Amazon.com: Customer reviews: SteelSeries Sensei Laser Gaming Mouse

Top positive review

Subtle elegance and superior design.

Reviewed in the United States on July 23, 2013

I was in the market for a new mouse and had my eyes on the Perixx MX-2000B, which is a little more than half the price of this mouse. I needed something that would play nice with PC and Mac as well as be suitable for gaming as well as Adobe Illustrator (Illustrator really benefits from an accurate, high-performance mouse with a CPI toggle - all those tiny anchor points...). After reading a few recommendations to invest in a symmetrical, ambidextrous mouse as the ergonomics of many radically designed gaming mice may or may not fit one's specific hand shape, I investigated the Sensei Raw. The design was much simpler and aesthetically pleasing than the MX-2000B, and I dug the less-is-more philosophy. Plus, SteelSeries is a reputable brand that is much respected by professional gamers.

The first thing I noticed was the build quality. This mouse looks really nice. I expected it to look cheap from the pictures, but that is definitely not the case. The rubberized coating is very sleek and feels silky smooth to the touch; I found myself just wanting to rub this mouse it was so pleasingly tactile, like a puppy. The nylon sleeved cable is very attractive and sturdy and holds its shape, keeping it from interfering with mouse movement. I feared the lights would be obnoxious, but they are quite classy and subtle, even at the brightest setting. Although I prefer to have the light steady, I do feel the pulse settings would look nicer if the light didn't dim to completely off in the pulse cycle and instead dimmed to very low before brightening again.

The ergonomics of the mouse are excellent. I could not have asked for a more comfortable mouse for long periods of use. It pretty much disappears beneath your hand. I expected the mouse to be on the small size, but it is quite big - not too big - and comfy. The weight is exactly what I expect from a mouse, with just a little weight so your know it's there without too much heft bogging it down. It fits in the hand perfectly with a palm grip and all but 2 of the buttons are conveniently placed. The two buttons which cause problems are the ring-finger on the right-hand side of the mouse. The only reason they are not perfectly ergonomic is because this mouse is ambidextrous and they are there as thumb buttons for left-handed users, so I really can not count it as a detriment. Other reviews complain that the side buttons are too easily pressed, this really only applies the the ring finger buttons. The thumb buttons are situated comfortably above the thumb and easily and quickly pressed. If the ring finger buttons cause problems for the user, they are easily disabled through the driver front-end, as are all the buttons.

The buttons are clicky, but not too loud, and provide the perfect amount of feedback. If you are a twitch gamer, you will appreciate the very minuscule amount of travel in the left and right mouse buttons. The only button that feels any bit mushy is the scroll wheel button, but this seems to be the case with every mouse I have ever used. The scroll wheel does provide a satisfying click once it has been fully depressed. The scrolling function feels perfectly adequate, however. There could be some more definition between the thumb buttons, but I had no problem distinguishing between the two nor any issues accidentally pressing both at the same time. The CPI button is in the expected, industry standard place, but I wonder if CPI buttons wouldn't be more ergonomic in front of the scroll wheel, rather than behind.

The guts of this mouse are top-notch. At 1000 MHz polling rates, everything is buttery smooth and there are no hiccups. I have also tried it at 500 MHz and it is extremely smooth as well. I haven't pushed it to the highest CPI settings to see if as I only have 1 monitor and no need for 5700 CPI, so I can not comment on it's performance at such high settings. I currently have mine set to 990 cpi (LED on) and 1800 cpi (LED off) for my 1920 x 1200 monitor.

While on the subject of CPI, one limitation I begrudge is that the user can only define two cpi settings to toggle. I found myself initially wanting a 3rd option, however that would add complexity to the mouse buttons and I don't realistically see myself using more than 2 and potentially ignoring the 3rd setting. In the end, I am happy that SteelSeries opted for simplicity in this regard.

Another minor setback is the lack of horizontal scrolling. When using Photoshop and Illustrator, it is nice to be able to quickly scroll left and right. There is absolutely no better mouse for this purpose than the Apple Mighty Mouse (now simply calledApple Wired Mouse) with it's scroll ball. However, I (not so) simply edited the hand shortcut in these applications to use one of the thumb buttons and all is right in the world. It would be easier to adapt if I could set multiple profiles to the mouse that could detect what program I am using, but it's not a big setback.

The driver front end works well and has access to all the settings one would need. The user can record macros or program their own. Every button can be remapped to any macro, key stroke or other mouse button. It does take up a fair amount of memory for a "driver," but one can save the settings and close the program as most essential information is stored on-board the mouse itself, freeing 100 MB or so of memory. Macros will not be saved, including keyboard functions. DPI, polling rate, and the light settings will be saved.

Did I mention how good the surface feels? It's a tiny kitten, resting beneath the palm of my hand. I highly recommend the rubberized variant.

This a mouse that performs exceptionally well, keeps things simple and intuitive and that I am not embarrassed to have sitting on my desk like I would many other "gaming grade" mice. One can tell the engineers were thinking like engineers before they were thinking like gamers.

PROS:
+ Sleek, attractive. Dare I say "beautiful?"
+ Feels wonderful and comfortable
+ Simple features keep it intuitive
+ Highest-grade materials and components
+ Straight-forward, yet flexible customization

CONS:
- Inconvenient to switch profiles
- Lacks a third CPI toggle for those that need it
- If a multituted features is important, there are mice in the same price-range (or cheaper) with many more buttons and settings that you may or may not ever use
- Bloated driver

14 people found this helpful

Top critical review

Critical reviews›

Tee Cee

DO NOT BUY!!! READ THIS BEFORE PURCHASING!!!

Reviewed in the United States on July 1, 2015

3rd Update

Giving it 1 Star now.

So as I said before I've had this mouse for 2 months now and the scrolling in the mouse is practically broken now. When I scroll down, it jumps up randomly. Which happens quite frequently when I scroll down a page.

So I thought maybe it was a driver issue, which turns out to be WRONG.
Look for solution for this (because I actually like the mouse now) I browsed the internet for a solution.
Well looks like this is a COMMON occurrence because I'm finding more and more people logging in this issue.

Found a blog of a guy who has the exact same issue as I do. And he points out it's a hardware issue caused by poor design and poor quality. I wouldn't be so pissed if I was able to fix this issue BY MYSELF, but the only way to open the mouse is by REMOVING THE SKATES (the plastic the mouse glides on) on the bottom. Which is held by glue.

http://www.pier78.ga/2014/11/fixed-steelseries-sensei-rubberized-raw.html
----------------------------------------------------------
2nd Update

It's been past my 30 day warranty and currently started noticing that the scroll is acting up.
I'll scroll down while browsing and the mouse will randomly "reverse" scrolling up instead every once in a while. Once in a while meaning, randomly while scrolling 5 times it will flick up and stop scrolling randomly 3 times.

