WIRELESS mice and I have traditionally not been close friends.
I love the idea, but I’ve been let down too often by randomly dead batteries or connectivity issues to fully trust wireless mice for situations when it counts. Wireless mice have come a long, long way in the past few years, however, so when SteelSeries got in touch asking if I’d like to review their latest product, I was happy to do so – especially given how impressed I’ve been by earlier offerings from the company.
The SteelSeries Prime Mini Wireless is essentially a smaller, wireless version of the excellent SteelSeries Prime gaming mouse.
It’s about 12% smaller, weighs 73g, has five buttons (two main, two thumb, plus the clickable scrollwheel), and measures 120.3mm long by 66.2mm wide and is 40.7mm high, and has an RRP of AUD$229.
Connection is via an included USB-C wireless dongle (2.4Ghz frequency), and just in case you’re using a computer without an available USB-C port, there’s, also an included adaptor that lets you connect the wireless dongle to the included USB charging cable, which plugs into a conventional USB port. It’s a great solution which means it’ll work no matter what ports you have.
Even better, the charging cable (covered in that useful anti-tangle material) also turns the SteelSeries Mini Prime into a conventional wired mouse.
According to SteelSeries, the mouse will last for 100 hours of a single charge and I certainly haven’t had any issues with longevity while testing it. The two main mouse buttons also have optical magnetic switches, which are supposed to last for 100 million clicks. Obviously I haven’t had the mouse anywhere long enough to test that, but the response and clickfeel has been absolutely fine all the same.
It integrates with the SteelSeries Engine software to allow for full customisation over everything from DPI to smoothing, and obviously RGB. In testing across my PC and an Asus ROG Zephyrus M16 laptop the Prime Mini worked very well on a range of games, including God of War, Doom: Eternal, Transport Fever 2 and Age of Empires IV.
The only issue I’ve had with the mouse is it’s too small for my hands, and that is largely a “me” issue since I have Wreck-It Ralph sized mitts. However, for the gamer with a more significant hand presence, it is worth taking into account as it also affects things like thumb button operation, as it can be easy to click the wrong (or both) buttons, which would be an issue in competitive or serious play.
Gamers with smaller hands, however, are likely to find the smaller size very appealing, and for them this is a very attractive option as a result.
Overall the SteelSeries Mini Prime wireless gaming mouse does what it is supposed to do, does it well, and offers a versatile, portable, wireless option for gamers wanting a competition-level mouse.
There’s not much else to say – SteelSeries make good mice for all types of gaming, and this is no exception.
