The SteelSeries Prime is a very good wired gaming mouse.
It has a comfortable ergonomic design suitable for all types of grips, it’s lightweight, has a wide CPI range, and, most importantly, it’s accurate.
This is a gaming mouse designed for competitive gaming, and while it isn’t the best for MMORPGs, it’s brilliant for shooters and action games.
Pros
- Responsive
- Affordable
- Comfortable design
- Accurate
- Easy to use software
- Clicks feel great
Cons
- CPI button on the underside
- Not ideal for games where you want a lot of mouse buttons
Price
The SteelSeries Prime mouse costs $128
Design
The SteelSeries Prime is a wired gaming mouse, with a micro-USB to USB-A connection.
It’s a minimalistic mouse. The only striking feature it boasts is the scroll wheel with an RGB light on either side.
It has a matte black plastic shell, two thumb buttons on the left side and the SteelSeries logo on the back. It’s basic.
If you’re looking for an over-the-top mouse that’s going to match the RGB colours of your gaming rig, the Prime isn’t it, but I liked the basic look.
The first thing I noticed when using the Prime was how comfortable it is. The ergonomic shape works well with all types of mouse grips, claw, fingertip and palm. It’s light, and its curved shell has a raised inside, which made the mouse feel natural in my medium-sized hand.
The Prime is spaced out well. I could easily access the thumb buttons without lifting my first and second fingers. There’s also plenty of room to rest your third and pinky finger on its outside.
Measuring 125.3 x 42.4 x 23mm, the Prime isn’t the biggest mouse on the market, but it’s a comfortable size. It’s also light weighing 69g without feeling feathery.
SteelSeries advertise the Prime as a competitive gaming mouse, and that’s made obvious by only having two thumb buttons. If you’re playing MMORPGs or games where you want many key-binds, then this isn’t it.
The Prime has a counts per inch (CPI) button on its underside that lets you change your mouse sensitivity without having to open the SteelSeries software. You can switch between five pre-set or customised CPIs.
Because the CPI button is on the mouse’s underside, you can’t alter your sensitivity on the fly like you can with other gaming mice like the Razer Lancehead. Still, I rarely play a game where the sensitivity needed to be changed constantly, so it was fine.
Performance
The Prime has very good performance. What I liked most about it was it adjusted well to my personal preferences.
Reducing the sensitivity was effective, and I instantly noticed a difference. It didn’t take me long for me to get my sensitivity just as I wanted it.
The Prime has a large CPI range with an 18,000 CPI rating and a 450IPS (inches per second) rating.
The clicks feel solid, and they spring back nicely. This is due to the Prestige OM Switch inside the Prime. This switch uses a magnet instead of mechanical parts when clicking. On the left and right-click, there’s a torsion spring that’s held in place by this magnet, and clicking feels great. Rated for 100 million clicks, the Prime will last a long time as well.
The Prime also has a TrueMove Pro Tracking Sensor, and the results are impressive. The Prime is incredibly accurate. Not once did I lose control of my mouse. It didn’t matter if I was flicking it or lifting it off the mouse mat in games it maintained its position well.
When playing twitch-based shooters like Splitgate and Counter-Strike, the Prime worked very well. I was able to accurately and effectively aim my weapon exactly where I wanted it. I even tried it using Rust’s formidable bow, which is a lot harder to aim with, and I noticed improvements in my aiming abilities.
It worked fine for games where you probably want more binds like Arma 3 or Starbase, but I did find myself wanting more buttons.
Software
The SteelSeries GG software is required if you want to make changes to your mouse’s settings. It’s lightweight software, and it comes with a lot of handy customisation options.
There’s a macro editor where you can change your mouse binds, you can change the colours of the RGB in the scroll wheel, alter your sensitivity, acceleration and polling rate.
Everything you’d want is here, and it’s easy to use.
Verdict
The SteelSeries Prime is a minimalistic wired mouse that will do the job and do it well.
It’s comfortable in hand, it’s responsive, accurate and it can be easily customised to exactly how you want it.
Clicking with this mouse feels excellent, and it does a great job at keeping track of your movements even if you’re constantly flicking or raising it off the surface.
If you’re looking for a flashy mouse or want a significant number of buttons, this isn’t it. But if you’re looking for a gaming mouse for shooters or twitch-based games, you’re going to love the SteelSeries Prime.
