We had the pleasure of a couple of weeks with the Kone Pure Optical, and paired it for some of that time with a ROCCAT Sense mousemat. This mat, apart from looking particularly cool, is a fairly standard 400mm x 280mm affair with 2mm thick rubber backing and surface treatment to provide a smooth yet durable finish. As it’s neither glass nor highly reflective it should allow both optical and laser sensors to operate optimally.
Additionally, we also looked at the mouse’s performance in conjunction with the Ryos MK, primarily to assess the value of ROCCAT Talk whilst still ensuring that we test the MMO capabilities independent of the excellent macro system on said keyboard.
General Performance
The first key ingredient we look for in a high-quality mouse is a fairly simple one: a solid, even base. The Kone Pure designs make do with two large Teflon pads where others may have four, five or more; any other than three has the potential to result in an uneven resting position. Our Kone Pure Optical has a very slight side-to-side wobble which will subside over time as the pads wear, and thankfully isn’t too noticeable on softer surfaces which yield a little such as cloth mouse-mats.
We’ve mentioned how light the Kone Pure optical design is, and that makes it ideal for FPS titles and extended gaming sessions. Due to being paired down to a pure gaming mouse it doesn’t have much of the ancillary features of some such as an additional clutch/sniper button, removable weights and the like which all add weight to the design. Combined with the low friction pads, this results in high accuracy at higher mouse sensitivities and low inertia. From the point of view of pure mouse dynamics it’s therefore well suited to office tasks as well as MMO and FPS gaming.
Mouse button presses are fairly light and pleasantly without the clunk sometimes associated with mice in this price bracket. We put this down to the choice of Omron switches, which have often more than pulled their weight in the past. Travel distance for both the main and thumb buttons is minimal as the actuation point is immediate; in the case of the side buttons there is some travel to the back plate, but resistance is uniform and the distance is not sufficient for it to feel spongy. Their overall lightweight nature should make them quiet enough for use in shared spaces or when using a fairly sensitive microphone.
The ‘Titan’ mouse wheel is sturdy with small but well defined ratchet points that were routinely registered when used. It was able to keep up well with high and low speed rotation, never seeming to lag. The resistance between each ratchet point allows the middle mouse button to be pushed without much risk of accidentally scrolling, which should be of particular value in gaming and using it as a point to assign macros too for office use.
Gaming Performance
The Kone Pure Optical is a gaming mouse, and in gaming it shone. Low weight and ergonomic design allows for very good control and precision whether sniping in Team Fortress 2 or selecting character portraits whilst healing in World of Warcraft. The two side buttons are also clearly differentiated and responsive, reducing the learning curve necessary to adapt to a new mouse and aiding stability so that a button push doesn’t impact the pointer position greatly.
The slightly slanted sides of the Kone Pure Optical made lifting it easy, but one notable difference from the Kone Pure is the lack of a Tracking Control Unit. Amongst other features the ROCCAT TCU can adjust the lift-off distance at which the sensor will no longer register input; this can be useful for advanced FPS gamers as repositioning your hand on the mousemat is a regular requirement. The Kone Pure Optical’s lift-off distance is around 3mm, and although we didn’t find that to be too problematic your mileage may vary.
Angle snapping / pointer prediction didn't appear to be present with the Kone Pure Optical, although it's possible that if its quite subtle. On the flip side there is independent control of X/Y axis sensitivity, which could be something of an issue to some advanced users of this feature.
As we always do, we found clear profile indicators on the Kone Pure Optical to be a boon. Less so was the lack of DPI indicator, yet although we would like to see more on the mouse as standard the audio cues do sterling work. The seven different DPI levels seemed appropriate, and although you will have to rely on in-game settings for fine sensitivity adjustment it’s unlikely you suffer greatly from the absence.
Building on the profile system is a robust macro system that will operate independently to the software once loaded into mouse memory. Although slightly more limited in terms of locations to bind macros to than some mice at a similar price point - seven in standard configuration - Easy-Shift[+] almost doubles this to 15. Using all of those will be a challenge, both in terms of muscle memory and developing the optimum configuration, but the option is there. For FPS gaming binding one of the thumb buttons to Easy-Aim and a setting that to a low DPI effectively performs the same duties of a ‘sniper’ button at the cost of one assignment, which isn’t too much of a hardship in such titles.
For RPGs and FPS titles the Kone Pure Optical is an great choice on its own, but we also have to bear in mind ROCCAT Talk. As we discussed in our review of the Isku FX, combining the two increases the number of macros able to be assigned at any one time and allows Easy-Shift and Easy-Aim to operate from the keyboard rather than the mouse. Doing so makes both functions far easier to use, reduces learning time and increases overall flexibility at the cost of, well, acquiring and using a ROCCAT keyboard over your current one.
To sum up, the Kone Pure Optical operates exceedingly well as an FPS mouse and will be well suited to entry-level RPG and MMO gaming thanks to its extensive macro system. Those with more complex requirements, of a high-level MOBA player MMO raider, you’ll likely either look at more specialised mice with more baseline assignment locations or also invest in a ROCCAT Isku FX/Ryos MK keyboard to take advantage of ROCCAT Talk.
