Meeting with Steelseries at CES we briefly spoke about their [RAW] series of products. Basically they are cut down versions of their high-end expensive products. Instead of cutting performance, all the performance parts and some of the not so necessary bits are cut out in order to lower the price point and let people who could otherwise not afford a top of the line product to be able to do so.
Of course I loved the idea so Steelseries was kind enough to send a sample of their [RAW] version of the popular Sensei Mouse
Here is just a small bit of information about Steelseries:
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“From day one, SteelSeries has been focused on making high performance gaming gear used by the most demanding, top professional gamers worldwide and peripherals that provide superior quality and a competitive edge to gamers of all skill levels. We believe, as most gamers do, in winning, not trying! What originally began with two people who recognized the need for superior, high-quality/performance gaming gear that would give gamers a competitive edge, has grown into a global leader in gaming and entertainment gear sought after for their high performance capabilities. Fast-forward to today, and we’ve come a long way since our first glass mousepad. We have global offices in North America, Europe, and Asia, providing an integrated portfolio of products designed specifically for gaming. Fueling our growth is you, the gamer! While we are proud of our technology and product innovation, we are even more excited about how these products are developed to meet the needs of gamers. Many companies may claim to develop superior gaming products but few actually do. Instead, they spend countless hours with lab engineers trying to force fit a new technology with bells and whistles and mediocre functionality for the end-user. At SteelSeries, we develop our products with a small internal team and a vast network of technology partners, channel partners, game publishers, and gaming communities around the globe. We aren’t afraid of being challenged and implementing new ideas. Our main goal is to always to listen to the collective feedback of our professional gaming community. We won’t bore you with cheeky slogans, trying to underline our authenticity as gamers. We fully acknowledge that the best professional gamers in the world know more about what they want and what will make them better, than we do. We are proud to be working with our partners, but we can’t take credit for their invaluable input and feedback. Instead we tell it like it is: they help us. We want to know what works and what doesn’t. For this reason, SteelSeries creates innovative solutions that provide a competitive advantage for all gamers.
Put simply, SteelSeries does not claim to invent or reinvent the gaming industry. Nor do we focus on one specific product, copy other companies or follow the crowd. Instead we leave it to you, the gamer, our customer/partner/inspiration, to decide if we are deserving of such declarations and accolades. What we do promise, however, is to remain committed to you. We will continue to work with you and the gaming community to make the best products possible and give you that competitive edge. We will continue to do our best to support the growth of the professional gaming industry and give back to the gaming communities. By doing so, we don’t just talk a good game, we win! |
Critical to our company’s success is also our reinvestment in the gaming communities and the individuals who support them. As a result, our corporate philosophy is to take a substantial portion of our revenue and put it back into the gaming community to help spur industry growth. We support our community in numerous ways, ranging from co-hosting tournaments like Iron Lady and King of the Hill, and supporting gaming competitions of all sizes, to promoting the top and up-and-coming gaming teams/organizations.
Enough of the introductions, lets go ahead and see if Steelseries made the right decisions as to what to remove from the Sensei.
Specifications
Taken from the Steelseries website
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SENSEI [RAW] FROST BLUE Since the release of our first mouse, we have been using Japanese-inspiration in our naming of them. Our mice are built for performance and tournament-style play; Ikari means anger, Xai means talent, and the list of product names goes on. The Sensei is our version of the grand-master in our Do Jo. It is the teacher. The Sensei [RAW] Frost Blue is that master in his pure and focused form. With tournament grade components and focused intent, the Sensei [RAW] Frost Blue is the essence of performance delivering only what you need to eliminate your challengers.
SIZE AND WEIGHT
WINNING, IT’S THE WAY OF THE SENSEI The SteelSeries [RAW] Frost Blue is the purified form of the original SteelSeries Sensei. It is is the essence of performance and embodies everything we ever learned about mice, everything we ever researched, everything we ever discovered, everything that makes a mouse great, is exactly what we built the SteelSeries Sensei mice around. The DNA of Sensei is programmed to win. These are those rare hardware products forged by love and science, trial and error, passion from professional gamers and a desire to push the envelope. SteelSeries Sensei mice were born for tournament victory; they are built to help you win.
ADVANCED MACROS Thanks to the support of the SteelSeries Engine software, you can record even extremely long and advanced macros to the Sensei [RAW] Frost Blue. The macros can not only be layered and can include keystrokes and precise timing, but they can span across your peripherals allowing you to have a mouse button assigned to perform keyboard strokes and mouse clicks in the same macro. How you will decide to use this advanced feature is up to you (choose your configurations wisely and adhere to any rules that you may need to abide by during gameplay); we are only presenting you with the capabilities for endless possibilities.
