How do you improve upon one of the best gaming mice ever conceived? According to SteelSeries, you remove its wires, add a rubberized finish and conclude the process by including a nice and long-lasting battery so that your gaming sessions can last as long as you want.
Upon first hearing about SteelSeries' decision, I was honestly baffled, a wireless hardcore gaming mouse? A thing of science fiction surely!
Joking aside, there are a few wireless gaming mice out there that perform really well, particularly the G700S from Logitech and both the Mamba and Ouroboros from Razer. That's definitely some tough competition, can the Sensei Wireless surpass them? Let's find out.
As with previous products that we've reviewed from SteelSeries, the packaging of the Sensei Wireless does not disappoint. Visually it has a very attractive design, keeping SteelSeries traditional orange and black color scheme. In terms of protection, it also excels, ensuring that your peripheral will arrive in pristine conditions in most cases.
Inside you won't find a great deal of accessories unfortunately, besides the actual mouse and charging base, you will encounter the manual, a usb cable and finally a sticker with the SteelSeries logo. For a product that costs around 160€ at the moment of this review, this lack of extras is a bit disappointing.
Visually this new iteration of the Sensei does not distort the original design, it perfects a few details here and there, keeping everything else pretty much unchanged. For people who loved the original Sensei then this will be good news, if on the other hand you never really liked the minimalist design, then this Wireless revision probably won't change your mind.
One of the changes made by SteelSeries was the addition of a rubberized surface very similar to the one found on the Rival (Our review: Link), this apparently small change adds a new level of comfort to an already extremely pleasant product.
Functionality-wise don't expect to find any differences in this wireless revision, this is a good thing mind you. The Sensei Wireless delivers the same performance as the wired version, keeping input lag out of this equation thanks to its proprietary 2.4 GHz wireless connection.
On the other end of the aforementioned wireless connection, you will encounter a very sexy and very well built charging base. It not only looks good but will also be able to provide you, the player, with a bit of visual information regarding how much battery is left on the mouse. Customization is obviously an option here as well, if you don't like the default color scheme just change it in the "Engine 3" software. This is also true for the LED's present in the actual mouse.
Finally let's talk about the build quality, I've been using this new Sensei for a couple of months now and I've gotta say that it is top notch in terms of construction. A small feature that shows great attention to detail is the the metallic "outline" present on the charging base, it may or may not be pointless in terms structure integrity, but it certainly looks good.
Final Thoughts
Going wireless was certainly a risky move by SteelSeries, fortunately it seems that this revision of the Sensei has everything to be another success. Yes, the price tag is certainly an obstacle that will keep some people away, on the other hand, the sturdy construction ensures that the Sensei Wireless will last you for a very long time.
At the end of the day it's up to you to decide if these upgrades are reason enough for you to spend the extra cash.
The Good
+Wireless without latency
+Precise
+Sturdy construction
+Minimalist design
+Customization options
+Comfortable
+Long battery life
+Ambidextrous design
The Bad
-Lack of extras
-Price
Thanks to SteelSeries for providing the review sample
Looks great but its to expensive. I keep mine normal Sensei.
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