Introduction
Car nerds might strongly argue otherwise, but not everyone wants to drive a Ferrari. It’s a similar deal with gaming mice: there’s no sense spending big bucks on a top-tier model that caters to elite level gamers when just play for fun. The first iteration of Steelseries’ Aerox 3 leaned more towards the casual crowd, but this second-gen version sits somewhere in between.
It keeps the lightweight design and dual connectivity of the original, but upgrades its optical sensor to a speedier 26K TrueMove unit. Wireless polling – or how often the mouse updates your PC on where your cursor is – has also been given a nitrous injection. Yet Steelseries has also kept the price firmly in check: the Aerox 3 Wireless Gen 2 arrives at $110/£100/€110, undercutting rivals from Razer and Logitech.
Faster polling rates usually mean much lower battery life, though. Does the new model land in a similar sweet spot to its predecessor, or has it tried too hard to appeal to players that want to go pro?
Design & build: the hole package
At 68g, there’s barely a gram of difference between the Aerox 3 Wireless Gen 2 and its predecessor. That’s satisfyingly light and competitive with similarly-priced rivals, if not the last word in ultralight mice for those willing to pay more.
Steelseries has kept the weight in check with a honeycomb-style build that lets you peer at the inner circuitry, but it hasn’t gone the whole hog: the sides and underside are still sealed. That will help slow down dust buildup, at least. In my three weeks of testing an occasional blow was enough to keep it looking clean. Accidental drinks spills shouldn’t be a disaster either, as the whole thing is IP54-rated.
The perforated construction hasn’t affected rigidity, with zero creaks, flex or weak spots seen in my testing. It’s better for airflow around your hand, too – I felt like mine weren’t getting as clammy after multi-hour play sessions as they did on a traditional mouse. The slightly grainy texture then gives plenty of grip at the sides and on the main mouse buttons.
Three-zone RGB lighting gives the mouse a Need for Speed-style neon underglow that shines very brightly at the default settings. I like how it turns off while the mouse is moving to preserve battery, as your hand largely obscures the lighting anyway.
Steelseries hasn’t changed up the ambidextrous shape between generations. The Aerox 3 Wireless Gen 2 still suits a claw or fingertip grip style, with a raised hump giving you plenty rest your palm on. I found it just a little on the small side, but still more usable as a daily driver than the ageing Razer Orochi V2 that lives in my travel bag.
You can pick up the Aerox 3 Wireless Gen 2 in Shadow, Ghost or Magenta Haze (black, white or pink) colours. My Ghost review unit has a semi-translucent build that embraces the current trend for see-through tech. The polycarbonate won’t wear over time like rubber-wrapped alternatives, or fade through prolonged use.
Features & software: head to the polls
The biggest internal upgrade between generations is to the wireless transmitter, which can now set its polling rate to a rapid 4000Hz – a big leap from the original model’s 1000Hz. Cursor movement is smoother and input lag is reduced as a result, for a leg up in multiplayer matches.
There’s no need to buy an aftermarket wireless adapter to get this speed, unlike the Logitech and Razer competition that max out at 1000Hz out of the box. Those rivals will top out at a flagship-grade 8000Hz if you’re willing to pay the extra, though. I honestly don’t think it’s worth it if you spend more time hiking across Skyrim‘s mountains than clicking heads in Counter Strike 2. At 4000Hz the Aerox delivered the consistent, low latency signal I’d expect for this kind of cash.
The bundled USB-C wireless dongle is no larger than a flash drive, but there’s nowhere to store it inside the mouse. Steelseries includes an extension designed to sit on your desk, should the wireless signal not be strong enough. I had no issues with it placed at the back of my tower PC, which sits on my office floor beneath two inches of butcher block-style desk, so didn’t bother with it. The 1.8m braided USB cable is suitably light, so wired play didn’t suffer from any handling letdowns.
If you insist on 4000Hz polling, be prepared to charge the Aerox a lot more often than if you stuck with 1000Hz. Even with the RGB lights switched off, it was begging for a refuel after 30 or so hours of use. I’ve yet to confirm if it can reach Steelseries’ claimed 120 hours at 100Hz with the lights disabled.
For maximum longevity you’ll want to swap to Bluetooth, using the three-way switch on the bottom of the mouse. Here you’ll get closer to 200 hours between charges. Quite a few rivals refuse to add Bluetooth to their lightweight mice, often citing the lack of demand from pro players; Steelseries gets a thumbs up for including it here, as it meant I could use the mouse while travelling without having to also bring the wireless adapter along. A Bluetooth smoothing setting in the GG software suit makes movement feel suitably smooth too.
GG is is fully-featured a piece of companion software as they come. Not everyone will benefit from the Sonar audio mixing or Moments gameplay capture tool, and Engine and QuickSet still feel a bit like two separate ways to achieve roughly the same thing, but aren’t short on ways to customise the mouse. A sensitivity converter that matches your settings per game is really handy if you split your multiplayer time between titles. The 3D aim trainer is a highlight, mimicking twelve high-profile FPS games down to the individual weapons so you can practice solo rather than in a live server.
Performance: get your game on
Across the Windows desktop and in games, the Aerox 3 Wireless Gen 3 was a reliable performer. The TrueMove 26K optical sensor is a nice step up from the 18K sensor found in the first-gen model, now good for 400IPS tracking and 40G acceleration – something I rarely got close to, even in the most hectic of Doom: The Dark Ages battles.
Tracking was consistent across a range of surfaces, including a fabric gaming mousepad and a wooden desk. Having adjustable lift-off distance – something that was sorely missing on the original model – really helped me dial in to match my playstyle. That also goes for the rotation control option, for when you don’t hold your mouse perfectly horizontal.
It helps that you get mouse-spanning PTFE feet here: these are much larger than original Aerox 3 Wireless, if essentially unchanged from the 2022 refresh. They smoothly glided across the QcK Heavy mousemat Steelseries sent along with the mouse for testing.
Each of the five mouse buttons have a satisfying click action: crisp, springy and not too loud. If you crave silence the Logitech Pro X2 Superstrike‘s muted magnetic switches are still the way to go, though you’ll pay a lot more for ’em. They’re speedy enough – I could manage nine clicks per second – and are rated for 80 million clicks. That bodes well for long-term ownership.
Nothing here feels particularly groundbreaking, but it’s dependable.
Steelseries Aerox 3 Wireless Gen 2 verdict
It’s not a huge upgrade over the original Aerox 3, but this Gen 2 gaming mouse makes just enough tweaks to satisfy most mainstream PC players. The faster optical sensor and higher wireless polling put it much closer to premium rivals, while hotly requested fan features like lift-off adjustment finally make an appearance.
The honeycomb built, translucent materials and RGB underglow can give your desk more character than the basic black competition, and the price has stayed in sensible territory. The smaller size won’t suit all hands and battery life at 4000Hz polling isn’t amazing, but if you don’t fancy paying for features only professional players go gaga over, it’s well worth a look.