You can see another user having the same issue in this video. http://www.screenr.com/qjJH

Big disappointment. Only lasted good 2 months. Rating lowered from 5 stars to 3.
---------------------------------------------------------
Update.

The rubber coating is less slick now. :) I'm EXTREMELY happy with this mouse.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I got the mouse today and after 2-3 hours of gaming this is my opinion.
I upgrade to this from a Logitech G5 mouse. So I have high standards.

Pros:
It's light.
Buttons feels nice.
It's not big/but not too small.
Looks nice.
Design is ergonomic.
Comfortable.
Good for "claw" grip. Not much space for palming.

Cons:
No gold plating on the USB.
Rubber isn't really rubber. It feels like rubber coated plastic.
The rubber doesn't offer additional traction.
The rubber also is very slippery. My hands feel "slick" after I've held it for a few hours. I'm assuming it's from the rubber and coating which prevents it from drying up.
2 settings for sensitivity.
Has a lot of space between the mouse body and the buttons, which I assume will lead to collecting dust later on.
The cord drags and creates little bit of drag.

Final Thoughts:
Over all the mouse is comfortable which is the biggest plus and it's very nice so far.
Out of Razer Deathadder, Ankor, Redragon and few other mice, this is a keeper for me. Long as this slippery sensation from the rubber coating wears off after a while.

If it wasn't for the horrible slippery feeling and some traction to this rubber, I would of gave it 5 stars.

Final test will be playing BF4 and Arma 3.

2 people found this helpful

2,259 total ratings, 1,971 with reviews

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From the United States

KF Mush

Subtle elegance and superior design.

Reviewed in the United States on July 23, 2013

Verified Purchase

I was in the market for a new mouse and had my eyes on the Perixx MX-2000B, which is a little more than half the price of this mouse. I needed something that would play nice with PC and Mac as well as be suitable for gaming as well as Adobe Illustrator (Illustrator really benefits from an accurate, high-performance mouse with a CPI toggle - all those tiny anchor points...). After reading a few recommendations to invest in a symmetrical, ambidextrous mouse as the ergonomics of many radically designed gaming mice may or may not fit one's specific hand shape, I investigated the Sensei Raw. The design was much simpler and aesthetically pleasing than the MX-2000B, and I dug the less-is-more philosophy. Plus, SteelSeries is a reputable brand that is much respected by professional gamers.

The first thing I noticed was the build quality. This mouse looks really nice. I expected it to look cheap from the pictures, but that is definitely not the case. The rubberized coating is very sleek and feels silky smooth to the touch; I found myself just wanting to rub this mouse it was so pleasingly tactile, like a puppy. The nylon sleeved cable is very attractive and sturdy and holds its shape, keeping it from interfering with mouse movement. I feared the lights would be obnoxious, but they are quite classy and subtle, even at the brightest setting. Although I prefer to have the light steady, I do feel the pulse settings would look nicer if the light didn't dim to completely off in the pulse cycle and instead dimmed to very low before brightening again.

The ergonomics of the mouse are excellent. I could not have asked for a more comfortable mouse for long periods of use. It pretty much disappears beneath your hand. I expected the mouse to be on the small size, but it is quite big - not too big - and comfy. The weight is exactly what I expect from a mouse, with just a little weight so your know it's there without too much heft bogging it down. It fits in the hand perfectly with a palm grip and all but 2 of the buttons are conveniently placed. The two buttons which cause problems are the ring-finger on the right-hand side of the mouse. The only reason they are not perfectly ergonomic is because this mouse is ambidextrous and they are there as thumb buttons for left-handed users, so I really can not count it as a detriment. Other reviews complain that the side buttons are too easily pressed, this really only applies the the ring finger buttons. The thumb buttons are situated comfortably above the thumb and easily and quickly pressed. If the ring finger buttons cause problems for the user, they are easily disabled through the driver front-end, as are all the buttons.

The buttons are clicky, but not too loud, and provide the perfect amount of feedback. If you are a twitch gamer, you will appreciate the very minuscule amount of travel in the left and right mouse buttons. The only button that feels any bit mushy is the scroll wheel button, but this seems to be the case with every mouse I have ever used. The scroll wheel does provide a satisfying click once it has been fully depressed. The scrolling function feels perfectly adequate, however. There could be some more definition between the thumb buttons, but I had no problem distinguishing between the two nor any issues accidentally pressing both at the same time. The CPI button is in the expected, industry standard place, but I wonder if CPI buttons wouldn't be more ergonomic in front of the scroll wheel, rather than behind.

The guts of this mouse are top-notch. At 1000 MHz polling rates, everything is buttery smooth and there are no hiccups. I have also tried it at 500 MHz and it is extremely smooth as well. I haven't pushed it to the highest CPI settings to see if as I only have 1 monitor and no need for 5700 CPI, so I can not comment on it's performance at such high settings. I currently have mine set to 990 cpi (LED on) and 1800 cpi (LED off) for my 1920 x 1200 monitor.

While on the subject of CPI, one limitation I begrudge is that the user can only define two cpi settings to toggle. I found myself initially wanting a 3rd option, however that would add complexity to the mouse buttons and I don't realistically see myself using more than 2 and potentially ignoring the 3rd setting. In the end, I am happy that SteelSeries opted for simplicity in this regard.

Another minor setback is the lack of horizontal scrolling. When using Photoshop and Illustrator, it is nice to be able to quickly scroll left and right. There is absolutely no better mouse for this purpose than the Apple Mighty Mouse (now simply called Apple Wired Mouse ) with it's scroll ball. However, I (not so) simply edited the hand shortcut in these applications to use one of the thumb buttons and all is right in the world. It would be easier to adapt if I could set multiple profiles to the mouse that could detect what program I am using, but it's not a big setback.

The driver front end works well and has access to all the settings one would need. The user can record macros or program their own. Every button can be remapped to any macro, key stroke or other mouse button. It does take up a fair amount of memory for a "driver," but one can save the settings and close the program as most essential information is stored on-board the mouse itself, freeing 100 MB or so of memory. Macros will not be saved, including keyboard functions. DPI, polling rate, and the light settings will be saved.

Did I mention how good the surface feels? It's a tiny kitten, resting beneath the palm of my hand. I highly recommend the rubberized variant.

