| SteelSeries Sensei Pro Laser Gaming Mouse |
| Reviews - Featured Reviews: Input Devices | |
| Written by Austin Downing | |
| Friday, 04 November 2011 | |
SteelSeries Sensei Laser Gaming Mouse Review
Manufacturer: SteelSeries Full Disclosure: The product sample used in this article has been provided by SteelSeries. Danish company SteelSeries has designed products to compete against the likes of Razer, Logitech, and Microsoft in the competitive gaming peripherals market. Their newest product the Sensei aims to decimate the competition with its 32-bit ARM processor, 5700 DPI sensor, on-board memory, and advanced software that allows users to control almost every function imaginable. Benchmark Reviews will evaluate if the Sensei is the master by which every mouse should be compared, or if it is the student still learning from those that came before it. Some users want a more basic mouse with a high quality sensor that simply works; others want a mouse that much like their computer is composed of the best components that users can buy. Sadly, this comes at a price, and at $90 the Sensei is at the expensive end of the spectrum for mice. Yet for this $90 you get a mouse with a processor more powerful than an original Pentium 75MHz, eight customizable buttons, three fully customizable LED's, and a customizable 128 x 32 LCD.
When it comes to testing mice, it is best to not look only at one area or you may overlook flaws that a peripheral has. This is why when testing a gaming mouse it is best to look at many aspects of your daily experience on a computer. This means that you should not only test one type of game but multiple styles such as RTS, FPS, and MMO's along with making sure that the mouse is usable in non-gaming situations such as web browsing or photo editing. Closer Look: SteelSeries SenseiMany peripherals are sold as much on aesthetics as usability. The SteelSeries Sensei gives users both looks and handling, having beautiful aesthetics while at the same time providing great usability that gives users an upper hand against their opponents.
SteelSeries went with a more traditional egg shaped design with the Sensei. The body of the Sensei is constructed from plastic, without a rubber coating on it. SteelSeries utilized a metallic paint for most of the Sensei giving it quite a bold appearance compared to the matte black exteriors of many mice on the market.
SteelSeries designed the Sensei to be held in any of the grip styles quite comfortably but I find it works particularly well with the claw grip that I typicaly use. Each side is covered in a rubberized plastic where SteelSeries designed the Sensei to be gripped helping to give users stability when aiming, and making for a very secure hold even during times of duress.
From the left, you can see that SteelSeries also designed the Sensei to be ambidextrous and as such, both sides of the Sensei have two customizable buttons perfect for users who prefer to bind their most used commands to their mouse. SteelSeries also included three customizable LED's in the Sensei with each being programmable to one of 16.7 million colors.
SteelSeries used three large Teflon pads that together cover 16% of the Sensei to help make sure that it easily slips across any surface that it is placed on.
SteelSeries included a unique 128 x 32 LCD screen on the bottom of the Sensei. Any 128 x 32 Bitmap photo can be upload and displayed on the bottom of the Sensei. This may be of particular usefulness at LAN parties where many people will be close together and if a peripheral is lost this can be used to identify the owner. SteelSeries Sensei Detailed FeaturesJust as important, as the hardware used to create peripherals, the software used to control them can easily help separate a particular company from its competition.
The first page of the SteelSeries Engine was designed to allow users to program each button with a macro of their choosing along with whether the Sensei is a left handed device or a right handed device.
The second page is dedicated to creating and uploading the profiles that are stored on the Sensei. Although an infinite number of profiles can be created only five profiles are able to be saved directly to the Sensei and can easily be switched without the software once they have initially been prepared.
The settings page provides the meat of the SteelSeries Engine and gives users the ability to customize the sensitivity of the Sensei between 1-11,700DPI. This high resolution is reached using the 32-bit ARM processor to double the usable resolution above 5700 to give the extremely high DPI ranges the Sensei has. Users can set two separate DPI settings and easily switch between them using the switch above the scroll wheel. SteelSeries also gave users the ability to change any of the three LED zones to one of 16.7 million colors. Along the LEDs, SteelSeries allows users to use the integrated tool to upload 128 x 32 bitmaps to be viewed on the Sensei's integrated LCD panel. On the right, users have a whole host of options to change. Starting from the top SteelSeries has a slider to control what they call FreeMove, which controls the amount of movement prediction used. Next SteelSeries provides a slider to allow controlling the amount of acceleration that the Sensei has using the ExactAccel slider. The SteelSeries ExactAim option is an interesting feature that works like reverse acceleration allowing user's movement speed to decrease even more quickly as they slow down their movement. Lastly, SteelSeries provides what they call ExactLift, which allows users to configure the cutoff point for liftoff of the Sensei. This allows for configuration based on the surface being used, and how far users lift their mice when moving. Testing & ResultsTesting MethodologyAs with any peripheral, the testing of the Sensei is unique to the individual using it. What I like or dislike in my review may not reflect your personal feelings about a product. Since the peripherals we use are not just limited to one application I would like my testing methodology to reflect this. As such, I picked a multitude of scenarios to test the Sensei, starting with the new Deus Ex: Human Revolution DLC "The Missing Link". This will test the accuracy of the Sensei. Battlefield 3 helps test the comfort and accuracy of the Sensei during long gaming sessions with multiple types of gameplay. Lastly we tested Starcraft II to test the accuracy that is needed to quickly select a small number of units out of a group. Test System
Polling Rate
It is important to make sure that the advertised polling rate is actually being used as a low polling rate can drastically affect a user experience with a mouse. As can be seen above, the Sensei easily is running at or above the advertised 1000MHz polling rate. In the end this gives us a 1ms or less response time helping you frag your opponents before they can frag you. Software Tested
