Thank you Turtle Beach/ROCCAT for sending us this mouse to review!

So I have been using a wired mouse for some time now. I won’t say the mouse's manufacturer name [RedDragon], but it’s described as a gaming mouse, with changeable dpi settings with a button on the top. I am in the market for a new mouse because I have a few issues with my current mouse. First, since it’s wired, sometimes the wire gets in the way so it moves the cursor when I don’t want it to. Second, when I am playing a game, it can get a bit jerky on the screen, making focusing on a target harder. Third, sometimes the mouse clicks are not registered, so I have to click a couple of times to get it to work. Not good.

I recently purchased another mouse from the same company which is also a wired ‘gaming’ mouse, but it has 12 addressable buttons on the left side for thumb control. A very cool idea, but I only need 2 buttons for forward and back click control, so the 12 buttons are complete overkill for my needs. That mouse was returned. Now I’ve been using computers for more than 30 years, and in that time, I have used just about every type of mouse on the market. I have used wired and wireless mice, and for the most part, I have found that the wired mouse is much more responsive. Plus there is the added convenience of not having to replace batteries or put the mouse on a charger. I cannot count how many times I have been in the middle of a program or game and the need to replace batteries or charge the mouse is the controlling factor in winning or losing the game.

Then out of the blue, I was contacted by Jason Gress, who wanted to know if wanted to review a new mouse they had just received. Count me in.

So far, I’ve been using the ROCCAT Kone Wireless Gaming Mouse for about a week or so. And first impressions, it’s a good mouse, very responsive with smooth movement and accuracy.

If you remember, Jason Gress recently reviewed the ROCCAT Kone XP Air Wireless Gaming Mouse. The Kone XP Air Mouse is the flagship of the Kone line of mice for ROCCAT, then comes the Kone Pro Air, the Burst Pro Air, and then this mouse, the Kone Air Wireless Mouse. All of the mice in the product line are technically identical, using the same wireless and Bluetooth connectivity, the Owl-Eye Optical Sensor, and the Titan Optical switches for the buttons. There is also the fact that the Kone Air mouse has the same or very similar ergonomic design as the Kone XP Air Mouse.

That being said, there are many differences between the mice. As far as looks go, the Kone Air does not have any RGB lighting, which is definitely not a game changer/breaker since no one that I know ever looks down at their mouse while using it. The Kone Air mouse comes in all black, or white with grey details, whereas the Kone XP Air comes in black or all white. The mouse we received for review is the all-black one. One of the most distinctive features of the Kone Air mouse, in my opinion, is the double-injected rubber side grips. The rubber grips are textured and keep the mouse from feeling slippery. I do believe this is the first mouse that I have used that has rubber grips, and I really like the feel of the grips on the thumb and ring finger of my right hand. Speaking of using my right hand, this mouse is ergonomically designed for right-hand use only, so if you need a left-handed mouse, you need to look elsewhere. Also, the Kone Air mouse seems a bit larger than most mice, so it fits large hands like mine perfectly, but smaller hands may have problems using the mouse properly.

The Kone Air mouse uses 1 or 2 AA batteries so it is not rechargeable. The reason for allowing for only 1 AA battery is so that the mouse is lighter in weight for mobility use and capable of 400 hours of charge per battery. I can understand the reasoning behind the capability of only requiring one AA battery. However, the weight of the mouse without any batteries is 96 grams, with one battery its 119 grams, so the weight with 2 AA batteries is about 132 grams. Personally, at first, I did not see what a difference it makes. But after testing the mouse with 1 battery and then 2 batteries to see if there is any difference in the usage and functionality of the mouse, I can honestly tell you that you can tell the difference in the weight of the mouse, and with one battery, the mouse moves almost effortlessly. When 2 AA batteries are in the mouse, it feels heavy and almost cumbersome.

Let’s talk for a moment about the configurable DPI [dots per inch] settings on this mouse. Up until I think 2005 or so, all mice had one dpi setting, and that was whatever the manufacturer of the mouse engineered it to be. In that regard, no matter what you were doing on your computer, you used the same setting, whether it was creating a spreadsheet, browsing the internet, or playing a game. Now that mice are coming up with configurable settings that can be changed on the fly with a push of a button, in my opinion, that changes everything. Now I can browse the internet using a high dpi setting so I don’t have to move the mouse as much. And then when I’m playing a game, I can lower the dpi setting to better control the mouse movement. I have also found that different games have different mouse movements, so setting the dpi for each game is a real game changer.