SteelSeries Xai Laser Gaming Mouse

SteelSeries' biggest claim of the Xai laser gaming mouse is that it is completely driverless. Many other companies including Steelseries have tried to make this claim but no gaming mice have been truly driverless and still allow you full functionality until now.

The SteelSeries Ikari which has been previously reviewed allowed you do change the DPI settings on the actual mouse. But the SteelSeries Xai Laser optical mouse has a full fledged LCD display on the bottom of the body which is surprisingly good looking. Using this LCD you can change virtually all of the configuration settings the mouse is capable of. These include modifying the DPI independently between the X and Y axis, adjusting horizontal sensitivity (FreeMove), hardware sensitivity settings (ExactSens), jitter correction (ExactAim), and the USB polling rate (ExactRate).

Although all the configuration settings can be changed directly on the SteelSeries Xai (how sweet is that?!), there are still a couple things that can only be changed using the bundled software from the host machine. These include complex macros, which can be programmed to mimic up to 200 keystrokes EACH, and mouse profile names and properties.

Another side benefit of the settings being able to be changed on the mouse is that this should also work seamlessly on Mac OS or Linux.

The SteelSeries Xai has 8 buttons. It has your standard left and right click, two thumb buttons side by side on the left side, 2 pinkie buttons (if you're a right hander) on the right side of the mouse (these are actually difficult to use regularly), the DPI toggle button directly on top, and then the mouse wheel with a down click.

Lefties you will be VERY excited to know, this mouse if you can't tell from the pictures and the extra two buttons on the right side, is ambidextrous. S.S. has really thought of everything with this beast. The Ikari is a little bit more comfortable because of the form fitting shape but its a fair sacrifice for a mouse this functional.

A feature worth mentioning yet is how the SteelSeries Xai allows you to hot-toggle between a HI/LOW DPI setting. In other words, its only a single toggle you have to work with instead of the usual 3 or more. This makes switching in game much easier without having to worry about "passing" you're desired DPI setting that results in that crucial missed shot on your enemy. Read below for the specs/features of the Xai.