PC & Console Peripherals

ROCCAT Kone Pro Air in test – 14 years of design experience in one mouse

ROCCAT and the Kone – a story about a gaming mouse that will probably never end. For a total of 14 years, it has been tinkered with and developed to create a gaming mouse that is perfectly tailored for every gamer. Now there is once again a new version from the model series in two variants, a wired as well as wireless variant. In this article, we want to give our full attention to the Kone Pro Air.

Accordingly, we find innovation in this gaming mouse as well. As with the Vulcan TKL Pro, optical switches have been incorporated into this mouse, which should once again provide faster performance – a novelty we haven’t seen much of and ROCCAT is slowly making it their own. At the same time, ROCCAT remains true to its current design concept when it comes to RGB lighting. Find out now how well the Kone Pro Air does in our hands-on test.

Specifications

Sensor ROCCAT® Owl-Eye (based on the PAW3370)
DPI 19k
Acceleration 50 g
Lifetime 100 million clicks
Size (LxHxW) 125.6 mm x 40 mm x 72 mm
Weight 75 g
Connectivity USB-C, wireless with dongle, Bluetooth
Cable length 1.8 meters
Scope of delivery
  • ROCCAT® Kone Pro Air (Ash Black) / (Arctic White)
  • PhantomFlex™ USB-C charging cable
  • Wireless dongle
  • Quick Start Guide
Price € 78.79*

Scope of delivery

The Kone Air Pro is shipped in ROCCAT’s signature dark packaging with colorful accents. There is also a small sticker on the front with the information about the weight and speed of the mouse. On the right side, next to the large pictured Kone Pro Air, there is information about the technologies built into the mouse. The back is also labeled with some secondary information in several languages.

The entire box is pretty thin, with a plastic sleeve for the mouse on the inside. Apart from the Kone Air Pro, the wireless dongle, a quick start guide and a long USB-C charging cable are still included in the box. For further transport protection, plastic caps were applied to the USB cables and a blue plastic film to the anti-slip pads. In our case, the Kone Pro Air still had some battery left and after a short charging time, the mouse can be used directly. Before that, however, we’ll take a closer look at the design and workmanship.

Design & workmanship

As already mentioned, there is now quite a bit of experience in the Kone Pro Air – however, this is not something that can be directly determined at first glance. Basically, the design is very simple and straightforward. It is clearly based on the predecessor models of the Kone series, whereby the current Kone Pro Air is more angular in its construction of the individual parts. The palm rest and the mouse buttons are matte black, only the mouse buttons can light up later. In the middle of the palm rest is a white-silver lettering of ROCCAT, which rounds off the simple design of the mouse. After some pushing and pressing on the mouse, the stability of the case also makes a good impression.

For a bit more grip on the sides, the rubberized sides there have been longitudinally ribbed. Not too deep, so that no annoying dirt can accumulate there and at the same time pleasant to the skin. Also, on the left side of the cone are the now standard side mouse buttons – the size of which should fit any user’s hand. Lastly, there is the mouse wheel on the top of the mouse. A Titan Wheel Pro has been installed here. This is milled from sturdy aluminum and transmits a quiet tactile click when turned. After the first test, the mouse wheel feels very comfortable and makes us happy.

On the underside of the Kone Pro Air, we also have a lot to discover – namely, two important switches of the mouse are located here. One is used to cycle through the mouse’s created profiles, which we can change later via ROCCAT’s software, and the other is used to set the mouse’s connectivity mode. If you switch the slider to the left, you end up in WiFi mode. Paired with the included wireless dongle, a 2.4 GHz connection is established here. If you turn the slider to the right, you end up with the Bluetooth option, which is suitable for simple office applications.

