Software

The formerly standalone SteelSeries Engine continues to be integrated into SteelSeries GG, which is an overarching software suite also including other applications, such as Moments and Sonar. While these require a SteelSeries account to work, Engine doesn't and can be used without any restrictions after skipping the account creation stage. However, when using GG at all, SteelSeries reserves the right to collect anonymous data about user behavior without the option to opt out. Luckily, said data collection is tied to an account, so as long as no account is created, no data will be collected.

Engine works the same as it always has. All available options are accessible on a single page. All buttons can be remapped to mouse, keyboard, media, OS, or macro functions. The corresponding macro editor can be found right below the button selection. CPI adjustment is possible from 100 to 18,000 CPI, in increments of 100 and for up to five color-coded levels; i.e., a non-user-configurable color will light up upon switching CPI steps. Furthermore, a basic acceleration function, angle snapping (on/off), and polling rate adjustment (125, 250, 500, or 1000 Hz) are available. Lighting settings are detailed below.

Additionally, several further settings related to wireless functionality are available. "Sleep Timer" controls how much time has to pass before the mouse enters sleep mode. "Illumination Dim Timer" is for setting the idle time before illumination is dimmed. "High-Efficiency Mode" automatically disables all illumination, sets the polling rate to 125 Hz, and puts the sensor into a low-power mode. This mode results in a motion delay of roughly 6 ms, rendering it rather pointless for pretty much any sort of gaming. "Illumination Smart Mode" automatically turns off any illumination whenever the mouse is not stationary.

When applied, all settings are saved to the on-board memory, so the software does not need to be running (or be installed) all the time. On my system, GG running without Engine results in a RAM footprint of 215 MB when in the foreground, which doesn't change when minimized. With Engine running on top, the RAM footprint increases to 300 MB on average, which again doesn't change when minimized. Upon closing GG, the application is effectively minimized to the system tray, which has three processes with a RAM footprint of 84 MB running. Upon exiting the application altogether, all processes are terminated, as they should be.

Lighting

The Aerox 5 Wireless has a single physical and three logical lighting zones. When selecting an RGB lighting effect, make sure to select all or at least one of these zones as no effect will be applied otherwise. A total of three pre-defined lighting effects are available in the software. These are Steady (single color), Color Shift, and Multi Color Breathe. Furthermore, a trigger effect can be combined with each of those effects. All effects can be further customized in terms of speed and colors. Of course, it is also possible to disable the lighting altogether.

Color accuracy and vibrancy are excellent throughout. Here's a short demonstration video in which I go through the Color Shift and Multi Color Breathe lighting effects.

Battery Life

SteelSeries states a maximum battery life of up to 180 hours. This figure likely only applies to Bluetooth. By default, the Aerox 5 Wireless disables illumination whenever the mouse is moving, dims all lighting by 50% after 30 seconds of inactivity, and enters sleep mode after five minutes of the mouse sitting idle. For this review, I decided to take the opposite route and test the Aerox 5 Wireless with the most draining settings: 2.4 GHz mode, polling rate of 1000 Hz, illumination at 100% brightness, and all power-saving options disabled. Under these conditions, the Aerox 5 Wireless did not even last for 10 hours. Engine includes a percentage-based battery life indicator with increments of 5%, which is fairly reliable.

Within SteelSeries Engine, one can set the time required to pass before sleep mode is entered. Waking the Aerox 5 Wireless merely requires moving the mouse.

Using the included USB Type-A to Type-C charging cable, I measured the charging speed during the constant current stage, which sits at around 0.306 A excluding the additional current for illumination. I'm unable to determine the battery capacity, though consider it likely it is around 250 mAh.