-Review- Steelseries Sensei

[Thalandros]

So I want to get into reviewing a bit, and since I just started posting here, might as well start off here!


A review of the SteelSeries Sensei!



- Introduction -

So, I've bought this mouse about twenty months ago and before I go get my new mouse - most likely a G400s - I want to write a review on it, describing what I thought of it in the past -almost- two years that I've used this peripheral.
Before we go on, I want to state that the mouse HAS served me well for the time that I've been using it.


These topics will be discussed:

-Aesthetics-
-Comfort-
-Hardware-
-Software-
-Conclusion-


I Aesthetics I

The aesthetics on the mice are quite important to me and I'm sure to many others, as this is what pulls the consumer in and makes them satisfied about their purchase before even using it. A mouse that looks cool goes quite far. 
With that in mind, and the fact that aesthetics can a lot of the time be put there to ''hide'' obvious flaws with the mouse and still make it sell, I bought the mouse anyway because it looked like quite a good mouse. I can tell you one thing: It still looks like a gorgeous, streamlined mouse. 


Camera: Google Nexus 4
Surface: Razer Goliathus Speed edition (extended)

With the customization you get with the software of the mouse, it makes the mouse really look awesome. You can change the colors on:
- The Back logo
- DPI change button 1
- DPI change button 2 (when you pressed it once)
- The scroll wheel.

The picture doesn't display it completely but the red is actually very fluent and good looking.
Steelseries promotes ''16.9 Million different colors'', while in reality that's realistically about 20, the rest all look the same because sometimes the colors bleed quite a lot. 
Something to keep in mind. However, as you can see, the mouse is really good looking regardless.
The slick look of the silver actually looks quite good, although sadly doesn't go with my black layout (Black & Green mousepad, Black keyboard, black screens and black computer case)
However whenever some grease or something else sits on the silver coating, you do realise it once you touch the mouse and got to rub it off a little bit. This is both good and bad, depending on how you see it. 


Camera: Google Nexus 4
Surface: Razer Goliathus Speed Edition (extended)
Keyboard in background: Blackwidow 2013 

Moving on towards...

I Comfort I


The game is marketed to be an ergonomic and ambidextrous, so that you can use it comfortably with both hands. This is true, considering there are two side buttons on each side of the mouse and the mouse doesn't have a thumb''pad'' for either left or right. Both right and left handed people can use this mice and that's nicely done! 



As you can see the mouse buttons are tucked into the coating of the mouse, not really standing out. That looks really nice and I personally don't have any trouble with it, but I've noticed people with big thumbs (I have fairly big hands, not thumbs however) or that palm grip a lot manage to accidentally hit these buttons just a bit too often, and find it annoying. As said, I've never had a problem with it, but that's because I fingertip/claw grip my mice. 
That's my next point actually: The mice can truly be used with any grip. Although it might be a bit big for fingertip, I've had zero troubles holding the mouse any way I please comfortably. There is no real rest as mentioned earlier, because the mouse is ambidextrous, but you can use it quite fatigue-free with any grip.

The scroll wheel; I'm not disappointed. It has some resistance and isn't a free rolling type of wheel. You have perfect control over how far you scroll, even though it can be a bit slow when quickly browsing through web pages, I like it because scrolling can be important in games and you want to be precise. Good addition to the mouse. 
The coating on the thumb ''part'' of the mouse glides pretty well as well and I don't notice excessive sweat because of it. I personally am quite a sweaty person but this mouse seems to deal with that quite well. The mouse glides very much however. 

I Hardware I

Moving on to hardware, the mouse isn't that heavy, 102 grams (0,22 lbs) and moves around quite nicely. It is quite big and not for super small handed people, but that's okay for me personally, I like a big mouse.
Sturdiness is definitely a factor when I look at mice, I don't want it to feel or be cheap. I feel that the mouse is made out of high quality materials, and doesn't feel very shaky or cheap. It is (or atleast feels like) high quality.
One thing I did notice however is the fact that whenever I shake my mouse around (from left to right very quickly across the screen), if you notice carefully you hear something within the mouse. I don't think this is a defect at all, and it just recently started happening so I guess it's just the mouse getting a bit older. Nothing to worry about though, it's a very small sound, you barely hear it (especially with a pair of cans on!)

As you can see, the cord is quite thick and is braided so that it doesn't get tangled up. It's not very flexible but it does it's job! It's 2 meters long which I find an appropriate length for a mouse cord, I wrap it around my screen so that it's just as long as I want it to be. You could use a mouse bungee alternatively. 

I've already talked about the scrollwheel but I will again and more in depth. 
The scroll wheel, as seen here:



Is of very high quality and seems to scroll just the amount I want. It's very sturdy and maybe even a bit too much so, because I can't scroll at amazing speeds. This is good for gaming, except if you're playing Drowning Simulator!
For web pages this is also sub optimal, but I can live with it. As said it's not a free rolling mouse wheel and it'll make some sound, more than your average mouse would, especially a free rolling one. It's not excessively loud however, but it is noticeable. 