This a mouse that performs exceptionally well, keeps things simple and intuitive and that I am not embarrassed to have sitting on my desk like I would many other "gaming grade" mice. One can tell the engineers were thinking like engineers before they were thinking like gamers.

PROS:
+ Sleek, attractive. Dare I say "beautiful?"
+ Feels wonderful and comfortable
+ Simple features keep it intuitive
+ Highest-grade materials and components
+ Straight-forward, yet flexible customization

CONS:
- Inconvenient to switch profiles
- Lacks a third CPI toggle for those that need it
- If a multituted features is important, there are mice in the same price-range (or cheaper) with many more buttons and settings that you may or may not ever use
- Bloated driver

14 people found this helpful

Helpful

Nine Five Garage

A perfect balance of features and simplicity

Reviewed in the United States on May 1, 2015

Style: Sensei RAWColor: Frost BlueVerified Purchase

For the past couple years, I've been using a wireless Logitech mouse that I really like, but after needing to replace it twice, and getting sick of replacing batteries, I decided to go back to a wired mouse.

I arrived at the Sensei mouse after reading a lot of reviews and wanting something built well for gaming but not too ridiculous to also use for mundane work tasks, which is my primary use for this mouse. I don't need 999 buttons on my mouse, but I still really love the extra buttons it does have (for easier web browsing, scrolling, etc), and the fact that they are easily programmable. It's the perfect middle ground for tech-savvy users who don't necessarily game 24/7.

*Setup*

Getting this mouse set up was about as easy as you would expect. You can either go the plug-and-play route (drivers automatically install), or if you want more control over customization, you can go the extra (optional) step of installing the SteelSeries Engine software. I would highly recommend doing this, if nothing else than for the firmware updates.

*SteelSeries Engine*

This free application basically interfaces with all your SteelSeries devices, to give you full customization options, profiles, LED controls, and firmware updates. The very first thing I did with my Sensei was click the alert stating that there was a firmware update available. Updating the firmware only took one click and less than one minute; super easy.

While not all devices are compatible with the newer SteelSeries Engine 3, luckily the Sensei RAW is, which is great because SSE2 was more bloated and less stable from my experience. Upgrading to SSE3 was a big step up, and I really like it.

Using SSE3, you can also fine-tune mouse sensitivity, polling rate, and customize/map all of your buttons however you see fit. The application's interface is very intuitive, easy to navigate, and has pretty much all the features you would expect.

*Hardware*

First of all, this is a laser mouse, not an optical mouse, which I'll leave up to you to decide if that's good or not. There are pros and cons to each, and I'm not religiously committed to either type. Laser mice do typically have higher CPI, but how much that matters, and whether it's worth trading off other benefits of optical mice is up for debate. Anyway, here are the raw specs:

CPI: 5670 (Counts per inch)
Clicks: 30M (Number of average clicks it's rated to handle over its lifetime)
Response: 1ms (How quickly the mouse responds to your actions)
Force: 30g
Programmable buttons: 7
Lighting: 3 zone (scroll wheel, CPI indicator, logo)
Weight: 90 grams (0.2 lbs)
Height: 38.7 mm (1.5 in)
Width: 68.3 mm (2.7 in)
Length: 125.5 mm (4.9 in)
Ambidextrous Shape

The USB cable is also sufficiently long, enough for me to need velcro ties to limit the amount of lose cable on my desk. But mine is plugged into a USB hub instead of directly into my computer. The frost blue version has a gray unbraided cable, while the heat orage has a black & orage braided cable. Worth noting since the product description incorrectly describes the frost blue edition as braided.

*Summary*

After using it for awhile now, I can definitely say I have no regrets in purchasing this mouse. It looks great, especially with my matching mouse pad and headphones, and performs even better. The SSE software lets me customize the mouse to my liking, and its movements are quick and accurate. There is a lot to love about this mouse, and not much not to like. As you can see in my photos, I actually liked it enough to also buy it in black/heat orange.

Pros:
[+] Awesome appearance, especially when paired with matching SteelSeries mouse pad and/or headphones
[+] Love the pulsing blue/orange LEDs
[+] Movements are smooth, quick, and accurate
[+] USB cable is sufficiently long to make it around a fairly large desk into a PC
[+] SteelSeries Engine software makes firmware updates, profiles, button mapping, and device customization super easy
[+] The physical hardware has a very high quality look and feel, despite it being primarily plastic

Cons:
[-] White / Frost Blue edition doesn't have the braided cable that the Black / Heat Orange does for some reason (this is not stated on the product description page)

Other:
[*] After a long time of using a rubber mouse before this high-gloss plastic, it's a hard feel for me to get used to. This is subjective, so just make sure you know which material suits you better before choosing which one to get.

11 people found this helpful

Helpful

Jason S.

Great mouse despite slightly misleading features

Reviewed in the United States on October 5, 2013

Verified Purchase

I've been looking for a good mouse for the past few weeks and decided upon the Sensei. Despite being two years old, it is still basically the best 9500 based mouse out there. Even though it is a laser sensor, the custom firmware SteelSeries developed makes acceleration almost non-existent. It isn't completely gone, though it's somewhere in the range of 1% or lower which is practically imperceptible. The ergonomics of this mouse are really good for being an ambidextrous design. I have normal average sized hands and never have a problem accidentally clicking side buttons. The weight is good, the balance from front to back is about even so sudden side flicks aren't either too sharp or dull since the mouse pivots naturally with your hand. The gliding pads are good, though I wish they were beveled, however no manufacturer does this so it's sort of a moot point. The cord is great, seems to be very high quality and the connector is gold or gold plated which is very nice. The main left and right switches are perfect. I can comfortably rest my fingers on them without activating them, though it doesn't require much pressure at all to press them. They have great feedback too, springy and loud but not overly so. I'm positive they're Omron switches though I don't believe the side switches are the same.

Now for the bad stuff, or rather, misleading stuff. The advertisements on the box, website, literature, whatever all say the same thing but some of it isn't true. First and foremost, there are only a handful of colors that the built-in LED's can produce. The LED's are blue, red, yellow/orange, and green. They can go half intensity or full intensity and that sort of limits the colors available. They can basically only display primary, secondary, and some tertiary colors. In the software you can set any color you want, however the mouse LED's will just produce the closest color to one you chose out of the aforementioned color combinations. Not a big deal, I do like the "white" since it's a swirl of light blue and light purple--which looks especially striking on the SteelSeries logo on the back. Second, the sensor is capable of going to about 5700 CPI, however it does so in steps of 90. In the software, you are able to set the CPI in increments of 1 CPI, so I guess they are going to the closest natural CPI and interpolating up or down to get the desired CPI. Again, not a major issue, but a little misleading. Finally, the Sensei can store five profiles, each profile having two CPI settings. However, the first profile slot is reserved for an undefinable default profile. Again, not a major problem. I play two different genres of games as well as use this mouse for work and I still have an extra profile slot left.

