SteelSeries Aerox 3 Wireless Gen 2 Mouse Review

Introduction

SteelSeries has been quietly working to improve its lineup of gaming peripherals for some time now and the Aerox 3 Gen 2 is the latest product to be sent back to the drawing board. And it’s clear that with a new sensor, improved battery life, a higher polling rate, and a refined design, Steelseries isn’t playing around. 

But is it enough to earn a place on our best gaming mouse list? We put the ultralight mouse to the test over the course of two weeks – and I’ve been left pretty impressed.

Design and Performance

• Similar design to the Aerox 3 Wireless
• Flatter design makes it perfect for small hands
• A new gap between the side buttons improves control

SteelSeries hasn’t reinvented the wheel with Gen 2. The mouse still looks and feels similar to the original 2022 version – with a few small differences to address those concerns of creaking and mushy buttons, of course.

The body is still lightweight with a flatter palm rest, which is perfect for smaller hands and different grip styles. I’ve been rocking my trusty Logitech G Pro Wireless mouse for a while and I was surprised by how quickly I took to the Aerox – its shape fitting effortlessly in my hand.

The flatter design means my smaller hands were able to reach the side buttons with relative ease during gaming. These sit proud from the main body and have a smoother texture, allowing you to pick them out during intense gaming sessions. They also have a more noticeable gap from its predecessor, which made it easier to identify what button I was pressing in the heat of battle.

The mouse itself has more of a coarse texture – similar to that of the original version – making it feel grippy despite your grip style. SteelSeries says it comes with an IP54 rating, which protects it against dirt, dust, and water and while it’s certainly better than my Logitech mouse, I have noticed some lingering fingerprints on the mouse buttons after long sessions and small dust particles sitting on the internal parts. It’s nothing a bit of compressed air can’t fix, but if you like things to look clean and pristine, you’re going to need to bear that in mind.

The skates, which are once again made out of 100% virgin-grade PTFE, work well across several surfaces and can be replaced. On the SteelSeries GcK Heavy XL mousemat, I found the mouse was able to glide smoothly and without issues – arguably better than the Logitech. It also worked well on my desk, except the movement did not feel as smooth. Like the chassis, the gaps around the skates also attracted dirt. 

Where the mouse design has changed considerably is with the scroll wheel. The patterned design has now been replaced by a striped design, which feels grippier. It’s easy to find, despite being sunk into the chassis compared to some of the other best gaming mice, and the scrolls feel responsive. 

The mouse also comes in three new colourways: Shadow (black), Ghost (white), and Magenta Haze. These are all personal preference, but the RGB lighting will interact differently with the chassis depending on the colourway you choose. 

Under the hood is where the majority of the changes have been made with a TrueMove 26,000 DPI sensor replacing the 18,000 one found in the original model. SteelSeries has also boosted the wireless polling rate from 1000Hz to 4000Hz, improving response rates across the board. For context, polling rate refers to how frequently the mouse reports its position to your PC – at 4000Hz it’s doing that four times more often than a standard 1000Hz mouse, which translates to smoother, more responsive cursor movement, which is particularly noticeable in fast-paced competitive games. This isn’t enabled by default, though, and has a considerable knock-on effect on battery life – something I’ll talk about later.

The Aerox 3 Gen 2 is a smooth operator. The mouse feels incredibly fast, especially when increasing the DPI settings for games such as Counter-Strike 2, Battlefield 6, and Escape From Tarkov. Tracking accuracy was consistent throughout testing and the sensor held up well during faster flicks without losing tracking. The default DPI is 2400, which I’d recommend for day-to-day tasks, but this can be increased steadily using the on-board DPI button or via SteelSeries software. 

Combine this with the increased polling rate, and the Aerox 3 Gen 2’s performance in competitive shooters is genuinely impressive. The mouse felt quick and responsive, and the buttons have both low pre and post travel, resulting in a satisfying click response – although, the switches are louder and took some time to get used to. Over two weeks of heavy use, those clicks remained consistent – I didn’t feel like there was any mushiness, which is reassuring given creaking and button quality were issues on the original. 

The same could be said for the side buttons, although my small hands struggled to reach the top one unless I shifted to a more claw-like grip. That being said, I prefer them over the Logitech, simply because the shape is smaller and it fits my hand better.

Battery Life

• Major improvements over the original Aerox 3
• Offers 120 hours or 200 hours via Bluetooth (with RGB off and default settings)
• Charges fully in just over an hour

The new version of the Aerox has made considerable improvements to the battery life of the mouse with SteelSeries promising 120 hours or 200 hours via Bluetooth. This is with the mouse kept at default settings and RGB turned off, though.

In reality, though, those numbers drop pretty quickly when you start tinkering with the settings. If you switch to 4000 Hz polling rate, for example, the battery life drops to approximately 35 hours. 

Obviously this is enough to see you through a couple of gaming sessions, but if you want to get the most amount of juice out of your mouse and prevent charging during use, you’re going to want to switch off the RGB lighting and stick to default settings.

I didn’t feel too limited by the battery life – it lasted me most of the week while working and gaming, but I do feel let down by the box fresh numbers considering how feature-rich the mouse is. That being said, charging is easy to do with the long cable provided and the mouse charges fully in just over an hour.

Software and Lighting

• SteelSeries Engine is easy to use and offers lots of customisation
• RGB can be distracting
• Sensitivity Converter could be improved

As with all SteelSeries peripherals these days, you can customise the Aerox 3 Gen 2 using the SteelSeries GG app. This allows you to control the mouse’s RGB lighting and change settings – from polling rate, DPI, smoothing, acceleration, and more. The live preview mode also allows you to understand the changes you’re making as you go – removing the guesswork and making it easier for newcomers to understand.

It’s the same with the RGB settings available in the Prism menu. Here you can choose from five different effects for the lighting and 26 different presets. You also have the option to set lighting effects for when the mouse is idle and active, as well as reactive. These lights fill up the chassis from the bottom and can be seen towards the bottom of the mouse and the sides. 

The default setting is to have RGB lighting when the mouse is active, however, when it’s actively being used, the lights turn off. It’s a great way of saving battery power, but to be honest, I found it to be quite distracting and I ended up turning the lights off altogether.

That being said, I like that the RGB lighting briefly keeps you in the loop with your battery status. It flashes green briefly when it’s charged, yellow when the mouse has only 5-10% battery life left, and red every two minutes when it’s on its last legs. I found the latter quite useful while playing games, as it meant I could plug it in to charge during a quieter moment.

The software also comes with the 3D Aim Trainer and Sensitivity Converter, both of which are helpful if you’re big on shooters. While I’m a big fan of the 3D Aim Trainer, I’m less convinced by the effectiveness of the Sensitivity Converter, simply because it doesn’t really take into account some of the fast twitch movement you need for certain games.

This is disappointing given SteelSeries’ efforts to package this up in the mouse’s software. Nevertheless, the 3D Aim Trainer is a great way to test the mouse and its settings, as well as warm up before moving onto ranked competitive matches.

Should you buy it?