SteelSeries Sensei wireless mouse may be the best wireless mouse on the market

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The unfortunate truth about wireless mice is that more often than not, they simply lack the response time and flexibility that most wired mice have. SteelSeries has always been  personal preference of mine when it comes to mice, simply because the ergonomic design hasn’t changed much over the years. When I was able to get my hands on the Sensei Wireless mouse, I immediately proceeded with caution.

The Sensei Wireless mouse, at first glance, doesn’t differ at all from any of the other mice that are offered through SteelSeries. That is except for the fact that there’s no cord tethering the whole thing to your computer. The side buttons are in their expected spots, just below the thumb, for either right-handed or left-handed users. Being that the mouse is a Sensei, there isn’t a hole underneath the side buttons, which generally seems to end up being a dirt and dust catch on older mice. The metal center of the mouse is contrasting to the matte plastic that rest of the mouse has, so if you have wandering fingers, you’ll know you’ve ventured out of clicking territory.

I’m pretty sure that you really don’t need a dissertation of the looks and feel of the mouse though, you are here for the performance. To start, the SteelSeries Engine 3 is fairly bad-ass. On it, you can make adjustments to maximize battery life, change the DPI from 800 to 16200, program macros and even adjust the color options of the mouse and logo. There are other various quality of life tweaks that can be made from the engine as well. I ended up creating a few presets for games like League of Legends and Smite and loading them up is as easy as a simple click.

The battery life on the Sensei Wireless is impressive, I can go almost a full week on a single charge. Oddly enough, this was before I realized I could turn the logo off on the mouse when I had my hand over it, which improves the battery life even more. The base for the mouse doubles as a receiver and charger, if there was any complaint to go with the mouse, it would be here. When you put the mouse on the base, it is possible to not have it set right and miss out on charging time. On top of that, there have been a handful of times that I’ve charged the mouse and the base and mouse go into a sleep mode that can only be fixed by unplugging the base. Even that isn’t more than a rare inconvenience, but it is a weird one.

With all the different mice available on the market, it’s hard to find one that simply offers performance over silly gimmicks and flashy designs. The Sensei Wireless mouse really does forgo all the aesthetic designs to offer probably one of the best full-sized wireless mice experiences that I’ve had the pleasure of putting my hands all over.

PROS:

• SteelSeries Engine 3 has all the right tools to make sure it works perfectly
• The Sensei Wireless mouse has the perfect amount of weight so it doesn’t feel like a cheap toy in your hands
• Impressive battery life, with the option to plug it into the computer directly if you are traveling

CONS:

• The base unit doesn’t always charge correctly and sometimes freezes up both the base and mouse
• While the glossy black accents look great on the matte black body, it looks like hell after a play session
• The lighting will kill your battery if you aren’t careful

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Josh Knowles

Longtime games journalist and Florida resident. I'm a Guinness World Record holder, wordsmith extraordinaire, MOBA fan, devoted dad and husband. I'm here to spread the gospel of video games.