The SteelSeries Rival 500 is an excellent wired gaming mouse for MMO games. It has a fairly ergonomic, right-handed design, and a ton of additional programmable buttons. Its companion software is available for both Windows and macOS, but unfortunately, the mouse is quite heavy and there's no weight optimization, so fans of lightweight mice will want to look elsewhere.
Our Verdict
The SteelSeries Rival 500 is a very good mouse for office or multimedia use. Its slanted, right-handed design makes it quite comfortable in palm grip for any hand size, and nobody should have issues reaching any of the 17 buttons. All the buttons can be reprogrammed on either Windows or macOS to help you navigate through your desktop or applications quickly, and the mouse feels very well-built.
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Lots of programmable buttons.
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Suitable for any hand size with palm grip.
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Software is fully compatible with Windows or macOS.
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Cable maintains kinks from packaging and is a bit stiff.
The SteelSeries Rival 500 is a decent FPS mouse. While its click latency is fairly low and its sensor performance is excellent, unfortunately, the mouse is quite heavy, which may make it difficult to quickly move around. It's a great mouse for fans of palm grip, as it's suitable for any hand size comfortably, but its shape isn't designed for fingertip grip, and small hands will have a hard time reaching all the buttons with a claw grip.
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Lots of programmable buttons.
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Suitable for any hand size with palm grip.
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Software is fully compatible with Windows or macOS.
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Cable maintains kinks from packaging and is a bit stiff.
The SteelSeries Rival 500 is an excellent MMO mouse. While it doesn't have a typical 12-button side panel like most other dedicated MMO mice, it has a ton of programmable buttons spread all over the mouse. Its slanted, right-handed shape is quite comfortable for extended use, and all hand sizes should be able to reach all the buttons when using palm grip.
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Lots of programmable buttons.
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Suitable for any hand size with palm grip.
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Software is fully compatible with Windows or macOS.
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Cable maintains kinks from packaging and is a bit stiff.
The SteelSeries Rival 500 is quite heavy and isn't recommended for fans of ultra-light gaming.
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Lots of programmable buttons.
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Suitable for any hand size with palm grip.
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Software is fully compatible with Windows or macOS.
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Cable maintains kinks from packaging and is a bit stiff.
The SteelSeries Rival 500 isn't recommended for travel. It's rather bulky and heavy and its wired-only design means you'll have a cumbersome cable to deal with.
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Lots of programmable buttons.
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Suitable for any hand size with palm grip.
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Software is fully compatible with Windows or macOS.
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Cable maintains kinks from packaging and is a bit stiff.
- Office/Multimedia
- Video Games (FPS)
- Video Games (MMO)
- Ultra-Light Gaming
- Travel
- Updated Oct 06, 2020: Converted to Test Bench 1.0.
- Updated Feb 04, 2020: Review published.
- Updated Jan 30, 2020: Early access published.
- Updated Jan 30, 2020: Our testers have started testing this product.
- Updated Jan 28, 2020: The product has arrived in our lab, and our testers will start evaluating it soon.
- Updated Jan 07, 2020: We've purchased the product and are waiting for it to arrive in our lab.
Compared To Other Mice
The SteelSeries Rival 500 is a slightly slanted mouse designed for FPS gaming, but with a plethora of additional programmable buttons. Its performance is similar to the SteelSeries Rival 600 but it has way more buttons.
See our recommendations for the best gaming mouse, the best wired gaming mouse, and the best mouse overall.
The SteelSeries Rival 500 and the Logitech G502 HERO are excellent MMO gaming mice. The SteelSeries is more comfortable to use, better suited for people with small hands, and has more programmable buttons. On the other hand, the Logitech has a better cable that's more flexible, has lower click latency, and has a more adjustable CPI range.
The SteelSeries Rival 500 and the Razer DeathAdder V2 are excellent mice and are meant for different uses. The Razer is better-suited for FPS games thanks to its much lighter build and fewer programmable buttons. On the other hand, the Rival 500 is a better MMO mouse thanks to its programmable buttons. Other than that, the Razer has a much better cable, a lower click latency, and a wider and more adjustable CPI range. The SteelSeries is fully compatible with both Windows and macOS and has a vertical tilt on its mouse wheel.
The SteelSeries Rival 500 is a better wired MMO mouse than the SteelSeries Rival 600. The 500 can be used by all hand sizes with a palm grip, and only small hands will have a difficult time reaching all the buttons with a claw grip, while the 600 is too long for people with small hands with any grip type. While both mice are designed for MMO games, the Rival 500 has more than double the amount of programmable buttons. On the other hand, the Rival 600 is quite a bit lighter, so it may be a better choice if you're a fan of FPS games.
The SteelSeries Rival 500 is a better gaming mouse than the SteelSeries Sensei Ten. The Rival 500 includes 17 fully programmable buttons compared to ten for the Sensei Ten. Both mice have excellent performance. However, the Rival 500 can only be used by right-handed people, while the Sensei 10 is ambidextrous.
