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.

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 199 MB when in the foreground, which doesn't change when minimized. With Engine running on top, the RAM footprint increases to 278 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 68 MB running. Upon exiting the application altogether, all processes are terminated, as they should be.

Lighting

The Aerox 5 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.