Unexpectedly, SteelSeries a few months after the premiere of three mice from the Prime family decided to create their more compact variants. We are talking exactly about two models – Prime Mini and Prime Mini Wireless, of which below we will deal with this wired and thus much cheaper mouse, which costs the same as a full-fledged variant, PLN 309.99. This is good news, because producers have already accustomed us to the fact that what is new and even slightly changed costs correspondingly more.
Steelseries apparently decided that the packaging used for the Prime Wireless is the best, as the Prime Mini variants have been packed in an identical box with a “sliding lid”. This provides us with the most important information about the equipment and, what can I say a lot – it pleases the eye … and even unboxing aspirations, because after unpacking it will welcome us with a mouse placed on a small pedestal. Under the cardboard embossing you will also find a USB-C to USB-A cable and a user manual.
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As the name suggests, Steelseries in their Mini variants of the Prime models simply shaved off full-fledged models from a few millimeters and grams, keeping exactly the same in both cases. The differences are not significant, as they come down to 8 grams, 5 mm in length and almost 2 mm in height and width, but they are. They may seem inconspicuous, but in practice the Mini variants are noticeably smaller and lighter. You can feel the former with the first touch, and the latter with faster movements in dynamic games. Steelseries kept the Mini variant still for right-handers, which is confirmed by both its asymmetry and the positioning of the side buttons.
Prime Mini itself is an inconspicuous mouse that has gone into minimalism, great made, new switches, lightness and modest backlight, and above all a traditional design with a hint of modernity. The whole thing was made of light plastic with a matte finish, which only seemingly builds a two-piece body, because in fact the manufacturer made a spine of a total of three elements, the joints of which he hid almost perfectly. However, even despite this, the Prime Mini is free from plastic bending, as well as its squeaking or grinding. It’s a solid piece of the mouse.
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Other elements of Prime Mini are complemented by a thick rubber insert on the roll, gray manufacturer’s logo on the spine and two side buttons in the form of small trapezoids. On the front there is a USB-C port for a detachable flexible cable with material reinforcement. This one stays firmly in place even with considerable force, thanks to the block that locks the whole thing into the recess, and on the desk it does not cause any major problems and allows you to forget about it, especially in combination with the mouse-bungee.
On the underside of the Prime Mini mouse, there may be a small simple button that is located next to four high-quality glides with rounded edges and, of course, the sensor cavity. Thanks to it, we can change both the sensitivity on five predefined settings and the USB refresh (125, 250, 500, 1000 Hz).
Some will like it, and the other will like it, because placing this button not above the reel, but on the base, where you cannot reach quickly, can be a problem during everyday play or work, if someone changes the sensitivity regularly. Workaround? Trivial – it is enough to assign the DPI change in the application to pressing the roll or one of the side buttons.
Prime Mini still has, under its main buttons, the proprietary Steelseries magnetic-optical switches called Prestige OM, which boast an impressive durability of up to 100 million activations. It is related to the abandonment of metal contacts in favor of the emitted light beam, the activation of which is carried out by interrupting when clicking.
This type of solution works great in practice, in addition, guaranteeing high responsiveness, and in addition, a hard and loud, although not requiring too much force, click. Interestingly, it differs from the few in the Prime models by the smaller wings, which made these switches more severe. This is an advantage for me. The side buttons and the roller on the bearing, which provide noticeable jumps between the steps, also work well.
The manufacturer advertises the Prime Mini model as a mouse for professional players who play not only at home, which emphasizes the presence of a detachable cable, built-in memory and the ability to set DPI and refresh rates using the buttons on the bottom. The built-in memory is responsible for this, but nothing prevents you from using the extensive Steelseries GG application for personalization.
This allows us to update the firmware, adjust profiles to individual games and position the mouse perfectly “under us”, which applies to both sensitivity on five levels (100-18000 DPI) and traditional refresh rate ceilings, or perhaps the most interesting – manipulation of the intensity of prediction and decreasing the speed of the sensor in the first and last phases of the mouse movement.
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In addition to these functions, there is a macro editor and simple settings as to the backlight present only under the scroll and playing more informative than decorative role. However, it can light up into different colors in constant mode, color changes, and multi-colored breathing.
Steelseries Prime Mini has an optical TrueMove Pro sensor, which was developed by the manufacturer in cooperation with PixArt and has proven more than once to be one of the most precise options on the market. Our objective and subjective tests confirmed this, making it clear that the Prime offers a great feeling and no precision issues to be seen with the naked eye. Up to a certain level, of course.
Especially up to 2400 DPI, because the above one begins to gradually decrease, although quite modestly, catching unacceptable hiccups only at 3200 DPI. The sensor can still boast of an imperceptible prediction, a certain maintenance of 1000 Hz, high maximum speeds and an LOD parameter of about 1.4 mm. In tests, the mouse performed well as follows:
From my point of view, the reduction in size and weight was not beneficial, but I emphasize – this is about my preferences and my right hand. The full-fledged Prime models fit my tastes perfectly, providing a sufficiently large housing and a pleasant weight for everyday work. This made my hand feel much better on them, receiving more points of support, which together with a higher weight, also had a positive effect on the precision itself. Therefore, I am not able to decide for you whether it will be better to reach for the Prime or Prime Mini model in your particular case.
You have to answer it yourselves. If your hands are unusually massive and large, and you use the mouse mainly for work or playing precise, but non-dynamic games, the Prime will do better. Prime Mini is a toy perfectly tailored for shooters and claw / palm grips. Steelseries thus managed to create two great and very similar mice, but at the same time completely different in terms of the target group. Therefore, for me, the Prime model deserves two badges:
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