Overall and Final Verdict
The first thing I thought about when I got these three mice in, specifically the Prime and Prime Wireless was that SteelSeries pick out an epic name. It is simple but has multiple meanings that all convey that this is the end all be all for SteelSeries and in a lot of ways those two mice lived up to that. In fact, a lot of what I liked carried over across all three mice. All three mice show that SteelSeries learned a lot from some of their older mice. Issues that I never thought to even consider in the past but I now know after using some of them for so long. Specifically the use of coatings like the rubberized coating. I loved it when it was new and fresh, but even when sitting in my LAN bag over time those coatings break down with hand oils and wear off or get sticky. Paint is the same way. So I am glad that SteelSeries is finding ways to keep the outside design simple by not using those or even grips. The ABS finish feels good and should last a very long time. I would love to see them try PBT which should keep the texture for longer, but the idea still stands. They have also stepped things up as far as sensors go. Both the TrueMove Pro and TrueMove Air are solid optical sensors, they could use a little liftoff distance tuning (especially the Pro on the basic Prime) but overall you can expect them to work well.
Another area where all three mice excelled is with their cables. The Prime has a great soft-sleeved cable that most of the time wasn’t noticeable at all and both of the wireless mice have the same cable type used for their charging cables as well. Speaking of I love that the Prime Wireless and the Aerox 3 Wireless both use Type-C for their charging port, you can use a standard phone cord to give your mouse a boost at any point if you want. I wish the Prime had the same connection type, it for some reason has the older Micro-USB connection. I do however think that having the wireless dongles with a Type-C connection is a little more troublesome, a lot of PCs are very limited on type-c connections. They do at least include the extender that when combined with the charging cord lets you still have a type-a connection.
Wireless performance on both the Aerox 3 Wireless and the Prime Wireless was great, I didn’t have any connection issues. The Aerox 3 Wireless also has Bluetooth which is a nice addition, especially if you might want to share the mouse with another device or take it with you on your laptop. I wish the Prime Wireless would have had it as well. Then for battery life, the Prime Wireless lists 100 hours of battery life and the Aerox 3 Wireless has a crazy 200 hours of life which are both more than enough to keep you from having to charge every day.
The overall shape of the Prime and the Prime Wireless was good for an ergonomic shape, I would love to see it be a little shorter. I suspect I would prefer the Prime Mini which SteelSeries does also make wired and wireless because it is 2mm shorter. The stock gliders for the Prime worked well but I did really like that the Prime Wireless includes PTFE gliders, which is a nice touch. All three mice are a big improvement from past SteelSeries mice, but when compared with some of the current competition they are still a touch heavy in comparison.
The Aerox 3 Wireless was my favorite of the three when it comes to its shape. They have it listed as an ergonomic mouse just like the Primes, but its shape is ambidextrous with the exception that the side buttons are only on the left side. It is also smaller and height wise I didn’t have any issues with it.
For pricing, these three mice end up covering a wide range. The base Prime has an MSRP of $59.99 but it is available for $36.94 on amazon and even less at $35.99 on the SteelSeries website making it a great deal. The Aerox 3 Wireless on the other hand has an MSRP of $99.99 and for the Ghost and Onyx colors they are still at that price, but the white Snow edition we have here can be found for a little less at $77.52 on Amazon currently however you might want to make sure that is the new 2022 edition. Then the Prime Wireless is the most expensive of the three when it comes to MSRP which is $129.99 but it is on sale like the base Prime for $89.99. All three aren’t a bad deal at the sale prices.
Live Pricing: HERE
Live Pricing: HERE
Live Pricing: HERE
