SteelSeries has definitely pulled it off again. The Xai laser mouse manages to not only compete, but beat many of the seemingly better equipped mice from rivaling brands. The simple design approach from the Ikari has been taken one step further and the two mice SteelSeries are currently marketing both feature an ambidextrous design which got to make them one of the top picks among left handed gamers.
The fact that it bears a design very similar to the late great Microsoft IntelliMouse Explorer 1.1 is swell since it is one of the few mice still highly regarded for its ergonomic shape and simple design. It is clear that SteelSeries have focused their attention on FPS players because the new design features the same amount of usable buttons as the last.
While on paper this mouse might not perform as great as the mice featuring 3.5 generation laser sensors it certainly does its best to outperform them in real life applications. The fact is that coherent tracking acceleration is no longer a real problem with both laser and optical technology, nowadays most gaming mice will yield coherent tracking at speeds of over 100 IPS and track accelerations in excess of 30 Gs which is faster than anyone can physically move/accelerated their hands.