Steelseries Sensei Mouse Review

1. Introduction2. Steelseries Sensei Mouse3. Steelseries Sensei Mouse Software4. Performance Testing5. Closing Thoughts6. View All Pages

As we mentioned at the start of the review, this mouse offers some staggeringly high DPI settings up to 5,700 CPI. If this isn't enough, then this can be ‘doubled' via software up to 11,400 DCPI.

Test System:

Core i7 2600k Processor.
Asus P67 Deluxe Motherboard.
8GB Crucial 1600mhz memory.
Dell U2410 Monitor.
Sapphire HD6970 Graphics.

We tested the mouse with several Steelseries and Razer mats and found that it performed very well on both glass style and soft mat materials. No problems with the engine on any tracking surface.

When gaming, I found the 11,400 DCPI setting to be ‘hyper twitchy', which is probably more a personal taste decision than any problem with the technology. Even moving the mouse a minute distance on the mat resulted in dramatic movements on screen. A setting of 5,700 CPI was more manageable, offering smooth movement which allowed me to track opponents on screen with minimal movement, ideal for my FPS tastes.

Playing Call Of Duty Black OPS was extremely enjoyable with this mouse and I found that my overall playing style was well suited to the shape and tracking of the mouse. The weighting was almost perfect, offering enough balance to ensure accurate tracking over the course of several hours.

The smooth surface is certainly a breakthrough for Steelseries as I don't know of any other manufacturer who sells a similar product. It might look ‘glossy' and shiny in the images within the review, but it feels completely different to anything else on the market, offering great grip with marvelous long term comfort.

I used it to play World Of Warcraft online, and again it excelled, although I missed some of my programmable buttons which I had set up with the Razer Naga. Not a fault of the Sensei obviously as it is a very different design, but I can think of better mice for MMORPG gamers such as the Steelseries Legendary MMO gaming mouse.

We switched genre to Real Time Strategy and found that this mouse worked really well with StarCraft II, although I dialed down the sensitivity a little, to around 3,800 dpi which seemed to work best for me. In the heat of action, the tracking was superlative and never skipped a micro millimeter, ensuring pin point precision troop selection.

Deus Ex: Invisible War, one of my favourite games this year worked exceptionally well with the Sensei mouse at sensitivity settings between 4,500 and 5,700. Over the course of a few hours I actually forgot I was using a mouse, which is a good indication of something I could live with long term. I often use a Microsoft Sidewinder mouse with this game and the Sensei was a step above.

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