Capsule Review: ROCCAT's Kone XTD and Kone Pure Gaming Mice
by Dustin Sklavos on February 27, 2013 1:01 AM EST- Posted in
- Peripherals
- Gaming
- Mouse
- ROCCAT
Conclusion: Fantastic Mice, But Expensive
ROCCAT's Kone mice were incredibly pleasant surprises. Usually doing these peripheral reviews is just interesting for me because I get to see what other vendors are producing before going back to my Logitech G500, but having had time to play with the Kone XTD has left me questioning whether or not I want to make the jump. I mean hey, the Kone XTD's lighting could match the K90. That means something, right?
As far as the mice themselves go, they're mostly bulletproof. The texture used for the grips is soft without causing your hands to get too clammy over time, the lighting is attractive, the grips themselves are very comfortable, the software has a tremendous amount of functionality, and as a whole they're both exceptionally full-featured. While I feel like the Kone Pure is just a little bit too low, and I do wish they'd managed to find some other way to incorporate the "Easy-Shift" functionality, these are small gripes in the scheme of things.
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The Kone XTD is definitely the mouse of choice out of the lot, but boy will you pay dearly for it. The XTD is a punishing $89.99 on NewEgg, putting it in the price range of a lot of esoteric (and ergonomic) mouse designs. That makes it kind of a hard sell, when other mice (including some popular Razer kit) are available for less, but it might still be worth the investment. This mouse does a hell of a lot, and it feels good in the hand. A good mouse is, like a good keyboard or a good monitor, often worth investing in.
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At a less astronomical but still pricey $69.99, the Pure is at least a more affordable alternative. It's true that you lose the adjustable weight, extra button, and mouse wheel tilt, but all the functionality is still there in the software. Given the choice between the two I think I'd fork out the extra Jackson for the XTD, but your mileage may vary. The Pure's slightly lower profile may even be more suitable for some users.
Of all the mice I've reviewed so far, I have to say the ROCCAT Kone XTD and Pure are among my favorites. Reviews on NewEgg will tell you that settings sometimes take a long time to apply (approximately 20 seconds), and that's true...within the software. It's a minor nuisance and I hope they fix it, but no product is absolutely perfect. The XTD and Pure do just about everything else right, and while the software itself is tremendously busy and can seem difficult to use, it's definitely powerful and wonderfully complete.
As with any peripherals, your mileage may vary, but I definitely think the ROCCAT Kone XTD and Pure are worth considering. ROCCAT has produced two exceptional peripherals here, worthy of a Bronze Editor's Choice, and I look forward to getting more of their hardware in for testing.
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Azethoth - Thursday, February 28, 2013 - link
I think the most important thing is to match your hand size to the mouse. I have large hands and most of the hotly recommended mice are for tiny child hands. I cramp up using them. For me the Cyborg RATT MMO 7 is just the thing. It adjusts to hand size. It is not cheap though. There are plainer versions of the mouse that are FPS oriented.Goodtwist - Wednesday, February 27, 2013 - link
My first generation Kone would be perfect if it wasn't for the silicon/gummy surface. Makes your palms sweat like crazy.Wall Street - Wednesday, February 27, 2013 - link
I wonder how many of these reviews Dustin can do before he discovers the world of polling rates, angle snapping, error speed and liftoff distance.kagey - Wednesday, February 27, 2013 - link
I'm still waiting for a good mouse to surface and these may be it.As Dustin is still using a G500 I am still using a G7 cause I like the quick swap batteries that are rechargable right in front you and being able to swap them out. It's got a few configurable buttons, nice feel and it's comfortable. Kinda like my wave keyboards.
BrightCandle - Wednesday, February 27, 2013 - link
For a lot of reviews Anandtech has a good reputation, rightly earned by using the best known testing techniques you can find. But when it comes to mice you haven't even tested the first thing or laid out the basic specs. I don't know why you even bothered. For mice reviews we need to know:- What sensor it is based on
- How centrally placed the optical port is
- Tested for jitter, acceleration, deacceleration, lift off distance, snapping and angle correction
- Maximum tracking speed and how it behaves after that
- How the sensor handles different types and colours of mouse mats
- Its weight
- The cord weight and type
Your review doesn't contain a single technical component of what makes a mouse a mouse. With there being so few actual mice that do well in these tests it seems kind of vital to actually do these tests, because for gamers they matter. More to the point gamers might not know they matter and you ought to be breaking through and testing mice properly and showing gamers why they should care.
This review was pointless like all your other mice reviews, get it to together or stop wasting your time.
five_seven - Wednesday, February 27, 2013 - link
u mad bro?WeaselITB - Wednesday, February 27, 2013 - link
No, I agree with BrightCandle and Wall Street (above).Imagine if there was a monitor review that went up saying "Well, it can move up and down, the base is pretty, I like the feel of the buttons, and the colors are nice and color-y. There's an on-screen display, but it takes 10 seconds between button pushes to adjust the brightness, but that's a small gripe." Comments would be setting that reviewer on fire for not testing color accuracy, uniformity, etc. You know ... the things that actually matter when differentiating between monitors?
This review, as BrightCandle said, doesn't cover ANY technical details about what makes this mouse different/better/worse than another mouse. The default 800dpi is all well and awesome, and the ability to adjust it is great (with a delay of up to 20 seconds in between settings, apparently), but if the polling rate is 10Hz I don't care what dpi setting you use, the mouse performance is going to suck. This review doesn't even get that far.
Dustin, no offense to you personally, man, but these reviews are not up to the usual Anandtech quality standards. $90 is an awful lot of money to drop on a mouse when the best a review can come up with is a completely subjective "It's a good mouse."
-Weasel
Mumrik - Wednesday, February 27, 2013 - link
The design doesn't exactly look foreign...http://imgur.com/rZ8Tgzd
meshugge - Wednesday, February 27, 2013 - link
Any chance for a review of the available mice for us left-handers?Spydermag68 - Wednesday, February 27, 2013 - link
I am still using my Logitech left handed mouse that I bought 10 years ago. This is the last left hand mouse I have seen. I wish manufactures would make more left handed mice.