SteelSeries Aerox 3 Super Light Gaming Mouse Review

A Closer Look & Performance

First things first, this is one gorgeous looking mouse. It keeps the lovely ergonomics we’ve come to expect from a SteelSeries mouse. They would have been crazy to change that, as it’s a popular shape and has served them well. Of course, it does look very different, with the holey design carving out a lot of material to help reduce the weight.

It’s exceptionally strong despite only clocking in at 57g. The design keeps all the strength in the top, and pushing down hard on it doesn’t cause any flex or bending. I couldn’t even get a panel to click or squeak under pressure, so there’s certainly no concern about build quality.

That being said, SteelSeries claim to have reinforced things while shedding weight. Even the PCB is air-gapped to withstand a few more knocks and bumps without taking damage.

The layout is pretty straight forward on this mouse, using a six-button design, with two switches on the left side. The mouse is right-handed only, but every button is programmable via the SteelSeries software.

Down the right side, a nice ergonomic curve allows you a good grip point. Actually, the whole mouse is angled on the sides to make it easy to grip. However, the shape also lends its self well to using a lift-off technique.

Towards the front of the mouse, you’ll find a USB-C port. This is the wired version of the mouse, but you can still remove the cable. This makes the mouse easier to store when not in use or when travelling, as it’s less likely to break the cable. Plus, it also means you can add your own custom cables. Pick a nice custom braided cable from Amazon, or anywhere, plug it in, and you’re good to go.

You’ll find a DPI/Profile switch on the top of the mouse, allowing quick and easy access to more settings. There’s also the scroll wheel, and it’s a little smaller than usual, but it feels fantastic. They’ve given it a good tactile feel, and it has a nice click to it too, making it a joy to use while working and gaming.

The most important thing up on the top, however, are the switches. The plastic is shaped to give you a good finger resting position, but each button is mounted on their own spring too. They click is absolutely gorgeous to use too, thanks to their use of the “next-gen” Golden Micro IP54 Switches. They’re rated for 80M clicks, and even dust and water-resistant.

On the underside, you’ll find even more weight has been cut away. However, you can see that they’ve used the RGB diffuser as a kind of skin that actually seals and protects the internal hardware from dust and debris. As for stuff getting in the top of the mouse? Just shake it and blow any dust out, it’ll be fine.

Another welcome feature is PTFE feet, or as SteelSeries call them, Glide Skates. Honestly, I like their name better. That being said, the mouse is super light, and the feet are slippery, meaning you can make smooth moves with ease. Even finer movements at higher DPI feel easy to achieve.

Of course, a lot of that precision is thanks to their “Pixel-perfect TrueMove Core optical gaming sensor” and credit where it’s due, as SteelSeries has had many of the best tracking mice on the market for years. It can be adjusted from 200 to 8500 CPI (Counts Per Inch), and it’s remarkable how clean and smooth it tracks at any speed.

With 35G acceleration and 300 IPS, it’s unlikely that even the most vigorous players will ever throw this sensor off course.

As for everything else, well, you can already see that it has plenty of RGB in there.

All the lighting is tucked into the base and lights up around the edges of the mouse. Wrapping around both sides.

Even showing off a lot of colour on the bottom, not that this matters in any way.

However, because the top is open, light shines out of the mouse from almost every angle. Colours and effects look awesome. Of course, you can customise all of that via the desktop software too.