Software

The Rival 3 is compatible with SteelSeries Engine, SteelSeries' staple software suite. All available options are accessible on a single page: button remapping, macro functionality, acceleration settings, angle snapping, and polling rate. CPI adjustment ranges from 100–8500 CPI in increments of 100 CPI for up to five levels, which can be cycled through by pressing the dedicated CPI button at the top of the mouse. All settings except for the lighting effects are saved to the onboard memory. The software had a RAM footprint of 280 MB on average on my system. Irritatingly, a single process (RAM footprint: 40 MB) keeps running even after closing the software on the taskbar. As long as this process is running, the software also can't be restarted.

During testing, I've encountered a bug in the software: Even though a different lighting effect was selected and active, the effect setting on the "Illumination" page kept defaulting to the "Steady" lighting effect without it affecting the lighting of the Rival 3. Due to this bug, I was entirely unable to select the "Steady" effect at all. The same is true of the "Disable Illumination" option.

Lighting

The Rival 3 has three zones for RGB lighting, which encompass the entire "lighting zone" consisting of the logo and the LED strip around the underside. Through the software, it is possible to customize these zones independently of each other, either with custom or pre-defined lighting effects. Additionally, transition speed can be adjusted. All changes can be previewed live on the mouse. Of course, it is also possible to disable the lighting altogether.

Color accuracy and vibrancy are excellent throughout. Here's a short demonstration video of the "ColorShift" and "Multi-Color Breathe" lighting effects: