SteelSeries Aerox 9: One Minute Review
The SteelSeries Aerox 9 is the company’s latest effort to create a high-end gaming mouse designed specifically for MMO and MOBA gaming. The mouse goes for $149 (about £128, AU$217), which is steep but reflects the premium design. It is lightweight, well built and comes with beautiful RGB lighting.
Unlike the SteelSeries Aerox 5, which has a large number of buttons all over the wireless gaming mouse that can be assigned for different tasks, the Aerox 9 has six buttons scattered around the rest of the body and 12 numbered buttons on the left side. These buttons can each be mapped for a unique command shortcut, rather than setting those shortcuts on the user interface itself, making for lightning-fast gesture executions.
Like the 5, the SteelSeries Aerox 9 comes with software to customize the button layout. However, unlike the 5 or even the 3, the software does not load automatically when you connect the 9 to your PC or laptop. You have to look for it first, which is both clunky and odd to say the least.
In terms of specs, this is what you would expect from a premium gaming mouse: Water and dust resistant, mechanical switches with a durability of more than 80 million clicks, 18,000 CPI, 400 IPS, 40G acceleration, 1 to 1 tracking, tilt tracking, an incredibly long battery life and 2.4 GHz wireless or Bluetooth 5.0 for connectivity.
Even the slide skates are of high quality and work well on most smooth surfaces which, when combined with the perforated body and thin PCB, support even faster movements and reaction speeds. All of these are vital when you’re in the thick of battle and need commands and skills to activate instantly.
SteelSeries Aerox 9: Price and Availability
- How much is it? $149 (£139, AU$159)
- Where is it available? now available
- Where can you get it? Available in US, UK and Australia
You can pick up the SteelSeries Aerox 9 right now for $149 (£139, AU$159), which is steep for a gaming mouse. However, since you’re paying for a mouse built from the ground up for optimized gaming, it’s well worth its asking price.
SteelSeries is also good at making this mouse available worldwide, as you can buy it in a wide variety of regions, including the UK and Australia. The prices are also reasonable in those regions.
SteelSeries Aerox 9: Design
- Lightweight yet sturdy design
- Buttons in handy places
- Not for left-handers
The design of the SteelSeries Aerox 9 is excellent, made to be as light and easy to move as possible to increase speed. Like the Aerox 5, it has a perforated body and an ultra-thin PCB, which reduces weight. The gliding skates offer smooth movement over most surfaces, be it wood or metal, meaning you don’t have to worry about the mouse getting entangled during a heated session.
There’s also the placement of the buttons, which are strategically placed based on where a gamer’s fingers and hands tend to rest. The six main buttons are designed for most grip types, including claw, fingertip or palm grips, while the 12 numbered buttons are located on the left for easy access with your thumb.
It can be a little tricky to adjust to using so many buttons at once, especially without looking at them, but eventually it becomes second nature. The only main problem is that this is clearly a right-handed mouse, so left-handed players will find it extremely difficult to use this mouse unless they can adapt.
SteelSeries Aerox 9: Features
- Comes with wireless dongle and wired charger
- Need to find and install the SteelSeries GG application
The SteelSeries Aerox 9 comes with a USB Type-C dongle for the wireless connection, as well as a Type-C charging cord for fast charging. The cord also allows users to use the mouse in wired mode, meaning you never have to be without your mouse. There’s RGB lighting, which is great for fans of it, but we found that as you rest your hand on the mouse, it’s obscured.
The SteelSeries GG application allows you to fully customize your mouse buttons, including the 12 on the left. It is strange, however, that this mouse, unlike the Aerox 5, does not load the software automatically. Instead, you have to find and open it yourself.
SteelSeries Aerox 9: Performance
- Performance is excellent
- High quality mechanical knobs
- Long battery life
How well does the SteelSeries Aerox 9 perform with all these features? Spectacular, we are happy to report. All the design features such as the ultra-light weight, sliding skates, the construction itself that allows multiple types of grip (claw, fingertip or palm grip), and of course the layout of the buttons provide an excellent experience while playing any game, especially MMOs .
Like the other mice in the series, the Aerox 9 claims an 18,000 CPI with 1000 Hz/1 ms polling, 400 IPS, 40G acceleration, 1-to-1 tracking, tilt tracking, and more. In other words, this mouse has incredibly precise cursor control that can be customized even more with the software. The battery life is also excellent, so you can literally forget to charge it for days and then quickly recharge it to full capacity in a few hours. Meanwhile, whether you choose between 2.4GHz wireless connectivity or Bluetooth 5.0, you’ll still get a blazing-fast connection, although the wireless connection is preferred as it’s much faster than Bluetooth.
Being able to assign skills or spells to the 12 buttons on the side of the mouse’s body allows for instant execution of so many of them, even beyond the other buttons. All 12 buttons use high quality mechanical switches meaning they have near instant response times and long shelf life, ideal for those needing a durable mouse for their hardcore gaming sessions.
Should I buy the SteelSeries Aerox 9?
Buy it if…
Don’t buy it if…
Also consider:
SteelSeries Aerox 9: Report Card
| Where the | It’s worth the price of admission as you get one of the best possible mice out there. And many regions can also access this mouse. | 5 / 5 |
| Design | A well-designed mouse that covers almost all bases in terms of what a hardcore MMO/MOBA player would need, other than not being left-handed. | 4.5 / 5 |
| Functions | Not only does it come with a USB Type-C dongle and a charging cable, the SteelSeries GG application also allows you to fully customize your mouse. | 4 / 5 |
| Performance | Performance is nearly flawless, with all of its features and construction working in harmony to create a gaming mouse that’s perfect for MMO gaming. | 5 / 5 |
| Total | The SteelSeries Aerox 9 is the best you can get in build quality and performance. | 4.5 / 5 |
- Rated first Sep 2022
How do we test?
We pride ourselves on our independence and our rigorous review-testing process, taking the long-term view of the products we review and making sure our reviews are updated and maintained – regardless of when a device is released, if you can still buy it, it’s on our radar.
Read more about how we test
0 Comments