steelseries Sensei 62150 Grey 8 Buttons 1 x Wheel USB Wired Laser 11400 dpi Gaming Mouse

Pros: Nice clicking feel, The mouse profile editor, pretty colors.

Cons: Doesnt feel NEAR as good in my hand as my old mx518 did. The sensei was made for left and right handed person which Has no benefit for a right or left handed only person (which is almost ALL people....). This Sucks.

Other Thoughts: I still recommend it. Its good.

Pros: The mouse precision is absolutely fantastic and the form factor is nice and minimalist. The price range for the DPI you are getting is also nothing to scoff at. The clicking sensation and button placement is great. The software that ships with the mouse is dense, but the customization is wonderful and for SC2 players it even has custom profiles developed from pro players such as inControl and MoonGlade.

Cons: When my mouse shipped to me it seemed to work well for about a month, but then it developed an unusual glitch where the mouse cursor would get a mind of its own and begin wandering in a random direction across the screen. This does not happen 99% of the time; but 1% of the time is enough to completely lose a match if you play a game like SC2. The problem persists for about 4-5 seconds before going away and the mouse then returns to complete functionality.

Other Thoughts: I only took off 1 egg because they shipped a defective product, not because the mouse's hardware profile was not up to par. Having done a bit of research on this, it is a somewhat common hardware defect for this model to have.

Pros: I really like this mouse. I have read some people complaining about the sensor dying, but after 4 months of use the sensor has never failed me. The software is very useful. It is easy to customize profiles though saving them can take the program a bit longer than I would like. The LEDs are nice. As someone who thinks that a ton of LEDs can be kind of tacky, it is nice to be able to customize them to a color that I find acceptable. And really, there are a ridiculous amount of color options so I think it should satisfy everyone. The mouse also feels very good in the hand. I was afraid that the mouse, being rather large, would be too big for my small hands, but I find it comfortable to use and I don't have trouble hitting any of the side buttons, including the ones on the ring finger side of the mouse. The scroll wheel is responsive and clicks into place strongly, so you can really feel the scroll as it happens. The mouse has an on board processor meaning it can run driverless. I actually was using this mouse when I installed the drivers for it. All of the profiles carry with the mouse and can even be adjusted via the screen on the bottom of the mouse.

Cons: When the LEDs are turned off or set to white, it seems like there is a slight pink hue to them. Not sure why that is but it shouldn't be a problem for many people. I do not notice this when the LED is displaying a color, even lighter shades. The Laser is very recessed in the mouse and once a hair got caught in it causing the cursor to jump around and get stuck. I was easily able to get the hair out so it isn't really a big deal. Someone with a tidier desk then mine shouldn't really find a problem with this.

Other Thoughts: Overall, this is a great mouse. A welcome upgrade to the Logitech M310 I was using previously. haha.

Pros: ideal both-hand mouse

32-bit ARM processor

'sniper' button disables doublesampling cutting DPI and sensitivity in half with a press!

Cons: I still havn't learned to use LCD screen on bottom for on-the-fly reconfiguration

not exactly ergonomic

hard to keep clean, especially if you get sweaty palms ingame or eat around your computer

Pros: Adjustable everything. Polling rate, CPI, accel and decel--everything about this mouse is customizable. The options I was given started at a base level and were capable of high performance to the point of insanity. I had a choice between a jalopy and an F1 racer all in the same package. I think it's obvious which direction we'd all go from there after buying an $80 dollar mouse.

So I spent a good 2 hours building up my personal profile. I had a Xai initially, so I had a starting point. I set everything the same: polling rate, CPI, acceleration and all. Then, I realized that it felt all wrong, went back and started over. My end result thus far is very different from my starting point. None of my settings are the same, but now I have a mouse that behaves like my old Xai and packs a far greater punch that my old hardware ever could. The sensitivity is far greater, the acceleration behaves better. I'm quite happy with the Sensei, despite it's small number of shortcomings (and it does have them, mind you).

