OH, TO BE A FLY ON THE WALL in the meeting
room where this mouse was first pitched.
What does a mouse do—some disruptive
but well-liked marketing wunderkind
asks—if not just point and click? What if
we just focused really hard on that part?
What if—at this point, the marketing guy
sweeps his hands around dramatically—
we created the perfect click?
This scenario is, of course, fantastical.
But the Roccat website claims that the
Kain did take two years of brainstorming,
redesigns, and rigorous testing, and then
g o e s o n t o r e f e r t o i t a s “o u r m a s t e r p i e c e .”
Well, Roccat, we’ll be the judge of that.
The Kain 202 AIMO, itself a minor
evolution of the Kain 200, is the physical
embodiment of this reviewer’s favorite
Ron Swanson quote: “Never half-ass
two things. Whole-ass one thing.” The
Kain 202 isn’t complicated, and it doesn’t
present itself as such. This isn’t a mouse
for people who like lots of buttons, flashy
RGB lighting, or unbelievably high DPIs.
It does one thing perfectly: clicking stuff.
The Roccat Owl-Eye sensor was
designed in collaboration with PixArt,
so the general sensitivity is great. The
DPI clocks in at 16,000, exactly what
you’d expect from a high-quality gaming
mouse, as is the 1,000Hz polling rate.
But the true worth of the Kain 202 isn’t
measurable in simple statistics, you see.
It’s more of a sensation; using the Kain
simply feels good.
The exterior coating is comfortable,
with a white matte finish that is dirt-
resistant and feels comfortable under
the palm, even after extended use.
There’s no thumb rest, but that’s hardly
a huge problem. The surface material is
grippy, ensuring that it stays firmly under
your hand, even during the sweatiest
online matches, and the whole unit feels
robust. We didn’t throw ours at a wall in a
fit of gamer rage, but we reckon that if we
did, the 202 could shrug it off.
Of course, the buttons are what really
matter here. Roccat wasn’t messing
around when it came up with the “Titan
Click” split button design used by the
Kain series, where low-tolerance springs
and optimized switch positioning make
for a clicking function that is responsive
and sturdy, rated by the manufacturer
Wireless wonder
Roccat Kain
202 AIMO
8
VERDICT Roccat Kain 202 AIMOKAIN Excellent button
response; quick and easy setup;
good battery life.
ABEL Relatively feature-light for a
gaming mouse; no slot for USB dongle;
shaped micro-USB port really sucks.
$100, http://roccat.orgSPECIFICATIONSSensor Optical
Sensitivity 16,000 dpi
Sensor Model Roccat Owl-Eye
Polling Rate 1,000Hz
Programmable
Buttons6LEDs Two-zone RGB
Cable Length 6 feet
Weight 3.7ozfor 50 million clicks. The Kain’s firmware
also claims to process clicks up to 16ms
faster than other gaming mice, and
in practice, it feels latency-free—
impressive, given its wireless design.
Our favorite part, though, is the scroll
wheel. Again, there are no bells and
whistles here; no adjustable scroll speed
or wheel lock, just a rubber-topped wheel
that rotates and clicks with satisfying
weight. The same can’t quite be said of
the two side-mounted buttons, which are
fine, but lack the heft of the other buttons.
That’s it, though: This mouse doesn’t
have lots of programmable buttons, so if
you’re a strategy or MMORPG gamer, you
may want to look elsewhere.
Setup is a breeze, simply requiring
you to plug in the wireless USB dongle
and power the mouse on. Roccat’s
Swarm software provides a degree of
customization without ever getting in the
way; there’s a little rubber DPI tweaking
button just behind the scroll wheel,
which enables you to swap through up
to five adjustable sensitivity levels. You
can also adjust the brightness of the
RGB-lit logo, although that remains
hidden under the palm when in use. The
battery life is solid, requiring a charge via
USB cable roughly once every 40 hours
(depending on usage).
Plugging the Kain in to charge does
reveal one potential annoyance: The
micro-USB port on the front of the mouse
has a shaped plastic surrounding that
effectively prevents the use of any third-
party cable, meaning that if you lose the
included cable, you’re in trouble. Roccat
doesn’t even seem to sell the cablesseparately. Also in the box is a small
USB adapter, but it doesn’t appear to
serve any real purpose unless you have a
second identical cable, which again, you
can’t buy separately. It’s weird.
It’s only a minor issue, though. The
lack of a storage space within the mouse
chassis for the USB dongle is more
irritating, limiting the portability of the
mouse for laptop use (unless you’re
willing to risk losing the tiny dongle). But
if you just want a high-quality wireless
mouse for home use, the Kain 202 AIMO
is almost perfect. –CHRISTIAN GUYTONmaximumpc.com MAR 2020 MAXIMUMPC 87