Roccat Kone[+] Mouse Review

Main Features

The flagship feature of the Kone[+] is the EasyShift[+] function, an intelligent way of virtually increasing the number of programmable buttons without having to physically add to the number of buttons. The button five (on the left side that in other mice is the default “back” button) acts as the Shift key on a keyboard. By pressing it in conjunction with other buttons or the scroll-wheel, the user engages other functions. That way, it is possible to program up to 22 functions to the existing buttons on the Kone[+] without actually having 22 buttons available. In addition to the EasyShift[+] technology, the peripheral also features an Easy-Aim function that automatically changes the resolution, and the Easy-Wheel that makes the scroll-wheel control other functions such as the PC volume, for instance. All of this is programmed through the Kone[+] application.

Figure 4: Programming the EasyShift [+] buttons

The user can also set five different resolution tiers up to 6,000 dpi. It’s also possible to create five profiles for games and applications that can be stored in the 128 KB internal memory. Since macro recording is usually a nuisance, the Kone[+] already comes with a package of pre-recorded macros for popular games such as Starcraft and Battlefield Bad Company 2, and also for applications like Firefox and Photoshop.

For those into visual tuning, you can alter the LED with 35 options of colors and the intensity of the light (it can blink, flow through the length of the LED strips, be permanently lit or off, etc.).

Figure 5: Color programming

Figure 6: Lit mouse