How do you make one of the best gaming mice even better? Make it wireless and equally responsive. That’s what Roccat does with their latest mouse. While the Kone XP was an incredibly versatile mouse (see my review of it here). The new Kone XP Air is everything I love about the Kone XP and then some. It’s a smooth operator with insane features that I have come to love. It is a visual upgrade to the wired XP and it’s ergonomically brilliant while still offering a wealth of button configurations.
That Kone XP Air is so hot right now
I can picture Derek Zoolander saying it now. The Kone XP Air is a brilliant, bold, colorful masterpiece. I open the box and see an additional dongle that I initially find confusing. I’ve not seen this come with a Roccat mouse before. I later find it helps make this mouse even more appealing. It is a wireless charging module. I can now charge my mouse without ever actually plugging in the USB-C cable directly to it. I can plug directly into the mouse if I want to. I’ve found wires are mostly distracting and unsightly in my rig. Less is more for this gamer.
The new charging dock is a welcome addition. A small USB wireless receiver allows me to connect as illustrated in the picture below. I did have some trouble figuring out the 2.4GHz connection, until I read the instructions. It’s best to connect the receiver directly into the hub.
The bottom of the mouse allows me to quickly switch between 2.4GHz connection to Bluetooth. I didn’t think this would matter to me until I started using the mouse on two separate devices. It’s quite handy. Battery life is solid. In my test a full charge gives me several days of use. I also notice that about 5 minutes of charge gives me several hours of battery life. The RGB lights automatically go off to save some battery after about 1 minute of non-use.
The dongle (charging dock) itself needs to be connected to a power source/PC. The coolest feature of the dock is it creates a beautiful addition to RGB lighting. Roccat is already tops at how bright RGB lighting gets on its keyboards and on the Kone mice. The dock just makes it complete. I love it. With AIMO activated, it syncs with other Roccat products to create a gorgeous color scheme.
Ergonomically sound
Each mouse Roccat releases seems to improve on the previous edition. This is what I expect from a company tossing its hat in the ring with some serious competition (Razer, HyperX, Steelseries, Logitech, CoolerMaster, etc.) It fits perfectly in the palm of my hand and its buttons fit naturally below my thumb, pointer, and middle fingers.
Oh yeah, buttons. So many buttons. Are 29 buttons enough? Okay, maybe overkill for the average human. I can program each to do my bidding or choose to use them in the most basic way possible. This truly sets the Kone XP Air apart from its competition. At the base of the mouse just below the thumb a “shift” button allows me to double my options. I cover the buttons in a bit more detail in the wired option here.
Precision wins games
I can have the prettiest mouse in the world, (and the Kone XP arguably is) but in the end what matters is its performance. I can safely say I see no difference in speed compared to the wired option. For those who are pro – you can still plug this in just in case you are concerned. It features Roccat’s Owl Eye 19K DPI optical sensor and Titan switches (which apparently last for 100 million clicks). I can adjust DPI on the fly with a programmed mouse click. I like to keep this option up near my pointer.
My game truly didn’t really change with this mouse, but it did make for less hassle dealing with a wire. This isn’t a bad thing – to me it just means Roccat has done a wonderful job keeping a wireless mouse’s responsiveness dang close to that of a wired one. Well played Roccat.
Summary
Should you buy it? If you don’t like wires – absolutely. Want to add more color to your gaming rig/desktop? – absolutely. If you like versatility, customization options, and responsiveness – absolutely. However, if you want to save money – maybe take a look at the wired option in the Kone XP at almost half the price. My only question – Where’s the wireless keyboard option to match? I’ll keep that on my wishlist from Roccat.
Note: Our reviews are always 100% independent but Gearadical receives a small affiliate amount if you purchase the product on Amazon.