Finally, the Kone Pro Air offers the option of using it in wired mode. To do this, you plug the included USB-C cable into the top of the mouse and connect the USB-A counterpart to the computer. This also charges the mouse at the same time – ROCCAT relies on Rapid Charge fast-charging technology for the Kone Pro Air, which makes the mouse operational for 5 hours after just 10 minutes of charging. Overall, the battery has a runtime of up to 100 hours in operation. We’ll find out if this is true in the following chapters. In conclusion to this chapter, the Kone Pro Air makes a very solid and successful impression!

Software & RGB lighting

ROCCAT remains true to its current course – the Warben RBG design can once again be found here on the Kone Pro Air. It is discreetly installed at the upper edge of the mouse buttons and can be edited using the SWARM software. Here we have the usual ROCCAT modes, such as the own AIMO system or other well-known RGB modes. Compared to the latest keyboards as well as headsets, not much changes here. The colors are very clear, well bright and create a nice continuous effect.

In addition, the total of four mouse profiles can also be configured here. Here we continue with the usual configuration options. In the profiles, you can manually configure the RGB lighting, the DPI count as well as the macro keys. The software is clear enough for this, so you’ll get the hang of which points to click on after a few seconds.

Practice

In the last chapter we want to get rid of something about the ergonomics and practice. For this, we took the Kone Pro Air into our everyday life, no matter whether office work in the office, simple surfing on the Internet or the long and extensive gaming session in the late afternoon – so much in advance: In any case, the mouse comes off very well. The only thing missing in our eyes would be a small bag for the mouse, which could be expected at this price. In a backpack, it would be a bit better protected from external conditions. In Bluetooth and wireless mode, the connection to the own computer is stable without connection dropouts. On glass, wood, and mouse pads as a surface, the Kone Pro Air moves smoothly and the ROCCAT Owl-Eye sensor does its job with flying colors, the latter being the most comfortable and reliable for use.

To put battery life to the test, we fully charged the mouse just once for a test period of two weeks. The Kone Pro Air was mainly used in wireless mode with the RGB lighting turned on. At the end of the two weeks, with a daily runtime of 3 to 5 hours per day, the mouse was discharged to just under half – a good result that convinced us. After a short break for a meal, during which the Kone Pro Air is left to charge, it is also fully charged again after just a few minutes. The handling of the mouse is also very comfortable, no matter if you use the Palm Grip, Finngertip Grip or Claw Grip – in any case, the grip is steady and the movements of the Kone Pro Air are smooth. For the size of the mouse, the weight is suitably matched and convinced us.

Conclusion

The Kone Pro Air has quite a bit of history behind it, which is clearly evident in the build quality and design for us. The entire mouse is stable, the sensor delivers a performant performance in every mode and even on a long battery life. Thanks to the Rapid Charge technology, the battery is also recharged in no time – only a short coffee break separates you from the next game when the juice runs out.

We were also impressed by the discreet RGB lighting. The simple warben pattern, which we first saw on the Roccat Burst Pro, also makes an elegant impression here on the Kone Pro Air. On the software side, ROCCAT again leaves nothing to be desired with SWARM. All features are clear and easy to configure. Thus, nothing stands in the way of everyday use. In conclusion, we can only express our praise towards the Kone Pro Air and ROCCAT!

ROCCAT Kone Pro Air

Workmanship
Features
Ergonomics
Software
Value for money

91/100

Wireless, Bluetooth or wired? It doesn't matter - the performance is good, the RGB lighting looks elegant and the battery life is convincing on top.

Simon Lüthje

I am co-founder of this blog and am very interested in everything that has to do with technology, but I also like to play games. I was born in Hamburg, but now I live in Bad Segeberg.

Related Articles

Neue Antworten laden...

Avatar of Basic Tutorials
Basic Tutorials

Neues Mitglied

2,259 Beiträge 955 Likes

ROCCAT and the Kone – a story about a gaming mouse that will probably never end. For a total of 14 years, it has been tinkered with and developed to create a gaming mouse that is perfectly tailored for every gamer. Now there is once again a new version from the model series in two … (Weiterlesen...)

Antworten Like

Back to top button