Small things like the cable getting caught on the edge of the desk can make wired mice especially annoying during gaming when the mouse cable rubs on the mouse pad causing you to miss your target!
Mouse bungees do a good job at keeping the mouse cable up out of the way but it's better to go as wireless as possible just for the freedom; hence a wireless mouse makes a ton of sense particularly when it is no ordinary wireless mouse like the SteelSeries Rival 650.
The SteelSeries Rival 650 features secret pop-up compartments on both sides of the mouse that allow you to weight tune the mouse so you can get better control over a slick gaming mousepad by being able to add extra weight to the Rival 650 to avoid overshooting the target you select.
Because weight can be added and subtracted from the Rival 650 mouse, you can use the mouse for games that require faster and precise reaction times.
SteelSeries includes a total of 8 weights, each weighing 4 grams so that gives you a grand total of 32 grams that you can possibly add to the Rival 650 should feel the need to.
The Steel Series Rival 650 weighs 121 grams so adding all 8 weights increases the weight of the Rival 650 to 153 grams.
Weight tuning distribution is on both sides of the Rival 650 mouse which pry open very easily and stay shut securely via magnetic closure. The extra weights are stored in a SteelSeries branded silicone rubber housing which also features a keyhole loop so you won't lose it.
The SteelSeries Rival 650 features 1000 Hz polling rate with 1ms response time so the mouse provides fast responses in-game and more accurate tracking though 1000 Hz polling rate mice movement is a bit more sensitive too so your margin for error is slightly greater as well;
Because of the extra sensitivity, it's a good idea adjusting in-game sensitivity (i.e. 1.4 sens, 1.8 sens) and using a lower dpi sensitivity with the SteelSeries Rival 650 according to your monitor screen. For instance, using 800 dpi for 1440p resolution, 400 dpi for 768p resolution and using 1200 dpi for 4k resolution.
You could also set the Windows mouse settings to 6/11 clicks and uncheck "enhanced pointer precision" tick box but this isn't really needed because the SteelSeries Rival 650 has a dpi button on board the mouse that lets you quickly adjust between 100 dpi and 12000 dpi in 100 dpi increments.
A mouse polling at 1000hz is also more intensive on a computer's CPU processor which is not a problem if you have a fast CPU but if you plan to run 1000hz polling rate with the SteelSeries Rival 650 on an old computer you will experience some frame rate drop in-game so it would be a good idea to lower it to 500hz polling rate to save a bit of processing speed.
As far as power, the SteelSeries Rival 650 uses an internal rechargeable Li-Ion battery instead of removable AAA batteries. The Rival 650 has 1000 mAh of battery energy storage capacity which is less storage capacity than most NiMH rechargable batteries but...
The Rival 650 built-in battery is able to retain power much better, lasting twice as long as NiMH rechargeable batteries and almost as good as dry lithium non-rechargeable batteries. You are alerted when battery is running low via the scroll wheel led which will flash green (100%-50%), yellow (49%-21%) and red (9%-1%).
If you're a light gamer the battery can last months and at least 4 days of heavy gaming marathons before needing to recharge the Rival 650 mouse.
And, when it's time to recharge the Rival 650 you can recharge 45% in just 15 minutes from a normal USB port of your computer though if your motherboard has a fast charge port you can get 3.5 hours of battery life from a 5 minute charge.
The only usability drawback of a wireless mouse using a li-ion battery is having to keep a charging cable handy, and in the case of the Rival 650 not being able to replace the internal battery which is a problem if the battery becomes faulty.
The entire body of the Rival 650 has the same uniform soft rubber texture, including the sides which are grippy but don't feature the hedgehog-like side grips found on the Rival 100 and Rival 300 right-handed mouse.
The scroll wheel is also rubberized with a tyre tread pattern that delivers precise scroll steps. The scroll wheel also has a middle click which is nice though the scroll wheel is a little too close to the dpi button so when you click the scroll wheel you accidentally click the dpi button.
On the right side of the mouse, you get three low profile buttons, which include two browser buttons that are within comfortable distance of the thumb and a programmable button which is without reach of the thumb unless you have an unusually long thumb!
Both big and small hands can use the Rival 650 comfortably in claw grip and palm grip thanks to finger curvature on the left and right mouse click which are clicky and responsive.
There are two sensors built-in to the Rival 650, namely a lift off sensor that you can adjust based on the surface level of your mousepad and/or play style so you don't get any mouse jittering.
Lift off can be adjusted via the SteelSeries Engine Software which is compatible with Windows computers (Win7 and later) and Mac computers (MacOS X 10.8 and later).
With that said, you can calibrate the lift off from the same dpi button on the mouse by holding down the dpi button for 2 seconds.
The other sensor in the Rival 650 is a TrueMove3 optical sensor which is a customized version of the 3360 optical sensor found in the Rival 500 15-button mouse that delivers true 1 to 1 tracking precision throughout the dpi range so your mouse movement is matched exactly with movement on-screen regardless of the dpi setting of the mouse.
The included Rival 650 USB cable and Rival 650 weights are interchangeable with the Rival 600 mouse and spare/replacement parts are sold by SteelSeries. The Rival 650 USB wireless adapter can also be replaced. Check out the review of the Sensei Ten mouse and the Apex 5 mechanical keyboard.