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In yesterday’s review of the SteelSeries Apex 3 TKL, you may have noticed a mouse hanging out in that header photo. No, not an actual fieldmouse, but one with some RGB built into it. While we were reviewing the keyboard, we also had the SteelSeries Prime Mini Wireless in, so let’s have a look at what that mouse is all about.
If you’re thinking this sounds familiar, you may be thinking of the SteelSeries Prime Mini Wireless’ larger brother (aka, the non-mini) that John reviewed back in June. Just like that mouse, we’ve got the clever optical magnetic switches involved, as well as their TrueMove Air sensor. Also, not a ton of extraneous buttons, just like it’s larger sibling. It’s everything we saw before, just in a smaller – and lighter – package.
This year, I’ve had a bit of a mouse evolution. I’d been using the MagicMouse 2 with my Macbook, and then eventually switched over to the Magic Trackpad to give my wrist a break. I’d have to go back further (about the 4 year mark) to get back into my Logitech days, so it took me a little getting used to the layout of the SteelSeries Prime Mini. However, if you’ve been using a modern (and non-Mac) mouse, it’ll feel familiar.
In between the left- and right-click buttons, you’ve got your scroll wheel (which is also clickable) that contains the one zone of RGB lighting on the mouse. Not a lot of light, but hey, if you’re going for the SteelSeries Prime Mini, you’re keeping things a bit more restrained anyways. On the left side of the mouse (where your thumb rests) you’ve got two additional buttons showing up. By default, your computer should recognize this as back and forward in your browser. For my Mac usage, I ended up remapping those to move me back and forth through my desktops (since my swiping options were gone) using the SteelSeries GG software, along with the light pattern. Oh, and it’s also where you adjust your tracking and the like adjusted for your mouse, so it’ll react to your movements just like you want it to.
Once I had that setup done, it didn’t take me long to get used to using the SteelSeries Prime Mini, and it worked just great, both for regular work duties and some casual gaming with some friends online in the evening. I do want to talk about the dongle that you need to use. At first, it might seem a bit off-putting to not just be able to rely on Bluetooth to connect the mouse. However, this allows them more control over how the mouse communicates, and they’ve got things tuned to keep the lag down. Now, this is a USB-C connector (and if you lose it, replacements are just $10; they also have replacement PTFE mouse feet if yours are losing their slide) but there’s an additional bonus in the box.
You also get their SuperMesh USB-C cable and a small extender block. The far end of the cable is USB-A, and then the extender block is a male-to-male adapter, so you plug the cable in and the dongle, and you’re all set to go. What’s nice then, with that longer cable, is that when the battery runs down, you can just unplug it from the adapter and pop it into the USB-C port on the front of the mouse, and keep using it, just wired instead of wireless. Frankly, being able to use a wireless mouse in this method is just great. And even if you plan to use it wirelessly, having that longer cable means you can easily get to those ports on the back of your rig while having the receiver closer to your mouse.
And if you do use the SteelSeries Prime Mini Wireless on the wire? The covering on that extension cable is as good as they claim it is. It moves so smoothly across your desktop, it’s not going to be slowing you down whatsoever. Worlds better than any plasticky cable I’ve run across. And if you’re not using it, the way the cable is built means it coils up quite nicely for storage. All in all, I came away quite pleased with my time with the SteelSeries Prime Mini Wireless. As John noted, the one caveat here is that the mouse does not come cheap. But, with those switches and sensor in there, we do feel its worth the price of entry. Speaking of, the MSRP is $129.99 but it currently shows as $90.99 (as of this writing) direct at steelseries.com
Tech Specs from SteelSeries
- Sensor
- SteelSeries TrueMove Air
- Sensor Type: Optical
- CPI: 100–18,000 in 100 CPI Increments
- IPS: 400, on SteelSeries QcK surfaces
- Acceleration; 40G
- Hardware Acceleration: None (Zero Hardware Acceleration)
- Design
- Back Cover Material: Black Matte Finish
- Core Construction: ABS Plastic
- Shape: Ergonomic, Right-Handed
- Grip Style: Claw, Fingertip or Palm
- Number of Buttons: 5
- Illumination: 1 RGB Zone
- Weight: 73g
- Length: 120.3 mm / 4.73 inches
- Width: 66.2 mm / 2.60 inches
- Height: 40.7 mm / 1.60 inches
- Connection: 2.4GHz / Wireless
- Battery Life: 100 Hours
- Switches
- Switch Type: Prestige OM™ optical magnetic switches
- Switch Rating: 100 million clicks
- Switch Actuation: Primary mouse buttons have magnetic optical switches
- Compatibility
