Key Features
- <img src="https://www.trustedreviews.com/wp-content/plugins/phoenix-smartmag-plugin/assets/images/icons/tr_default_400x400.png” alt=”Trusted Reviews Icon” loading=”lazy”>Review Price:
£169.99 - 42,000 DPI sensor and 8000Hz wireless polling:The Rival Pro benefits from a powerful new TrueMove 42K sensor that offers a lot of oomph in a more general sense.
- 53g chassis:It’s also one of the lightest gaming mice you’ll find on the market, helping its nimbleness, while maintaining a more ergonomic form than a lot of its rivals.,
- UWB connectivity:The Rival Pro also has a new form of wireless connectivity on a wider band than 2.4GHz for less interference and even more information
Introduction
If you’ve been crying out for a brand new Rival mouse, then it appears SteelSeries has heard your call – enter the SteelSeries Rival Pro.
The Danish brand has revitalised its ergonomic shape for a shiny new high-power gaming mouse that seems to pack in everything and the kitchen sink, including a custom 42,000 DPI sensor, 8000Hz polling, and a clever Ultra Wide Band wireless connection. For the £169.99/$179.99/€199.99 price tag, it certainly feels especially competitive.
The problem SteelSeries had is that a lot of folks have had different thoughts for high-power gaming mice, so the Rival Pro has some stiff competition, including the Razer Viper V4 Pro and Logitech G Pro X2 Superstrike, to try and overcome. The difference here, though, is the more ergonomic shape, which also introduces the classic Razer DeathAdder V4 Pro as a key rival, if you’ll pardon the pun.
To see if this new SteelSeries option can come out as one of the best gaming mice we’ve tested, I’ve been putting it through its paces for the last couple of weeks.
Design
- More contoured shape
- Lightweight and sturdy with dense plastics
- Minimal button arrangement
The Rival line of SteelSeries mice has been the more ergonomic shape against the more neutral Sensei, and that doesn’t change here. It takes the familiar feel of a Rival, and optimises it for more modern tastes with a mean and minimalist look in either black or white, complete with a splash of colour with an orange scroll wheel.
SteelSeries has said it has redesigned both the new Rival Pro and its sister, the Sensei Pro, in conjunction with pro players and key influencers to get the right feel.
At just 53g, it’s especially light, although the plastics used in its construction feel dense, so the Rival Pro doesn’t feel like a cheap mouse. It’s also competitive against the 50g the Viper V4 Pro is, and is some eight grams lighter than the G Pro X2 Superstrike. The weight saving has even gone so far that you won’t find a USB-C port at the front, but there’s a good reason for that.
The ergonomic shape, with a more contoured finish, makes this feel more like the Logitech G Pro X Superlight 2 Dex, which I think makes it better suited for productivity tasks as much as for gaming. After all, I’ve always been a fan of more shaped mice, rather than the increasingly homogenous shape that ultralight wireless mice have tended to have in recent years.
The button arrangement here makes sense, with the two main ones and a scroll wheel on top, plus two side buttons on the left, and one for DPI switching and power on the underside. You’ll also find this rodent’s innovative swappable battery system on the underside, but I’ll get into that a little later on.
SteelSeries has been through a lot of trouble to save weight with this mouse to accommodate all of its clever internal trickery with UWB and the swappable battery system, such as using mechanical means to attach the battery, rather than magnets and going through multiple revisions of the internals to get the weight distribution right while keeping the mass down as low as it can be without compromising on the Sensei Pro’s internal structure.
Performance
- Fast 42,000 DPI sensor
- True 8000Hz polling
- Clever UWB connectivity and swappable batteries
SteelSeries hasn’t held anything back on the internals of the Rival Pro, throwing genuinely flagship-tier hardware at a mouse that already has to compete in one of the most crowded categories going.
Front and centre is a new TrueMove 42K Pro sensor, capable of up to 42,000 DPI. In practice, it’s precise and quick to respond – testing it extensively in Counter-Strike 2, it’s up there with the best sensors I’ve used, full stop.
Underneath, it’s a custom PixArt 3955 sensor running at the 20,000 FPS capture on offer. SteelSeries went to PixArt and asked for it to be tuned to its maximum rate purely for accuracy’s sake, which is exactly what the mouse’s Max Performance mode is built to take advantage of.
That said, 42,000 DPI is overkill for most day-to-day scenarios and can feel twitchy at that ceiling – though it does come into its own for fast wrist flicks and quick rotational aim. For actual CS2 sessions, I settled around 1600 DPI, and closer to 3200 DPI for general desktop use, and the Rival Pro stayed sharp and responsive at both.
