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I play a lot of MMOs, they are my most played genre of computer games and ever since getting my first multi-button mouse, I’ve never been able to go back to a mouse with minimal buttons. Once I’d tried and gotten used to the first Razer Naga, there was no returning to anything without a 12-button side panel, it’s just so intuitive and useful for MMOs that often have a multitude of spells, abilities, and key binds. The Aerox 9 from SteelSeries looks to creep into the MMO mouse market and challenge the usual suspects on our list of best gaming mice with its wireless lightweight design, bright RGB colors, and functional quality construction.
Design and Comfort of the Aerox 9
The Aerox 9 is a colorful MMO/MOBA-targeted wireless mouse with a matte black chassis with honeycomb cutouts. The cutouts give it a distinct look while also helping keep the weight low. I wasn’t a big fan of the cutouts, however — the cutouts flow from the rear of the mouse to the main left and right mouse buttons, and this can be rather uncomfortable if your fingers happen to rest on them for too long. I found this happening quite often if I used a claw grip.
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The Aerox 9 is a medium-large mouse measuring 5 inches (128mm) long, 2.6 (68mm) inches wide, and 1.6 inches (42mm) high. It weighs just 3.13 ounces (89g), which is fairly light for a mouse with so many buttons. It’s a good mouse for gamers with larger hands, but if your hands are on the smaller size it could be uncomfortable. The mouse wheel is sunk into the chassis and has a low profile, which improves access for scrolling but makes using the tilt function difficult.
Now for the most important part: the Aerox 9 has 18 programmable buttons, most of which are on the elongated 12-button side panel. The other buttons are the left/right primary buttons, the tilt wheel (left, right, middle click), and the DPI switch button behind the mouse wheel.
On the bottom of the mouse, you’ll find two large 100% PTFE mouse feet, plus a small PTFE circle around the sensor. This allows the mouse to freely glide around your mouse mat with minimal drag. The mouse is also touted as having an “Aqua Barrier” with an IP54 rating to protect its inner workings from dust, debris, and accidental drink spills (which we know all too well have dispatched a few peripherals to the bin).
In the box, you get the Aerox 9 mouse, a 6.5-foot (2m) braided USB-C to USB-A cable, a USB-C to USB-C wireless extension adapter, and the 2.4GHz wireless USB-C dongle.
Specs
Sensor Model | SteelSeries TrueMove Air |
Max Sensitivity | 18,000 DPI |
Max Speed (IPS) | 400 |
Max Acceleration (Gs) | 40G |
Polling Rates | 1000Hz/1ms |
Programmable Buttons | 18 |
LED Zones | 3 |
Cable | 200cm USB-A to USB-C Braided |
Connectivity | 2.4GHz, Bluetooth, wired (USB-C) |
Measurements (L x W x H) | 5 x 2.6 x 1.6 inches / 128 x 68 x 42 mm |
Weight (excluding cable) | 3.13 oz / 89g |
MSRP / Price at Time of Review | $149 / £139 |
Performance of the Aerox 9
I found the Aerox 9 to be highly accurate and responsive in my testing. It features the TrueMove Air sensor, which was co-developed by SteelSeries and PixArt. This sensor offers a maximum sensitivity of 18,000 DPI and a maximum speed of 400 IPS, and can handle up to 40 G’s of acceleration and tilt tracking. I found the mouse performed equally well in MMO games, such as World of Warcraft, and FPS games, such as Destiny 2 and Counter-Strike 2. This was nice, as I didn’t have to constantly swap mice between games.
Using the SteelSeries GG software Engine I was easily able to set up multiple profiles for my favorite games, and map macros and spells to buttons with ease. The wireless worked faultlessly with no dropouts and no hint of latency. The option is there to use Bluetooth to connect as well, and it also seemed to work flawlessly, there is a higher latency on Bluetooth, but I honestly couldn’t tell when using it. Primarily I kept to the 2.4GHz Quantum 2.0 wireless for the smoothest experience.
The 1000Hz polling rate and ability to tweak every setting In the software meant the mouse performed flawlessly. The responsiveness of the main and side buttons was perfect and it didn’t take long to acclimatize to them from switching over from a Razer Naga Trinity. I still prefer the layout of the Razer Naga’s side buttons, but I’d rather have the larger and sleeker design of the Aerox 9. Yet the more I use the mouse, the more I don’t miss the Naga.
The only issue I did have with the Aerox 9 in regards to the performance was the positioning of the mouse wheel. I found the mouse wheel to be positioned too deep in the chassis, and as I often bind abilities to the left and right tilt switches of the mouse wheel I found I couldn’t consistently access these abilities on command. Trying to force the left/right tilt switch often led to me scrolling up and down — which I also use for separate abilities. This forced me to have to rebind and change up some key binds, which I wouldn’t have had to do using a mouse with a better-positioned wheel.
Features and Software of the Aerox 9
For me, the SteelSeries GG software is one of the best from the big peripheral manufacturers. It has a lot of features — some that have more to do with other aspects of gaming rather than the peripherals, but I’ve found I like using Moments a lot (when it comes to capturing those hilarious deaths and funny moments with friends it’s awesome).
All of the Aerox 9’s settings are controlled in the Engine section of the SteelSeries GG software. You can control every aspect of the mouse: button assignment, sleep timer settings for battery, polling rate, sensitivity, and, of course, lighting. Here you can configure the RGB for each zone of the mouse, or disable it completely. Disabling the lighting drastically improves the battery life of the Aerox 9.
Battery Life of the Aerox 9
SteelSeries quotes the Aerox as having a 180-hour battery life, and the mouse can certainly last that long over a Bluetooth connection. However, that figure is drastically different when you connect via 2.4GHz wireless, and is even lower with the lighting on.
In my personal testing, the Aerox 9 lasted around 20 hours with the RGB running and around twice that with it turned off while I was gaming. The good news is that the mouse recharges very quickly and notifies you with a red flash when running low; it’s also easy to check the battery status in the SteelSeries GG software.
The Bottom Line
There’s a lot to like about the SteelSeries Aerox 9: it’s the only MMO mouse I’ve tried that I feel could replace my fondness for the feel of Razer’s 12-button side panels on their range of Naga mice. The sensor is responsive and accurate, and the mouse has a great hand shape for sustained hours of gaming — I felt no hand or finger fatigue while using the Aerox 9 over many gaming sessions. The only downside I encountered were the honeycomb cutouts on the left and rice mouse buttons, which made the tips of my fingers a little sore when I changed to more of a claw grip in some games, and the positioning of the mouse wheel in the chassis.
The 3-zone RGB and all the different lighting patterns help to make the mouse stand out on the desk and give that gamified aesthetic, but the trade-off with battery life doesn’t really seem worth it to me. I ended up disabling the lighting for extended play time off of the charging cable.
