Introduction

SteelSeries is mostly known for its gaming grade mouse mats and headsets. It came as a big surprise a couple of months ago when SteelSeries launched their first ever gaming mouse. It is dubbed the Ikari and comes in two versions, one with a laser and one with an optical engine, just sharing the outer shell.

The first units to hit the market were the laser version of the Ikari equipped with a 2nd generation laser sensor boosting a maximum resolution of 3200 DPI. Being SteelSeries first attempt at making a gaming grade mouse I was kind of hesitant to expect anything from it. I have been shocked many times before by the quality or to be exact lack of it from new “gaming grade” laser mice by other companies. Fortunately that did not turn out to be the case with the Ikari.

To me the Ikari project seems really ambitious not only is it launched with two different tracking engines, but the shear amount of unique features is just staggering. Right from the body to the features this mouse is completely new. The laser variant has both an LCD display on the bottom of the mouse and "High/Low" sensitivity indication LEDs on the side of the mouse.

Specifications

• Samples per second: 40.000
• Inches per second: 50
• Counts per inch: 1 - 3.200 (1 CPI Steps)
• Acceleration: 20 G
• Sensor data path: True 16 bit
• Lift distance: 1,8 mm (0,07 inch)
• Buttons: 5
• Cord: 2 m / 6.5 ft (braided to improve durability)
• Polling: 1000 Hz
• Gold-plated USB connector
• Measurements: 130 mm x 83 mm (5,1 x 3,3in) - height 36 mm (1,4in)
• CPI high/low indicator
• SteelSeries FreeMove Technology
• Large pressure points that reduce friction for optimized glide
• Driverless, plug-and-play feature for LAN gamers
• Operating systems: Win XP/Vista/Win 2000/Win 98/Win ME/Mac OS

The specifications list of the Ikari Laser mouse is quite long and indicates that the mouse is made to suit the needs of gamers. The fact that SteelSeries list the liftoff distance and other special performance measurements of the mouse is neat. One of the things that I did not expect from this mouse is that it can be used without drivers installed. Most laser mice need special drivers in order to reach peak performance, however, that does not seem to be the case with the SteelSeries Ikari Laser mouse.