FEBRUARY 2019 PCWorld 67Two RGB LED light channels run
across the palm rest and then
segue into similar lines on the
side of the scroll wheel. Sure,
RGB is functionally useless, but
the Rival 650 is probably the
most elegant implementation
I’ve seen since the 2015 Razer
Mamba (go.pcworld.com/razm)
and its all-encompassing light
ribbon. It’s eye-catching, and a
real standout in the SteelSeries lineup.
I love the shape of this mouse, as well.
SteelSeries leans heavily on the standard
right-handed scoop shape for almost all its
mice, the Rival 650 included. This is the most
successful implementation I’ve seen from
SteelSeries though, mimicking the flanged
left and right mouse buttons from Razer’s
DeathAdder (go.pcworld.com/dtad) and
featuring a gently sloped right edge with
plenty of room to rest my ring finger and
pinky. There are also rubberized pads on the
left and right sides to facilitate
picking up the mouse, without
being too prominent.
Speaking of which, the sides
peel off. That’s not immediately
evident when you look at the
Rival 650, but both the left and
right panels are attached
magnetically, with the light
ribbons demarcating the edges.
SteelSeries includes eight
removable 4 gram weights with the Rival 650,
boasting 256 possible combinations. The
idea is you can adjust the mouse’s center of
gravity by adding, say, two weights to the
front-left side, or one in each of the rear slots.
Whether you’ll actually add weight is
debatable. Like Logitech’s G502 (go.
pcworld.com/g502), the Rival 650 carries its
weight well—but it is heavy. Even without any
weights added, it tips the scales at 121 grams
(the same as the G502, actually). That’s
already more than the magic 100-gram