There are few gaming mice on this world that make me go, “Ooooooh,” as quickly as lay my fingers on them, however the brand new Roccat Kain is considered one of them. Or not less than the Roccat Kain 120 does, as a result of technically there are going to be three variations of the Kain launching this September: the entry-level Kain 100, which prices £45 / $50 and has a barely completely different design and sensor to the £63 / $70 center sibling Kain 120, after which there’s the wi-fi Kain 200, which is ready to price £90 / $100.
I’ll be reviewing the others sooner or later, however for now, the Kain 120 is admittedly fairly beautiful. A big a part of that’s right down to no matter coating Roccat’s used for his or her center Kain little one, which is simply attractive beneath the palm, all {smooth} and soft-feeling. But the opposite a part of what makes this such an awesome mouse is Roccat’s new Titan Click mechanism. Built from what Roccat’s calling “an exclusive variant” of your typical Omron change, the Kain’s two predominant clickers not solely really feel agency and exact, however they’re quick, too – and I believe I prefer it much more than my present best gaming mouse champion, the Corsair Ironclaw RGB. Here’s wot I believe.
Admittedly, the Kain 120 doesn’t actually appear like a lot whenever you first get it out of the field. Stick it subsequent to the Ironclaw RGB’s extremely sculpted and textured design, for instance, and the Kain 120 appears to be like extremely plain by comparability. I’ve acquired the white model on check in the present day, which not less than has the good thing about two black facet buttons for a little bit of distinction and selection, however there’s an all-black mannequin accessible as nicely for those who want.
Indeed, trying on the Kain 120 top-down, you may nearly mistake it for an ambidextrous gaming mouse, so flat-edged is that interior left facet. Shift your gaze towards the rear of the mouse, nonetheless, and its pronounced, left-sided hump comes into view, revealing that, yep, that is undoubtedly one for the right-handers. It’s a stunning, full-bodied factor, although, filling out the entire of my palm simply as successfully because the Corsair Ironclaw, and its two side-buttons are each inside very straightforward attain of my thumb. It’s lighter, too, making it simpler to swish spherical my mouse mat whereas enjoying games.
And oh, the clicking! Borrowing the identical ‘Titan’ identify as Roccat’s new switches inside their set of Vulcan gaming keyboards, the Kain 120’s Titan Click mechanism feels noticeably completely different from the switches inside Corsair’s Ironclaw. I don’t need to press them down almost as far or as laborious, for starters, and the entire thing feels tight, exact and only a bit “phwoarrr”. It’s an exquisite sensation, and that alone would have made the Kain 120 one thing value shouting about. But whenever you mix it with its comfortable form, silky-smooth coating and light-weight chassis, the Kain 120 turns into actually fairly particular.
It’s additionally very versatile and straightforward to customize when you’ve downloaded Roccat’s Swarm software program. With a sensitivity vary of 50-16,000 DPI and eight programmable buttons (or six for those who don’t embody the scroll up and scroll down capabilities), the Kain 120 isn’t fairly as fully-featured as Corsair’s Ironclaw (which fits all the best way as much as 18,000 DPI and has seven correct programmable buttons), however it’s nonetheless simply as sensible throughout on a regular basis use.
Tap the central DPI button, as an illustration, and also you’ll cycle by 5 completely different DPI speeds. All are adjustable to your liking (albeit in increments of 50), and you may even set completely different speeds in your X and Y axis, doubtlessly making your vertical actions slower or quicker than your horizontal ones. No one of their proper thoughts would ever want that type of customisation for on a regular basis use, thoughts (not until you’re intentionally making an attempt to drive your self up the wall), however aggressive, esports-y varieties might discover it helpful for FPS games, for instance, or technique and MOBA titles the place you want larger management over your map pace.
There’s a equally ludicrous quantity of element you possibly can apply to button capabilities, too. Just like Roccat’s Kone Pure Owl-Eye mouse, the Kain 120 comes with the corporate’s Easy Shift+ function, which basically permits you to assign a secondary operate to every button, providing you with a complete of 16 instructions general. You’ll have to have considered one of them as your designated Easy Shift+ button so you possibly can change between their main and secondary capabilities, after all, however this nonetheless provides you loads of customisation choices that places Corsair’s most of seven capabilities to disgrace.
Roccat’s executed among the laborious give you the results you want, loading the Kain 120 with 4 completely different button presets, however you possibly can personalise every one individually for those who so want, selecting from current macro capabilities, your individual recordable hotkeys and different fundamental mouse capabilities to issues like OS shortcuts, media controls and numerous DPI controls. You also can flip considered one of them right into a ‘sniper’ button by deciding on Roccat’s EasyPurpose possibility, which helps you to change the Kain 120’s DPI pace on the fly for larger management when lining up head pictures and the like in FPS games.
Throw in 5 onboard profiles, Roccat’s good Aimo RGB lighting that reacts and learns the way you play (and naturally syncs up with some other Roccat units you may have), and the choice to have your DPI or Profile identify spoken aloud so precisely what settings you’ve acquired enabled, and the Roccat Kain 120 does all the pieces you may probably need – all whereas feeling good within the hand and quick beneath your fingers, too. Sure, it’s a fraction costlier than Corsair’s Ironclaw RGB, however when the Kain 120 is this satisfying to make use of day-in and day-out, I believe it’s value the additional couple of quid. It’s my new best gaming mouse winner.