Polling is rated at a genuine 8000Hz, achieved by oversampling a 9000Hz internal readout even where the connected PC can only process 8000Hz. That same approach covers both cursor tracking and click input from the onboard optical switches (configurable in software), so you can dial in settings as you wish.
The headline addition, though, is an Ultra Wide Band wireless connection, which needs a bigger, more complex antenna setup than standard 2.4GHz. The reasoning is straightforward: the more traditional 2.4GHz band is getting crowded, with most homes now packed with devices competing for the same spectrum. UWB sidesteps that by operating in the 6–9GHz range and spreading data across multiple channels, giving roughly 20 times the bandwidth of 2.4GHz and a more stable connection as a result.
Put together, the Rival Pro is a phenomenal gaming mouse. Much of what’s under the hood is honestly beyond what most of us mere mortals could ever perceive in practice, but the ergonomic shell makes it easy to appreciate regardless – it sits comfortably for long sessions while still feeling light, quick, and endlessly responsive when the moment calls for it.
Naturally, this level of performance tends to come at the cost of battery life. SteelSeries has worked around that with a swappable battery design: expect up to 16 hours per battery at full performance, or 32 hours total across the two included. Dial polling back to 1000Hz, and that stretches to 60 hours per battery, for 120 hours combined.
Software and Lighting
- Extensive software customisation with GG suite
- No RGB lighting to speak of
SteelSeries has employed its tried-and-tested GG suite for the Rival Pro, offering a range of customisation on everything from DPI to polling rate and button remapping to lots more besides.
You can choose DPI on separate X and Y axes, alongside the polling rate for both clicks and sensor and enable the Max Performance mode mentioned above. Alongside this, GG provides you with the option to match your sensitivity to a previous mouse you’ve used for a seamless transition to your new one. There is a new version of the brand’s 3D Aim Trainer coming in the future called Performance Coach, which can keep you warmed up in between downtime in certain games and tell you where you’re going wrong, which is very clever.
There is also the option of GG Web, which provides a web-based UI that runs in a browser and pares back some features, but is another choice if you can’t install software on a PC but still want some customisation – handy for eSports tournaments that are traditionally played on locked-down PCs. It’s the first time SteelSeries has offered this, which is nice. To get the full functionality, though, you’ll want to use the proper GG suite.
As is common for ultralight gaming mice, you won’t find any flashy RGB lighting with this Rival Pro either, in the name of conserving battery and looking mean
Should you buy it?
You prefer a contoured shape over a symmetrical one:
The Rival Pro pairs flagship-level sensor, polling and wireless performance with an ergonomic shell that’s more comfortable for extended use than many of its ultralight rivals.
You’re on a tighter budget:
All of the power and performance that the Rival Pro provides doesn’t come cheap, though, and you can get more affordable ultralight mice that provide the essence of the experience for less.
Final Thoughts
The SteelSeries Rival Pro packs everything and the kitchen sink into a fantastic flagship gaming mouse with a zippy 42,000 DPI sensor, true 8000Hz polling and a responsive UWB connection to make this an immense choice. The ergonomic shape sets it apart from rivals in a pleasant manner, although a high cost is hard to swallow.
Against the Razer DeathAdder V4 Pro, the mouse most associated with ergonomic gaming mice, the Rival Pro holds its own comfortably. Where the two are closely matched on shape, SteelSeries pulls ahead with UWB wireless and a swappable battery system that takes it to Razer in quite a big way.
Logitech’s G Pro X2 Superstrike brings its own strengths to the table, chiefly rapid trigger switches and its dependable wireless, but it’s roughly eight grams heavier than the Rival Pro, and you may want an ergonomic shape rather than a symmetrical one. That’s where the Logitech G Pro X Superlight 2 Dex comes in, but it isn’t as beefy as SteelSeries’ choice.
Competition at this end of the market is fierce, and none of these mice is anything less than excellent, but the Rival Pro’s shape gives it a genuine point of difference alongside some very beefy performance. Take a look at our full list of the best gaming mice if you want to weigh up more options.
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How We Test
We use every mouse we test for at least a week. During that time, we’ll check it for ease of use and put it through its paces by playing a variety of different genres, including FPS, strategy and MOBAs.
We also check each mouse’s software to see how easy it is to customise and set up.
- Used as a main mouse for over a week
- Tested performance on a variety of games
How heavy is the SteelSeries Rival Pro?
The SteelSeries Rival Pro weighs just 53g, making it one of the lightest gaming mice you’ll find.
What’s different about UWB connectivity?
UWB, or ultra wide band, works on a different channel to 2.4GHz to allow for 20x more bandwidth for a stronger flow of information and potentially even lower latency.
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