A CES post that’s also a review? Don’t worry, we had this product since our CES 2018 trip and we’re ready to give our full thoughts on it. During CES 2018, SteelSeries unveiled a product I was personally waiting for them to finally release: their very own adjustable weight gaming mouse. However, the newly unveiled SteelSeries Rival 600 is much more than just a right-handed gaming mouse with adjustable weights. The TrueMove3 sensor that we loved in the SteelSeries Rival 310 and the SteelSeries Sensei 310 is back in the upgraded form of the TrueMove3+ dual sensor system.
What does this all mean? Let’s dive in.
Rival 600 Build and Comfort
Out of the box, you are supplied with the SteelSeries Rival 600 mouse, a removable wire, eight 4-gram weights, and a case for those weights.
The SteelSeries Rival 600 sports a right-handed build similar to that of its Rival mice predecessors. It houses a split-trigger system for its left and right click buttons, which are each rated for a lifespan of 60-million clicks. Outside of those buttons, you have the mouse wheel, a button behind the wheel which defaults as a CPI toggler, and three thumb buttons along the left of the mouse. For your grips, you have a change-up from the Rival 310’s perforated silicone grips to now a smooth silicone compound on both the right and left sides of the mouse.
The Rival 600 comes even more colorful than its predecessors, bringing even more illuminated areas than just on the mouse wheel and SteelSeries logo. Now you have two LED strips stretching from the top of the mouse and down to each of the sides. Each of those strips house three individual lighting zones, effectively giving you a total of eight lighting zones on the SteelSeries Rival 600.
Which brings us to one of the two new feature additions to SteelSeries’ mouse line-up, the Rival 600’s weight-adjustability. The Rival 600, devoid of additional weights, comes in at 96 grams. With those additional weights, you can adjust the Rival 600’s overall weight up to 128 grams. Each side of the Rival 600 houses four slots, allowing you some control over the weight distribution and balancing of the mouse.
The Rival 600 is the most comfortable Rival mouse yet, bringing weight management into the mix for welcomed customizability. You have a ergonomic right-handed mouse that feels right at home with both claw and palm grips. I use a somewhat palm grip myself with mice and the Rival 600 played quite nicely. All of the buttons are satisfying to click and are quite easy to reach for in either grip scenario save that newly added side button. Referring specifically to that side button that closest to the front, I found myself most comfortably reaching for it with my index finger than I did with my thumb.
I didn’t take too much away from the button’s placement in the long run, however. I found myself mapping it to utilitarian game actions that were nice to have dedicated buttons for but were not so frequently-used, as opposed to Mouse 4 and Mouse 5 for example.
I personally liked the weight management system of the Rival 600 as it houses the weights closer to the center of the mouse’s body. It felt more uniform than other weighted mice I’ve tried that stored their weights either near the bottom or the rear of the mouse. However, with the way that the Rival 600 weight chassis is set up, weight arrangements are all up to whatever you prefer. Nothing is stopping you from arranging weights in a manner that gives the mouse a sort of lean on either side.
Speaking of preferences, having more LED’s than you can shake a stick at brings this mouse’s customization even further. Using the SteelSeries Engine, SteelSeries’s customization suite for its peripherals, you can change any of the eight LED zones to your liking.
All of this makes the Rival 600 a slam dunk in the comfort and appearance department. If I were to take anything away at all, it would be quite minor in the mouse’s grips. Having reviewed the Rival 310, I have to say that I actually liked the perforated grips a tad bit more than I did with the Rival 600’s much smoother grips. That’s not to say that the Rival 600’s grips were in any way ineffective. I just felt that the Rival 310’s grips were, well, more grip-able in comparison.
Continue onto Features, Performance, and Final Thoughts…