To be honest, I initially wanted another Xai. My old one died and I didn't really feel like moving to something else. Logitech never felt right for gaming, the Razer mice are far too expensive and too full of LED lighting for my liking, and let's not get started on the Microsoft mice, shall we. I noticed that the Sensei had an ARM processor on board, and I'm always 100% for any bit of tech that'll offload some of the work my main CPU has to do. I bought it on a whim, figuring if I didn't like it I'd sell it to a friend or something.

They'll never so much as breathe on it. It's mine, I say!

I may be over blowing it, but that's how it is. The Xai is old news in my book, and I'd have married it only a day ago. How fickle, the hearts of men.

Once this thing is dialed in, it's absolutely brilliant. It behaves like my old Xai wishes it could. Even on my somewhat meager settings (540CPI,500Hz polling rate) I can feel the difference in precision. The bits and pieces of tech steelseries threw into what is essentially a Xai body make all the difference. I've yet to truly run it through it's paces, but in my one gaming test run of the night I absolutely 0wned!

Did I mention it looks amazing? The LEDs are a bit of a bonus, though I feel that the mouse could do without. It's a nice touch and isn't over the top, but it feels a bit out of place on a steelseries device. Mine are blue, by the way. Keeping them on when I have the option to turn them off and then complaining about it makes me a huge hypocrite, so yeah. And I DO have the option to turn them off in this case, so... Yeah.

Cons: The nigh limitless customization can work against the mouse as well. I have a few years with steelseries under my belt, and I've made all of my mistakes with the Xai. The easiest mistake to make is to utilize the mouse's full performance potential in thinking that it may benefit you. A 11400 CPI sounds good on paper, but it doesn't do so hot in actual real-world use. I dare you to set the Sensei to this all-out karate-chop-you-in-the-face mode when working in Windows (or Mac OS, Linux, whatever). You will die. And I don't mean that figuratively. The Sensei's pointer will literally pop out of the screen and karate chop you in the face. Rule of thumb: never, EVER ask your Sensei to break out the Ougi for demonstration. He will make you suffer to no end for it.

Again, the LEDs. I've already announced that I am in fact an unrepentant hypocrite, so I'm giving myself a pass here. Setting the LEDs too bright will only serve as a distraction. The Sensei seeks to catch you off-guard and will thoroughly punish you for your mistakes. Mine may be blue, but they're also set at a rather muted color and dimmed to a good brightness for a dark room. Also, there are colors this mouse does not do well. Yellow is one, white is another. If you want a good white(ish) color, be prepared to see that red LED standing out like a sore thumb. I set mine to a light blue because of this, and even then the color I wanted took a lot of tweaking to get right. It took me almost as much time to get the colors right as it did to set the pointer speeds. And that's terrible. On the upside, if you like the color red, you're in luck. It's one of maybe three colors it does perfectly. If the LEDs are a dealbreaker for you, then you may want to consider this deal broken.

Aaaand onto the software. I've never been big on steelseries software. Or mouse/keyboard software in general. A lot of times you don't need it to used the hardware, other times you do. In the case of the Sensei, you only need it once. The software steelseries provides is decent but not perfect, and like training wheels on a bicycle you'll only need it for a short while. I used it for my initial config, exporting my firmware profiles, updating my firmware, and nothing more. I uninstalled it right after that. Once you set your button config and LED color, the rest can be done from within the mouse's firmware. You know that top button? Hold it for three seconds, turn your mouse over. That LCD on the bottom becomes your menu. It is all you will ever need from then on.

No ability to adjust the weight will, ehem, weigh heavy on those who like heavier mice. The top of this mouse is still plastic, despite the metallic sheen you see in the pictures. The weight is similar to the Xai, and if you're like my and prefer lighter mice, you'll see no reason to dock off points for not having a weighting system. Sensei does not train students in the art of Sumo.

No rubberized finish. It's a Xai thing.

Other Thoughts: Yet, despite everything I will always compare this mouse to my Xai. I loved my Xai, probably more than I ever should have. It was a good mouse, now become the stick by which I measure all that may dare overshadow it's good name. It was the pinnacle of perfection. Emphasis on "was". The Sensei took everything about the Xai and improved upon it, took every mistake and corrected it. It feels all-around better, despite the lack of the rubberized grip I wil miss ever so much.

