The ROCCAT Kone XP Air is a continuation of ROCCAT's Kone lineup and a wireless version of the ROCCAT Kone XP. Much like the wired version, this mouse retains the same shape and has an impressive number of buttons, making it well-suited for playing a variety of games. Apart from adding wireless capability, this new version has a matte and slightly more opaque plastic finish, new RGB lighting zones, and a separate charging dock.
Note: Turtle Beach purchased ROCCAT and is rebranding some of its products, including this mouse, to the Turtle Beach Kone XP Air. Besides the new branding, we expect the Turtle Beach model to be identical.
Our Verdict
While not designed for this use, the ROCCAT Kone XP Air is a good mouse for office and multimedia work. It feels sturdy, has a comfortable right-handed shape with a thumb rest, and connects wirelessly with its USB receiver or via Bluetooth. Its scroll wheel also has left and right tilt inputs but doesn't have a free-scrolling mode like many dedicated productivity mice.
- Impressive number of programmable buttons.
- Scroll wheel lacks a free-scrolling mode.
The ROCCAT Kone XP Air is an excellent mouse for FPS gaming. It's well-built and has a comfortable right-handed shape that includes a shallow thumb rest. It has very low click latency and excellent all-around sensor performance that's more than suitable for providing responsive-feeling gameplay. Unfortunately, it's significantly heavier than most mice that are built specifically for FPS gaming, so you may find you can't move the mouse quickly and accurately enough for high-level competitive play.
- Impressive number of programmable buttons.
- Great click latency and impressive sensor performance.
- Heavy.
The ROCCAT Kone XP Air is an excellent mouse for MMO or MOBA gaming. It feels very well-built and has a comfortable, right-handed shape with a shallow thumb rest. For performance, it has excellent click latency and a very accurate and consistent sensor, and it has an impressive number of buttons, all of which you can customize along with other settings using the companion software. However, it doesn't quite have as many buttons as mice with more traditional MMO-focused mice with 12-button side panels.
- Impressive number of programmable buttons.
- Great click latency and impressive sensor performance.
- Not quite as many programmable buttons as most dedicated MMO mice.
The ROCCAT Kone XP Air is an excellent mouse for travel, though it's much bulkier than mice explicitly designed for use on the go. That said, it feels sturdy and comfortable for right-handed users, and it connects wirelessly with its USB receiver or via Bluetooth. It also has a storage compartment for its USB receiver when it's not in use.
- Connects wirelessly with a USB receiver or via Bluetooth.
- Bulky; won't fit in most laptop cases.
Changelog
- Updated May 13, 2024: We've added a note about this mouse's Turtle Beach rebrand to the Introduction and the Differences Between Variants sections of this review.
- Updated Oct 25, 2022: We've added a link to the newly-reviewed Logitech G502 X PLUS in the Wireless Versatility section of this review.
- Updated Oct 17, 2022: We've fixed an error within this review where a section of text was mistakenly placed in the Mouse Compatibility text box. This passage is now correctly in the Compatible Software Option section.
- Updated Oct 11, 2022: Review published.
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Differences Between Sizes And Variants
The ROCCAT Kone XP Air is available in either a black or white color scheme and has no other variants. We bought and tested the black colorway, and you can see the label for our unit here.
Note: Turtle Beach purchased ROCCAT and is rebranding some of its products, including this mouse, to the Turtle Beach Kone XP Air. Besides the new branding, we expect the Turtle Beach model to be identical.
Popular Mouse Comparisons
The ROCCAT Kone XP Air is a wireless version of the wired ROCCAT Kone XP and a continuation of ROCCAT's extensive Kone lineup that includes a range of mice with a similar right-handed shape with a shallow thumb rest. However, this mouse and its wired predecessor have more programmable buttons and RGB lighting than other recent series entries. In terms of features and overall performance, this mouse also compares well to the flagship multi-genre models from companies like Razer and Logitech. However, this mouse has more extensive RGB lighting and an alternative ergonomic shape.
For more recommendations, see our picks for the best wireless gaming mouse, the best gaming mouse, and the best MMO mouse.
The ROCCAT Kone XP Air and the ROCCAT Kone Pro Air are similar wireless gaming mice from the same lineup. The Kone XP Air has many more programmable buttons, making it a good choice for more complex titles like MMOs and MOBAS. It also has more RGB lighting and includes a charging dock that acts as a wireless extender. On the other hand, the Kone Pro Air is lighter and has fewer buttons. It also has somewhat better gaming performance and is a better choice for playing focused on faster-paced titles like FPS games.
The ROCCAT Kone XP Air and the Logitech G502 LIGHTSPEED are wireless multi-genre mice with ergonomic right-handed shapes. The Logitech offers marginally better performance, software compatible with Windows and macOS, and its scroll wheel can toggle between a notched and faster free-scrolling mode. On the other hand, the ROCCAT is slightly lighter and has higher-quality mouse feet. It also has more extensive RGB lighting and includes a charging dock that acts as a wireless extender.
