SteelSeries has moved its Sensei and Rival gaming mice off the crowded 2.4 GHz band and onto ultra-wideband radio, and the new Pro models poll at 8,000 Hz over that link.
SteelSeries argues that a polling rate this high is only as quick as the channel carrying it, and that 2.4 GHz, shared with headsets, keyboards, phones and most other wireless mice, is too congested to keep up. Ultra-wideband uses the 6.4 to 9.056 GHz range, which the company puts at roughly 20 times the bandwidth, and it can spread data across several channels at once. SteelSeries calls the Sensei Pro and Rival Pro the first pure ultra-wideband mice with true 8K performance. Every performance figure in this story is the company's own.
The radio is the part that matters. Polling at 8,000 Hz means a mouse reports its position up to eight times as often as a standard 1,000 Hz model, and every one of those reports has to cross the air intact. SteelSeries adds that a Max Performance Mode holds the sensor in its 8K state at all times, tracking up to 800 inches per second.
Fast polling drains a battery, and the runtime numbers show it. Each mouse takes two hot-swappable batteries, so one can charge while the other is in use. SteelSeries rates the pair for up to 32 hours at 8,000 Hz, or 16 hours per battery, against 120 hours at 1,000 Hz. The fast setting therefore gives up about three quarters of the runtime, which explains why the company built the swappable design around it.
The line has four models: Sensei Pro, Sensei Pro Mini, Rival Pro and Rival Pro Mini, each in black or white. The names go back to mice SteelSeries introduced in 2011 and 2013. SteelSeries lists 53 g for the full-size models and 49 g for the Mini versions. Switches are optical and rated for 100 million clicks, and a new TrueMove 42K optical sensor handles tracking. The GG software adds a sensitivity finder, a sensitivity converter and a 3D aim trainer.
Pre-orders opened Sept. 29 through SteelSeries and retailers, and the mice reach retail stores on Oct. 13. Every model costs $179.99 in the US, €199.99 across EMEA (about $224 at the Oct. 2 exchange rate) and £169.99 in the UK (also about $224). SteelSeries also lists a Wireless Travel Dongle at $24.99, exclusive to its own store.
How the 8,000 Hz link behaves in a room full of other wireless gear is something only independent testing can settle.
