Should you assume the Roccat Kone XP Air seems to be like different gaming mice you’ve seen, you’re appropriate: Roccat’s flashy new wi-fi mouse shares an identical silhouette with Logitech’s G502 and Razer’s Basilisk Final.
It additionally shares an identical value level of $170 — which makes it costlier than each different mouse on our listing of finest gaming mice and each mouse on our listing of finest wi-fi mice.
Roccat’s Kone XP Air is an RGB-infused wi-fi ergonomic gaming mouse with 11 bodily buttons and a number of layers of performance that help you program as much as 29 totally different features. The Kone XP Air is extremely customizable, has each 2.4GHz wi-fi and Bluetooth connectivity, and boasts 100 hours of battery life with rapid-charging — and it even comes with a handy Speedy Cost docking station, full with its personal RGB lighting.
However even with all of those options, $170 is steep. The Razer DeathAdder V3 Professional, which our peripherals editor is at the moment besotted with, prices $150 alone and $165 bundled with Razer’s HyperPolling Wi-fi Dongle — nonetheless $5 lower than the Kone XP Air. Roccat’s latest gaming mouse could also be dazzling, but it surely’ll want greater than fairly, colourful lights to justify its value.
Specs
| Sensor Mannequin | Owl-Eye Optical Sensor |
| Max Sensitivity | 19,000 DPI |
| Polling Charges | 1,000 Hz |
| Programmable Buttons | 11 (bodily), 29 features |
| LED Zones | 5 |
| Cable | 6 toes, braided |
| Connectivity | 2.4GHz wi-fi, Bluetooth, wired (USB-C) |
| Measurements (L x W x H) | 126 x 72 x 40 mm |
| Weight (excluding cable) | 99g |
| Software program | – |
Design and Consolation of the Kone XP Air
I’ve by no means been impressed with RGB in mice, as a result of your hand covers the lighting, however the Kone XP Air is an exception: This mouse is gorgeous. The mouse has a translucent shell and inside is a few funky design that jogs my memory of an Power Sword from Halo. My evaluate mannequin regarded particularly good in Arctic White, however the Kone XP Air additionally is available in an Ash Black colorway. Not everybody agrees, after all; whereas editor Michelle Ehrhardt preferred the way in which the Kone XP (the wired model of the Kone XP Air) felt and carried out, she didn’t love the way in which it regarded.
The Kone XP Air is pretty light-weight, weighing in at simply 99g — lighter than the 127g Asus ROG Chakram X, and only a tad heavier than the 93g Razer Basilisk V3.
The Kone XP Air has 11 bodily buttons: The precise and left mouse buttons, a “4D” scroll wheel with a DPI button, and 7 aspect buttons. The scroll wheel scrolls up and down and will also be pressed to the appropriate and left, therefore the “4D” identify. The aspect buttons embody two close to the highest left of the mouse and 4 below your thumb, plus a paddle-type button on the thumb relaxation.
The left and proper mouse buttons use Roccat’s Titan Optical switches, which have a pleasant bounce and aren’t obnoxiously loud. The 4D scroll wheel is notched, and provides respectable tactile suggestions however is extraordinarily loud (and never in a great way). It’s onerous to explain how dangerous the scroll wheel sounds, but it surely’s undoubtedly loud sufficient that I can see it bothering your companion or colleagues.
The Kone XP Air has 11 buttons that may be programmed with as much as 29 features. Sure — you learn that accurately — 29. The Kone XP Air options “Straightforward-Shift” expertise, which is activated utilizing the thumb relaxation button (until you remap it). Straightforward-Shift works equally to a modifier or operate key on a keyboard, and permits for an additional layer of programming.
The Kone XP Air is an ergonomic mouse, so I anticipated it to be comfy. Whereas the mouse labored effectively with my giant hand, the Straightforward-Shift button on the thumb relaxation is extraordinarily annoying to make use of as a result of it’s so delicate. Fortunately, the button will be disabled or remapped in Roccat’s Swarm software program. The mouse’s different buttons are well-placed; by default, the 2 buttons on the highest left aspect of the mouse alter RGB, whereas the button below the scroll wheel adjusts DPI.
The underside of the mouse has an influence swap, a pairing button, and storage for the mouse’s 2.4GHz wi-fi dongle. The mouse sports activities heat-treated PTFE toes, which make for easy operation — I’ve at all times been a fan of the skates on Roccat’s mice, as a result of they at all times really feel broken-in and able to go.
