Peripherals

SteelSeries Rival 650 Review

vortez
March 19, 2019 8 Min Read
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Today we’re taking a look at the SteelSeries Rival 650, an update on the Rival 600, is it worth the jump in price? Read on to find out.


Product on Review: Steel Series Rival 650
Manufacturer: SteelSeries
Street Price: £119.99 GBP / $119.99 USD / $169.99 AUD

Sporting the same sensor as the Rival 710 which we recently reviewed (Review can be found here: SteelSeries Rival 710 Review) we’re expecting the same great performance in the Rival 650 Wireless.

SteelSeries claim that they’ve managed to deliver a full 24 hours of battery life when fully charged, and they’ve also ensured that just 15 minutes of fast charging gives you 10+ hours of game play for those times when you don’t have time to charge your mouse fully.



Coming in at only £20.00 more than the Rival 710, but including features such as wireless connectivity and an adjustable weight system seems to set this mouse up for greatness, will it live up to our expectations? Read on to find out.

SteelSeries on the Rival 650:
The first true performance wireless gaming mouse is here. The Rival 650 Wireless features Quantum Wireless 1ms lossless performance, lightning fast charging capabilities, and the most precise gaming sensor ever made.

Technical Specifications

Sensor System
Sensor System: SteelSeries TrueMove 3+ Dual Sensor System
Primary Sensor: TrueMove 3 Optical Gaming Sensor
Secondary Sensor: Depth Sensing Linear Optical Detection
CPI: 100-12000, in 100 CPI Increments
IPS: 350+, On SteelSeries QcK surfaces
Acceleration: 50G
Hardware Acceleration: None (Zero Hardware Acceleration)
Lift Off Distance: Customisable, 0.5-2mm

Design
Top Material: Black Soft Touch
Core Construction: Fiber-Reinforced Plastic
Shape: Ergonomic, Right-Handed
Grip Style: Universal
Number of Buttons: 7
Switch Type: SteelSeries Switch, rated for 60 million clicks
Illumination: 8 RGB Zones, Independently Controlled
Weight: 121g / 4.2 Ounces without Cable Customisable up to 153g / 5.4 ounces
Length: 131 mm / 5.2 Inches
Width: 62mm / 2.4 inches (front), 62mm / 2.4 inches (middle), 69mm 2.7 inches (back)
Height: 27mm / 1.1 Inches (front), 43mm / 1.7 inches (back)
Cable Type: Detachable, Soft Rubber
Cable Length: 2m / 6.5Ft

Box Contents
Rival 650 Wireless Gaming Mouse
USB Wireless Transmitter
USB Data/Charging Cable
Extension Adapter
Weight Accessories Case
Eight 4-gram Weights
Product Information Guide

Packaging & First Look

The front of the box is a familiar sight to anyone familiar with SteelSeries products with it sporting their familiar white, orange and black colour scheme. Adorning the box is a top down shot of the mouse showing where the additional weights can be added.


Turning the box clock-wise and we’re given a list of the box’s contents & a list of features that compliment the Rival 650.


Giving the back of the box our attention and we’re rewarded with a more candid shot of the mouse, showing exactly where the 4g weights can be inserted, along with 3 of the Rival 650’s unique selling points.


Looking to the left hand side of the box and there isn’t much here apart from a shot of the mouse in all it’s RGB lit glory.


Opening up the outer box and we’re welcomed by a black box with an inspirational quote on it.

Closer Look

Within the inner black box we get our first look at the Rival 650 & the accompanying user manual.


Unlike the Rival 710. You only get 1 USB cable with the Rival 650, however this is not much of an issue as you will only be using it for emergencies or charging the mouse when not in use. The other call out for the cable is that it also doubles as an extension lead for the wireless adapter. You also receive a nice little rubberised case for the additional weights which is great if you’re prone to misplacing things.


Turning our focus to the mouse and from the front you can get a closer look at the ergonomic design of the Rival 650, this is one of the most comfortable mice we have used in recent times. This view is also best suited to see the RGB as well, there are 8 zones total, the SteelSeries logo is the first, the scroll wheel is the second and the 2 strips between the black & gray plastic are split into 3 zones each.