Now with those minor faults and with the mouse being two years old, I have one overwhelming reason to recommend this mouse: after you have your profiles customized, loaded, and stored on the mouse, you can uninstall the SteelSeries Engine and switch profiles using the LCD on the bottom of the mouse. This is a huge plus for anyone who has had to deal with Logitech's conflicting software, Razer's "cloud" software, or any of the other bloated and resource sucking manufacturer software packages out there. No driver crashes, no software freezes, no sudden resource usage spikes... I can confidently recommend this mouse if only for that reason.

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

N. Johnson

Fantastic piece of hardware: Not for the casual user.

Reviewed in the United States on March 2, 2012

Verified Purchase

After a lot of research I decided that this was the mouse for me. My two biggest criteria were adjustable CPI and buttons on both sides of the mouse (beyond left and right click, of course). The Sensei fit the bill and the size and shape were approximately the same as my beloved Intellimouse Explorer 1.0A.

I'm going to save some of you some reading at this point. If you don't already know why you're buying an adjustable CPI mouse for $80 then you really should look elsewhere because this mouse isn't for someone who doesn't enjoy tweaking their computer. If a term like "upgrading firmware" is something that you've heard your nephew or grandson talking about then save your money and buy a $10 standard USB mouse, you really won't be able to tell the difference.

If you're still with me then I'll dig a little deeper into this wonderful piece of hardware.

The only reason this is not a five star review is because the side buttons are smaller than I'd like which makes them a bit more of a challenge to access in my fingertip grip (I squeeze the mouse to press the side buttons without actually engaging them with a fingertip). That being said, it's a very simple adjustment for me to make to utilize this mouse exactly like my old one.

The buttons on the Sensei are firm and utilize microswitches that feel crisp and accurate. The mouse wheel is comfortable and precise. The switch to change CPI is in a somewhat awkward place, although this does appear to be an industry standard for the most part. You cannot re-program that CPI button, nor can you re-map another button to access that function. All of the other buttons are fully programmable and can be made to interface your browser's forward/back function (more on that later). That means that you have a true 5 button mouse (including mousewheel click) plus two key-programmable buttons but you can move the actual button assignments anywhere you like.

Once you get your mouse the first thing you'll want to do is manually upgrade the firmware using the latest update tool from the Steelseries website. Be sure to use a USB 3.0 port if you have one, Steelseries recommends this on their website. Read the instruction manual while it updates, it won't take long (there must be 85 different languages, don't let the thick manual fool you, there are only four pages of instructions in the box). I found that the Steelseries Engine didn't really seem to like trying to do the upgrade and it was much simpler to just use the separate tool and be done with it. If you can, don't unplug your old mouse until you've updated the firmware successfully. If, for some reason the upgrade fails (mine did the first time) then, surprise surprise, the Sensei doesn't work as a mouse and you can't click to close the dialog box telling you that it failed. Yeah, yeah, I didn't care to try to do it with the keyboard. Leave the old mouse plugged in, you won't regret it. Once you've got the Sensei working as a plug-and-play mouse then you can disconnect your old mouse and you're ready for the fun part: The Steelseries Engine.

The configuration software is, somewhat necessarily, complex. I would recommend reading the online PDF manual for the software, but that won't do you a lot of good. Steelseries has chosen to make the manual for the Steelseries Engine read like an advertisement. It simply touts all of the actual terminology for the fancy made-up names that they've given all of the features that made you want to buy an $80 piece of hardware in the first place. They spend no time whatsoever explaining what order you should do anything or where any of the actual controls are in their software. The claims in some reviews that the software is buggy seem to be unfounded, in my experience. I am running the software on Windows 7 Professional x64 and, at worst, noticed a couple of times where the software would seem to pause momentarily before loading a tab in the configuration or closing down. I assume this is due to it interfacing with the processor of the mouse (which it does liberally). In fact, it likes to interface with the mouse so often that even something as simple as trying to create a new profile for the mouse causes the Sensei to switch to that profile as you're creating it. There's nothing in the world like trying to back down the CPI from 8000 to something more reasonable while your mouse cursor flies around the screen like a mosquito on crack.

The Engine interface is divided up into several sections. Down the left side is your device list (I only have the Sensei) and below that is the profile list. Again, clicking on a profile will immediately (ok, not immediately, there is an agonizing delay from time to time) activate that profile on your Sensei. Only click on that profile if you really mean it. Once you have the profile selected that you want to work on then you can go to the tabs in the center section and choose from the following five options:

1. Buttons - This is where you do your basic and advanced button assignment. If you don't like how the buttons are configured (I like browser forward and browser back on opposite sides of the mouse contrary to the default) then you can just drag and drop the dash-outlined definitions to another button. This part is really nice. If you want to assign a keyboard shortcut then that is done here as well, along with macro programming (incl delays). All nice and straight forward. "Why are there color assignments for the buttons?" you may ask. Go ask someone else, I don't know why they have that either. The LED configuration takes place on a different page entirely and, as far as I can tell, those color and font assignments are only for inside the Steelseries Engine. Maybe if they had written a decent manual then we would know what they were thinking, but they didn't.

2. On Board Profiles - This should be the last tab, but it's not. Once you have your profiles all set up and ready to go then simply drag them from the left side of the engine into any of these 5 preset slots and they'll be uploaded to the Sensei's memory for recall through the mouse buttons, if you so choose. The only reasons I can think of to actually use the memory presets are if you are the kind of person who takes your own mouse over to your friend's house because his mouse sucks or if you'd like to rid yourself of the Steelseries Engine after your configuration is done. I'll explain shortly why I keep it running. It's worth mentioning here that updating a profile on the computer does NOT update it inside the Sensei. After you have made changes to one of your profiles you'll need to come back to this tab and re-drag it onto the mouse to update the stored profile.

3. Settings - This is the meat of why you paid $80 for a mouse. All of the fancy features that you've read about online and in the four pages of manual are here. Go to town, make it what you want it to be. Don't forget to save (it's pretty good about reminding you).

