66 PCWorld FEBRUARY 2019

REVIEWS

IMAGE: HAYDEN DINGMAN

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SteelSeries has finally produced its first must-have mouse. BY HAYDEN DINGMAN

S

teelSeries has long had a weak

spot in its peripherals lineup:

mice. Great headsets, good

keyboards, mediocre mice.

Some were too conservative, others too

daring, but none of the ones we’ve looked at

over the years have qualified as must-haves.

That changes with the new Rival 650

($120 on Amazon (go.pcworld.com/srvl)).

At long last, SteelSeries has a mouse that

both nails the fundamentals and packs a

solid gimmick.

WEIGHTED AVERAGE

Let’s start with the design, because

SteelSeries has improved by leaps and

bounds in that regard. SteelSeries headsets

have always featured forward-thinking

aesthetics, but its mice have looked more like

something you’d find in an office. Lots of

grayish planes, function-over-form materials,

and so on.

The Rival 650 is recognizable—which,

given the limited elements in a mouse, is

about the highest compliment one can score.