XSReviews

We loved the flagship Kone Aimo RGBA from Roccat, so the prospect of a smaller and more affordable version in the Kone Pure that still offers the same high-end sensor and comfortable shape is an exciting one. We’ve spent the last two weeks testing the mouse; here’s what we think!

Specs

Design

The Kone Pure is a stylish mouse, especially in the white colourway we’re testing. It’s got two side buttons above a thumb indentation on the left side, relatively flat left and right mouse buttons and a pair of smaller DPI adjust buttons sitting below the chunky scroll wheel. The left and right mouse buttons sound quite different when pressed, with the right mouse button having a much deeper report than its fellow but both being clicky.

The only included illumination is a backlit stencil of the Roccat logo on the back of the mouse, which is quite eye-catching as it transitions between all of the colours of the rainbow. (If you prefer something more sedate, you can adjust the colour and style of the lighting – or turn it off altogether – in the Roccat Swarm software.)

The Kone Pure mimics the design of the Kone Aimo RGB but on a much smaller scale. That’s a trade that I’ll make every day of the week, as the reduced dimensions also result in a mouse which is substantially lighter – 130 grams versus less than 90 grams. That makes this mouse far easier to whip around, which is important for anyone that plays games at a low DPI setting in order to boost their accuracy.

However, the Kone Pure is less friendly to the large-handed; at 11.5 centimetres in length, it best suits hand sizes of around 19 centimetres (as measured from the tip of the fingers to the wrist). I’m a little beyond that, making the Pure a little tricky to grasp properly but hardly unusable. For more on this subject, check out ‘How to find the perfect gaming mouse‘.

Testing

We tested the Kone Pure for two weeks, using it wherever possible for work and play alike. Most of the gaming was in Counter-Strike, but also included stints in Apex Legends, Metro Exodus and Anthem (RIP).

The Kone Pure felt natural right away, with a similar enough size and weight to the Logitech G Pro Wireless – my daily driver. The matte plastic indentations on each side made the KP easy to pick up without losing my grip, while the optical sensor provided reliable accuracy.

I actually surprised myself on a few occasions with my precision, taking down several opponents with precise headsets in Counter-Strike. I also performed above-average in Apex Legends, although I’m still new to this game so I can’t pin that entirely on the mouse – perhaps I’m actually learning to git gud! The relatively slower pace of Metro Exodus means that comfort is more of a concern for long play sessions, and here the slightly-too-small size of the mouse came into play. My hand felt a little sore after one three hour session, something I don’t normally experience with my usual slightly longer mouse.

The two wide mouse feet feel very slick, making it easy to glide across the SteelSeries Prism XL mousepad I’m using at present. However, the cable used here is braided and is therefore a little more inflexible than I’d like, so I’d recommend using a mouse bungee with the Kone Pure to prevent your aim from being interrupted by a tangled mouse cord.

Wrapping up

The Kone Pure is a good mouse for anyone with small to medium-sized hands, offering a stylish white-on-black colourway, a reliable optical sensor and a relatively lightweight chassis.

However, those with hands on the larger side of the spectrum may feel cramped by the relatively short body of the mouse. In that case, you might prefer the Kone Aimo RGBA, which is a centimetre longer and one-and-a-half centimetres wider – although it is also 42 grams heavier!

Either way, Roccat have produced another solid optical gaming mouse. I hope that we see more low-weight mice from them in the future, especially if they can offer a slightly larger size while keeping the weight below 90 grams. That would be a winning combination in my book.