You get the standard five buttons atop the mouse, with
a DPI button on the underside, and that’s basically it for
features – it’s a simple mouse. Roccat uses its own Titan
optical switches and Owl-Eye optical sensor (based on the
PixArt PAW 3370) and both feel very good in action, offering
a crisp response and accurate tracking respectively.
Meanwhile, the scroll wheel has an intriguing hollowed-
out design, with just a thin, flat outer circle and three spokes
to save weight. This makes it feel very precise to use, with
minimal inertia as you scroll up and down from one notch
to the next, which is ideal if you use the wheel to change
weapons in games, for instance.
Finally, Roccat’s excellent software is on hand to change
all the usual settings, such as DPI levels, lift-off distance and
button assignment, and these settings can be saved to the
mouse for use on other PCs.Conclusion
The Roccat Kone Pro is a decent gaming mouse. It’s very
lightweight and has a great sensor
and switches, nailing the basics. The
shape is an interesting hybrid that isn’t
necessarily preferable for any given
grip style, but we found it worked
well for palm grip and not so well for
fingertip grip. The only problem is
the £70 inc VAT price tag, which is a
little steep for such a simple mouse.
With a drop in price, this would be an
undeniably solid option.
EDWARD CHESTERT
he Roccat Kone Pro is the newest addition
to the company’s line-up of gaming mice,
which also includes our current ultra-
lightweight mouse of choice, the Burst Pro. The Kone Pro
is in fact even lighter than that model, weighing in at just
66g. However, it eschews the modern trend for symmetrical
lightweight mouse shapes and instead has a resolutely
right-handed design.
This lopsided shape, with a high left side that slopes down
to the right, makes for a more comfortable wrist angle for
right-handed users, in the same way as the raised centre
portion of ergonomic keyboards.
This design particularly enhances the comfort of this
mouse for use with a palm grip, where your whole hand is
draped over the mouse.
However, the right edge where your left and ring fingers
rest isn’t as comfortable as the same area on the Corsair
Sabre RGB Pro (see p30) in palm grip. Conversely, the Kone
Pro’s back end is shorter, so it’s better suited to fingertip
grip than the Corsair, thanks to the extra clearance under
you palm. In this regard, it’s more of a hybrid design than the
resolutely palm grip-focused Sabre. The Roccat’s surface
also has a pleasantly smooth, matt finish that provides a
good level of grip.
In terms of styling, the rear portion of the mouse is plain,
with its black plastic finish and simple painted-on silver
logo. Instead, the pizzazz is kept up front, with
RGB lighting shining through the translucent
left and right buttons, creating a firefly-like
effect. It’s a design choice that makes a
certain sense, as the tip of the mouse is the
most visible when in use, but that could also
prove distracting.
Meanwhile, the braided cable measures
1.8m and is very flexible, so it doesn’t push
back annoyingly against your movements.
It also arrived with impressively few kinks,
making for a tidy setup. Two very large glide
pads, plus a small circular pad around the
sensor, provide a very smooth, stable gliding
experience and you even get a spare set of
pads too.REVIEWS / PERIPHERALS
VERDICT
A solid high-end gaming mouse option
for right-handed users, although it’s
quite pricey for what’s on offer.OVERALL SCORE
76 %
ICE CREAM
KO N E
+^ Excellent all-round
performance
+^ Comfortable,
easy-grip design
+^ Impressively light
TRAFFIC KONE
-^ Not id ea l for
fingertip grip
-^ On the
expensive side
SUPPLIER box.co.uk
ROCCAT KONE
PRO /£70 inc VAT
GAMING MOUSE
DESIGN
15 / 20
FEATURES
12 / 20
PERFORMANCE
27 / 30VALUE
22 / 30SPEC
Weight
66g
Dimensions (mm)
72 x 126 x 40 (W x D x H)
Sensor
Roccat Owl-Eye 19K (based on
PixArt PAW 3370) sensor, 19,000
DPI, 50g acceleration, 400 IPS
Buttons
5 (left, right, scroll wheel,
back, forward)
Cable
1.8m, lightweight braided
Extras
RGB lighting, DPI button
on underside