4. Properties - This page is the one reason to keep the Steelseries Engine running after you've finished your profile configurations. This page allows you to associate a profile with multiple executable (and other type) files. When they are the focus window then the engine automatically loads the associated profile. You're not limited to 5 profiles in the engine software and so far I've associated one of my profiles with 13 different programs. I'd tell you if there was a limit but the Steelseries Engine manual... oh, we've done this before. The automatic profile switching has been flawless so far. It's accurate, quick (it loads the profile almost instantly, no delays like when you click on a profile in the engine) and really fun to watch the lights change colors when I fire up a first person shooter after closing Photoshop. They did this so right that I'm perfectly willing to give all of the other flaws of their program a pass.

5. Statistics - This page is for the same people who like to sift through 4MB log files to find out how many times the vertical text spells a word. If you're one of those people then please, by all means, do a write up on this page. It appears as though you can start a monitoring program that will tell you how many times you click each button. I couldn't possibly care less, but if it floats your boat, have at it.

Once your configurations are complete, the mouse is a dream. It really is a nice feel on the mousepad (I use a 3M Precise Mousing Surface, not the Steelseries mats) and has tracked flawlessly in every application I've run it through. I love the shape of it, having gone directly to it from my Intellimouse Explorer 1.0A. The full configurability does make it 100% ambidextrous and the cloth-wrapped cord looks fairly durable, although I've met me, so no bets. The shell, despite some conjecture in some reviews is NOT metal, just a metallicized plastic. I haven't had any problems with it slipping, nor is it too big for my average sized hands. The adjustable CPI works exactly as advertised and has already improved my experience gaming, web surfing and photo editing. I couldn't ask for more (except maybe those bigger buttons on the side that I mentioned earlier).

So, there it is, everything you wanted to know about the Steelseries Sensei coupled with the Steelseries Engine that you couldn't find out by installing the engine ahead of time, reading the Steelseries website or reading the fake review that was artificially bumped to the top of Amazon's review list. I hope I've been informative and at least a little entertaining.

27 people found this helpful

Helpful

Krakissi

Great Geek Mouse

Reviewed in the United States on April 15, 2013

Verified Purchase

I'm a programmer and electronics enthusiast. When I saw the tech behind this mouse, I knew I had to have it. An on-board ARM CPU that handles all the fine details of smoothing out input, plus being able to make adjustments to tracking resolution and other settings without even needing the software, it was just too cool. But is it actually a good mouse?

- Heavy
I assume because of all the electronics inside, this mouse is relatively heavy. I like a heavy mouse, but you should be aware of this.

- Ambidextrous
I'm not a big fan of ambidextrous mice; I wouldn't normally buy one. This mouse feels very good, but you need to be aware of your gripping style. If you use two fingers on the top of the mouse, such that your pointer finger is on the left button and your middle finger is on the right, your ring finger will probably be in a bad place, and you will accidentally hit the side buttons. If you hold the mouse with three fingers across the top, dedicating the middle to the scroll wheel and the ring to the right mouse button, you will not have this problem. I wasn't aware of the side button issue until I read other reviews, and deduced that that was how they were holding the mouse.
tl;dr: If you don't use your ring finger on the right mouse button, you're gonna have a bad time.

- High Resolution
The "CPI" settings allow for some pretty intense tracking resolution. In real world use, I keep this setting at less than 2000. The button on the top of the mouse lets you toggle, and you can set a color for each state in the current profile that the above it will show.

- Build Quality
Some reviewers complained of switch build quality. No issues yet, it has been extremely reliable for me. I typically play Counter-Strike and World of Warcraft. I do not play Diablo III or League of Legends, where players typically click constantly and rapidly, so it remains to be seen if the switches will fail.

- Lighting
Having so many color choices is very cool, and you can light the scrollwheel, CPI indicator, and logo separately from each other. It's worth noting that the LEDs blink briefly when you press the CPI toggle button, as if the CPU in the mouse has reset in some way.

I love this mouse. It has just enough buttons and the software works well for making macros. The on-board computer is fun to play with and having your own logo on the bottom screen is neat. Depending on your grip you may have serious trouble using this mouse. Do not buy this mouse if you use your middle finger on the right button and let the ring finger rest on the side of your mouse.

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Tee Cee

DO NOT BUY!!! READ THIS BEFORE PURCHASING!!!

Reviewed in the United States on July 1, 2015

Style: Sensei RAWColor: Rubberized BlackVerified Purchase

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Castellan Chris

Steelseries' "Grasshopper"

Reviewed in the United States on October 12, 2011

Verified Purchase

Ok I promise to try to keep this review short. I always get carried away!

I got my Steelseries Sensei in the mail about a week ago from TigerDirect. My initial impression was very favorable. The packaging was nice, and the mouse's finish is very pretty/different. I am getting bored of all these black mice. The metal looking finish is quite shiny, the mouse also has some very nice details. Braided cables which have a very fine weave. More fine than my Logitech G9. The USB connector is also gold plated. So if your thinking about purchasing one of these I will give you some good and bad points, from a consumer perspective.

PROS:

Braided cable, I really like these its a sign of craftsmanship.

Gold USB connector, another nice touch, does it increase electical conductivity? Dont know, dont care. Craftsmanship.

2 DPI settings- that you can switch on the fly and you can program 2 different color LED lights to show you which setting your in. Default is 1600 DPI/3200 DPI I believe. I have mine at 1800/2600. Slower one for browsing faster one for gaming. (A note on DPI, I dont know what the max on this mouse is, I think its 5000 something..but MOST people wont ever go over 3,000 Manufactures like to market themselves for the DPI but it really dosent matter. The quality of lazer and smoothness is more important)and this ones smooth. More smooth than my Logitech and Razer.

Software- Not really a pro or con for me, I think the software has too much information/programs. You can do a whole bunch of stuff with your mouse, they say the Sensei has some kind of little computer in it, go read the website if you want all the features but I dont really use any of them. Supposedly one will help you draw straight lines etc.

CONS:

Custom Color LED's- Dont buy into that whole "make 100000" different type of colors scam. This mouse is only capable of being maybe 6 colors. Different hues of red basically look the same, the preset colors are the ones that work the best, if you tinker around with the color wheel you cant tell the difference. One annoying thing is that there is no White. I wanted white LED's to match my whole Steelseries setup, but the Sensei's White has a light pink/purplish hue. Preset colors are all very vibrant however, just dont bother adjusting the color wheel outcome will be the same.

Possible RMA- My mouse's scroll wheel sometimes registers a single click as two. Randomly it appears, I have tried to find out whats wrong with it but to no avail. I have emailed Tigerdirect, and I will write Steelserie's Support also to see what my options are.

