Roccat Kone Pro Air review: On cloud nine

(Pocket-lint) - The Roccat Kone Pro Air is simply a wireless mentation of the Kone Pro. It's an already large rodent made adjacent amended with the summation of wireless and Bluetooth connectivity.

Like its wired sibling, the Kone Pro Air tries to present lightweight gaming goodness without the holes that the latest line-up of ace lightweight mice importune connected featuring.

Instead, it uses a lightweight and bladed ammunition that not lone keeps it slick and casual to flick around, but besides allows immoderate of that fantastic RGB airy bleed for added ocular aesthetics.

Lightweight and funky design

• 1.8m PhantomFlex USB-C charging cablegram and wireless dongle
• Heat-treated axenic PTFE glides
• Bionic Shell with RGB lighting
• Weight: 75g

Naturally being a wireless mouse, the Kone Pro Air is simply a interaction heavier than its wired counterpart. Which is simply a spot ironic considering the name. Still, it's intelligently designed with a thin-yet-stable and seemingly durable outer lodging that keeps particulate distant - but besides lets the airy radiance through. 

The Kone Pro Air is disposable successful 2 colour variants: Ash Black oregon Arctic White. We tested the achromatic mentation and deliberation it looks the concern with superb lines and that satisfying RGB lighting.

• Best gaming mice: The champion wired, wireless and RGB gaming mice to bargain today

The RGB lighting is 1 of the things that helps the Kone Pro Air basal retired from the crowd. That's due to the fact that Roccat has gone against the norm and enactment the lighting nether the near and close buttons. The bladed lodging connected the buttons and the honeycomb plan nether the outer ammunition lets the airy radiance through. There's besides a spread that runs astir the borderline and beforehand of those buttons that lets much airy out. We similar this plan due to the fact that wherever the lighting is usually hidden by the thenar of your hand, this rodent gives your fingers a colourful glow portion you crippled instead. 

The Kone Pro Air is ergonomically designed to acceptable comfortably successful the hand. It's a right-handed mouse, but 1 with a clever sloping benignant and a larger-than-average shape. This rodent volition enactment with palm, claw and fingertip grip - but much importantly, it's a large acceptable for larger hands. 

Outwardly the rodent looks rather slick. There's a flimsy ridging connected the near and close for grip, but you hardly announcement it erstwhile holding the mouse. It's not arsenic slick arsenic it mightiness look though and is casual to clasp onto, adjacent erstwhile things get a spot accelerated and frantic successful game. Oddly we recovered the wired mentation to beryllium overmuch little grippy. 

Another item to the plan is the ample heat-treated PTFE glides connected the underside. These Teflon feet let for speedy and casual movements erstwhile gaming and large response. 

The rodent besides boasts Roccat's Titan Switch Optical that uses a airy beam to way the click, ensuring amended accuracy and a longer-lasting power too. 

One happening we don't similar astir the plan of this rodent is the wheel. It's milled from coagulated aluminium and coated successful a textured material. It gives a beardown feedback with each rotation that verges connected being a spot excessively noisy. 

Wireless convenience

• Roccat Owl-Eye 19K optical sensor (based connected Pixart PAW3370)
• Roccat Titan Switch Optical with 100 cardinal click guarantee 
• 2.4Ghz wireless with 100 hours artillery & accelerated recharge
• Reprogrammable buttons with Easy-Shift
• Adjustable lift-off distance
• 1000Hz polling rate

The Roccat Kone Pro Air takes the gamer-pleasing features of the Kone Pro and adds successful wireless and Bluetooth connectivity too. 

It not lone boasts Roccat's Owl-Eye sensor - susceptible of 19,000 DPI, meaning it's ace delicate - but besides a 1000Hz polling complaint (the fig of times per 2nd the rodent 'talks' to your PC), adjustable lift-off distance, 50g acceleration (move the rodent accelerated and it'll correspond connected screen), and onboard representation too. 

The item is people the enactment of 2.4Ghz wireless. That wireless transportation besides promises 100 hours of artillery life, but that's people going to beryllium connected the RGB lighting and use-cases. Still, the Kone Pro Air has much tricks up its sleeve arsenic it has accelerated charging tech which gives you 5 hours of foodstuff aft conscionable 10 minutes of plugging in. 

One happening we did find is the wireless dongle needs a USB 3 larboard successful bid to brace and enactment with the mouse. Anything older and you won't get a connection. So that won't enactment for all.

There's a power connected the mouse's underside that lets you flick betwixt wireless and Bluetooth modes, giving you the enactment to link it to much devices. Under determination you besides person a fastener to alteration profiles, truthful you tin easy acceptable up profiles wrong Roccat's Swarm software that you tin past alteration betwixt connected the fly. 

One happening that's lacking is simply a DPI button. There's nary casual mode to alteration DPI unless you reprogramme immoderate buttons successful the software. 

Software customisation

Roccat's Swarm bundle gives you entree to beryllium capable to tweak a fig of settings connected this mouse, including remapping buttons, adjusting DPI level, and changing the lighting. 

One of the highlights present is Roccat's Easy-Shift settings. These let you to acceptable a secondary enactment for immoderate rodent button. All you request to bash is archetypal delegate an Easy-Shift fastener that erstwhile depressed activates the secondary furniture of actions. This fundamentally doubles the fig of disposable buttons and opens up much possibilities. 

There are plentifulness of options for the buttons too. You tin take from a fig of antithetic actions from media playback to DPI adjustment, macros and more. One happening we similar present is the quality to delegate an Easy-Aim mounting which drops the DPI to a circumstantial debased level for a much close purpose successful game. 

You tin make profiles that tin beryllium saved to the rodent arsenic well, truthful person antithetic settings for antithetic games oregon activities and past alteration betwixt them with ease. 

Roccat's AIMO intelligent lighting rounds disconnected the package. Giving an integrated lighting that changes depending connected what you're doing. You tin take to acceptable antithetic lighting effects successful the software, but we truly similar however the AIMO lighting works and usually usage this arsenic the default. 

Writing by Adrian Willings. Editing by Mike Lowe. Originally published connected 29 August 2021.