ROCCAT Kone XTD mouse review
ROCCAT was founded in 2006 and is a well-known maker of PC gaming peripherals. The firm is based in Germany and it's known for its mice, keyboard, headsets, accessories, etc. In this review I'm taking a quick look at the Kone XTD, the successor to ROCCAT's Kone[+] mouse. With a suggested retail price of $89.99/89.99EUR, this model aims at the high-end of the gaming mouse market.The mouse ships in a cardboard box with a front flap that folds open to give you a look at the mouse. This is great for giving you the opportunity to check out the product in a retail store. If you purchase the mouse online it doesn't matter.
Inside the box, we find the Kone XTD, a quickstart guide, and a plastic box that contains a couple of small weights. The latter is used for the mouse's weight management system.
A full frontal look at the mouse. The bottom of the mouse has a relatively large ROCCAT logo. The surface of the mouse feels nice to touch but it's the sort of material that catches a lot of dirt.
A branded USB cable too. The cable is braided, which is a nice touch.
More branding on the left side of the mouse. Two buttons are located on this side -- these can be configured via the ROCCAT software.
Nothing special to see on the right side.
Closeup shot of the bottom as well as a closer look at the two integrated RGB LED strips. The RGB lighting can be controlled via the ROCCAT software.
Lots of buttons. The Kone XTD packs the typical left and right mouse button, a scroll wheel with horizontal scrolling and click function, and three additional buttons. In total, you get eight programmable buttons and if you use ROCCAT's Easy-Shift[+] technology then you can assign a second function to seven buttons.
Quite a lot of irregular shapes when you flip over the mouse. We can see the weight management system, large mouse feet (definitely a big plus), and the 8200dpi PRO-AIM SENSOR R3 laser sensor.
The weight management system allows you to add up to 20g of weight in 5g increments. The idea here is that the weight management system allows you to fine-tune the mouse's balance. This is a personal preference, of course, some people like slightly heavier mice, others prefer it as lightweight as possible. Overall, a mere 20g doesn't make a lot of difference in my opinion.
Using the ROCCAT driver software, you can customize the RGB LED effects of the two RGB LED strips. It's a very stylish and subdued effect -- it looks great. The RGB LEDs support 16.8 million colors, each zone can be controlled independently and the software lets you configure various light effects. Truly a lot of possibilities here.
Software
The ROCCAT software is quite extensive. Let's take a quick look at the features offered by this utility. First up, the main control panel lets you adjust the mouse's sensitivity, the vertical and horizontal scrolling speed, the double click speed, and how the DPI up and down buttons should work. DPI is configurable from 200 to 8200dpi. Profile management is also provided, really lots of customization options here.
Next is a very important screen: the button assignment. Each part of the mouse can be configured, you can assign one of the preset values or make your own macros. With Easy-Shift[+] you can give everything else a second functionality. Easy-Shift can be used for the buttons as well as for the vertical and horizontal scrolling. If you take full advantage of Easy-Shift the mouse offers a total of 22 mouse functions!
Advanced Control allows further fine tuning of the mouse's configuration.
Next are the RGB LED settings. Lots of customization options here. You can change colors, adjust light effects, and configure color flow effects. The effect speed can be adjusted too -- and if you hate RGB LEDs you can disable them.
The ROCCAT software also records statistics like the number of button clicks, scroll steps, and distance moved. At first, it's not really interesting but stats like these can be pretty fun to watch after a couple of months or years.
One important issue I encountered is that the ROCCAT Isku FX software has a compatibility issue with Microsoft Security Essentials and Windows Defender, the default virus scanner of Windows 8. You have to add IskuFXOption.exe to the excluded processes list, if you don't do this the ROCCAT driver becomes very unresponsive. Without adding the application to the exclusion list you have to suffer waiting times of up to 30 seconds until changes are written to the keyboard's firmware!
Conclusion
The ROCCAT Kone XTD is called a maximum customization mouse and this name is accurate. There are eight programmable buttons, adjustable RGB LEDs, a weight management system, and a driver utility with massive options. Whether you want to use it for gaming or productivity, the Kone XTD will not disappoint. There is not a lot to dislike about this peripheral. It's very comfortable to use, the scroll wheel works like a breeze, and it packs so many functions in an aesthetic design. The biggest downside perhaps is the $89.99 (89.99EUR) price tag.
The Good Stuff
- Good tracking
- Ergonomic
- Good scroll wheel
- Good mouse feet
- High degree of customization
- Eight programmable buttons
- Macro support
- RGB LEDs
- Weight management system
The Bad Stuff
- A little expensive
DV Hardware gives the ROCCAT Kone XTD maximum customization mouse a 8.75/10.
Added: July 15th 2013
Product reviewed: ROCCAT Kone XTD mouse
Reviewer: Thomas De Maesschalck
Score: 8.75/10
