, you can just get it directly and save time. You will be able to do all the configuration of the mouse from one page only.

Remember to set the polling rate. This usually starts from 125 to 1000Hz. Most games do not require a rate as high as 1000Hz, but it is available if you need it.

steelseries rival 600 software

It is better to take your time with the software, try many different things and finally settle for a profile that feels just right.

The best thing about this mouse is that after you have programmed your buttons, set your DPI, polling rate and lighting, save your settings in the onboard memory. Thus, when you use the mouse to play on a different computer, you do not have to reinstall the software or redo the settings again.

The cord

Once again, we revisit the cord of the Steelseries Rival 600. It is 6.5 feet long and it is coated with rubber. Rubber attracts stains more, but it is also easier to clean. Just a dry cloth can wipe all the dirt away.

Besides, just like a braided cable, rubber does not snag on things. If you take good care of it, it will last a long time. This a replaceable cord, which is a big plus. You can always buy a new cable or even use a micro USB cable.