Steelseries' Rival 3 Wireless Gen 2 wired mouse is, as we said in our review, the budget master: cheap, reliable, well-built, and precise in twitchy FPS games. There’s a reason it’s one of our favorite gaming mice. For the past week I've been testing the Rival 3 Wireless Gen 2 wireless, and the differences are more substantial than an absent cord.

This wireless version is far heavier, mainly because you have to insert AAA batteries. It has no customisable RGB, its click latency is higher, and it's quite a lot more expensive. On the other hand, its sensor has a higher maximum DPI, and it promises hundreds of hours of battery life in the right condition.

SteelSeries Rival 3 Gen 2 Wireless – Design and Shape

This is a heavy, heavy mouse, and it'll be too heavy for some people. With both AAA batteries inserted, it weighs just shy of 110g – double many lightweight gaming mice. The mouse works fine with one battery, dipping the weight below 100, but it's still beefy.

As somebody who prefers lighter mice, the Rival 3 Gen 2 still felt smooth, and still glided fine on its PTFE feet. I could still whip it around my mousepad and make precise adjustments when needed, and neither my hand nor arm ached while using it.

But there's no denying it required more effort. I was constantly reminded of its heft – it certainly didn't feel like an extension of my arm, and I enjoyed using it less than the 77g wired version, which I tested for comparison. I could feel the difference when I took one battery out, and I preferred it, but it's still hard to wholeheartedly recommend the Rival 3 Gen 2 wireless to anyone who's used to lightweight mice.

Its sensor sits lower down the body than for most mice. The further forward a sensor is, the more it will move to match fine adjustments of your fingers. A low-down sensor means your fingers need to move further to make the sensor travel the same distance. Combine that with its weight and you have to put more effort than normal to make those small adjustments.

Putting the substantial weight to one side, there's lots to like. I always worry about build quality with cheaper mice – no worries here. This is a solid mouse with good bones. I can squeeze it, twist it, and prod it without any creaking or signs of weakness.

You can buy it in four colours: black, white, lavender or aqua. I tested the white version and enjoyed the arctic look against my black mousepad.

The main body of the mouse slides back to reveal the battery compartment. It requires a decent level of force, making it virtually impossible to open accidentally, and it feels tight and secure when shut. You can also slide the small USB dongle – which enables low-latency 2.4GHz wireless connection – into this compartment, where it sits snugly, and there's a sturdy switch to flick between Bluetooth and 2.4GHz connections.

The shape is identical to the wired version. It's almost symmetrical, but the left side is more angular to accommodate the bend of your thumb. Its low profile is comfortable in fingertip or claw grips. I tried it in palm grip and the right-hand ridge sat awkwardly against my pinky finger.

Its left and right clicks are bouncy, responsive, and perfectly spammable. When I really hit them hard, both for testing and in a panic during rounds of Arc Raiders, they sound loud, echoey and cheap, but under normal conditions they sound light and crisp.

The side buttons are annoyingly thin and there's almost no gap between them, but despite that I never misclicked. The addition of a DPI switch button – positioned smartly so you can't accidentally nudge it – is welcome, and the scroll wheel is just fine for a budget mouse. It feels a little loose and rattly, but never caused me any problems.

SteelSeries Rival 3 Gen 2 Wireless – Performance and Gaming

We loved the SteelSeries Rival 3 Gen 2 wired's gaming performance. It showed that, for most people, you don't need to spend hundreds of dollars on a mouse. On paper this wireless version is different in two noticeable ways. Its sensor has a higher maximum DPI but its click latency – the time between your physical click and it registering on your PC – is longer.

Huge DPI numbers are often pointless. The 8.5K DPI sensor on the wired one felt good, and I honestly couldn't feel much of a difference with this 18K one. And a 1.9ms click latency is still low enough for me to not feel the delay. So in reality it will perform just as well as the wired version: no better, no worse.

I tested it in a variety of games including Arc Raiders, Cyberpunk 2077, Fortnite, and Blue Prince for a mix of casual clicking and flicky shooting. It was responsive and accurate, and I felt my mouse movements, including small adjustments and rapid flick shots, were reflected on screen. It never held me back during multiplayer matches.

Its max 1,000Hz polling rate – the number of times the mouse reports its position to your PC – falls short of high-end performance mice, but in my experience you get diminishing returns as polling rate rises. As I move up to 2,000Hz and 4,000Hz I can, just about, feel a difference in smoothness and responsiveness. It helps that I have the set-up to take advantage of a higher polling rate, including a recent graphics card and a 240Hz refresh rate screen. But the difference is small and staying at 1,000Hz is absolutely fine for most players, especially those on a budget.

You can also lower the polling rate or switch to Bluetooth to save lots of battery (which I'll discuss more in a moment). Cutting the polling rate to 500Hz felt fine for a singleplayer game like Blue Prince, as did playing on Bluetooth: you lose some performance but you don't really need it, and the extra battery life is more than worth it.

The mouse's weight will, I feel, be the biggest factor in whether you enjoy gaming with it or not. If you're used to a lightweight mouse it might throw off your aim, at least initially before you get used to it.

SteelSeries Rival 3 Gen 2 Wireless – Battery Life and Software

Steelseries makes lofty claims about battery life: 175 hours via the 2.4Ghz connection or a staggering 450 hours over Bluetooth. Connecting to Bluetooth was always easy and instant, and it's an excellent option for low-stakes singleplayer games. You'll need to buy new batteries when they run out so being able to squeeze hundreds of hours from each one is brilliant.

On 2.4Ghz connection, you won't get 175 hours unless you lower the polling rate. Again, in singleplayer games like Blue Prince that's completely viable but in multiplayer games, playing below 1000Hz can hamper your performance. If you stick to 1000Hz you'll get roughly 100 hours of life, in line with other modern gaming mice. Just make sure you stock up on AAA if you're going to use it long term.

I like that Steelseries lets you take out one battery to cut the weight to less than 100g. You half the battery life, but for me the improved feel was worth the sacrifice and, ultimately, it's the same total life on two AAA batteries.

As for software, the SteelSeries GG app looks intimidating at first but is actually quite simple and intuitive. The fundamentals – DPI adjustment and polling rate – sit alongside other settings that are explained clearly, such as a battery-saving mode, cursor smoothing on Bluetooth, and separate sensitivity for X and Y-axis movements.

What it lacks is the complex RGB customization of the wired mouse. The only lighting on the Rival 3 Gen 2 wireless is on the scroll wheel, blinking blue for Bluetooth connection and cycling colours when you change DPI, and you can't change them in any way. If you really care about RGB then the wired version is your best bet.