| SteelSeries Sensei Pro Laser Gaming Mouse |  |
| Reviews - Featured Reviews: Input Devices | |||||||
| Written by Austin Downing | |||||||
| Thursday, 03 November 2011 | |||||||
Page 4 of 5
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.
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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.