The SteelSeries Sensei is a very professional mouse of that there can be no doubt. From start to finish of this review I have been consistently impressed by the way it looked, performed and perhaps most importantly, felt in my hand. It is clear that SteelSeries have absorbed the requests and advice from the gaming fraternity and passed this feedback on to the tech department who have created a model which is perfect in almost every single way. Unfortunately we don't all have the same sized hands, hold a mouse in the same manner, prefer the same sensitivity etc. There is simply no 'one size fits all' when it comes to a mouse. What SteelSeries have done however is give you the closest thing to it. I could quite easily describe the mouse as the Goldilocks of mice because it just feels so 'right'. It's not too heavy, not too light, not too small, and not too big. If that wasn't enough it is further customisable to satisfy pretty much every taste both in how it reacts on-screen and how it looks on your desk. Goldilocks it is not though; it is a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
The Sensei, while certainly not ugly, may appear to be discreet, perhaps unimpressive at first glance. There are no chromed scroll wheels, no removable weights or a gazillion buttons. The matt silver finish is even very understated. It's what lies at the heart of the Sensei that impresses the most. The ARM processor, the precise class leading laser, the SteelSeries Engine all add up to make a supreme mouse that would benefit any gamer of any level.
There is very little I can criticise about the Sensei as it is the mouse that has almost everything you could want. It's comfortable to use, compatible for those who prefer claw or palm grip, indeed it is even suitable for left-handed gamers. A first for SteelSeries too is the LED customisation. While some may baulk at SteelSeries who were renowned for their more discreet offerings, users of the Sensei still have the option to turn all of the lights off should they find the lights tacky. Personally, I love the way you can adapt it to suit whatever colour scheme you might prefer. There's nothing worse than having a blue led lit keyboard and a red LED mouse or vice-versa for those who value aesthetics. The one single area which is likely to deter many potential buyers is the price. The average price of the unit is around the £65 mark which is very expensive for a mouse, though cheaper than a lot of the competition who do not have as many features. Being a top tier product though, people have and always will pay top money for a product of this kind so while the mouse is certainly not cheap, I believe it is worth every penny.
Mice are a very personal thing, perhaps more so than a keyboard and they are the primary source of interaction for a gamer to his PC. Mouse choice is therefore extremely important for those at the top of their game, but what about the rest of us, those that couldn't hit a cow’s backside with a banjo? Well, I must say that while the SteelSeries will not turn you into a gaming king, it will certainly improve your gaming prowess regardless of how poor that maybe. A mouse is just a tool and while a bad work man, or indeed gamer for that matter, will always blame his tools, it would be a very foolish person to cast any such blame on the SteelSeries Sensei as it is without a shadow of a doubt, by far the best gaming mouse I have had the pleasure to use and for that reason it deserves nothing less than our very best award. Well done SteelSeries!
Pros
+ Class leading performance
+ Portable profiles
+ Massive customisation possibilities
+ On-the-fly CPI adjustment
+ On-the-fly profile
+ Infinite Macro settings to each button
+ Tremendous build quality
+ Dense braided cable
Cons
- Included accessories could be better but this is a very minor point
Thanks to SteelSeries for providing today’s review sample. Click here for an explanation of our awards at Vortez.net.