Roccat has become one of the most recognizable brands in PC peripherals. Each product they release seems to push the segment further and further forward. Their latest release, The Kone XP keeps that streak going by introducing even more new features, an enhanced color palette, new lighting features, tangle-resistant cable and much more.
The Kone XP looks great and continues the shape that the Kone line of mice are known for, which provides great feel and comfort, but that’s just the beginning. The device features a total of 15 buttons; Each of these buttons can be set for secondary functions via Easy-Shift. When the user holds down the Easy-Shift button, the button they use switches to its secondary function. The obvious example is the scroll wheel. When using the scroll wheel normally, it scrolls. The secondary function I used was for volume. I was able to program the mouse so that holding down the Easy-Shift button and then scrolling controlled the volume up and down. It’s a great function that frees up my other hand for quicker keyboard functions and controls. All in all, Easy-Shift brings the total available button functions to 29.
The lighting features are also enhanced; The Kone XP includes 22 LED lights and eight light guides that allows for an incredible amount of RGB customization. This pairs with the AIMO Lighting Engine that allows for 16.8 million color displays. This is the most robust lighting configuration I’ve ever heard of. This also syncs with other AIMO products which flows from one AIMO-compatible device to another.
Now onto my favorite part; the Krystal 4D Wheel. The Kone XP scroll wheel not only does the normal scroll and vertical click, it also features left and right lateral clicks. In being able to program this as well, it allowed me to sharpen my character controls and also allowed for quicker twitch reactions.
All in all this is a great product. I really didn’t see any areas of opportunity. It’s light, has a tangle resistant that stayed clear the entire time I was working with the product to review it (roughly 30 hours of gaming). It was nice to not have to pick up the mouse and move it around to get the cable back in order.
The Roccat Kone XP is the mouse I have been waiting for. It’s certainly one that has allowed me to enhance my gaming experience and the customization options are so robust that it worked and looked great with any customizations I used with my keyboard, mousepad and other setup components.
I highly recommend the Roccat Kone XP; Using any other mouse would feel like a step backwards.
The Roccat Kone XP gaming mouse is available through all participating retailers for an MSRP of $89.99
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