Turning the mouse round to look at the right hand side and we can see 3 of the 7 programmable buttons, we found that the one furthest away from you was rather difficult to reach without taking your hand off the mouse and moving it forward.


Looking from the back of the mouse we’re welcomed by the scroll wheel, which has grooves cut into it to aide with grip. We can also just see the Micro-USB port peaking out from underneath the scroll wheel.


Looking at the left hand side and we can see that SteelSeries have decided to split the grip aiding which we found quite naturally with our third and fourth finger respectively.

Software

As with other peripherals from SteelSeries, The Rival 650 utilises their Steel Series Engine 3 Software, which is easy to install and even easier to use. As with the Rival 710 you only have a choice of 2 DPI settings for the DPI switch which is confusing to say the least. Within the software you get the options that we’ve come to expect from a high end mouse, you have the options of re-assigning the mouse buttons to your liking, you can change the lift off distance, the acceleration & deceleration, angle snapping & Polling rate of the mouse.

For the more visual among us take a look at the quick video below to get a look at the software in action.

Performance Testing

In the time we had with the SteelSeries Rival 650 we found it a joy to use, it is one of the most ergonomic mice that we’ve used and it is extremely comfortable to use for hours on end.


The battery life on the Rival 650 is great, we found ourselves needing to charge it every 2 to 3 days depending on the amount we used it, which was between 5-8 hours a day. A note to bear in mind this was with the RGB illumination disabled to conserve battery life. We were also intrigued by SteelSeries’ claims that just 15 minutes on charge will give you over 10 hours of play time with the mouse, we’re happy to confirm that this is the case.

Weighing in at 121G without the cable & additional weights, we found that we the mouse was heavy enough without these, if not a touch on the heavy side, though this didn’t take much getting used to.

As with the Rival 710 we had absolutely no problems with SteelSeries’ True Move 3 sensor, and it tracks all of our, sometimes erratic, movements perfectly no matter what task we’re using it for.

As we said previously you don’t get a choice of cables with the Rival 650 but the one that is included with the Rival 650 does it’s job and it’s just as good, if not better than ones you get with other comparable mice. The Rival 650 also follows SteelSeries’ ethos of great build quality, it is second to none, the mouse feels like it’s built like a tank

The RGB illumination is great on the Rival 650, splitting the 2 light bars into 3 sections means that your set up will not be the same as anyone else’s and helps make it unique.

The only negative that arose in our use of the Rival 650 is the front mouse button being too far forward to be comfortable used so it seems like a superfluous addition at this point.

Conclusion

We found our time with the SteelSeries Rival 650 to be quite a pleasant one, with the price tag being £119.99 we had our expectations high, and this mouse has lived up to them.

As with the Rival 710 this mouse is extremely comfortable to use over long periods, and is suitable for most grip styles, the only negative around the design is that the front mouse button on the left is extremely difficult to reach as it is situated too far forward on the mouse, so if your hands are on the smaller side you may want to try this before buying.


One thing that confounded us slightly is the inclusion of the additional weights, the Rival 650 is on the heavy side and it’s hard to imagine a situation where a user would want additional weight added as we would imagine it would make the mouse too heavy to be used comfortably.

If you’re a user of the SteelSeries Rival 600 & are looking for a wireless adaptation this is the choice for you as it is practically a twin of that model, minus the wired connectivity.

One thing that we’re missing from the Rival 710 is the tactile feedback, however this is an understandable omission as it would negatively affect the Rival 650’s battery life.

Overall it seems the Rival 650 is designed well enough, barring the location of the front mouse button, The black plastic that the shell is made out of is smooth, yet grippy however it does attract finger prints like nobodies business.

If you’re looking for a wireless mouse and this is in your price range, we’d recommend trying before you buy due to the weight of the mouse


Pros
+Battery life
+Quick Charging
+Accurate Sensor
+Build quality
+Adjustable Weight System

Cons
-Weight
-Position of extra buttons
-2 settings for DPI Switch


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