The SteelSeries Rival 600 is a mouse that looks the part and performs the part, whether you are a professional or a casual gamer.

When I think back to all the gaming mice I have used over the years, there are few that really stand out. Often, it is difficult to properly place my finger on what exactly made those mice stand out, but I think there might be a couple of specifics I enjoy about them. Design is important to me to a certain extent. I enjoy the traditional design, while a mouse that is slightly larger than normal would not bother me at all. However, I dislike the extremely fancy and the many trivial functions a mouse may have. I understand the appeal to be able to fully change how your thumb sits or where your pinky finger rests, but from my experience none does much in the end. Because of that, I prefer a more straightforward design with the only customization being the weight system. RGB LEDs look pretty cool, but with too much, it starts to look tacky. The next important part is how comfortable a grip is on it. I have frequently fluctuated between claw and palm grips. In general, this requires a more rounded mouse, which can vary in size. Mice like the ROCCAT Kone EMP and Patriot Viper V560 both do this excellently. Performance-wise, the mouse needs to be easy to deploy. It is a frustrating mess when I have to spend up to an hour honing my DPI to that perfect sweet spot, while with some mice I just set it to what I usually have and it works fine. Some of my experiences have been terrible trying to find the sweet spot and I keep changing it throughout use because something constantly feels off. Otherwise, for performance, I expect smooth tracking as well as accuracy. One of the best gaming mice I remember using was the SteelSeries Sensei, which fills in most of the requirements I have. Today, we have yet another SteelSeries mouse, the Rival 600. Will it fulfill the above requirements, or will it fail to make a mark? Read on to find out!