SteelSeries Xai Mouse Review
Written By Tom "Hucky" Fairbairn
17 December, 2009 04:11 PM
The Verdict
The Xai is a great general purpose gaming mouse and incorporates a few great innovations which will change the way mice are designed in the future.
I'd recommend the Xai for:
- Competitive FPS gamers
- People who are serious about precision
- RTS players who frequently use quick mouse movements
- People who appreciate simple, functional design
- People who LAN frequently - you will love the driverless setup and internal memory
I would not recommend the Xai for:
- People who don't game enough to experience the benefit of all the features
- Those on an extremely tight budget
GENERAL SUMMARY
Pros:
- Simple, comfortable design suited to all types of grip
- Unobtrusive button placement and integration
- Innovative software features (ExactRate, ExactSens, etc)
- Driver free configuration via internal memory makes going to LAN unprecedentedly easy
- LCD display is invisible during gameplay and easy to navigate
- Solid build with moderate weight and wide centre of gravity for optimum smoothness
Cons:
- Although far from outrageous, not the cheapest mouse on the market
- No blue neons for those who like to pimp their PCs
- BobTuna uses one
My overall score: 9.5 / 10
Thanks for reading my review - I hope you enjoyed it.
- Tom "Hucky" Fairbairn
if it breaks down, im ready to fix it
One of the parts I love about it is its ease of setup for playing in LAN's.
Sensitivity should stay on 6 (default) in windows and 1 in game, then you setup sensitivity on your mouse, makes it so easy to travel to LAN and get the right sensitivity instantly :)
Will be using it this weekend at Sydney Draft LAN for those who want to check it out along with Amateur LAN on 27th at Beyond Internet Gaming!
Looks like its a very good mouse.
I playtested it with a relatively old QcK+ (cloth pad) and experienced no such issue, and can assure you it is amazingly smooth with a hardpad even though I don't use one :
As i am determining whether i want to buy a deathadder or the xai :)
EDIT: Thanks for the post Hucky, i presume if a user has a SteelSeries mousepad, then they would have no issues with tracking, while using a SteelSeries Xai!
I'm fairly sure some of the reports they had were with SteelSeries cloth pads, as they were from SteelSeries sponsored players. Laser mice are definitely suited to smoother pads because the sensors are a lot more precise than optical ones and will always pick up imperfections in the surface. That being said, I know there are a few safeguards present in the Xai's design to get around those kinds of problems.
edit: I quite liked the 518 grip, Infrequent D:
- Although far from outrageous, not the cheapest mouse on the market
- No blue neons for those who like to pimp their PCs
- BobTuna uses one
AHAHAHAHA, YOUR A CUNT HUCKY LOL!
But I love the Xai such a good combination with the 9HD, I tried it on my Goliathus Speed and it was no where near as good, advice to any one that is going to buy a Xai, I suggest using a Steel Series pad to go with preferably a QcK or 9HD, the 9HD is a little small though but I'm a high sensitivity player so i don't mind.
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