Last year, we reviewed the first Rival gaming mouse, the Rival 300, and I was impressed with almost everything, except the boring design. SteelSeries upgraded the series with the Rival 700 and the new mouse has some unique features. Let’s check it out.
Unboxing
Design & Features
Inside the box, you can find the Rival 700 mouse and two detachable cables with different lengths. Similar to the Rival 300, we still have two RGB lighting zones, one on the palm rest and one on the scroll wheel. Besides, there is a removable rubber nameplate on the bottom but this is not important if you don’t have a 3D printer.
The side grips are improved significantly with the textured rubber grips. You can also see another button on the left side, so the total number of programmable buttons is 7.
The Rival 700 might have the same size as its predecessor but there are actually many changes from the inside out. The most interesting feature is, of course, the OLED display on the left side. You can put whatever you like on the screen, like your name, team logo, or an animated gif. That’s not all, SteelSeries makes it more useful by showing in-game stats through GameSense. However, this is more like a gimmick for me because I don’t look down at the tiny mouse to see the info. This is more like a way to show off your gaming gear.
Another great idea is the tactile alert. You can set up so that the built-in motor will vibrate according to an in-game event like low health, ammo, headshot, or stun. Unfortunately, the feature also doesn’t work well as I expected. It actually supports just a few old games like CS Go or Dota 2. I hope that more new games will be supported in the future.
The top cover and sensor are swappable as well. If you don’t like the included matte top cover, you can change it for a glossy or anti-sweat one. You can also buy the Pixart 9800 laser gaming sensor to replace the integrated Pixart 3360 optical sensor.
The gaming experience can’t be complete without installing the SteelSeries Engine app. Here you can customize the lighting zones, the OLED display, the buttons, macros, mouse sensitivity, and tactile feedback.
Performance
The Rival 700 has the same form as the Rival 300 and it’s a little heavier due to additional functionalities. However, holding and controlling the mouse are still very comfortable. I also find that fast moves are a little more accurate since it provides a better grip.
On the other hand, the sensor can track reasonably well and it will meet expectations of most gamers. It is accurate and stable, and you can easily change the sensitivity by pressing the CPI switch right below the scroll wheel. You can set the CPI in the SteelSeries Engine app and switch between just 2 values. The CPI can be adjusted between 100 and 16,000.
Conclusion
Pros
- Great build quality
- Comfortable
- Modular design
- Some interesting features like OLED display and tactile alert
- Excellent tracking
Cons
- Gimmicky features
- Expensive
The SteelSeries Rival 700 is not a necessary upgrade from the Rival 300, however, it has some fun features to show off the mouse and the design is also a little more ergonomic. I recommend the Rival 700 if you find the Rival 300 too boring.
