MMO Gaming Mouse Showdown

SteelSeries Aerox 9 Wireless

This is one of the coolest mice SteelSeries produces right now. Sure, they have models that vibrate, have OLED displays and stuff like that, but they’re just… gimmicks, if I’m honest. This one is a lot more serious though, offering up a mighty 18 programmable buttons design that’s going to be awesome for productivity and MMO gaming. However, it’s also promising extremely long battery life, an ultralight design, and class-leading wireless performance too, among other things. With that in mind, it’s easy to see why I picked it for my big MMO test.

“Break the barriers of demanding MMO and MOBA gaming with an industry-leading, ultra-lightweight 89g Aerox 9 Wireless. Exceptional, sleek comfort with no wrist or arm fatigue meets a library of powerful features to grant you an edge.” – Steelseries

Features

For a mouse of this size with this many features, especially the extra buttons on the side and the massive battery, to weigh just 89g is bloody impressive. Steelseries says this mouse is good for up to 180 of continuous playing, and even when it does get low, you can charge and play, and it supports fast charge, meaning the fun never has to stop. The open-air design of the mouse sheds a lot of weight, but fear not, as their AquaBarrier design is IP54 rated, so spill a few drinks, sneeze all over it and drop Cheeto dust as you may, the mouse should clean up its act afterwards… and frankly, so should you, if all of that happens too often. Throw in their next-gen Golden Micro switches, and a stunning TrueMove Air sensor and you’re well on your way to gaming bliss.

• Engineered with an ultra-lightweight 89g design for comfort and versatility, making it perfect for MOBA, MMO, and other complex games.
• Ergonomic 18-button programmable layout with a 12-button side panel made for quick access to abilities and macros, in an easy-to-learn design.
• Quantum 2.0 Wireless transmits data at unreal speeds, giving the flexibility of 2.4 GHz or Bluetooth 5.0, while also allowing for 180 hours of continuous play with fast charging.
• AquaBarrier™ technology is IP54-rated to provide water resistance and protection from dust, dirt, and more.
• TrueMove Air precision optical gaming sensor with true 1-to-1 tracking, 18,000 CPI, 400 IPS, 40G acceleration and tilt tracking.”
• Next-gen Golden Micro IP54 Switches with over 80M click durability.

The Honeycomb shell design looks fantastic and promotes good airflow around your hand too. However, it also reduces weight by up to 20g while maintaining strength and durability for the most intense gaming sessions.

The mouse features a battery that weighs just 6 grams, that’s nuts, given that it’ll give you so many hours of gameplay. Of course, throwing the RGB on will cut that down, but I’ve been using it for hours and hours each day all week, and the damn thing still doesn’t need charging. Steelseries say they’ve even slimmed the circuit board down by 50%, so this mouse really has been on a fitness program.

The star of the show is the 12-button side panel. This is likely more buttons than most people need, but for an MMO gamer like myself, I can use every single on of them to help me stay in the action. It looks complicated, and I won’t like, it does take some practice to get used to, but when you do, it’s awesome.

What do I use 18 buttons for? Well, the usual navigation and gaming controls I leave as is. I have two spare macro buttons to capture copy-paste commands to, so I can quickly post multiple WTS posts into zone chats without tabbing out to a text document each time. I have a few to open up various crating macros and configurations via add-ons, so I can quickly price check costs and profits on those. I’ll have a few chat commands for emotes, and I use multiple profiles so that one row of four buttons can actually hold 4, 8, 12, 16 or more emotes (use RGB colours on the mouse to highlight the profiles). Then I have quick copy/paste commands, and some battle abilities so I can quick cast those too… so yeah, MMO swiss army knife.

The mouse also features a competent scroll wheel with tilt-click, allowing for even more macros and layers to the mouse.

The mouse features their latest Golden Micro 80M rated switches, they feel very nice too, with a snappy and satisfying click, and there are no issues with pre or post-travel, making it tight and responsive enough for even the most demanding eSports players. Plus, with lag-free 2.4 GHz connections, it’s just as responsive as its wired counterparts. It also supports Bluetooth 5.0 should you need to use it on other devices too.

The TrueMovie Air Sensor is awesome, delivering 1-to-1 tracking at up to 18,000 CPI, 400 IPS and 40G acceleration. It feels fantastic, and I really can’t fault it. SteelSeries has been on top form with sensors for years though, so this isn’t a surprise. The sensor is helped by the ultralight design and these sexy 100% PTFE feet too, meaning it’s super nimble and glides smoothly.