Overall and Final Verdict
When you put it all together, the Rival is a great mouse. SteelSeries did a nice job of creating a mouse design that takes in some of what has made the Siberia great while departing enough to make a unique design that will go well next to the Siberia in their product line. I compared the Rival to the Deathadder multiple times in my review and this is for good reason. They both have similar optical sensors, dpi’s, rubber grips on the sides, lighting, and shapes. Without a doubt the Rival is the SteelSeries equivalent of the Deathadder. That isn’t a bad thing considering how popular the Deathadder is. The Rival wasn’t perfect, it will only work for right handed gamers and gamers with fairly large hands. But the upside is there is finally a SteelSeries mouse that works well for those with large hands and people who are give fans of optical sensors.
With an MSRP of less than $60 the Rival is set to be a good deal when you start finding percentage off deals on the SteelSeries website or on Amazon. Even at its MSRP it’s still cheaper than the Deathadder in which it competes with. I can’t wait to set my orange lighting and have a custom nameplate made for the Rival to add that special touch for the next LAN. A custom nameplate might come in handy if the Rival becomes half as popular as I expect it too!
