Add to Chrome
Add to Edge
Add to Firefox
Add to Opera
Add to Brave
Add to SafariWhen comparing Steelseries Rival vs Zowie EC2-A, the Slant community recommends Zowie EC2-A for most people. In the question“What is the best gaming mouse?” Zowie EC2-A is ranked 4th while Steelseries Rival is ranked 9th. The most important reason people chose Zowie EC2-A is:
The Zowie EC2-A is made of high quality plastic that's lightly coated to help with grip. The buttons click easily and the rubber cable is thin and flexible. All of this combined gives a feeling of quality, while also being functional as a high-end mouse.
Specs
Question Ranking
Pros
Pro Great tracking
The Steelseries Rival gaming mouse has a built in Pixart PAW3310 optical sensor that offers great tracking control.
Pro Works great on Linux, using the libratbagd software
Pro Satisfying clicks
Steelseries boast of new in house built switches used inside of the Rival. Use reports have claimed that the clicks as "satisfying".
Pro Great accompanying software suite
Steelseries uses a software suite called Engine 3 that is low resource and used to customize their gaming mouse options.
Pro Great value for money
At $59 the Rival gaming mouse has a great balance between build quality and value for money.
Pro Great grip and comfortable
Pro Customizable colors for scroll wheel and palm lights
The Steelseries Rival gaming mouse offers 16.8 million colors with two zone illumination.
Pro Absolutely the best for a gaming mouse claw grip
When You have relatively large hands.
Pro DPI can be doubled with software
The 5000 DPI of the Steelseries Rival can be doubled to 10000 with Steelseries firmware.
Pro Well built
The Zowie EC2-A is made of high quality plastic that's lightly coated to help with grip. The buttons click easily and the rubber cable is thin and flexible. All of this combined gives a feeling of quality, while also being functional as a high-end mouse.
Pro Excellent accuracy
The Zowie EC2-A delivers accurate mouse cursor movement that is essential to any gaming mouse. The Avago 3310 sensor used by this mouse is exceptional. It delivers a true portrayal of mouse movement with no jitter, acceleration or prediction. The available DPI choices of 400/800/1600/3200 are all native and should ensure an equally good performance, regardless of which one is chosen.
Pro Gets all the little nuances that make a mouse comfortable to use just right
The left and right mouse buttons have small grooves to help fingers rest in place. The left side lets the thumb grip the mouse comfortably. The side buttons are in an easily accessible, yet unobtrusive position. The coating is slightly textured to help you control the mouse confidently.
EC2-A weighs just 94 grams, making it light enough for quick mouse movements and won't cause fatigue after extended use. At the same time, the mouse feels solidly built.
Its elegant, ergonomic design is suitable for most hand sizes regardless of the way you hold it.
It's worth noting that Zowie offers the EC1-A version for larger hands.
Pro Button switches click easily
Although the buttons have Huano switches, which are more stiff, the shell of the mouse somehow negates this and makes them click easily, just like typical Omron switches.
Pro dfdf
dfdf
Pro No extra cruft
There's no advanced functionality or accompanying software. There are just 5 buttons and the only settings you can adjust are CPI, polling rate and lift-off distance. And only in preset intervals via specific mouse button combinations. It's a mouse that focuses on the essential factors only - comfort, performance and build quality - all of which it excels at. It doesn't get distracted with anything else. If you think all the bells and whistles that come with gaming mice are unnecessary, this just might be what you're looking for.
Cons
Con Rubber grips get worn out very quickly
Con Rubber grips get slippery with sweaty hands
When using the mouse for long duration's the sweat from the users hands can make the rubber side grips slippery.
Con Cannot turn of lighting without Steelseries proprietary software
The lighting on the device can not be adjusted without the Steelseries software.
Con Labled DPI is incorrect
Steelseries labels the DPI as 6500 for the Rival when in fact it is 5000.
Con Limited customizability
None of the buttons can be rebound, there are no macros, profiles, or customizable weights. And while the Zowie EC2-A allows you to customize the most important performance settings - CPI, lift-off distance, and USB polling rate - their customization is limited to preset intervals.
Con DPI switch can't be accessed during use
The DPI switch is a button that can’t be accessed while in use because it's located under the mouse.
Con Extra travel on side buttons
Side buttons have a bit of pre-travel. You have to press in about 1mm more than usual for the mouse to register the side button clicks. Some may find this annoying, but it helps avoid accidentally clicking side buttons in-game.
Con DPI colors annoying and can't be customized
The scroll wheel has an LED that changes color depending on your DPI setting, but the corresponding color cannot be customized.
Con You have to learn button combinations to change settings
The Zowie EC2-A has no accompanying software. Settings have to be changed through various button combinations. As a result the initial setup can be a bit of a hassle.
