SteelSeries Aerox 5 – Holey RGB Gaming Mouse – Ultra-lightweight Water Resistant Design – 18K DPI TrueMove Air Optical Sensor

Great Mouse (FREE PRO TIP INSIDE)
I am an avid player of First Person Shooter games (FPS) and as such I demand a low weight, high precision input device. The Aerox 5 fits the bill for me. I am coming from a pedigree of Basic Packard Bell (1990s) -> Microsoft Explorer -> Razer Deathadder -> G502 -> Glorious Model D Wireless -> Aerox 5.While I really enjoyed the Glorious Model D, I immediately missed the extra buttons from my G502. I adjusted to the reduction in mouse buttons by grabbing a foot pedal for PTT voice comms (similar pedal: https://amzn.to/3VwdEuD) which turned out to be an amazing upgrade.The Model D only lasted a few months before the scroll wheel malfunctioned. The wheel would randomly scroll causing me to weapon switch during intense left-click firefights. The right click mouse button also started sticking.So, looking for an upgrade, I stumbled upon the Aerox 5.The things that immediately drew me to the Aerox 5 were the 9 programmable buttons. I love that the mouse is an ultra light, weighing only slightly more than the Model D I was upgrading from. The mouse is pretty much perfect in every way, however there are a couple of annoying things I will point out here:1. The dongle is USB-C. I do not have a USB-C port in my PC, so I was running the dongle with a long USB-A -> USB-C connection… until I stumbled upon the direct plug adapter (2nd pic). You can get one of those here https://amzn.to/3GmkoH6. I wish they had included one with the mouse.2. The mouse profiles in the SteelSeries GG software don’t reliably automatically switch. I have different profiles set up for each of my games with different button bindings and while the profile normally switches just fine, it’s not 100% reliable. Easy to fix. I would recommend just having the 1 default profile and setting the extra mouse buttons to the NUMPAD keys and then change your key bindings in game accordingly. That way you don’t have to mess with profile switching. That’s how I’ll be setting it up once I reformat and lose these profiles.3. There is no DPI indicator light on the mouse that I can tell.4. The battery life is not the greatest but more than adequate. It’ll last 2 or 3 days before needing a charge. I normally just connect it back up when I’m done playing and never really notice it.All in all, a great mouse and I highly recommend it. If you found this review helpful, please consider using my link to purchase yours. https://amzn.to/3WQZg0U

Game Changer
Steelseries is known for good quality, and it really shows with this mouse. If you don’t wanna mess with the Steelseries GG software (I don’t blame you), this mouse can be completely plug and play. The clicks are clicky and are about the average noise level. This mouse is definitely responsive, so you can’t blame you throwing and bottom-fragging on this mouse lol. I think it has the perfect amount of side buttons, especially the up/down switch!I don’t know if it’s a bug or not, but the DPI settings that you set via the software won’t save to the on-board memory. I often take my mouse to different PCs, and I have to download the GG software and set my settings (DPI and button macros) on each new PC I use it with. There’s also an issue I’m experiencing where sometimes the mouse will disconnect from the dongle, and I have to literally slam the mouse on the desk for it to reconnect (yes, that’s the only way). It only started happening after over a year of usage, though (outside the warranty), and thankfully, it hasn’t happened in the middle of a match yet.I still love it so much that I bought a second one, so I still recommend it!

– the mouse depends on an app. that needs to be ran on startup- the app requires sign up and is a combination of 4 or more mini apps including audio related apps that you can choose to disable but will have to remain installed- when you start your computer the mouse will begin cycling through full brightness rainbow colours as its default setting before your custom profile is launched. mouse doesn’t retain its settings on actual mouse- the mouse has a ton of settings which is nice. then doesn’t allow for sub 100 increment whole numbers when choosing your DPi. I found 1700 slightly too slow. then 1800 a bit fast with no middle ground. but then you can adjust the acceleration and slow down to dial it in. just takes a little more time- the 5 side buttons are great with all the options to set them as anything you would need. although one of the buttons is ergonomically a bit awkward being a paddle button that activates with an upwards click and will literally have you lifting the mouse from the table to use itall in all a decent mouse. worth the price having bought it in the xmas discount period

The mouse itself is amazing. Good fit (and I have giant hands), there is a lot of buttons on it. Very easy to customize with the steelseries app. It did break after a year, but Steelseries sent me a replacement for free. The process was easy to do. And my new mouse is going strong, so it was probably just a fluke.It works wired and wireless, glides very well and the battery life is pretty darn amazing on it. One of the best mouse I’ve ever had

Good !!