Ambidextrous setup- I dont like the ambi set up. All you left handed guys, go get a left handed mouse. The Sensei's right side buttons are difficult to click their positioned in the middle of your pinkie/ring finger gap so you dont naturally touch them. Atleast I dont the way I hold my mouse, with my palm on the desk and fingers on the mouse I believe this is called the "claw". So try hitting those buttons when your playing a FPS game. If your ring and pinkey are not touching the mouse their trying to find the side buttons how is your mouse stabilized? How will you have control with only your thumb, index and middle finger holding the mouse? If they moved these two buttons down a little maybe it would be better.

Dirty- The metallic plastic finish, although pretty, gets dirty so easily. I am baffled how. I wash my hands before I get on my computer, I also dont eat anything while on my computer and every now and then will use some Purell hand sanitizer on my hands. And yes still this grime has built up on the finish. I wipe it off with a tissue and there is no color so I am unsure whats going on here. Anyways thats the down low, its pretty and shiny but will get dirty.

Sidenote- My Steelseries 6GV2 has already been RMA'ed so I am not impressed with Steelseries quality, The only thing that hasnt been RMA'ed is the Mousepad! Their expensive and market themselves to be the best however from my experience I wont be a repeat customer. I WISH I could just exchange the keyboard for a DAS Pro S. And since my Sensei is now acting up I am using my Logitech G9. I also have a Razer Deathaddler, and both of those companies have (in my experience) put out better products than Steelseries.

BOTTOM LINE: So if you skipped all that text and want the skinny:
Q- "Is this your current favourite mouse?"
A- "No, I like the Logitech G9 better because its heavier and feels more natural to me"

Q- "I cant decide! Steelseries or Razer?!"
A- "I have never owned a Razer keyboard but I have had a Deathaddler for 6 years and that mouse STILL works. My Steelseries is not even two weeks old, and along with its keyboard brother is in the process of being RMA'ed. Razer products are also very shiny and very black, so they will be fingerprint magnets." My experiences with the company)

So I hope this helped in any way. I am not saying unboxing videos and reviews are bad but they are indeed overhyped and biased. I thught you guys would like to hear it first from a actual owner. So whatever you decide do some research and talk to actual consumers.

Good luck on the mouse hunt!

Chris

IMPORTANT UPDATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

*********EDIT: 10/14/2011**********
As of today I have demoted this mouse to a 2 star product. After I installed the Steelseries Engine I clicked "Steelseries Firmware Repair Tool" thinking it would fix my scroll wheel problem as I read online it might be driver related. This was a fatal mistake, during downloading of the firmware the program crashed. Now my mouse's LED keeps blinking blue. The scroll wheel and side buttons are all inoperable. The Steelseries Engine does not recognize my mouse. Now I cannot even click the "Firmware Repair Tool" it crashes the second it loads. I have had absolute terrible experience with the Steelseries company. I am a First and LAST time buyer. Christmas I am swapping the Steelseries 6GV2 for a Das or Filco, so if you guys are interested keep your eyes open for it on eBay in December. Nothing wrong with it but from my experience its a walking timebomb. (I will have to say Amazon did a great job with the RMA)

Steelseries... You guys make freaking peripherals for Christ sake and (in my experience) fail even at that. For as advance as this Ubr-Mouse is it cant even click or scroll properly. Yes its got a cool finish and shiny lights but probably to hide the $5 Made In China POS that's underneath. I dont even want a RMA I just want this mouse out of my life and my money back. I have been very patient, understanding and optimistic so far but I am 2/2 with steelseries and I just about had it. Like I jokingly said all that remains to be RMA'ed is the mouse pad, watch that rip or something in the coming week. Then I really AM going to tear my hair out.

Out of 18 components that make up my workstation these are the only two that have had problems. Go figure, what are the odds? And no I did not buy these from some shady company the Keyboard and Mouse where bought from Amazon by Amazon and Tigerdirect.

So if you will excuse me I am going to go rummage for some Scotch and go find someone that will listen to me B**** while comforting me by patting my head. MAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!

**********************EDIT 10/31 ********************
Item is out of stock from the seller, they have already received my RMA but I dont feel like waiting any longer. I think I will just get a refund instead. With my refund money I do not know whether to try again with another Sensei from Amazon, or to get something entirely different. It is kind of dissapointing because I bought a Steelseries 6GV2 JUST to pair with the sensei mouse, If I was going to go RAT9 or Razer I would have bought a DAS, or BlackWidow keyboard accordingly...Steelseries support has offered to help me get a replacement, however my mouse is already at TigerDirect. My only criticism is that Steelseries support takes too long, I only have a 40 day return window and they take 1 week per response so I was pressed on time.

****************************EDIT 11/2/11*******************
So TigerDirect issued the refund as they for some reason do not carry the Sensei anymore...Maybe they had a bad batch and got a ton of RMA's who knows. Its kind of not fair because I never asked for a refund, I just wanted a exchange. They gave me a pre paied shipping label and I shipped it back to them and I got a refund MINUS shipping. Item was $90 and I only got $80 back. So at the end of the day after all this hassle they jip me for $10. It is undecided if I am going to try again with another Sensei or not. Conclusion- TigerDirect I wont be buying anything from again, and Steelseries support needs to hurry the heck up with answering questions. I kind of wish I did a RMA through them but they take a week per response.

*****************Final Update 11/5/2011****************************
Got my new Sensei from Amazon. So far so good. During its RMA period I did miss the Sensei, I guess its just got that kind of charm. After coming back to the Sensei after a 3 week break when I used my G9 I can feel the difference in smoothness. Then again my Logitech was a G9 not a G9X with its new lazer so it was not very fair. I am going to bump this back up to 4 stars. I think the RAT7 might offer what I am looking for in a mouse, I really like the pinky rest idea as my fingers do scrape against the mat. I will compare the mouses to see who gets my 5 star rating and update accordingly.

Thanks,
Chris

IMPORTANT! 11/9/2011*******************************************************************
RE: Once again, I have run into another problem. Ok at this point I am really starting to get ticked off. Just when I thought FINALLY all is done, I get another problem. My mouse for some reason seems to get stuck, the point that is, when I scroll very slowly. Sometimes, not all the time, but enough to annoy you when it does happen. I would just be browsing around online moving my mouse slowly around and I notice my pointer gets snagged, starts to "shake" a little or sometimes refuses to move. If I rapidly move my mouse around it seems to fix the problem. I did some tests, tried to SLOWLY move my mouse in a straight line and it would wobble up and down all over the place. Now personally I am infurated, its a bloody mouse for Christ's sake, that cost $100. It boasts so much ground breaking technology and yet in practicality fails at doing the simplest thing a $5 mouse can do. If I cannot get this resolved soon I will be RMAi-ng the Sensei for the SECOND TIME back to Amazon for a refund. Go ahead and knock me AGAIN for a $10 shipping fee I dont care. If Steelseries support cannot get this fixed in a timely manner I will just buy a RAT7 or another Razer, as the mouse I bought from them 6 years ago still works flawlessly. I am extremely unimpressed from my initial experiences with the Steelseries company. Go ahead and hate fanboys I couldn't care less.

