I have a question. If I use a gaming mouse with extra buttons in a competitive game and my opponent does not, is that considered cheating?" mainly because I feel like I am cheating during Call of Duty after using the SteelSeries Rival 5 gaming mouse. At the very least, I definitely feel like I have the upper hand.

The best and worst feature of the Rival 5 is the five quick-action side buttons (nine programmable in all). I don't mind having two side buttons on a mouse, but some gaming mice tend to overdo it by cramming too many buttons that actually make it difficult to use. For example, the Razer Naga X has four rows of buttons right where you put your thumb.

The Rival 5 tries to find a better way to provide nine programmable buttons that don't get in the way, and it is mostly correct. To be fair, the Naga gaming mouse is targeted at MMO and MOBA players who rely on a large number of hotkeys; the Rival 5 is for battle royale games where the goal is to not move your fingers from the WASD keys unless you need to; World Of Warcraft PvP players may find the well-placed 2 or 3 buttons useful to save precious milliseconds during intense Battlegrounds matches.

The problem with many gaming mice, however, is button placement. The more buttons there are, the more ingenious their placement becomes, and the Rival 5 has a clever workaround by adding a slim up/down pad on top of the two (also slim) thumb buttons. Thus, four actions can technically be mapped to three buttons.

The oversized silver side buttons are the only buttons with questionable placement. While it is appreciated that it is not a direct thumb placement, its out-of-reach location makes it difficult to use during gaming.

Even with the palm grip, the silver buttons are in a difficult-to-use position. I am actually a claw-grip person, but I found that I had to extend my thumb quite a bit. However, it did not fit my dainty fingers.

I like the placement of the side paddles and the two elongated buttons below them; it's handy to have a place to put my thumb without worrying about accidentally pressing a button during frantic firefights in Apex Legends. SteelSeries offers some smart recommended button mapping templates for games like CoD: Warzone, World of Warcraft, and Fortnite; see what SteelSeries thinks is best for popular multiplayer games We could see what SteelSeries thinks are the best for popular multiplayer games.

Offloading armor plate and grenade commands to the side button of the mouse was a breeze in Warzone, even though it took a few rounds for the muscle memory to take over. I also mapped the build commands in Fortnite to the mouse, and found myself actually enjoying playing this game, which I often have a hard time with because I am not good at building towers.

The Rival 5 weighs in at 85g, not the lightest, but it seems to be able to withstand some abuse, and as much as I like using my 60g ultralight gaming mouse, I can't help but think it might break if I put one more effort into it. If you feel the same way but are more concerned about the weight, SteelSeries' Prime series gaming mice may be more to your liking.

SteelSeries uses the TrueMove Air sensor as the optical sensor in its newest Rival mouse, the same one it currently uses in its Prime series gaming mice, and for a sub-$100 gaming mouse it provides fairly good tracking.

SteelSeries' GG app controls the Rival 5's very bright RGB lighting. The app also allows customization of each zone. I always like the RGB on a gaming mouse as long as it doesn't get covered by the palm of my hand.

I agree with the design philosophy behind the Rival 5 having so many extra buttons, but if one of them is out of reach, it detracts from its usefulness. However, the SteelSeries Rival 5 is a solid gaming mouse for competitive gaming, despite its one odd button location.

Another big plus is that this mouse is only $60, a ridiculously good price considering its out-of-the-box features. However, the added buttons alone are not enough to make this a particularly good mouse.