SteelSeries Sensei Ten Gaming Mouse Review

Featured image credit: SteelSeries

SteelSeries isn’t just a company, it is a whole gaming industry, From headsets and mice, to keyboards and controllers – all of SteelSeries’ products are easily recognized for their bright design and unusual logo. Esports are SteelSeries’ first and foremost business. Ever since early 2000s, the company has supported professional gamers in various international championships. In 2020, the company announced release of a new version of their the most famous eSports mouse. In this review, we are going to take a closer look at this mouse, also known as SteelSeries Sensei Ten.

SteelSeries Sensei Ten Specifications

When speaking of its design, the SteelSeries Sensei Ten is made of matte black plastic. Since mouse features minimalistic design, with no additional decorative details, the mouse looks like a single uniform piece of lightweight plastic. The ambidextrous form factor of the mouse is equally convenient for use in both right and left-handers. The symmetry is also evident in the placement of the buttons, as both sides of the mouse feature two programmable button keys. The Sensei Ten features no straight lines or sharp corners, which makes this mouse incredibly smooth and pleasant to hold. Clicking the buttons produces very soft sounds, which we found to be very satisfying to hear.

The illuminated translucent SteelSeries logo is engraved into the housing so neatly that it appears to be one with the body. Four additional buttons, which are placed on the side edges of the mouse, lack “braille” dots or protrusions, and thus don’t provide better grip or tactility which we like to see on premium gaming mice. The wide scroll wheel is slightly raised above the keys, enough to reach it confidently with your index finger. When the wheel rotates in the downward direction, it makes almost no sound, but when it rotates backwards, a dull crunching sound can be heard. Rotating the wheel is smooth and soft, however, a weak vibration can be felt coming from inside.

The button located above the mouse’s wheel enables you to toggle the sensor sensitivity, which can also be adjusted via dedicated software suite. The switching of sensitivity levels is signalled by a white LED lamp located between the wheel and the button. The body of the mouse can be easily disassembled, however, we won’t recommend doing that since inner linings can easily be removed, and require gluing in order to hold the mouse again in one piece. Inside the mouse you can find some high-quality components, such as TrueMove Pro optical sensor developed by PixArt. The microswitches on this mouse are designed to sustain 60 million clicks, while the sensitivity of the sensor allows you to operate the mouse on almost any surface (even on a glass). The declared sensor resolution of 18,000 DPI is a complete overkill, since for operating the mouse at such high sensitivity you would have to use microscopic movements of your hand, which is practically impossible.

Speaking of its software, the proprietary SteelSeries Engine application does a magnificent job. Each button on the mouse can be easily configured, as all you have to do is click the button which you want to configure, and then you just assign the function you want to do it. The user can create multiple different configuration profiles, which is very hand when you are about to switch to another game featuring different controls. The software suite also allows you to record macros, as well as deactivate keys you don’t need. The adjustments of both RGB LEDs are done separately from each other. Besides customizing color scheme, you can also choose between different lightning effects.

The sensitivity of the mouse, its most important parameter, is adjusted separately for each of the five levels you can quickly switch to. The adjustment is done by moving the slider along the value scale, and if you have no need for all of the five levels, you can simply delete the unnecessary ones. The software suite also enable you to configure optical sensor’s anti-aliasing feature which tries to smooth out the unintentional pointer jerks done by hand, or by an uneven surface. This feature comes particularly handy while using professional applications which require high hand precision, such as Adobe Photoshop, or Autodesk’s AutoCAD.

The SteelSeries Engine application also allows you to install additional software modules and mouse profiles for different applications you might use. For example, there are specific profiles for Discord app, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, DOTA 2, Mortal Kombat 11, Minecraft, and so on. The listed apps are a part of the SteelSeries Engine ecosystem, and their task is to improve mouse tracking in various applications along with their own unique RGB lightning schemes. For example, Minecraft app allows players to display their health and hunger levels directly via mouse’s RGB LEDs. You can also use RGB LEDs on the mouse to display different audio frequencies while listening to the music, or to synchronize RGB lightning across various SteelSeries devices.

The ability to work any surfaces, adjust programmable keys, record macros, and sync RGB lightning in conjunction with various devices make the SteelSeries Sensei Ten an extraordinary gaming mouse. Despite the many great design features, this mouse is rather small for users with big hands, and it also doesn’t feature a braided USB cable. Overall, the SteelSeries Sensei Ten is a very good gaming mouse, provided you prefer functionality and design simplicity over stylish looks.