Though many PC gamers prefer wired mice for their responsiveness and reliability, there is a growing handful of good wireless options on the market from some of the industry leaders such as Logitech, Razer, and SteelSeries.
The latter already has one wireless model available in the Rival 650 wireless. Coming in at $120, though, it may be out of reach for some gamers looking to make the transition or upgrade.
Looking to provide more options to a broader audience, SteelSeries has recently introduced the more affordable, $50 Rival 3 Wireless.
The wireless mouse boasts 400 hours of battery life, translating to more than 16 days between replacing batteries (the Rival 3 Wireless can hold up to three AAA batteries or just one to decrease weight). That maximum charge is more than the Razer Naga Pro and Logitech’s G903, though the latter does have the option to infini-charge via the PowerPlay charging mat.
According to SteelSeries, the Rival 3 Wireless features a new iteration on the company’s TrueMove Sensor, which has been the centerpiece for some of its other gaming mice, including the Rival 310 and Sensei 310, the Rival 110, and the Rival 3 (wired). This time, though, the TrueMove is called the TrueMove Air, “a custom 18,000 CPI, 400 IPS, 40G sensor developed with PixArt to ensure best-in-class performance in both 2.4GHz and Bluetooth modes…”
Rounding out its feature set, the Rival 3 Wireless employs Quantum 2.0 wireless. The selling points here are that the technology is super fast and powerful while eliminating packet loss.
A SteelSeries press release says that “the [mouse’s] 2.4GHz wireless USB connection allows gamers to take full advantage of the 1000Hz polling rate … and provides an ultra-low latency 1ms response time…”
For anyone gaming in a signal-loud environment, where multiple wireless signals may compete with the Rival 3 Wireless, Quantum 2.0 also features automatic channel optimization, which essentially equates to a more secure connection between the mouse and a laptop or PC.
We haven’t tried out the Rival 3 Wireless, so we can’t say that all of this works as intended, but at just $50, it does sound enticing. Head over to the SteelSeries website for more info (or to pick one up) if you’re interested.
