Roccat Kone XTD 8200 DPI Gaming Mouse Review

1. Introduction2. Packaging & Bundle3. Design and Ergonomics4. Software and Operation5. Closing Thoughts6. View All Pages

Improving one of the market's best mice in the Kone[+] was never going to be an easy task for Roccat, but the enthusiast-grade Kone XTD is very much worthy of the company's flagship position.

Built around the fact that comfort sells, the Kone XTD's accommodating shape and user-friendly design make it a pleasure to use for extended periods of time. Roccat's ergonomic designers are certainly worthy of a ‘pat on the back' with this comfort-enhancing masterpiece.

The ‘soft-touch, ultra-comfort' surface does an acceptable job at maintaining appropriate levels of grip between a user's hand and the mouse itself.

General usage is another particular strength for the Kone XTD. With up to 22 customisable button functions, worthwhile productivity enhancements are quickly and easily attainable. As previously noted, 22 functions may be slightly over-the-top, but since when has that displeased an enthusiast crowd? The potential is evident and over time the saved seconds will certainly add up.

Gaming performance is excellent. The sheer number of user-definable DPI settings is impressive when taking the remarkably-high 8200 DPI maximum level into account. And Roccat isn't just using the ‘bigger numbers sell' philosophy either – 5760 pixel monitor configurations are becoming increasingly popular in the enthusiast segment, so there is a clear requirement for higher DPI mice that offer fast and efficient gaming execution.

The pair of colour-customisable LED strips adds to the Roccat Kone XTD's aesthetic appeal. Being able to customise LED colour, speed and effect is a nice touch but the fact that only the 2 strips are deemed worthy of the extra ‘bling' is disappointing. We would have liked the Roccat logo and XTD prints to have lit up and, at the very least, the scroll wheel. This isn't a major issue and certainly isn't worthy of cancelling a purchase, but it seems that indistinct corners have been sneakily cut – something that we aren't fans of with a top-of-the-line product.

Another more irritating negative comes via the software. The interface is modern, clear and user-friendly – no complaints there. User-customisable settings are provided in abundance – no problems here either. When it seems that Roccat has created an excellent piece of software to combine with an impressive mouse, slow loading times come along and rear their ugly heads. Change a setting as simple as the DPI level divider and you can expect a good 20 second wait after clicking apply. And don't expect to be able to make use of the setting change while waiting – that's not possible.

It certainly isn't a storage drive issue when the latest – V1.15 – driver is installed on a perfectly-capable Kingston SSD. Is successfully finishing an almost-good piece of software so hard? With an advanced mouse such as the Kone XTD being so heavily-reliant upon software features, the issue soon becomes frustrating. On the positive side, hopefully Roccat will quickly address this problem and rectify the mistake with future iterations of the driver.

Update 21/11/2012: We have worked with Roccat to discover a resolution to the slow software issue. Adding an exception to the mouse's software in your system's security program should resolve the issue. The exception path should look as follows: ‘C:\Users\Username\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files (x86)\ROCCAT' where ‘username' is your individual username (e.g. KitGuru or John).

Priced at £74.99 from Overclockers UK, the Roccat Kone XTD firmly cements its place as one of the most expensive gaming mice on the market. If you have £75 to spend and want the best possible all-round mouse, we have no problems recommending the comfortable, well-performing, attractive Roccat Kone XTD, provided you have the patience to adapt your system to work with the software.

Pros:

• Impressive ergonomics – very comfortable.
• Good range of DPI configurations.
• 12 individual mouse buttons.
• Up to 22 button functions using the Easy-Shift[+] feature.
• 4-dimensional scroll wheel.
• 4x 5g additional weights.
• Roccat Talk compatible (requires other Roccat devices).

Cons:

• Limited left hand potential.
• Sluggish software unless you make use of a work-around (as detailed above).
• Expensive.

KitGuru says: An excellent mouse for hardcore gamers of any genre, Roccat's Kone XTD is more than worthy of the company's flagship gaming mouse status and its £75 price tag.

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