ROCCAT Kone XP Review – New RGB gaming mouse with a lot of light and many buttons

Soundcheck

For our click fetishists, I have again recorded all the sounds that the mouse can make. The click noise of the main keys (left and right click) is relatively loud, which initially made me suspect rickety cheap switches – but that is not the case at all. Similar to the Cherry MX-Blue switches, the click noise comes from the tactile construction of the buttons. A closer look revealed that the (main) keys are very precisely crafted and have practically no play. With many mice, the keys sit quite loosely and can sometimes cause a rattling noise or two, which definitely won’t happen with the Kone XP. On the other hand, I immediately liked the good definition of the scroll wheel detent, which can be precisely dosed and conveys a feeling of solidity.

5 x left click, 5 x right click

Mouse wheel scroll and click

Side and shoulder buttons

 

Field test

My practice test for mouse reviews is a combination of CS:GO (gaming) and MS Paint (productivity). Certainly, these are not scientifically correct test methods with fully reproducible test routines, but this method has become established and is used again and again.

MS Paint / Productivity

If you’ve ever drawn in Paint, you know that the precision and glide of the mouse play a crucial role. The smoother and more fluidly you can move the mouse, the more fluid shapes you can pursue. Of course, the sampling rate of the sensor must be correspondingly high in order to resolve the analog movements into correspondingly fine digital data. What looks like elementary school doodling in the following picture is meant to show the movements I use to evaluate the precision of the mouse. I assume that my motor skills will not change fundamentally between mouse reviews. The resulting pictures may not allow readers to fully understand how a mouse actually performed and they will have to continue to rely on the written impressions, but perhaps I can visualize when a model has performed particularly well or particularly badly. I would be happy to receive feedback in the comments as to whether this is interesting for our readers or whether I can save myself the trouble of scribbling. Always test with 1000 dpi and the maximum sampling rate of the sensor.

 

CS:GO / Gaming

Good old CS:GO is used for the gaming test. A simple botmatch quickly gives information about the precision and reaction of the mouse. I’m certainly far from a pro gamer and I don’t have the reaction of a teenager anymore, but I’ve played so many thousands of hours of Counter-Strike that I think I can still evaluate it reasonably competently. I focused on the handling of the pistol and sniper, because it is especially important to have the crosshairs in the right place at the right time. Even during hectic rowing and the wildest maneuvers, the Kone XP responds flawlessly to the command and implements it without any problems. The round was fun and if I ever missed, it was definitely due to lack of skill and not the periphery.

 

Test evaluation

The Owl-Eye sensor does a good job overall, and since it’s based on the PixArt PAW3370, it’s no wonder that the cursor feel reminded me of the Sharkoon Light² 180, which uses the PAW3360 sensor with nearly identical specs. The Owl-Eye sensor of the Kone XP is still a bit far away from the precision and especially the “smoothness” of a Corsair Marksman sensor with the insane 8000Hz sampling rate, but I still really enjoyed playing with it. If you don’t draw all day or play competitive e-sports shooters on a professional level, you certainly won’t be at a disadvantage with this.

Just a year ago, a mouse couldn’t be heavy enough for me, but since I’ve gotten to grips with the lightweights, I’ve come to see things a bit differently. While a heavy mouse undoubtedly feels higher quality, it clearly has disadvantages in terms of precision compared to a lighter mouse (inertia – especially during acceleration). At around 100 grams, the Kone XP is about mid-range in terms of weight, which makes it a good all-rounder. I did not notice the super-soft cable annoying either while working or playing, which already fulfills the promise of the “wireless gaming experience” for the most part. When the mouse is bumped, the PTFE feet glide over the mouse pad with little resistance and the fact that the end of the mouse only swings out minimally indicates good balance.