It’s a scaled-back version of its premiere TrueMove3 sensor found in the high end of the Rival series. Under the hood, the Rival 3 is packing SteelSeries’ TrueMove Core optical sensor. If a little extra weight makes for a more reliable mouse, that’s a trade I’m willing to make. I had that problem with my hole-filled Cooler Master MM710 and G-Wolves Skoll mice and even triggered side buttons by mistake because of it. Even though it’s lightweight, the mouse doesn’t flex when squeezed. SteelSeries didn’t follow the recent trend of filling the mouse’s frame with holes and instead went with a normal, very sturdy, matte black frame. It turned out to be a good thing, however, because being forced into a claw grip made me feel more agile in shooters The Rival 3 isn’t what I would consider an ultralight, but at 77 grams, it’s still a very lightweight mouse that felt like an extension of my hand. The shorter heel was a problem at first because I shift between grip types. It’s very similar to the Glorious PC Gaming Race Model O with how it feels in the hand.

The sculpting of the mouse drops off sharply after the peak of its arc which made me feel like the heel of my hand was dragging on my desk if I used a palm grip. Compared to either of the Logitech mice and even my beloved Razer Viper, the Rival 3 is much more suited to claw or fingertip grips. The Rival 3 fits almost perfectly between them but feels very different in the hand compared to either. In the picture above, I have it positioned between the Logitech G502 Hero, a larger gaming mouse that’s easy to palm grip, and the G305 Lightspeed, which is middle-to-small sized and perfect for claw and fingertip gamers. The Rival 3 is a mid-sized mouse that’s 120.6mm long, 67mm wide, and 37.9 mm tall.

It features an ambidextrous design, so the left and ride sides are mirrored, but with the thumb buttons positioned on the left side, it’s best suited for right-handed gamers. At $29.99, this is what I expect to see since any more than that usually comes with a higher price. Design and FeaturesThe Rival 3 is a simple six-button mouse.

Steelseries rival 3 wireless review