Today we’re taking a look at the Rival 710 mouse from SteelSeries, featuring their latest TrueMove 3 Custom sensor & updated mechanical switches does this improve upon the Rival 700? Read on to find out.
Product on Review: Steel Series Rival 710
Manufacturer: SteelSeries
Street Price: £99.99 GBP / $99.99 USD / $149.99 AUD
We’ve previously looked at the Rival 700 and rated it highly, the review of which can be found here: Steel Series Rival 700 Review
The Rival 710 brings over many features that were found on the previous iteration, the customisable OLED display and tactile vibration alerts as well as swappable sensor modules all make an appearance in this refresh of the Rival 700.
Other returning features include swappable shells, and rear name plates which are great for making this mouse really unique and your own.
The question we have to ask is it worth making the jump from the Rival 700 to the new Rival 710 and will it live up to the high standards set by the Rival 700? Read on to find out.
SteelSeries on the Rival 710:
Every aspect of the Rival 710 design meets players’ stringent demands for comfort. Whether you deploy a claw grip or palm grip, the shape will provide perfect comfort for long and intense gaming sessions.
Technical Specifications
Sensor
Sensor: SteelSeries TrueMove 3
Sensor Type: Optical
CPI: 100-12000, in 100 CPI Increments
IPS: 350+, On SteelSeries QcK surfaces
Acceleration: 50G
Polling Rate: 1 ms (1000Hz)
Hardware Acceleration: None (Zero Hardware Acceleration)
Tracking Accuracy: 1:1
Design
Material: Black Soft Touch
Shape: Ergonomic, Right-Handed
Grip Style: Universal
Number of Buttons: 7
SteelSeries Switches: SteelSeries Switch, rated for 60 million clicks
Weight: 135g / 4.8 Ounces
Height: 124.8 mm / 4.9 Inches
Width: 72.6mm / 2.85 Inches
Depth: 42mm / 1.7 Inches
Short Cable Length (Non-braided): 1m / 3.3 ft
Long Cable Length (Braided): 2m / 6.5ft
Customisation Options
Gamesense Support
OLED Display Customisation
Tactile Alert Customization
SteelSeries Engine Support
Onboard Profile Settings
Programmable Buttons
Acceleration Customisation
Deceleration Customization
Multiple CPI Options
Colour Options:16.8 Million
Swappable Pixart 9800 Laser Sensor
Swappable Rival 700/710 Top Cover Pack
Printable 3-D Nameplate
Box Contents
Rival 710 Gaming Mouse
USB Braided Long Cable
USB Soft PVC Short Cable
Product Information Guide
Packaging & First Look
Looking at the front of the box and it’s what you expect from a SteelSeries product with their signature colour scheme along with a few bullet pointed unique selling points in the lower left corner.
Rotating the box clockwise and we get a look at the right hand side, which goes into the unique selling points of the Rival 710 in more depth.
Turning our attention to the back of the box and again there is another increase in the amount of information provided surrounding the Truemove3 sensor, the OLED display and the tactile alerts.
Venturing inside the outer box a further black box appears which has an inspirational paragraph written on it.
Opening up this black box reveals the mouse and quick start guide.
Removing the bottom compartment unveils the two included usb cables, a braided 2 meter cable and a smooth 1 meter cable.
Closer Look
Looking straight on at the mouse and you can see the swappable name plate as well as the adorned SteelSeries logo which is the 1st of 2 RGB illumination zones.
Moving to the left of the mouse and this side is sporting the OLED screen alongside 3 assignable buttons.
Turning the mouse round reveals the scroll wheel & DPI switch, the former of these does only offer the ability to switch between 2 DPI settings, this is a strange choice when most other mice give you the option of up to 4 settings.
On the right hand side of the mouse we get a look at the textured rubberised grip that is also featured on the left side.
Turning the mouse on its head and we’re welcomed by the swappable sensor.
Software
Overall we found the SteelSeries Engine 3 software extremely easy to set up and use. Within the software you can control the button assignments, RGB and OLED Display alongside setting your DPI sensitivity as well as the Polling Rate, Angle Snapping and Acceleration/Deceleration.Take a look at the software demo below.
Performance Testing
The first noticeable call out of the Rival 710 is just how heavy the mouse feels, it weighs in at 135 grams, despite this weight it is on the more comfortable side of things, even for those multi-hour gaming sessions.Setting up the Rival 710 went extremely smoothly, slipping your choice of cable into the mouse is a simple affair and it makes a satisfying click once it’s inserted. Changing the cable is made easy by the quick release button.
Downloading the software, dubbed The SteelSeries engine 3, was easy, the set up was simple and using the software to change the 2 DPI settings, the RGB illumination and the OLED display was all easily done.
The OLED display on the Rival 710 is located in an easier to view location compared to the Cooler Master MM830 we reviewed recently, there were no visibility issues on the Rival 710. Despite the fact that the there is a more varied choice of stats that you can display on the OLED display there is still a lack of any real use case where you would want to take your concentration away from your monitor to look at the mouse.
The feature that sets this mouse apart from the crowd is the tactile feedback that is another carry over from the Rival 700. Within the SteelSeries Engine you can set up timers that coincide with your skill cooldowns, once the timer reaches zero it will fire off a vibration of your choice, perfect for your ultimate in Overwatch or any games that include cool downs as a feature. Whilst this does take a little while to set up it is definitely worth it and we found ourselves making sure we had a unique notification for each skill.
Conclusion
Coming in at £99.99, the Rival 710 is even more of a must purchase mouse than the Rival 700. We would like to see a version that omits the OLED display as this would drive the price down even further, and it doesn’t really add anything functional to the mouse.In games as well as general use the Rival 710 is one of the most comfortable mice we have used in recent times, it’s suited to any grip style once you get used to it’s weight and even though it’s on the heavy side we didn’t notice any strain or fatigue in our wrists, even in gaming sessions spanning multiple hours.
The tactile click that you get from the buttons on the mouse is second to none and really helps hammer home how great the build quality of the Rival 710 is.
If you’re looking for a deviation from the formula that SteelSeries created with the Rival 700 we would not recommend this mouse to you as not a lot has changed, but when you’ve got a winning formula, and make no doubts about it SteelSeries does here, why change it?
The SteelSeries Rival 710 replaces the Rival 700 in Steelseries’ mouse line up, so if you missed it the first time round we would highly recommend giving it a try now as it is a great buy at £79.99
Pros
+Excellent build quality
+Customisability options
+Tactile alerts
Cons
-OLED Display
-Maximum 2 DPI settings to switch between
+Excellent build quality
+Customisability options
+Tactile alerts
Cons
-OLED Display
-Maximum 2 DPI settings to switch between
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