When it comes to peripherals generally corded is best. There are a slew of reasons for this but one of them is an issue like battery life. You don’t want to get your arse whooped in a game because your mouse runs out of juice and you don’t have any AA batteries lying around. Well the Steelseries Prime Wireless mouse has decided to try changing your mind.
No more batteries
Every wireless mouse I have used to date has required batteries. That might be one of the reasons I have been put off by them in the past which is a bit odd. The Steelseries Prime Wireless mouse is rechargeable using a nice little USB-C port in the front that you can plug in to charge it and if you have the other end plugged into the PC, can use it as a wired mouse as it charges.
So if the thing runs out of juice you can charge and keep playing, so win win.
Fortunately it is also equipped with an excellent battery so that requirement for plugging in is needed less often. I left the mouse unplugged for a week and didn’t switch it off. With a little bit of gaming and a lot of general PC use, I got a week out of it. If you leave it idle it goes into power saving mode so it takes half a second to react when you move the mouse for the first time, but I was impressed by this.
A lot of bits for a mouse
The package was unexpected to say the least. The mouse plugs in using a USB-C cable as I mentioned, but the dongle also uses USB-C. This is sorted thanks to a USB-A to USB-C cable and a USB-C to USB-C adapter for the dongle.
So basically you use the mouse plugged directly in using the cable when charging which is fine. Then if you need to switch it to wireless you move the cable from the mouse to the USB-C adapter which has the dongle connected. I tried some other USB-A to USB-C cables and heaps didn’t work for the dongle.
It’s a little bit of faf, but it is what it is. Given USB-C is becoming such a standard it probably won’t be long before a bunch of those USB-A ports become USB-C ones and then you’ll be glad this mouse was forward thinking.
Simple yet satisfying
If you look at this mouse it isn’t the most overdesigned mouse. The simple black style and shape looks like it would fit in any ergonomic office setup. What this means is this unassuming design can hide a heap of awesome and that is what it does.
The scroll button has grooves for comfort, and hosts the light so there is a little bit of fanciness. The CPI button is on the bottom of the mouse and depending on what setting it is on can change the colour of the light in the wheel. For people unfamiliar, this button changes how fast the cursor moves on the screen. For me I find a speed I am comfortable with and stick to it, but some gamers that change the sensitivity mid game might find that a little annoying.
The mouse is quite big but not massive and surprisingly light based on its size. This meant I found it super comfortable with my monster hands, and so did my wife with her smaller hands. Again this is a little simple in many ways, but with that it winds up being a lot easier to adapt to lots of different users. Perfect for a shared computer.
The software that comes with the mouse is super easy to use if you want to get into the nitty-gritty and customisation of the mouse. When using the mouse in games I found the reaction time shockingly good for a wireless mouse. I’m not a PC enthusiast so the difference between excellent and exceptional doesn’t register to me, but I was happy as a casual PC gamer with how it performed.
The verdict
The Steelseries Prime Wireless mouse is an excellent choice if you want a premium wireless gaming mouse. For around the $250 mark it is a premium ass mouse, but you get what you pay for here. Thanks to the unassuming design I didn’t expect a wireless mouse to wow me like this one did, but wow.
A Steelseries Prime Wireless Mouse was provided for review
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