Roccat Kone Pro review: a performance-focused gaming mouse

To cut a long story short, this Roccat Kone Pro review comes to the conclusion that this is one of the best gaming mice around right now. 

Almost identical to the T3 five-star rated Roccat Kone Pro Air, this mouse was sure to be a winner. Unlike its pricier sibling, it relies on a cable for connectivity but in turn that makes it lighter and cheaper as well. So which one you go for depends more on what you favour: wireless connectivity? Or even better performance paired with a more affordable price tag? I’ll leave that to you to decide. 

Looking to give your whole setup an upgrade? Check out T3’s guides to the best gaming keyboards, the best gaming headsets and the best gaming monitors as well. 

Roccat Kone Pro review: price and availability  

Available to buy now on Amazon in either black or white, the Roccat Kone Pro will set you back $50 in the US, £45 in the UK and AU$83 in Australia. To see where you can pick one up, take a look at the widgets on this page.

Roccat Kone Pro review: design and setup 

A solid plastic exterior coats a honeycomb design, which keeps the mouse very lightweight at only 66g and gives it a good-looking edge when the RGBs shine through the casing. It’s lighter than the wireless version of the mouse so if you’d prefer a barely-there feel to glide across your gaming surface then this is the better option. 

Whatever type of grip you have, your hand will fit snugly over the Roccat Kone Pro, helped by the grips on either side. What that ultimately means is that you can keep a firm hold of the mouse, even when gameplay gets more intense. It’s comfortable to use as your regular computer mouse too so you can easily switch between work and play. The shape won’t be for everyone because it’s a right-handed mouse, with a deep indent where your thumb sits. 

The Roccat Kone Pro looks smart, it’s not over-the-top and can easily pass as an office mouse if you ignore the RGB lighting that is. You’ll get 16.8 million colours to choose from, and the lights can be synced with your other AIMO peripherals as well. You can adjust the RGB settings in the Roccat Swarm desktop software. 

You’ll find Titan Switch Opticals here, with a solid aluminium scroll wheel and two side buttons that are defaulted to forwards and backwards although you can change that assignment in the Swarm app. You won’t get a button to switch through DPI profiles as you do with some other mice. The side buttons are large and easy to find but they are placed quite high. To switch between your profiles, there’s a button on the underside of the mouse although you won’t be able to access it quickly during gameplay.

Setting up the mouse is seriously easy - just plug it in using the USB 2.0 cable and start up the Roccat Swarm software to configure it according to your own preferences. The braided cable is 1.8m giving you plenty of room to move the mouse about, it’s very light, soft and it’s flexible too.

Roccat Kone Pro review: performance 

Packing a Roccat Owl-Eye optical sensor with 19K DPI, adjustable lift-off distance and 50g acceleration - this gaming mouse performs really well. Tracking is accurate and fast so you’ll be able to use this for even the quickest and most competitive games.

The Titan Switch Opticals are fantastic, they give you good feedback with no misclicks at all. They’re seriously quick and reliable with a really nice tactile feel. And thanks to the 100 million click lifecycle, you’ll get more than enough use out of them as well. 

You also get very smooth glide pads which paired with the lightweight design make this slide across the mouse mat without any problems at all. In the box, you get an extra pair of pads as well so if these do wear out then replacing them will be very quick and easy. 

Roccat Swarm is an incredibly detailed software, you’ll be able to adjust the DPI, change the double click speed and manage your button assignment. You’ll also be able to set up to five different game profiles as well as manage the AIMO RGB lighting. It even includes Roccat Talk lets you change the RGB settings by voice through your microphone. 

For the more knowledgable gamer, the advanced settings panel includes lots of manual configurations that you wouldn’t necessarily get elsewhere like debounce time and angle-snapping. 

Roccat Kone Pro review: verdict 

There really isn’t much bad to say about the Roccat Kone Pro, there are a few little niggles like the placement of the profile button and the lack of a DPI switch, but those aren’t deal-breakers for most. 

The only reason I would say not to buy this is if you’re left-handed or if you need wireless connectivity because this simply can't cater to those needs. But literally everyone else will get on well with this mouse, whether you're an esports professional or a casual PC-gamer. If you already own other Roccat AIMO gaming peripherals then it's a no-brainer as you'll be able to sync up the RGB lights. 

If you're looking for a good-looking gaming mouse that works exactly as you need and want it to, then the Roccat Kone Pro is an obvious choice, especially given the fact that it doesn’t cost too much either. I definitely recommend this gaming mouse, so much so that I've awarded it a whopping five stars! 

Roccat Kone Pro review: also consider 

If you are left-handed then one of the best ambidextrous mice you can buy is the Razer Viper 8K. With 8K HyperPolling, 8 programmable buttons and 20K DPI Optical Sensor, you get plenty of bang for your buck. It’s perfect for esports!

The best mouse for most people is still the Razer DeathAdder V2 because it’s cheaper than the Roccat Kone Pro and has equally as impressive performance.