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Roccat Kone[+] review: Roccat Kone[+]

As the name may suggest, the Kone[+] is a step up from the Kone, and we have no hesitation in recommending this as a fantastic gaming mouse.

Craig Simms Special to CNET News
Craig was sucked into the endless vortex of tech at an early age, only to be spat back out babbling things like "phase-locked-loop crystal oscillators!". Mostly this receives a pat on the head from the listener, followed closely by a question about what laptop they should buy.
Craig Simms
3 min read

We rather liked the original Kone, and as the name suggests the Kone[+] is more of the same but refined.

9.0

Roccat Kone[+]

The Good

Excellent, precise movement. Despite seeming a bit goofy, the voice alerts are actually quite clever. Weight system is improved from the Kone. Shift button gives great flexibility.

The Bad

Buttons above and below scroll wheel are awkward. Weights system still fiddly.

The Bottom Line

As the name may suggest, the Kone[+] is a step up from the Kone, and we have no hesitation in recommending this as a fantastic gaming mouse.

While the original came with 5, 10, 15 and 20g weights, each weight had a chip inside it purely so the software knew which was inserted. The [+] takes the more sensible (and no doubt cheaper) route of simply offering four 5g weights, with the user being able to adjust the weight to their desire. It still doesn't offer the same level of customisation as Logitech's G500, and is a lot more fiddly as you have to twist the manhole-cover-style lid on the bottom off to get the weights in, a tricky affair when you still have the mouse plugged in, as pressing buttons accidentally is sure to happen.

Layout is similar but not identical to the original Kone, with Roccat producing a mouse that feels like a tighter offering.

Buttons under and above the scroll wheel have changed from round to square, with significantly more surface area made available to make striking easier. The button above the scroll wheel is by default set to the Windows key, which is quite awkward to press due to the pressure required to activate, and having to wrap your finger over the wheel in the first place. The buttons underneath are on-the-fly DPI switchers, which, while easy enough to use, aren't as easy as the Logitech G500's, as it places them within easy reach on the left mouse button.

The scroll wheel itself is four-way, and the usual back, forward, left and right mouse buttons are here too, although all of these can be customised through Roccat's software. That and the back button don't work as such by default, but rather as a shift: hold it down, and every other button on the mouse now acts as something else, almost doubling the amount of buttons you have in one shot.

Roccat UI

The shift button gives you more flexibility, creating almost twice the buttons in a single press. (Screenshot by CBS Interactive)

Making a return effort are the light strips down the side, with 33 colours to chose from and four different customisable zones. Five effects are usable: fully lighted, blinking, heartbeat, all lights off and breathing, with the speed for these effects settable as well.

There's also a colour flow effect, which seems to cycle through all colours regardless of what you set, in a user chosen direction of either up, down, left, right or, if you just want things to sit still, off.

Roccat UI

Glowing bits tend to be a staple of gaming equipment. (Screenshot by CBS Interactive)

As should be expected for a gaming mouse, Roccat offers considerable tweaks, including five levels of customisable on-the-fly DPI switching, horizontal and vertical scroll speed, sensitivity options in both the x and y axes, and USB polling overdrive up to 1000Hz. Five profiles are available for the saving, and you can even designate which one is the default Windows profile when you jump back from a game.

Roccat UI

Ah yes, definitely a gaming mouse. (Screenshot by CBS Interactive)

Oh, and the software can talk to you, in the most hilarious gin-swilling cigarette chain-smoking hobo voice you've heard, giving prompts through your speakers for DPI, profile, sensitivity and volume changes. It's all just .wav files so presumably you could replace them with your own sounds, but we'd imagine most would simply turn it off.

Audio queues though are actually a smarter indicator than a light on the mouse, allowing you to keep focus on the game, while not distracting with things like OSDs. Roccat definitely deserves kudos for thinking outside of the box.

Roccat UI

Yep, the mouse can talk to you if you turn on sound feedback. Although hokey at first glance, it's actually quite useful. (Screenshot by CBS Interactive)

The Tracking Control Unit makes a return, which attempts to analyse the surface the mouse is on and give you a better response, but this time there's also a Distance Control unit, to help tweak the mouse response when it's lifted off the surface.

Playing Serious Sam HD and Left 4 Dead proved the Kone[+] to be an accurate and capable performer, with a sharp response and excellent precision.

As the name may suggest, the Kone[+] is a step up from the Kone, and we have no hesitation in recommending this as a fantastic gaming mouse.