SteelSeries is taking another swing at the high-end gaming mouse market with the new Sensei Pro and Rival Pro Series, but the headline feature isn’t simply another mouse promising an 8K polling rate. The new mice use Ultra-Wideband (UWB) wireless technology, designed to avoid some of the congestion associated with traditional 2.4GHz wireless connections.
SteelSeries says its UWB implementation operates across the 6.4GHz-9.056GHz spectrum and offers roughly 20 times the bandwidth of the 2.4GHz band typically used by wireless gaming peripherals. The company claims this allows the new mice to maintain a consistent 8,000Hz polling rate while reducing the interference that can come from other wireless devices.
That 8K polling rate reports the mouse’s position up to 8,000 times per second, compared with 1,000Hz on a standard gaming mouse. The mice also feature a new TrueMove 42K optical sensor, with a Max Performance Mode capable of maintaining 20K/sec frame captures, 800 IPS and 70G tracking performance. Whether every player will notice the difference is another question, but competitive FPS players are certainly the audience SteelSeries has in mind, with Counter-Strike 2, VALORANT, and Fortnite specifically called out.
Power is another area SteelSeries is addressing. Both the Sensei Pro and Rival Pro use an Infinite Power System with two hot-swappable batteries. One battery can charge while the other is in use, with SteelSeries claiming up to 32 hours of operation at 8K or up to 120 hours at 1K. Each battery provides up to 16 hours at 8K or 60 hours at 1K.
The mice weigh 53g in their full-size versions and 49g for the Mini models. They also include optical switches rated for 100 million clicks, with a claimed 0.35ms click response time. Software customization comes through SteelSeries GG, including adjustable lift-off distance, rotation control, sensitivity tools, scroll jump protection, DPI conversion, and a 3D aim trainer.
The lineup consists of the Sensei Pro, Sensei Pro Mini, Rival Pro, and Rival Pro Mini, with Black and White color options. All four carry a $179.99 MSRP in the US. Pre-orders are open now, with retail availability starting October 13.
