Review : Roccat Kone Plus Gaming Mouse

Introduction

For any gamer, having the right equipment is essential. You need a mouse that has extreme precision, programmable buttons for switching weapons quickly and easily, and is generally a pleasure to use.  Today, we’re reviewing the Roccat Kone[+]. Boasting a pro-aim sensor the maximum precision, the ability to store 22 different mouse functions and much more, let’s take a look and see whether the Kone is up to the task.

About Roccat

Roccat, founded in 2007 by René Korte, are a very well known German gaming peripherals and accessories manufacturer.

Features

• 6000DPI PRO-AIM LASER SENSOR for maximum precision


• EASYSHIFT[+] BUTTON DUPLICATOR for 22 directly accessible mouse functions


• 4-LED LIGHT SYSTEM for individual colors + effects


• TRACKING & DISTANCE CONTROL UNIT ultimate tracking; minimizes pick-up-flight


• ROCCAT™ DRIVER + MACRO MANAGER incl. Macro Presets for games & apps


• ONBOARD MEMORY (576KB) store 5 Game Profi les with macros


• 4 EASY-TO-CLIP-IN WEIGHTS (4X5G) for individual weight adjustment


• 8 MOUSE BUTTONS programmable + solid 4D mouse wheel


• ULTRA QUIET low friction mouse feet

Specifications

• Pro-Aim Laser Sensor R2 with up to 6000dpi


• 1000Hz polling rate


• 1ms response time


• 11750fps, 10.5megapixel


• 30G acceleration


• 3.8-5m/s (150-200ips)


• 16-bit data channel


• Tracking & Distance Control Unit


• 72MHz TurboCore processor


• 576kB onboard memory


• 2m USB cable
  

  The Package

  
  The Roccat Kone comes packaged in a black windowed box filled with various bits of information about the Kone and a picture of the weight system and solid 4 way wheel. A few features included are written on the right side whilst a list of all features is included on the rear of the box.
  
  
  
  Upon opening the lid of the box, you are presented with a some information about how to use a few of the features included such as EasyShift[+] and the Kone[+] Driver.
  
  
  Once you have unpacked the Kone, you will see that there are a couple of items included. These are:
  
  
  
  • ROCCAT™ Kone[+] Max Customization Gaming Mouse
  
  
  • Weight System with 4 weights
  
  
  • ROCCAT ID Card
  
  
  • Quick Install Guide + Driver (CD)
  
  
  
  
  

  The Roccat Kone[+] Gaming Mouse

  
  The Roccat Kone is completely black in colour and features the Roccat logo on the rear end of the mouse. The mouse surface is a rubber material which seems to be popular among many of todays gaming mice. Two strips for the LEDs along both edges of the Kone are surrounded by a glossy black plastic which certainly makes it stand out just that little bit more. Comparing the Kone with my CM Storm Sentinal Advance, it is of a similiar size in both length and width, not too large at all.
  
  
  
  A first look at the Kone and you will most likely spot the selection of different controls. All of these are labelled on the box and can be reprogrammed via the included software. There are two buttons on the left side of the mouse and a total of 3 buttons on the top of the mouse plus the 4 way wheel.
  
  
  
  Useful fact: The button in front of the scroll wheel will open the start menu when pressed.
  
  The LEDs that are in place on the Kone, by default, are on the “breathing” setting. This can be changed via the included software as well as the colour of the LEDs (which don’t all have to be the same, so you could choose a multi-coloured design if you so wish) and the direction that the lights flow.
  
  
  
  The base of the Kone features slippery feet, the weight system and a 6000dpi Pro-Aim Laser Sensor for even better precision whilst gaming.
  
  Gaming
  
  The game I used to test the Kone was Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. The first feature that I found to be very useful was the ability to change the DPI profile. I normally have the DPI set fairly high for general use (2500DPI), this was way to high for me whilst gaming, so a quick press of a button and it’s down to 1500, ready for me to start (try) shooting everyone.
  
  I found the Kone to be very easy to use during matches, the slippery feet and weight system came in very useful for some quick manouvres to get that last kill of the game.
  
  The ability to use a wide variety of buttons allowed me to control all of my weapons right from the Kone which was a slightly easier than using the keyboard to change all of the time.
  
  During the game, I changed the DPI a couple of times to allow a better degree of accuracy when using the sniper class. One thing that did pop into my mind was whether or not the DPI had changed and which profile it was on now, because the Kone does not notify you when changing the DPI.
  
  Other than that one little problem, I found the Kone to be comfortable, easy to use and very accurate during all of the matches; the rubber surface allows enough friction between you and the mouse, to stay in control at all times during the game.
  
  General Use
  
  After a couple of hours of checking email, browsing the web and doing a little programming, I found the Kone to be much smoother and comfortable than the CM Storm Sentinel Advance I am currently using.
  
  Browsing the web was particulary easy by using the 4-way scroll wheel to navigate, as well as programming the two side buttons to act as forward and backwards; both of these features proved to work very well.
  
  All of the buttons available seem to be position perfectly allowing for comfortable use and the Kone is a perfect fit for my average(ish) sized hands.
  
  The rubber coating of the mouse proves to be a very nice feature and allows accurate and precise control whilst playing games or using for daily tasks.