I followed my sysadmin handbook to the letter with this piece of hardware, and recommend all who buy it do the same:

Step 1. Turn it on. Does it work? If yes, proceed to step two.
Step 2. Install the steelseries Engine, update the firmware first. If the update succeeds, proceed to step three. If not, re-run the update until it does.
Step 3. Test EVERYTHING. Buttons, movement, the works. If it seems jumpy and feels off (not accounting for speed and acceleration) it probably is.
Step 4. If you're here, everything works. Patting yourself on the back is prohibited by group policy, so just feel proud for exactly ten seconds before getting back to fixing Exchange.

Mine turned out okay in the end. I had to re-run the firmware update because of a driver hiccup, but if that happens you shouldn't feel alarmed. Re-running the update overwrites the failed update, unlike in PC BIOS updates. In any case, you're not dealing with a $10,000 server here, and if anything fails on day one you can still RMA.

My final recommendation goes out to everyone: be prepared for a rude awakening if this is your first gaming-grade mouse. If this is your first steelseries mouse, be prepared for a slightly less but still rather tedious setup. This mouse is made for those who understand the technology that goes into making a high-quality optical mouse. If you think you can take on the master, do it. But don't feel too bad if he beats the ever loving daylight out of you.

Pros: Using A9500 laser sensor. Very solid switches built well.

Cons: No extra mouse cover to swap for a rubberized feel.

Other Thoughts: Love how my palm fits over the entire mouse resting easily. No hand fatigue after long periods of time for me.

The higher grade A9800 laser sensor are on the Fnatic & MLG Steel Series mice.

Pros: Great mouse for gaming. Overkill for general use but is solid as they come. Perfect weight.

Cons: Might not be the grip for everyone.

Other Thoughts: Had this mouse for five months and using it on A second system, running great. Kids love the LED they can change color on.

Pros: The shape. Can use all side buttons. LEDs. Feels "high quality".

Cons: Faulty sensor. HORRIBLE customer support. Not only do I have to pay for RMA shipping, I have to wait for a new mouse to come. Not to mention it took them an entire WEEK to finish my RMA. RIDICULOUS!

I loved my XAI, even tho it had it's faults and only lasted a year or two. I was hoping for a similar experience with this mouse. The only experience I got was the XAI at it's life's end.

I'm done with SteelSeries. I always read other people's reviews of their mice and thought whatever, mine works fine. But no. I would have overlooked the problems if the customer support was there. It's not. They don't care. They have like two guys doing support.

They sell one of the more expensive mice on the market and can't even provide decent support. What a joke.

The mouse had LOTS of potential, but it was just executed poorly.

I am going to return it for a refund. I'm not even going to bother trying to get a working one. I'm going Logitech for now one. At least they give you A+ support.

Pros: I like the shape of the mouse. I don't have to have my hand be in a shape like Logitech mice.

The LEDs are nice, but wish you could turn them off via a mouse click.

All side buttons now work. The XAI only had use of one side at a time.

Better than the XAI.

Cons: The sensor and support. The sensor is bad on mine and it's been four days since I've last talked to SteelSeries on my support ticket. My XAI had this issue at the end of it's life, but not this bad. I overlooked it on my XAI, because I liked the mouse so much. I find the sensor itself to be more accurate than Logitech ones. I like Logitech mice, but the sensors always seem jittery.

Other Thoughts: Really hoping I was just unlucky and the support pulls through. I also hope they send me my replacement first, as the entire point of buying a mouse is to use it. I know some people have back ups, but I don't.

Pros: -Flashy with nice steel color
-A lot of buttons to use for various games

Cons: -Firmware update problems
-Steels series engine cannot even detect the mouse after I have used it for a year
-Constant problems with firmware updates and it freezes in firmware update so I cannot even use the mouse.
-I have to hook up a different mouse just to try and fix my mouse? We should never have to do that. I got help for this problem from the steel series support but they just told me to run firmware update and plug it in the right USB port. After that I did not receive any other response from the support team.

Other Thoughts: I am a big fan of steel series but they really let me down on this one. Stay away from this mouse they make it complicated when it should just be nice and simple to use.
Once again BUY A DIFFERENT MOUSE IF YOU CAN. There are plenty better out there.