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Roccat’s Kone Professional Air is possibly not probably the most wholly outstanding mouse, however there are some sturdy options that handle to make it nearly well worth the $130 (£120) price ticket. It isn’t the lightest, neither is it the swiftest, nor does it have fairly the variety of simply accessible buttons we would have preferred, however it makes up for its downfalls with implausible ergonomics, battery life, and extra. It additionally lends itself to a sure breed of gamer, which we’ll get to in a second.
The Kone Professional Air weighs in at round 2.6oz (75g), which is a commendable effort in terms of trimming down a gaming mouse. That lighter weight is helped alongside significantly by it is hole, aluminium Titan body, and Bionic shell.
Being absolutely the lightest is not the be all and finish all, matching steadiness and power can also be necessary. And Roccat has managed to construct a supremely effectively balanced gaming mouse, and one you’d must put some severely important weight into breaking, too.
Roccat Kone Professional Air Spec
DPI: 19,000
Sensor: Roccat Owl Eye
Battery: 137 hrs
Interface: USB-C, 2.4GHz Wi-Fi, Bluetooth
Buttons: 6
Ergonomic: Proper-handed
Weight: 2.6oz (75g)
Value: $129.99 (£119.99)
With the RGB zones positioned beneath the translucent left and proper buttons’ honeycomb substructure, Roccat has managed to present the Kone Professional Air—together with the remainder of the Kone Professional collection—a twist on the ever well-liked honeycomb design so many light-weight mice have adopted. However it’s achieved so with out tastelessly poking holes within the shell.
And, whereas that does imply there is a contact extra plastic weighing it down, it is a refreshing aesthetic selection. Apart from there’s one thing about having that RGB glow at my fingertips that makes me really feel a bit of bit like a Jedi.
That optimistic design appraisal extends throughout the mouse as a complete, too. It would not come throughout clunky wanting, however is as a substitute fairly alluring in its gentle curvature. The just about matte end, and light-weight scoring alongside the shallow thumb relaxation make it a pleasure to deal with. That additionally means its lack of rubber grips is not a problem. The Kone Professional Air all the time feels top quality regardless of the evident thinness of the fabric—nothing rattles and the buttons are dependable and durable.
My primary gripe with the design, nonetheless, is the aluminium Titan scroll wheel. It does its job, certain—relieving a few of the weight avid gamers have grown to detest, and appears kinda funky, too—however there’s one thing a couple of completely flat and metallic scroll wheel that feels odd to the contact.
On the underside, you’ve got acquired some good slippy PTFE ft which can be truthfully a little bit of a dream to comb across the mousepad. The one subject with the underside is that is additionally the place Roccat has determined to plonk the profile swap, which additionally means that you can change DPI by holding and scrolling the mouse wheel. Not probably the most logical place to place it, however the multifunctionality absolutely helps save a little bit of weight.
In making an attempt to vary the DPI with the scrolling characteristic, nonetheless, it proceeded to buffer and flash for about 20 seconds earlier than it realised what it was presupposed to be doing. A testomony to the Roccat Swarm software program needing a little bit of TLC maybe.
There’s a groove on the underside, through which to maintain the mouse’s wi-fi dongle when not in use, which is all the time appreciated. And the dongle itself—offering a 2.4GHz Wi-Fi connection—is only one of three connection choices. The second is bluetooth (all the time a pleasant, although laggy fallback), and the third is by way of a light-weight and braided Phantomflex USB Kind-C cable.
Though which means if you happen to lose or overlook your cable a substitute is much less generally discovered mendacity round, there’s none of that ‘proper aspect up’ faffing when plugging in. That additionally means the charging course of is rather a lot quicker than your customary USB Kind-A, and that swift cost can also be certain to final some time, too.
A battery lifetime of round 137 hours, RGB turned on and in battery saver mode, is to not be sniffed at. That places it simply behind the Logitech G903 Lightspeed (opens in new tab)‘s implausible 140 hours (which was truly measured with the RGB turned off). Backside line, the Kone Professional Air would not disappoint in terms of its battery. And that is not the one inside characteristic that deserves some recognition.
Relating to the Owl Eye sensor, it could not have the very best DPI on the market at 19,000, however accuracy is what we crave and people assessments got here again shut sufficient to the road that I’ve no complaints. Pixel skipping and enter lag are tremendous minimal, and the 1,000Hz polling price is constant.
So, whereas different mice round this value level could include larger DPI, Roccat has certainly come a great distance from the Kova AIMO (opens in new tab)‘s 7000dpi Professional-Optic Sensor R6.
There are sufficient nice options in regards to the Roccat Kone Professional Air that make it a wholly admirable mouse, however nonetheless for me not fairly sufficient to make it stand out from different wi-fi mice of the identical value level. For an RRP of $129.99 (£119.99), you could possibly probably stroll away with a greater sensor, with a better DPI vary, and extra than simply the 5 buttons to play with.
Nonetheless, the Kone Professional Air’s battery life, quick charging, and glossy sturdy design handle to make up for the place it is a bit of missing.
With a fast cost lasting a great week of gaming, at one thing like 19 hours of full use per day, it is undoubtedly one for avid gamers on the go. Furthermore, it is for the tough and prepared amongst us, too: those that fling their mouse round rather a lot, or go away it rattling round of their bag all day—it certain feels prefer it might take a battering.
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