Table of Contents
Some designs don’t age. From Converse to Coke bottles, these often imitated products never hesitate, even when their competitors are being modernized with the latest features. In the world of gaming mice, the SteelSeries Sensei is that iconic product. This year, the SteelSeries commemorates its tried and tested mouse with a 10th-anniversary edition. This is our SteelSeries Sensei Ten Review.
The aptly named Sensei Ten mouse has a similar iconic design as its predecessors and marries one for the Best sensors available. The Sensei Ten excels the basics – but the asking price of $70 isn’t cheap, and the two-handed design, while great for most people, isn’t perfect for everyone. Anyway, if you’re looking for a reliable gaming mouse with excellent performance, the SteelSeries Sensei Ten is undoubtedly one of the best gaming mice you can buy right now.
SteelSeries Sensei Ten Review – Design
The Sensei Ten is an elegant game mouse with a minimalist design. As it lacks the flashy elements of other game mice, the Sensei Ten looks just as smug in an office as it does at a LAN party. The design of the Sensei Ten is refined and straightforward. It has smooth, all-black surfaces that are only disturbed by an RGB-lit SteelSeries logo and an RGB-lined scroll wheel. A Japanese and Chinese character for heaven is stamped on the inside of the mouse as a nod to the anniversary edition.
As an ambidextrous mouse, the SteelSeries Sensei Ten has a symmetrical shape enhanced by slim, soft curves. Ambidextrous mice do not form the contours of your hand like their less flexible counterparts. And yet it is one of the most comfortable mice I have used. The inward-facing curves on the sides of the mouse gave my ring finger and thumb, a natural place to rest. Also, my wrists appreciated the low-profile design and easy-to-reach scroll wheel.
The apparent advantage of an ambidextrous design is that it is suitable for both left and right-handed people. Another advantage is that it is ideal for a wide range of gamers using claw, finger, or palm prints. My favorite with the Sensei Ten is the soft, matte finish. In addition to making the mouse super comfortable to hold, the surface gives the Sensei a certain refinement you wouldn’t usually find in gaming peripherals.
SteelSeries has also nailed down the weight and balance of the Sensei Ten mouse. It is lightweight, at 92 grams (3.25 ounces), but still feels significant. And at 5 x 2.7 x 1.5 inches, the SteelSeries Sensei Ten is a medium-sized mouse that shouldn’t be a problem for most people. This is an eight-button mouse with a fairly standard layout: left and right-clicked buttons on the front, a few shortcut buttons on each side, and a button to switch DPI (dots per inch) at the top, just above a low-profile scroll wheel.
SteelSeries Sensei Ten Review – Features
The Sensei Ten is intended for competitive gaming so that you won’t get all the features offered by some of its rivals. You can see the Sensei Ten as an F1 racing car; it gives priority to speed, so anything that gets extra is taken away. Using that equation, the engine in the Sensei Ten is a TrueMove Pro optical sensor that tracks motion up to 18,000 DPI at a 1,000-Hz per-millisecond polling rate. Maximum gravity is set at 50G acceleration, while IPS (inches per second) is at the top at 450 on a QcK mouse pad.
SteelSeries has also enhanced the durability for this 10th-anniversary mouse: The company says its mechanical switches can survive at least 60 million clicks. Modification is done via the SteelSeries Engine 3 software. Free for both macOS and Windows 10, you can assign buttons using the app, adjust the RGB lighting, and set a DPI or CPU (between 50 and 18,000). With the granular control, you can tinker with polling rates, angular movements, and acceleration/deceleration.
Most people don’t need to touch those settings, but it’s nice to have when you’re a competitive gamer. If you want to set it up and forget about it, you can set a countless number of profiles (for lighting, DPI control, etc.) on your PC or five profiles assigned on Sensei Ten’s onboard memory. The app is quite easy to use, and the Live Preview option is a handy tool. But it would have been better to have all the above adjustments on multiple tabs instead of one messy page. Also, specific interfaces, such as the pop-up box for changing the RGB lighting, could use a modern revision.
SteelSeries Sensei Ten Review – Performance
Sensei Ten is a pleasure to use. The TrueMove Pro optical sensor is responsive, accurate and fast, and the mouse is comfortable to hold and glides effortlessly on the SteelSeries’ QcK mouse pad. My Victory Royale rate didn’t shoot up, but the precision of the Sensei Ten’s sensor allowed me to play with a higher DPI. I consistently and accurately fired the crucial first shotgun round at my enemies before they could react, thanks to the speed at which I was able to move my weapon without losing control.
The clicky buttons helped me make my way through a horde of orcs in the Middle-earth: Shadow of War, allowing me to quickly snap between swinging my sword with a left-click and blocking incoming attacks with a right-click. I tested the sensitivity of the optical sensor by using the Sensei Ten on different surfaces. Wherever I played – on a mouse pad, a wooden desk, a box, or even my jeans – my cursor slipped smoothly across the screen without skipping.
Conclusion
SteelSeries took its iconic Sensei mouse and linked it to one for the Best sensors out the re, creating a mouse that is great for both professional players and casual gamers. Combine outstanding performance with a sleek design, comfortable soft-touch finish, and responsive buttons, and we have no choice but to give Sensei Max our highest recommendation.
There are just a few reasons why you might choose a different mouse. The first is Sensei Ten’s $70 price, which is a bit costly. Second, Sensei Ten is for normal gamers who want a streamlined experience. If you prefer the latest features or a more aggressive design, consider the Logitech G502 Proteus Core or the HP Omen Photon.
All in all, the Sensei Ten is an excellent mouse for most gamers and an exemplary celebration of legendary gaming peripheral.