The Roccat Kova Gaming Mouse for Right- and Left-Handers

ROCCAT is an established size in the area of gaming peripherals. The Hamburg-based company’s range of gaming mice extends from entry-level models from around 35 euros to the high-end segment up to around 150 euros. The Kova is pretty much in the middle of this price range and is suitable for both left- and right-handed users. The 12 programmable buttons can be easily adjusted via the good software and the RGB LED illumination is also controlled via the “Swarm” software.

The Pro Optic Sensor R6 of the ROCCAT Kova offers a resolution of up to 7,000 DPI, but can also be adjusted in a total of five stages. The processor used is a 50 MHz Turbo Core V2 32-bit arm, the polling rate is 1,000 MHz and the internal memory is 512 kB.

How good the ROCCAT Kova really is, you can find out here in this test.

Technical Details

Workmanship, Scope of Delivery and Packaging

The scope of delivery is very simple, as you can expect from a gaming mouse. In addition to the ROCCAT Kova there is also a quick start guide in the packaging. The latter is unfortunately somewhat larger than necessary. The 1.8 meter long and sheathed cable is folded and requires some effort to remove the “crease marks”.

The workmanship looks good and feels good. After some time in use, however, it is to be criticized that dirt quickly accumulates on the underside between the base plate and the lid. Pressing the keys is not too difficult either. For the 59.99€ recommended by the manufacturer, the mouse makes a good impression so far.

Ergonomics

The ergonomics of a gaming mouse is of course always subjective. In my relatively small hand lies the ROCCAT Kova but very good. The mouse is designed for both left- and right-handed users, so the three buttons on the right side are difficult for a right-handed user to operate. The two thumb buttons on both sides of the mouse are easily accessible, but operating the buttons in the front left or right “corner” of the mouse requires some practice. Thanks to the five sliders on the underside of the ROCCAT Kova, the mouse glides very well – with an acceleration of 20 G – over the mouse pad.

Software

The keys and the two RGB LEDs of the ROCCAT Kova can be configured with the ROCCAT SWARM software. In the menu item “Settings” the DPI speed, mouse pointer speed in Windows and similar items are dealt with. Under “Key Configuration” the keys can be assigned and the control of the RGB LEDs as well as additional settings are defined under “Advanced Settings”.

The game profiles are managed in the lower section of the SWARM software. Five individual profiles can be stored here under “Profile Manager”. The “Macro Manager” can be used to download macros downloaded from the Internet for various games or to create your own macros.

The RGB LEDs can be switched on and off. If the RGB LED illumination is activated, the two RGB zones can be manually assigned a color selection. In addition to 30 predefined colors, the colors can be selected by entering the color code or by selecting on a slider. Three light effects as well as an adjustment of the effect speed are available. When the color effect is activated, the RGB LEDs pass through the color spectrum.

Result & Rating

The ROCCAT Kova is ambidextrous. If a left-handed and a right-handed user share a PC, this is definitely a good feature and the SWARM software makes it very easy to adapt to the individual settings of each user. Adjusting the RGB LED lighting is very intuitive and fortunately the lighting can also be quickly turned off. The workmanship is good and only the transition from the palm rest to the floor, where dirt can collect quickly, is a shortcoming in my eyes. My conclusion about the ROCCAT Kova Gaming-Mouse is accordingly very positive.