SteelSeries Sensei Ten Mouse Review – The eSports Champion Returns

A Closer Look & Performance

The Sensei Ten comes hard-wired with a lightweight yet durable USB cable.

There’s nothing fancy or complex about it really, just plug and play. You can dial in some settings via the optional software too. However, the mouse has onboard memory, so you do not require the software once you’ve made changes.

Ergonomics

What can I say about the ergonomics, other than that they haven’t really changed in the last ten years? The mouse keeps that iconic shape, and it’s all the better for it. It’s a very comfortable mouse to use as it is. Furthermore, it’s ambidextrous, so left or right-handed, it’s got you covered. Plus, it never hurts to have another set of side buttons at your disposal for macros.

Lighter and Lighter

The mouse has shed around 10% of the weight of the old model. Improvements in the plastics and the electronics are to thank for the new lightness. That’s pretty good going considering the mouse also has this lovely RGB lit logo right at the back too.

Buttons

All of the buttons on the mouse feature premium-quality mechanical switches. They have a very satisfying click to them too, which is important for tactile feedback.

The LMB and RMB feature the big switches though. These are rated for 60 million clicks, although they should obviously last even longer than that. The rating is that they’ll feel the same from click one to click 60m. That’s likely a LOT more than you think too, the Sensei Twenty would be out before these switches gave up life. They’re very snappy and response too, thanks to their dual spring mounting, so the have an instant return that’s great for high APM.

Scroll

The scroll wheel hasn’t been tinkered with too much either. It’s still as nimble and precise as it has always been. It has a confident feeling notch when turned, but it’s still pretty light and easy to move. It’s clickable too, giving you just one extra button to tinker with. The soft rubber grip coating looks great too, but also just gives it enough friction so that your finger doesn’t slip.

Finally, we have a profile button at the back. That one really explains its self, as it can be tuned to goggle things like the CPI. There are some default profiles built-in, but as I said before, you can tweak those in the downloadable software.

TrueMove Pro

The biggest upgrade to the Sensei Ten is the new sensor. The latest TrueMove Pro was developed in collaboration with the amazing people at PixArt. It’s capable of tracking from as low at 50 CPI up to 18,000 DPI, so it should easily meet your demands. Actually, it’ll exceed them, as it can track accurately while being dragged 11 meters in just 1 second (source). So with 50G acceleration and ultra-high-speed precision with 450 IPS, if you miss a headshot, you’ve only yourself to blame (or lag, cheaters, hackers and your cat).

A True Gaming Weapon

Being able to track at 50 CPI or even 18,000 are extremes few will need or even want. However, it just demonstrates the capability and range of this new sensor. If you did need extreme precision, 50 CPI is great, but even a few hundred CPI will be adept for those finer sniper shot moments. At 18,000 CPI it’s not unusable on a 4K monitor. However, it’s more for faster navigation of large maps in MOBA games or moving between multiple monitors. Actually, I find extreme CPI handy for forcing tank turrets to turn fast in games like Battlefield.

The grip on the mouse is fantastic. It feels very natural and comfortable for any play style. Claw grips (like above) or a palm grip (as seen below) work just fine. You can easily use a hybrid of the two easily enough. What I love is that my long fingers fit, as they so rarely do on most mice. Despite that, the mouse doesn’t feel bulky or oversized either.

The shape makes it easy to properly grip the mouse too, rather than just rest your hand on it. You can pick it up without fumbling for purchase on the sides. This is very handy if you use a low CPI and a lift-off technique too.

Into Battle

The mouse keeps things simple, yet it doesn’t. It’s got a fantastic cutting edge sensor and premium switches. However, it dispenses with dozens of buttons or a radical new ergonomic design. Any PC user can hold this and know what they’re doing and where everything is. From old games to new, it’s got just enough buttons to meet your demands.

It doesn’t corner its self into being a pure FPS mouse either. It’s not as stripped back as the Endgame Gear XM1. However, it is very light and very nimble, so it does lend its self well to tight FPS gameplay. The fast switches make high APM easier though, and it’ll go well in any MOBA, Battle Royale, and RTS game too. In all honesty, it’s good at anything. I’d happily use it just for Google Docs and Reddit all day; can confirm it works well there, as that’s mostly what I’ve done today while writing this review.

RGB

The lighting is nice, but it’s not just there for “OMG RGB LOOK AT ME” stuff. You can set a colour for each profile, which is important. Change the colour for higher CPI, lower CPI, that kind of thing. At least that way, you can see what your settings are at a glance.