The ROCCAT Kone Pro Air and the Razer Basilisk V3 Pro are wireless multi-genre mice with ergonomic right-handed shapes. The Razer offers better gaming performance, and its scroll wheel can toggle between a notched and faster free-scrolling mode. On the other hand, the ROCCAT is a bit lighter, it has more extensive RGB lighting, and it includes a charging dock by default. The Razer also has a charging dock available, but only as a separate purchase.
The ROCCAT Kone XP Air is a wireless version of the ROCCAT Kone XP. These are multi-genre gaming mice with plenty of programmable inputs, making them good choices for more complex titles like MMOs or MOBAS. The Kone XP Air has a more opaque plastic finish and includes a charging dock that serves as a wireless extender. It also has more RGB lighting zones, and the location of the RGB has largely been moved into the palm rest rather than the left- and right-click buttons where it is on the wired Kone XP.
Test Results
The ROCCAT Kone XP Air shares the same general shape as other mice in ROCCAT's Kone lineup and has identical dimensions to the ROCCAT Kone XP. It has a shallow thumb rest and etched lines on either side. The body is made of semi-translucent plastic, and there are five independently programmable RGB zones including one zone in the scroll wheel and four zones in a stylized 'X' pattern inside the palm area. Note that the included charging dock/receiver extender also has four programmable RGB zones.
The ROCCAT Kone XP Air has very good build quality overall. The materials are good quality, and the click feeling is on the heavier side but feels satisfying. There's a small amount of flexibility in the plastic body around the seam between the bottom edge and underside of the mouse, and you can actuate the side buttons if you squeeze with a significant amount of force into the plastic sides of the mouse. The wired version of this mouse doesn't exhibit this flexibility, but these issues aren't likely to present any problems during regular use.
The ROCCAT Kone XP Air is heavy compared to mice specifically designed primarily for FPS gaming. However, its weight is very similar to most high-end multi-genre mice from other manufacturers.
The ROCCAT Kone XP Air is comfortable in hand for most right-handed users. The plastic has a soft-feeling finish, and all buttons are easy to reach. However, when you hold the EasyShift button on the thumb rest, you can't easily reach and press the side buttons at the same time. That said, you can remap the EasyShift button or any of the functions of the four side buttons using the companion software.
If you have small hands, you may not be able to comfortably reach the button labeled with a '+' sign on the inside edge of the left-click button using a palm grip.
If you have small hands, you may not be able to comfortably reach the button labeled with a '+' sign on the inside edge of the left-click button using a palm grip.
If you have smaller hands, you may not be able to comfortably reach the buttons labeled with '+' and '-' signs on the inside edge of the left click-button while using a fingertip grip.
ROCCAT advertises up to 100 hours of battery life and five hours of battery life from ten minutes of charging. Note that the product page on ROCCAT's website doesn't provide additional details about its battery life estimate. However, it very likely represents the maximum achievable battery life using the USB receiver and without RGB lighting activated. If you're looking for a similar wireless mouse a somewhat longer battery life, check out the Logitech G502 X PLUS.
The ROCCAT Kone XP Air has a very lightweight and flexible paracord-like charging cable. However, it retains some minor kinking from its packaging.
The ROCCAT Kone XP Air has excellent mouse feet that glide very smoothly on mousepads. They make a slight scratching sound moving directly on a desk, but this doesn't affect the gliding experience.
- ROCCAT Kone XP Air
- USB receiver
- Charging dock/USB receiver extender
- USB-C to USB-A charging cable
- User documentation
You can reprogram all of the buttons on the ROCCAT Kone XP Air except for the wireless pairing button on the bottom of the mouse, although the left- and right-click functions need to be assigned somewhere at all times. There's also an EasyShift button which enables a secondary layer of commands when you hold it down. By default, this EasyShift button is assigned to the button on the thumb rest, but you can reassign it to another button if you wish. The left- and right-click buttons use ROCCAT's proprietary Titan optical switches and have an advertised rating of 100 million clicks.
The ROCCAT Kone XP Air uses an Owl-Eye 19k sensor, a proprietary model based on the PixArt PMW 3370. The available polling rates on this mouse are 125Hz, 250Hz, 500Hz, and 1000Hz.
The ROCCAT Kone XP Air has a scroll wheel that operates quietly, features a clear definition between steps, and has a good rubberized coating for grip.
ROCCAT's SWARM software has a clean, well-laid-out interface. It lets you customize a wide range of settings, including button mapping, debounce time, lift-off distance, and RGB lighting.
Note: The score of this test is based on the companion software's features and not its overall performance. We didn't experience any issues during testing. However, as with software options from other major manufacturers, community members have identified a range of possible issues with this software.
The ROCCAT Kone XP Air is fully compatible with Windows and macOS, although the software is only available in Windows. Additionally, when using the EasyShift button to enable a secondary layer of commands, the two buttons on the inside edge of the left-click act as Ctrl-C (Copy) and Ctrl-V (Paste) by default. However, these commands don't work in macOS since the Ctrl function doesn't exist for this operating system.