ResultsDeus Ex: Human Revolution "The Missing Link" focuses on Adam Jensen's time aboard the cargo ship from Heng Sha to Singapore. In the beginning Jensen loses all of his augmentation and weapons and as such much of the game involves being as stealthy as possible. If you do take down an enemy it is best practice to get them on the first shot lest they alert their comrades. This means accuracy is of the utmost importance. I found that the Sensei could easily fulfill my needs, with headshots easily being made from long distances, and that I could easily complete the hacking mini game with the speed needed to prevent detection or failure. Battlefield 3 allows players to play a multitude of classes, and with each class comes new play styles with their own set of requirements for accuracy and speed. When playing as the assault class it is important that users are able to quickly switch between fighting their opponents and reviving their fallen comrades. I found that during gameplay, it was easy to vanquish those opponents who had killed my comrades, then quickly change tactics, and start reviving those players with the accuracy needed to stay alive. As a support class it is important to quickly hone in on enemies at long distance while throwing as much ammo down range as possible to keep those enemies at bay. While using the Sensei I found that I could accurately hit opponents over 50 meters away while using a bipod and 3.4x scope. At the same time, it is possible to use the support class at close range. Doing so requires constant corrections to account for the drift caused by firing such a weapon without a bipod. As our Editor-in-Chief, Olin Coles can testify the Sensei is accurate enough to allow me to repeatedly mow down his teammate and on occasion even catch him off guard (although he did get back on quick a few occasions). Lastly, I spend a large quantity of my time playing the recon class which benefits from the ability to quickly change the Sensei's sensitivity from a higher DPI, like 3500, to find my targets, and then turn my DPI down to 1600 to make my final corrections. Just as important, during long gaming sessions I found that the Sensei stayed comfortable and its design helped fight off fatigue that can rob you of speed and accuracy. StarCraft II focuses on many small accurate movements to quickly select units, and choose where you would like to place them. I found that even during larger battles I was not struggling with picking one or two units out of a group that needed to be moved. SteelSeries Sensei Final ThoughtsThe Sensei is a beautiful peripheral and it works well for almost any purpose you can possibly think of. During long gaming sessions it was comfortable, although coming from a mouse that was designed for right handed individuals to an ambidextrous design required some getting used to. In the beginning I was constantly pushing the buttons on the left side. After I adjusted to the new grip I found that the Sensei fit almost perfectly in my hand and that I could frag the enemy with ease. The one area I would change on the Sensei would be to cover the entire mouse in the rubber like coating used on the sides. I have found on my Razer Deathadder that the rubberized coating helps keep my hand feeling a tad bit cooler, and does not build up as much grime as the Sensei's exterior does. Also at $90 the Sensei is on the high end of peripherals and although with that price comes many features, many people would have a hard time justifying spending that kind of cash on a mouse. Overall, though, the Sensei was a wonderful mouse and the flaws described are only minor annoyances.
SteelSeries Sensei ConclusionPerformance is about being able to accurately track on a multitude of surfaces. I found that during gameplay I could quickly target enemies on either my wooden desk or my Razer Goliathus Accuracy cloth pad. During long gaming sessions I found the Sensei to be very comfortable and that when finished with even the longest of gaming sessions I was not suffering from any type of wrist pain (something that I need to worry about with lesser mice). Still, compared to the rubberized surface and sculpted designs of many mice on the market I found the Sensei still was not the most comfortable mouse I had ever used (the Razer Deathadder takes the cake for that). Appearance is a subjective area and although the Sensei is by no means a bad looking mouse, I am just not enamored by its appearance. I find it a bit too flashy with its metallic-esque exterior and prefer the more subtle blacks that can be seen on other peripherals on the market. If SteelSeries where to make this exact mouse but instead covered it entirely in the black rubber material used on the sides, that it would have appealed to me aesthetically to a greater extent. Construction is superb; I felt no flexing in the exterior of the body of the Sensei even when I gripped it quite hard during times of frustration, which during sessions of BF3 happens frequently. Functionality is off the charts with the Sensei. The included SteelSeries Engine software allows users to easily customize every function of the Sensei. SteelSeries gave users the ability to control a multitude of options ranging from liftoff, acceleration, and deceleration to controlling the color of the LED, and the image on the LCD screen, making for a very unique experience custom tailored to a user's needs. At $89.99, it is hard to call any peripheral a value, still for the price you get a mouse designed keep up with competition that is priced up to $40 more. For that price though, users will have a top of the line mouse with a processor more powerful than many of our reader's first computers, which can accurately track on a host of surfaces, and be customized for almost any situation The Sensei is close to perfect with only a few minor annoyances holding it back from a perfect score. Hopefully SteelSeries will make a version of the Sensei with a rubberized exterior, and a slightly more crafted design that will help it fit the hand even better. Even with these minor annoyances I am proud to present the SteelSeries Sensei Benchmark Reviews Golden Tachometer award for excellence. Pros:
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Comments
If the software was working the way it should be, then the LCD would be a Gimmick. An added unnecessary expense because, IF THE SOFTWARE WAS WORKING, you wouldn't need it. Besides, plenty of other mice and keyboards use profiles and do not require an LCD. It's just a major expense added onto the price of the mouse for a function that other manufacturers can do without an LCD screen.
IMO, that makes it a gimmick.
A mouse that's expected to last a long time would suffer considerable wear. Steelseries anticipated this, which is why it's not rubberized. I'm glad they did not rubberize this mouse, no matter how appealing it may seem in the present. That lousy black rubberized finish, no matter how appealing, wears off rather easily. However, it would be nice to see this mouse offered in different colors, other than silver. I just find int comedic for the writer to focus on the rubberized issue, when true veteran gamers hardly have such feeling on their computer mice.
But, for the name (and price), I really thought that mouse had a steel shell.