It’s a common phenomenon for the major peripheral manufacturers to have their flagship product. For instance, Corsair boasts of M65, SteelSeries boasts of Sensei, and Razer boasts of Deathadder. Likewise Roccat boasts of the Kone AIMO. From the very beginning, this gaming mouse has been known for its intuitive lighting, eye-catching ergonomic design, and impressive sensor.
Improved Build
Roccat has moved away from its initial designs featuring sharp pointy edges, cheap plastic, and embraced a sleeker and more professional design. This is a good move because research shows that as consumers grow older, they tend to yearn for a product with a more premium look. This is an area Roccat has been looking to score some points in. Moreover, the fact that products such as Vulcan 120 keyboard in conjunction with others in the same range have taken the same route of design ethos, it was just a matter of time before others followed suit.
The most recent update of the Kone AIMO is available in both black and white. It’s built to ergonomically suit the palm grip style kind of users and others. Though the mouse is big and bulky, it’s unimaginably light for its size. The plastics and undertouch, while not rubberized, still maintain a soft comfortable feel. One concern might be how the material responds to greasy fingerprints, but that’s not a major issue. Besides, cleaning this up is not a huge task.
The new version of the Kone comes with three more bindable buttons: two below the thumb and two above. They’re all conveniently located within the user’s reach and are easy to press. There are also two additional DPI buttons above the wheel.
Key Features
Number one on the list is lighting. Roccat prides itself of having developed a state-of-the-art AIMO lighting suite. A tremendous amount of work has gone into making it work efficiently. In addition to the usual collection of RGB patterns as well as waves and ability to sync with other devices, the mouse is built to respond dynamically to desktop operations. That could be randomly browsing the internet or engaging in a firefight within a game.
Furthermore, the Kone AIMO boasts of an extraordinary lighting. The best part is that individual LEDs are not visible. The frosted plastic that encompasses the various RGB zones helps to refract light well. The resulting look is both sophisticated and clean, beating most of the rival RGB systems by far. This feature combined with the devices soft-satin plastic and black accents from the scroll-wheel, buttons, and the rest of the frame make the entire peripheral stand out.
Performance Capabilities
The incorporated optical sensor is Roccat’s famous Owl-Eye. It’s certainly remarkable and has an adjustable 1000 Hz polling rate, 1ms response time, and lift-off distance configuration adjustable with 12,000 DPI. The sensor is a Pixart 3361, which is an upgrade to the 3360 — currently considered the world’s most superior sensor.
The sensor is characterized by minimal jitter as well as angle snapping. What’s more, the price point at which the Kone AIMO makes all this possible is impressive. It’s highly recommended that the DPI settings be maintained below 2,500 DPI, since beyond this the smoothing becomes somewhat noticeable. It might interfere with the user’s precision.
Verdict
In conclusion, the Roccat Kone AIMO is a superb upgrade to the original design developed in 2007. Its design is soft, crisp, and clean. The lighting is equally impressive. Additionally, the incorporated hardware is incredibly solid at the set price point. A few things could be done to make the mouse conform to the Roccat’s current clean aesthetic approach, though it performs well, feels good, and looks good. Read this review about the roccat kone aimo to get a better understanding of its capabilities.