As you are able to see, the mouse feet aren't very high but they're very large and cover enough of an area for the mouse. On the back is also the .bmp image of your choice as well as the manufacturing information above the sensor. 
It actually looks quite good and slick!


Now the very big critique: The mouse uses Avago 9500 sensor, which is a very good sensor. It goes up to a ridiculous 11700 DPI which I do NOT believe anyone will ever use, but there is a certain amount of  positive acceleration, about 5% (especially on soft pads) natively built in the sensor. This is a big concern for someone who plays a lot of Starcraft II and wants to be precise when I need to be. It's also one of the main reasons I'm going to try out different mice, because I want to see how much performance it actually affects. 
I Software I

Going into software I'll show you some screenshots of the actual ''engine'', which is what it calls itself. This is the part where I lay my major problems with the mouse.
For the past two days it's been working, surprisingly so. I've had a LOT of trouble having to reinstall the drivers and firmware over and over again, not getting it to work, trying every fix in the book. It sometimes works, sometimes it doesn't even boot up (well, the process does, but on a blank screen I can't do much.)
If you DO get into the software though, it's not that bad. It looks quite good and has, as marketed, a LOT of settings for the Sensei. 

This is the ''on board profile''. The marketed ARM comes into play here, where you can save settings onto the processor and take the mouse with you anywhere, and it'll save and load up to five profiles. Neat feature for people who go to a lot of LANs or PCs that aren't his/hers (maybe even work?)
Next up we have the most important thing in the entire software: the settings. You can set all the advertised settings here, up to 12K DPI with 2 different settings on one profile at a time (I have mine at 1200 for Starcraft and 600 when I need to be really precise)



-Exactlift is quite neat. You set a point on the mouse where it doesn't record the movements anymore after a certain height. I like it, it's actually useful.
- ExactAccel looks like it's really just a renamed FLAW in mice. I personally HATE acceleration and I'm not sure many people do, but they renamed it and called it a feature. Luckily, as with most settings, turn it to 0 and you won't notice anything.
- Exactaim is the opposite of Accel and I can see it actually being useful for some Quake gamers or so. Personally though, I play StarCraft, so no thanks.
-Freemove is another word for prediction. Obviously I have that turned off. No more Steelseries, please. 

Under that, the fun part begins! You can set up a 128x32 .bmp picture and it'll display on bottom of the mouse, and you can adjust the LCD features. Brightness, contrast, different colors and if you don't like it, even disabling is all available and it's really good. I've had some problems with these features in particular though, with the program just freezing and not responding until you reboot it. 
 

Right underneath, and you can't see this but it's there!, you can select either 125, 250, 500, or 1000Hz polling rate. 
Macros are a big feature and although I haven't used them that much, they do seem to work and be easily set up. Good feature!
The neat thing about the software is you can bind specific mouse profiles to specific programs, so for instance when I boot up Starcraft, it'll switch to 1200DPI. But when I boot up CS:GO, it'll go into a different profile and boot up at 800DPI. 
There is a statistics page that lets you record your mouse presses, Could be useful for those who need it natively. 


I Conclusion I

Even though the SteelSeries Sensei is a very good mouse, I will have a shot at other mice in a couple of weeks. After 1.5 year of usage it's not what I'm looking for and want to try something different, something without native acceleration. That plus the fact that the software can be a big pest to deal with, makes me NOT recommend this mouse at a full price(€70-80 in the Netherlands.). Any lower than that and feel free to pick it up, if you don't mind acceleration, you'll love it. It's got a ton of features for every type of gamer, a LOT of aesthetic mobility and overall performs very well. Even though I like the coating, if you have sweaty hands, you might prefer to pick up the RAW, the rubberized edition. It's slightly cheaper as well. 

Thanks for reading my very first review in a long time!  

Feedback and questions are ALWAYS welcome of course, and I hope I helped some people make a decision, because I know how damn hard it can be.
 

[NewAndreas]

My sensei wheel makes a squeaky noise, and alot of my friends have it too with theirs. It's not really a problem tough.

Very nice review!

[ZetZet]

Razer mousepad with Steelseries mouse!  :wacko:

[Thalandros]

Razer mousepad with Steelseries mouse!  :wacko:

How is that a problem?  Or do you just not like the combination? I've had this mousepad since I had my Razer Naga. It's amazing how much has spilled over it and how long it's lasted me over the years.

[CCap]

Excellent Review, I might just have to do one for the Roccat Kone XTD or the R.A.T. 9. Both excellent Mice.

 

Thank you for the insight! ;D

[Thalandros]

Excellent Review, I might just have to do one for the Roccat Kone XTD or the R.A.T. 9. Both excellent Mice.

 

Thank you for the insight! ;D

 

My sensei wheel makes a squeaky noise, and alot of my friends have it too with theirs. It's not really a problem tough.

Very nice review!

 

Thanks, very nice to hear that on my first review!

[BobIsGaming]

Nice review! Really good!
 

My sensei wheel makes a squeaky noise, and alot of my friends have it too with theirs. It's not really a problem tough.

Very nice review!

I have 2 (one for laptop and one for desktop) and my laptop one squeaks too People say you can RMA it but I got it off a deal at Best Buy for $25 so it's not a big deal for me