The competition is fierce amongst the big brand gaming companies and ROCCAT is no doubt one of the top tier brands out there.
And when it comes to gaming, ROCCAT which prides itself on developing premium gaming hardware based on German engineering is one of the best out there.
I have been reviewing a variety of ROCCAT products since 2019 and for the most part, I have been pleased with the ROCCAT Kain and Burst series of gaming mice.
And I have been a big fan of their Kone Pro Air gaming mouse for it being a wireless and extremely light gaming mouse.
But this time around, I’m trying their most expensive gaming mouse, which is the ROCCAT Kone XP Air.
For those who are not familiar with the ROCCAT XP gaming mouse, the gaming mouse is known for its multi-button design, 15 programmable buttons with 29 possible functions, 3D RGB lighting with 22 LEDs and its Krystal 4D Wheel and ROCCAT Owl-Eye 19K DPI Optical Sensor. And at $80, it’s competitively priced with its other peers from major gaming brands.
But nearly double the price is the ROCCAT Kone XP Air at under $170, making it one of the priciest gaming mouse on the market.
It has the specs of the ROCCAT XP, but this one is wireless (2.4GHz and Bluetooth), it comes with a charging station (with 3D RGB AIMO lighting with 5 programmable zones) and wireless USB receiver and a six foot PhantomFlex USB-C charging cable.
The mouse has a Titan Switch Optical for tactile feel with optical speed and also underneath features heat-treated pure PTFE glides, pre-tuned for smooth movements.
Before I discuss the mouse, I recommend first making sure one downloads the ROCCAT SWARM software. And you’re going to need to plug in the docking station and get that updated and then afterward, plug it into the mouse and then update the firmware immediately.
I then set went through the settings and customized it to the movements I prefer (and you can also customize the lighting) and you are ready to go.
The additional docking station is quite nice, because if you are done using it, you can just put your mouse on the docking station and charge. While the mouse has up to 100 hours battery life, I do feel it’s a plus to have the option to go wireless or via USB-C. According to ROCCAT, 10 minutes of charge provides 5 hours of battery life. Which is awesome!
Now, for those looking for light, will no doubt want to go with the ROCCAT Kone Pro Air, but for those who want multi-functional butting programming, then you want to go with the ROCCAT Kone XP Air.
It’s a comfortable mouse, but I do like the ten dedicated buttons plus the 4D scroll wheel which can expand into 29 programmable functions courtesy of its Easy-Shift[+]TM duplicator technology.
So, this begs to ask the question, is it worth the under $170 price tag?
I’ve said it many times on my reviews of big brand gaming hardware and you pay a premium for a gaming brand’s hardware/accessories. It’s just how it is. If you don’t like it, there are third party gaming companies that offer their products much cheaper.
But the ROCCAT XP Air Gaming Mouse is no doubt a wonderful mouse that is expensive but its competitor is only $10 cheaper, but the additional docking station, the multiple customizable buttons and functions, along with the fact that you can be wireless or wired, is a major plus. And of course, if you love the RGB LED lights, ROCCAT has definitely utilized their AIMO technology on their products with efficacy.
Now, let’s go onto the next step of comparisons, would you go wired (KONE XP) vs. wireless (KONE XP AIR)? It’s all subjective. For me, they both have their pluses and minuses, but I will say in the past, I preferred wired, because I didn’t like latency. But with the KONE XP AIR, if you have another USB-C cable laying around, you can have that docking station nearby, to limit the latency and also once you are done, you can charge it on the docking station and be ready to go the next time you want to use your mouse.
With that being said, aside from the wireless functions and the wireless coming with a docking station, there really isn’t much difference between the XP vs. XP Air.
Having it wireless and coming with a docking station is convenient but I do feel that paying another $80 for that convenience is a bit much. It’s one thing to pay nearly $80 for a mouse but to pay nearly $170 is no doubt going to scare some consumers. I do have the other competitor’s mouse as well (that is $10 cheaper) but I have to say that ROCCAT XP AIR does offer a lot, it’s just whether or not you feel the price justifies it. That’s subjective.
But for those who are dedicated to gaming, especially for competitive eSports, it’s a dependable mouse and the fact that ROCCAT makes it much easier thanks to their often updated software, that’s a major plus!
The ROCCAT Kone Pro Air is no doubt one of the best multi-button gaming mouses on the market. While not as light as their Pro Air, it’s still light for a multi-button wireless mouse and the fact that ROCCAT makes it so much easy to customize its products through its software is a major plus. If you are willing to pay the price then the ROCCAT Kone XP Air is definitely worth it!