The SteelSeries Rival 500 is a better wired MMO mouse than the Redragon M908. The SteelSeries has a more comfortable design, is better suited for people with small hands, has a faster click latency, and is fully compatible with macOS. On the other hand, the Redragon has weight optimization options and more programmable buttons.
The SteelSeries Rival 500 is a much better wired MMO mouse than the Havit HV-MS760. The SteelSeries feels better built, is better suited for small hands, has a much lower click latency, a much lower minimum CPI, and more programmable buttons. On the other hand, if you prefer fingertip grip and have large hands, the Havit may be a better option.
The SteelSeries Rival 500 and the ROCCAT Tyon are both decent wired gaming mice. While both mice are good for medium and large hands for claw grip, the SteelSeries is a better option with palm grip if you have small hands, as you'll be able to reach all the buttons more comfortably. The SteelSeries has a much wider adjustable CPI range and a much lower lift-off distance. Both mice have a ton of programmable buttons and a low click latency.
The Corsair SCIMITAR PRO RGB and the SteelSeries Rival 500 are similarly performing MMO mice. The Corsair is a bit lighter, feels slightly better made, is better suited for claw grip, and has a more traditional 12 button side panel. On the other hand, The SteelSeries is better suited for palm grip and has a slightly more comfortable, ergonomic design.
The Razer Naga Trinity is a more versatile gaming mouse than the SteelSeries Rival 500. While the SteelSeries is meant for MMO gaming and is likely too heavy for most FPS gamers, the Razer is a bit lighter and has a unique design with swappable side panels so you can change the number of programmable buttons available depending on the type of game you're playing. The SteelSeries is better suited for people with small hands, but the Razer has a much lower click latency.
The SteelSeries Rival 500 and the Nixeus Revel Fit are wired gaming mice, but the SteelSeries performs better overall. It's an excellent choice for MMO/MOBA games due to its eight more programmable buttons than the Nixeus, including four extra side buttons. Also, it has a wider CPI range and a lower lift-off distance. On the other hand, the Nixeus accommodates more hand sizes, and it's much lighter than the SteelSeries, although it's still considered heavy.
Test Results
The SteelSeries Rival 500 has a sleek design with textured rubber on each side, and RGB lighting on the mouse wheel and the logo on the back of the mouse. The mouse is two different shades of black and has a fairly standard look to it.
As with most wired gaming mice, this mouse isn't the best for portability. This likely won't be an issue for most people, as it's designed to keep with your gaming setup at home.
The SteelSeries Rival 500 is quite heavy, and unfortunately, there are no weight optimization options. If you want something lighter, check out the SteelSeries Sensei Ten.
The build quality is excellent. The entire mouse is made of good quality plastic, with a rubbery silicone finish. The PFTE feet are okay, but aren't as good on some other mice like the GLORIOUS Model O. Overall, this mouse feels very similar to the SteelSeries Rival 600, and there are no loose or wobbly parts.
The SteelSeries Rival 500 is very comfortable to use. Its slightly slanted, ergonomic shape is designed for right-handed use and it's fairly wide, so your pinky is the only finger that rests on the side, which helps prevent your hand from dragging on the desk.
The SteelSeries Rival 500 is well-suited for palm grip for any hand size, and nobody should have issues reaching any buttons.
Only those with small hands will likely have a hard time with claw grip, as they may find it difficult to reach the front left button.
Due to the shape of this mouse, and the amount of extra buttons, it isn't recommended for fingertip grip, as you'll likely accidentally hit many buttons. Only those with very large hands may be able to use this grip, but it's still recommended to use palm or claw grip.
This is a wired-only mouse.
The rubber-coated cable of this mouse maintains some kinks from packaging, though it feels better than other rubber cables. Unfortunately, unlike the SteelSeries Rival 600, the cable isn't detachable.
The SteelSeries Rival 500 has a ton of additional programmable buttons. There are 17 buttons, and all of them can be reprogrammed. There's a toggle switch on the underside of the mouse which can disable the bottom thumb buttons, in case you're prone to accidentally clicking them. If you want something similar, but with fewer side buttons, check out the SteelSeries Rival 710 instead. Or, if you're interested in a gaming mouse with even more buttons and special inputs like pressure-sensitive buttons and gyroscopic gestures, check out the Swiftpoint Z.
The SteelSeries Rival 500's mouse wheel is decent. It's a fairly standard incremented mouse wheel that isn't too clicky. While there isn't a horizontal wheel, it does have L/R tilt buttons.
The click latency is quite low and most people likely won't notice any delay.
The SteelSeries Rival 500's software is superb. It allows you to fully customize your mouse, including setting vibration to any button, so your mouse will vibrate when you press that button. There's also on-board memory, so any settings you set will stick with the mouse if you use it on a different PC, which is great.