Edit- some of you might say, oh thats because the surface is dirty or you need a good mouse pad. Hey guess what I am using a Steelseries QCK+ so shove it fan boys. I have joked around that the MOUSE PAD is the only thing I own from Steelseries that has yet BROKEN upon further inspection the seams wherre my wrist wrests often is beginning to flay but thats another review for another page. I was going to buy a gold and black Steelseries Sibebria V2 for myself on X-mas but that seems very unlikely at the moment.

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Joseph Prince

Exceptional Mouse!

Reviewed in the United States on January 28, 2015

Verified Purchase

I'm going to start of this review by saying this is my second gaming mouse - my first being the Razer Deathadder 2013. I have recently purchased this mouse due to the Deathadder just out-right failing on me. I'd like to point out that I claw grip every mouse I've ever owned, so I'll say that this mouse it fantastic to claw grip. I actually prefer the ambidextrous design compared to ergonomic designs. I just find it more comfortable to have my ring and pinkie finger on the side of the mouse - rather then having them resting on an elevated side of the mouse. Of course I'm going to talk about the coating of the mouse. It's very useful and great. One of the issues of the Deathadder I had was that the side rubber grips had fallen off many times. This mouse's coating makes it just as easy to hold onto it as rubber side grips, however obviously it won't fall off. xD It does however show a lot of finger prints, which is the case for most mice anyway.

Next topic is the scroll wheel and side buttons. The scroll wheel itself has very distinct scroll steps and is very is to press. (without being to light) It does wobble way to much though. The side buttons themselves are perfectly okay, have no issues with them. The left and right click of the mouse have excellent tactile feedback, and also have very little travel distance. The mouse does have a very nice braided cable to go along with it. Now it's time to talk about the sensor. I've heard a lot of people say that laser sensors have build in acceleration at lower DPI levels, while that may be true for some laser sensors, it's not the case here. It overall tracks very well and has great accuracy.

I do believe that will conclude my review.

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ScottoR

Great mouse; So far so good. Correction: For 2 years.

Reviewed in the United States on November 27, 2013

Verified Purchase

Original Review: (See the bottom for a couple of updates, and the comments for a good fix if your scroll wheel starts acting up)

As with most input devices, a mouse's efficacy is largely dependent upon its planned use case(s). I bought this for my office laptop, so I'll mostly be using it while programming (and writing Amazon reviews, naturally). Side uses will include some Photoshop and opportunistic gaming (MMORPG / FPS).

I'm very old fashioned. I've stuck with the MS Intellimouse/Basic Wheel Mouse Optical for easily the past 12 years. Not because it was ever the best mouse, but because it became familiar and comfortable over time. I'm also left-handed, and it's hard to find a good ambidextrous mouse (one with lengthwise symmetry). Finding a good, reasonably priced, left-hand specific mouse is also difficult.

One of the reasons I bought the SteelSeries Sensei Raw is because of its similarity in shape to the old MS mice. (I'll upload a couple of pictures showing the comparison). The Sensei is slightly taller and longer, and is actually more comfortable for my big paws.

Tracking is smooth on my faux-mahogany desktop, both in the sense that cursor movement matches mouse movement accurately, and in that the coefficient of friction to the desk is low.

The Sensei isn't particularly heavy, but it's also not so light that the relaxation of the cord can push it around (a problem with very low end mice).

The braided nylon sheath on the USB cable is a nice touch of quality, though I've had no problems in the past with typical mouse cables. The cord is still kinked up from the packaging so I'll have to reserve my judgement on it. So far it's fine. The cord doesn't sway me either way as to my overall verdict on the mouse.

My only gripe (and it's a minor one) is that the left- and right-click buttons are fairly loud. I'm certain that with my office door open the people sitting outside will have no doubts about when I click. The scroll wheel is pretty quiet, though. It does click audibly, but barely so.

I have the LEDs set to their default glow/pulsation setting, and it's not distracting at all. However, I'm in a well-lit office; If I buy one for home I might opt to turn them off or dim them significantly, because I like working with low ambient light.

The rubberized texture is pleasant, and neither too slippery nor too sticky. It has almost a silky feel to it, which I find to be surprisingly pleasant.

The build seems solid: I know it's not a top-of-the-line mouse, so I don't expect it to be perfect. But there is almost no flex in the body, though it does creak slightly when pressed hard at the palm rest.

I have an objection to this being called a "gaming mouse", though. While it should be more than adequate for basic gaming, I think that it's neither ergonomic enough for marathon sessions nor does it have enough buttons to effectively manage inventory/weapons/etc. (Though it has a pair of buttons on the left and right sides, you can realistically only use the pair on the thumb side unless your pinky is specially adroit). I would consider this to be a higher-end general purpose mouse.

The SteelSeries Engine (the configuration software) is pretty straightforward and has a user-friendly design. Immediately upon opening the software it's obvious how to change button assignments, adjust mouse sensitivity and LED brightness, and create/modify profiles. The button assignment functionality supports the use of keypress macros, including the optional recording of delays between key presses. You can also assign buttons to launch applications, issue text macros, or disable them altogether.

Overall I would rate the software as "excellent". I should note that the software isn't included in the packaging, but it can be downloaded from SteelSeries' site. I give them credit for their bandwidth as well -- the software is 45MB (not sure why it needs to be that large), and on my internet connection it took a matter of a few seconds to transfer. I had no issues at all with software installation or the firmware upgrade in my Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit environment.

I'd like to note that it shouldn't be necessary to install the SteelSeries Engine to use the mouse (in Windows 7 at least). The OS was able to install the correct drivers for basic functionality without my involvement.

In conclusion, this mouse is comfortable, accurate, smooth, and has great software. I haven't owned it long, so my 5-star rating will stand up so long as this mouse stands up to regular use.

The good ol' Microsoft mice to which I've become accustomed lasted me for YEARS of heavy use, so the Sensei has big shoes to fill as far as reliability goes. (I think my oldest MS Wheel Mouse Optical is from 2002 and still works great!)

Update (2016-02-01):

A few days ago the scroll wheel started acting funny. It still works, but for example when scrolling down rapidly the content on screen will jump back up to slightly lower than the original position. It's like that song, except it takes two steps forward and 1.8 steps back. Some very aggressive scroll wheel action will eventually translate to significant movement, but it's unpredictable and hence inaccurate.

