Sensor

Are two sensors better than one? Well, that depends on a lot of variables. The first dual sensor mouse I came across was the Logitech MouseMan Dual Optical, which didn't provide tracking as good as most of the proper optical mice back then (like the MLT04 sensor-equipped Microsoft mice or Logitech MX300 and MX500). Thankfully, SteelSeries did a great job with the TrueMove3+ dual sensor system in the Rival 600. The main one is simply called TrueMove3, which we have already seen in the Rival 310 and Sensei 310 models. It is pretty much flawless, as raw and responsive as it gets, and isn't picky about the surface material either. It's a reworked version of the PixArt PMW3360. The secondary one is a depth-sensing linear optical detection sensor, according to SteelSeries. Its only function is to keep your lift-off distance as low as possible. Once this secondary sensor stops detecting, it cuts the signal, and the cursor will instantly stop moving. This prevents some unwanted and unnecessary cursor movement if you pick up the mouse. I encountered absolutely no malfunctions or anomalies during testing and gaming; these sensors are implemented very well—everything about them is perfectly on point.

The MCU is an ARM Cortex-M3 based STM32F103 manufactured by ST Microelectronics. The resolution can be set from 100–12,000 CPI in increments of 100 CPI, and there can be two active CPI settings, so you can cycle through them with the bound button. You can naturally set the polling rates to the usual values; 125, 250, 500 and 1000 Hz are available. The lift-off distance is variable and ranges from 0.5–2 mm (this may vary on different mouse pads). You should go with the lowest setting that still tracks on your mouse pad, but doesn't cause tracking anomalies. There are also options for acceleration and angle snapping, but I highly suggest leaving those off.

Paint Test

The paint test can show if a mouse has any unwanted angle snapping, jittering, or other malfunctions and problems. The Rival 600 is free of any of those, and there is no audible or measurable sensor lens rattle either.

CPI Divergence

There are some rather minor deviations between the set and measured values that increase linearly.

Perfect Control Speed

The TrueMove3 features a very high perfect control speed, which should be above 6–7 m/s. There is absolutely no chance of hitting that in a game or elsewhere.

Speed Related Accuracy Variance

This test shows the sensor's accuracy at different speeds. You can see me doing a fast swipe to the right before I slowly slide the mouse back to its original position.
Any displacement is pretty much entirely caused by human error in this test.

Polling Rate

All of the set polling rate values are nice and stable.

Input Lag

The TrueMove3 sensor doesn't seem to have any measurable input lag, which is great news. The control subject was once again a Ninox Venator at 800 CPI.