Glossy White SteelSeries Sensei [RAW] Frost Blue features a sleek, glossy white coating that delivers a unique feeling, allowing the user to compete and win in style. DEVELOPED WITH THE BEST We are proud to be associated with some of the best players in the world of eSports. We maintain strong relationships and have continuous dialogue with teams like SK Gaming, Fnatic, Evil Geniuses, Natus Vincere and others who help in the development and improvement of our products. To ensure maximum performance in all gaming scenarios we enlisted help from world-class StarCraft® II, Counter-Strike®, DotA, League of Legends®, Heroes of Newerth® WarCraft® III and Doom® players. Click on the picture below for a list of the players who helped us with testing and refinement of the Sensei. We owe them a lot of thanks, Sensei [RAW] Frost Blue has the same performance as the original Master – so if you like the Sensei these are the players who helped make it happen.
PLUG, PLAY, WIN There’s no need to install software of any kind in order to use the Sensei [RAW] Frost Blue. It is completely capable of operating flawlessly with default settings. SteelSeries Engine enhances the Sensei [RAW] Frost Blue with advanced customization options like CPI settings, programmable buttons, LED intensity, and lighting modes. The Sensei [RAW] Frost Blue is supported by SteelSeries Engine technology.
LIGHT ‘EM UP The frosty blue illumination is capable of several modes of operation including: solid, slow, medium, and fast pulse. You can also vary the intensity of the illumination between low, medium, and high. For those of you who don’t like glowing shiny stuff on your desktop, you can completely switch off all illumination. It also brings a very real benefit to users who utilize multiple profiles: by giving them brightnesses, you can quickly switch between profiles and also ways know which profile is active.
And the numbers Frames per second: 12000
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First Impressions
The packaging of the Sensei Frost Blue is pretty much like all other Steelseries packaging, so nothing to really write home about. Everything came protected and safe so I’ll leave the packaging at that. Opening up the box you get a little booklet as well as a Steelseries sticker in addition to the mouse itself. No huge accessory set here which is a good thing.
Closer Look
The mouse itself is well built, although has a few money saving features implemented since it is of course a [RAW] version of the Sensei. The LCD screen on the bottom of the mouse is gone as well as the ability to choose a wide variety of colors on the mouse. You have the choice of blue or blue or having lights turned off. Of course you don’t pay for those added features you lose out on as well which is certainly a fair trade off.
One thing I’m somewhat disapointed in Steelseries with is the lack of any braiding on the cable. For people with pets this is just asking to have a cable chewed on and ruined. While the braiding wasn’t a fullproof design it sure provides a much greater amount of protection rather than thin plastic would.
Personal preference speaking here, but if you have sweaty hands oils WILL show up on the mouse and look quite dirty. While there were no discoloration in the white plastic over the few weeks that I used this mouse it is something to consider in the long run. I’ve certainly heard that plastics in white mice from other companies turn other colors over time so time will tell if Steelseries mice have this issue as well.
Weight and quality is on par with other Steelseries mice we’ve tested. Switches are very crisp and responsive on this mouse. Tracking is quite accurate as well. But we will go more into performance in the following section.
Just like previous Steelseries mice, the [RAW] version of the Sensei does not disapoint. You lose out on mostly cosmetic features by going [RAW]. No screen or ability to change to various colors. I find the [RAW] line to be great since it allows people who might not otherwise be able to afford a top of the line mouse to have the option where they can buy a cut down no-nonsense version with all of the same performance.
Tracking with this mouse is very solid. It even performed on black glass without breaking a sweat where as other mice often go crazy on glass. Plastic and cloth mousepads likewise were a piece of cake to navigate on.
The Steelseries engine software suite does a good job at allowing mouse customization. Total button control is achieved using the software on the website. One thing I’m disapointed in is the fact that it uses around 110mb of ram just to idle in the background. I know computers are using boatloads of ram but for a program to control a mouse that amount of ram use is pretty crazy.
Verdict and Conclusion
When I spoke to Steelseries at CES we briefly talked about the [RAW] series of products.
I found them to be a great idea since they cut down on features most people don’t need and include the features you DO need for great performance while cutting down on costs.
After having a [RAW] product in my hands I completely agree with Steelseries.
Performance is just as good as anything out there. Since you are not paying for fancy lights and LCD screens it is able to keep costs down while still providing stellar performance in gaming as well as daily mouse use.
Shopping around the internet finding the Sensei [RAW] Frost Blue
Pros:
- Great performance
- Tracks on glass
- Well made
- Good cost
Cons:
- Coating gets dirty
- Software uses large amounts of RAM
Final words. Steelseries impresses once again with their mice. The [RAW] line of products sacrafices features you likely do not need while keeping all of the pure performance features you need to experience the most out of your device. Steelseries has me hooked with these lower-priced devices, in particular the Sensei [RAW].
SCORE
9/10