And it's definitely a hardware problem, because I've tried it on a couple of other machines and it does the same thing. It doesn't matter what application I'm using either, and another mouse works just fine on the original system.

I originally gave this 5 stars, but for the price I expected the mouse to last more than 2 years. We buy cheap ($10-ish) Logitechs and no-name mice at my office (I paid for the Sensei out of my own pocket), and even those tend to work OK for years at a time.

Update (2016-10-17):

In the comments here, Duncan pointed me to a site that described a fix. I didn't have the same issue as described in that post, but some aggressive blowing of the scroll sensor with canned air seems to have solved the problem.. for now. On balance it's still a good mouse, but the design seems to allow that sensor to get gummed up or bent out of shape pretty easily. So I'm at 4 stars as of now. I hate to be wishy-washy, but it's an easy fix. In the post the author suggests buying new skates/foot pads, but I found that by sliding a screw driver rapidly underneath them the long way enough adhesive remained that I could just stick 'em back on.

All that having been said, I found my new favorite mouse: The Razer DeathAdder Essentials Ergonomic PC Gaming Mouse - Left Hand Edition - Comfortable Grip I needed to mod it to swap the buttons in hardware because the soft setting didn't translate over Remote Desktop. Other than that, it's extremely comfortable and a good size for me. It's not ambidextrous like the old MS mouse, which could be a downside if you have multiple users (shared home desktop, etc.), but if you're left handed and like the MS mouse, it's a good upgrade.

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Augie

A bit of a letdown...

Reviewed in the United States on September 1, 2012

Verified Purchase

Pros:
The mouse is excellent in many ways. Smooth movement, great tracking, high-speed polling, perfect low profile Intellimouse-inspired ambidextrous shape (no wrist pain! yay!), side buttons on both sides, great surface texture (I got the rubberized version), highly customizable, awesome cord, the weight is perfect, and it looks very cool without being tacky (disable the pulsating glow in the software to eliminate any residual tackiness).

Cons: (If you can live with these, it's a 5-star mouse).
The button clicks are just way, way, way too loud. I know gamers want feedback, but this will kill your ears in a working environment after a couple of hours. (This is probably going to be a deal-breaker for me as my ears are easily irritated.)
The 2 side buttons on the right are awkwardly placed. My right ring finger always rests over the division between the buttons making neither comfortable to press without stretching. (My solution: Assign both buttons to the same back command and press in the middle.)
The mouse wheel has an insane amount of resistance to move it to the next notch. The notching is just far too pronounced and more than any mouse I've ever tried. The click-in also takes a lot of force. And even worse, the whole wheel seems to be loose in the body because it makes a plastic clacky sound every time I wheel forward but not usually when I wheel backward. It just makes it feel cheap.
The SteelSeriees Engine software is bloated like a hog -- 216MB of memory FOR A MOUSE DRIVER! I've heard reports of crashes on boot and such, but I haven't had that yet.
Even though SteelSeries' comparison chat says this Raw version has the same customizability as the non-Raw version, it does not. You cannot tweak any of the finer mouse details like jitter correction, acceleration, pickup distance, etc. The only customizations you get are mouse buttons / macros, counts per inch, and polling rate.

** UPDATE: 1 day after I wrote this review, the mouse suddenly started tracking VERY badly on the brand new large cloth gamer mousepad I bought here and had been using for the last several days without a flaw. I also tried it on a plastic-surface pad I also just bought here and it can't track worth a darn. It's almost as if it's suddenly become extremely low res even though the settings are still at max in the software. I can't even move it across the screen an inch without it struggling. I tried it in 3 different USB ports and then on 3 different computers with the same results. I started using the mouse on Thursday and it died on Sunday. Wow... I did not expect this level of QC from an elite brand like SteelSeries. I just tried updating the firmware on it. It crashed at 15% the first time, then made it to 100% the second time. No difference. This mouse is toast. :(

Background:
I am a hardcore computer user (work and fun). I'd say I sit in front of my desk about 14-16 hours a day. I've become so accustomed to my input/output interface that when one component dies and I have to replace it (like my keyboard), it just totally throws me off and slows down my work. So normally I go to the extra effort to fix my tools, but when my mouse started going on the fritz and I couldn't fix it, I bit the bullet and started researching mice.

I have been using a Microsoft Intellimouse Optical mouse for about 12 years now. It is one EXCELLENT piece of hardware. Ambidextrous shape, a perfect size for a claw grip hold, the shape doesn't cause me wrist pain like every one of those overly tall palm-rest Logitech mice, the oversized left/right side mouse buttons are easily accessible no matter how you're holding it without having to stretch and contort your thumb like the mice with both buttons on the same side, the buttons have just the right balance of travel distance, feedback, and low noise, it tracks well, it's light-weight, and it lasted through 12 years of daily abuse! I was so sad to have to try to find a replacement for it. And as you can probably tell by now how picky I am (ie: connoisseur), it was going to be a tall order to live up to this one.

I spent probably a week research every mouse out there in every price range. My criteria were it must be low profile (no wrist pain!), have at least 4 buttons and a wheel, the side buttons must be on opposite sides of the mouse (therefore the mouse must be ambidextrous), and it must be wired. To my shock, this eliminated 95% of the mice on the market, including gaming mice like Razer. It seems Logitech's pushing of gigantic, palm-rest, wrist destroying "ergo" mice with thumb-twisting side button layout has infected just about every other manufacturer out there. All of the few mice I found that sort of fit within my criteria like Microsoft's Comfort Mouse 4500 just fell flat on their faces for a variety of reasons. I'm sorry to see what cheap garbage MS mice have become in the last 12 years. Needless to say, I was thrilled when I discovered the SteelSeries Sensei. It met all my criteria perfectly. In fact, it seems to actually be the successor to the MS Intellimouse as I found information on SS's website that said they had actually made an SS MS Intellimouse years back. So I'm guessing either SS designed the original Intellimouse or MS licensed the design to them. Either way, it's the closest thing to an Intellimouse you can find anywhere.

I ordered it. I waited with anticipation. It was scheduled to be delivered at the end of Sept, but Amazon ended up getting it to me before the end of August. Wow! Had I finally find the perfect mouse to replace my trusty old IMO?

After a few days of testing, I'm very sad to say I did not. The mouse is a mixture of excellent and terrible all rolled into one. (See the pros/cons at the top.) I'm going to give it another week of testing, but I'm almost certain I'll be returning it.

Why, oh why Microsoft did you abandon the perfect mouse?

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