Product Manufacturer: SteelSeries
Price: $119 AUD
Estimated Time With Gear: 20+ hours

What Is It?: A lightweight and streamlined mouse
Compatible With: PC

Having not used a SteelSeries mouse before, I was excited to get my hands on the SteelSeries Prime, and I’ve been using it for the past couple of weeks and come away impressed with the simplistic design and obvious mission statement to meet gamers desires. 

The SteelSeries Prime is targeted at the esports crowd and those that care about fast response times. It’s a right-handed mouse that is stripped-down and almost looks deceivingly basic. There are two programmable side buttons, and there’s an RGB-lit scroll wheel — otherwise, this is about as plain as you can get. The Prime also only weighs 69g, and it glides across your desk like a feather at that weight. Playing MOBA’s or FPS’s feels excellent with this mouse. It isn’t a great multimedia/work mouse, however, with only those two side buttons. 

As a gaming mouse, and particularly an esports designed mouse that’s rated for 100m clicks, the SteelSeries Prime is a fantastic choice. However, the mouse’s one significant fault in this area is the lack of a quick-switch CPI button. You can switch between five CPI profiles by clicking a button on the bottom of the mouse or by using the SteelSeries GG software. The lowest CPI setting is 50, and the highest is a solid 18,000. There’s also four Polling Rate’s with a max of 1000, meaning you’re getting a much needed 1ms response time for playing fast-paced games. 

The included micro USB output from the mouse is detachable, meaning you can pack this mouse up and take it to a friends place or your next tournament. However, the mouse isn’t going to fit nicely into most laptop bags, and it’s not designed as a travel mouse. 

I didn’t have trouble using the mouse when I was happy with its placement on my desk, but I did find that anytime I went to pick up and move it, the glossy finish makes it hard to pick up and move. When it’s in the palm of your hand, you’ll have no issues with this, and I never did, but it is worth mentioning as it was a standout pet-peeve I had as someone who’s often placing sticky notes or other things on my desk next to my mouse and I’ve been lifting it and moving it more often than average. 

When you’re playing an FPS, the SteelSeries Prime felt the best as I was happy to be able to aim, shoot and put the melee button on the mouse’s side buttons. If you were to jump into an RTS, or especially an MMO, you’d probably be left somewhat disappointed with the lack of buttons on the mouse. I don’t think those genres are the target audience for this mouse, so it shouldn’t be an issue for the target audience of this particular mouse.