The Kone XP Air comes with a six-foot Phantom Flex USB-C to USB-A cable, which is good because it feels stable in construction but is versatile sufficient to stop ripping. Roccat additionally features a charging dock, which options RGB (additionally subtle gorgeously). The mouse provides speedy charging and 10 minutes of charging by way of cable or dock will get you 5 hours of battery life.
Efficiency of the Kone XP Air
I’ve been in the midst of revamping my desk at dwelling and one of many objects I threw out was my outdated desk mat — I’m caught with a mouse pad whereas I watch for my new one to reach. Fortunately the Kone XP Air had zero points monitoring on my particle-board desk floor, and the heat-treated PTFE toes weren’t too slick. I’ve additionally been touring with this mouse, and the Kone XP Air even did a very good job monitoring on a glass desk in my resort room.
The mouse is fairly comfy total, and it tracks and glides seamlessly throughout a number of surfaces. However I had a troublesome time getting used to not unintentionally clicking the Straightforward-Shift button throughout regular use. As a result of the Straightforward-Shift button sits on the thumb relaxation, I discovered my proper thumb hugging the aspect of the mouse as an alternative. I want the gestures button on Logitech’s MX Grasp 3S, which is hidden on the backside of the thumb relaxation, and is simpler to make use of with out unintentionally clicking it.
Scroll wheels that function horizontal scroll motion are a little bit of a rarity, so I used to be excited to present the Kone XP Air’s 4D scroll wheel a attempt. Nonetheless, this 4D scroll wheel doesn’t really feel prefer it was designed to go left and proper. Whereas the horizontal scrolling labored, it wasn’t nice — I typically ended up unintentionally urgent the mouse button straight down as an alternative of scrolling aspect to aspect. Does the side-scrolling work? Sure. Does it work effectively? Eh.
Again within the day, on-line first-person shooters allowed customers to bind essentially the most obscure actions in-game. As a result of this mouse has so many buttons, I booted up the unique Name of Responsibility: Fashionable Warfare. After I set the decrease two aspect buttons on the XP Air to web page up and down, I set these keys in-game, so my participant would spin, permitting me to try some trick photographs.
After disabling the Straightforward-Shift button, I skilled no enter points, and the Kone XP Air each carried out effectively and was comfy to make use of. The enjoyable factor is, I can inform I’m simply scratching the floor of this mouse’s potential with my gaming expertise. I can see this being the proper MMORPG mouse, with its programmable features throughout a number of buttons, most of that are well-placed and simple to make use of.
Options and Software program of the Kone XP Air
The software program powering the Roccat Kone XP Air is Roccat’s peripherals companion software program Swarm, which is feature-heavy however very straightforward to make use of. Utilizing Swarm, you may alter nearly all the things on the Kone XP Air, together with polling charge, LOD, RGB, button project, scroll velocity, DPI — even double-click velocity.
Due to Straightforward-Shift, the Kone XP Air provides a number of potentialities for button mapping. Swarm permits you to remap any of the mouse’s buttons to do absolutely anything, from adjusting DPI on the fly to viewing DirectX Diagnostics (critically).
One other neat function in Swarm is its pinned web page. The pinned web page is the primary web page that pops up whenever you boot up the software program, and it could actually show any particular options you need, such because the battery degree or DPI adjustment. The Kone XP Air has onboard reminiscence and may retailer as much as 4 profiles.
Battery Lifetime of the Kone XP Air
The Kone XP Air’s 100-hour battery life may be very respectable, particularly when you think about the mouse has 5 RGB zones and 29 programmable button features. The Kone XP Air has speedy charging, so simply 10 minutes of charging nets you an additional 5 hours of playtime. The 100-hour ranking is for a 2.4GHz wi-fi connection; Roccat doesn’t point out the mouse’s battery life when it’s linked to Bluetooth.
Roccat contains each a USB-C charging cable and a Speedy Charging Dock, which is heftier than different charging docks I’ve used and has extra built-in RGB than do most ergonomic gaming mice on right now’s market. The charging dock seems to be particularly cool when the Kone XP Air is taking a nap on it.
Backside Line
The Roccat Kone XP Air isn’t your conventional ergonomic mouse — it’s filled with each RGB and programmable performance. On high of that, Roccat’s Swarm software program is each environment friendly and filled with options. The mouse’s 100-hour battery life, included charging dock, and twin wi-fi connectivity make this a superb wi-fi possibility. Its seems to be aren’t for everybody, however I believe it’s enticing.
Nonetheless, it’s not excellent: The 4D scroll wheel is a pleasant thought, but it surely’s carried out horribly and it’s extremely loud, and the overly-sensitive Straightforward-Shift button didn’t work for me. And $170 is costly for a mouse (even when rivals such because the Razer Basilisk Final are similarly-priced).
