Others/Mice & Keyboards by jmke @ 2013-01-07
In this group test I will focus on a specific feature and gaming goal to reduce the variables as we go on a quest to find some of the best First-Person-Shooter wired mouse out there. To properly gauge the performance of my new gaming rodents I spend several weeks with each to get to know the ins and outs, their features and deliver a good dose of my personal opinions on these mice.
SteelSeries has been around for many years, providing quality gaming gear, their latest product is a price conscious version of their Sensei mouse, dubbed the [RAW] it does away with the fancy multi-color led lightening, onboard ARM CPU, LCD menu system and double DPI functionality. What we’re left is still a very capable and left-right hand friendly gaming mouse which is €30 cheaper compared to the full version.
The RAW can be had with a Glossy surface, or Rubber body, SteelSeries send us both to test and compare.
The stats:
The contents of both boxes are identical (no surprise there): a getting starting guide, case sticker and manual.
This is a completely symmetrical mouse, the ideal product for southpaws, each side features a forward and back button, at the top you have an indicator led and “enable turbo mode” button.
Flipping over the Sensei RAW reveals some impressive looking mouse pads.
The USB cable is braided, no tangled wires hell with these mice!
The white LED logo is gives a nice subtle effect when powered on; its intensity of it can be configured through the SteelSeries software. The same LED light also gives a glow effect to the scroll wheel as you can see.
As soon as I installed the SteelSeries software the firmware on the RAW was updated, which was a painless process.
The difference between the rubber and glossy RAW is immense, visually they are stunningly different, but they each have a very unique feel when you put them in your palm. The glossy RAW is definitely the cooler looking product, but it’s a thumbprint magnet!
The SteelSeries Engine is recommended download, not only to configure and customize the LED lightening and different buttons, but also to use the one of many pre-defined macros for tons of games. New profiles are constantly added and make playing new games easy if you want to just plug&play.
The RAW is one of the most neutral mouse of those tested and will equally well fit left- and right-handed gamers; with this comes also its greatest drawback, while its form is comfortable it doesn’t quite match the comfort a specific right/left hand mouse offers. It took a bit longer to get used to the Sensei RAW in-game, the lift-off distance is rated at 2mm which I did notice when displacing the mouse, the first 10 minutes I had to concentrate on lifting the mouse higher than what I was used to, but afterwards it went smoothly.
Accuracy went down a few notches, but nothing earth shattering, overall the mouse performed nicely and the quick DPI switch mode button made it possible to further fine tune the experience without delving into the menu settings. After a few days of using the Sensei RAW I noticed that I was accidentally pressing one of the two shoulder buttons on the left side of the mouse more often than I wanted, especially in the heat of the battle when picking up the RAW to reposition it, disabling them in with the included Sensei Software resolved this issue.
Swapping between the glossy and rubberized version, I ended up liking the rubber version for its extra stickiness and overall more comfortable experience;
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* been using the SteelSeries RAW as office mouse, after about 600.000 clicks (tracking soft!) spread over left/middle/right click, the middle click button is starting to fail, need to press down hard for it to register.
* the Cyborg RAT 7 primary gaming mice, shows some erratic behavior once in a while and requires cleaning of the lens area every few weeks; otherwise it won't track, the small alcove they created for the lens is not keeping dust out, it just helps to collect more